Geography (and economics and arithmetic) lesson: In case you didn't know it, Louisville, KY is on the Atlantic Coast, and Oklahoma is in the East.

(Image from Pixabay) So. The Pac-12 athletic conference is going to shrink to 10 members. Texas and Oklahoma, which aren't exactly in the east, will be joining the Southeast conference. The Big 10 is already up to 14 members, and will apparently be adding 2 more, making it the Big 16, maybe. The Big 12 currently has 13 members, and will shrink to 8. The Atlantic Coast Conference includes Notre Dame (sort of) and Louisville, which are both about 600 miles away from the nearest ocean. Have you got all that? It doesn't really matter very much if you do, because there will be more changes, barring the Second Coming. By the way, there are more sports than football, but that's the big one.

Why is all this happening? Money, money, money. Major college sports is an industry, more than a sport. It reflects our values pretty well.

See here for Wikipedia's reporting on this phenomenon, without my editorializing:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Five_conferences

Sunspots 888

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

Environment: Gizmodo reports that a power company knew about the effects of climate change for decades, but kept promoting (including building new plants) that used fossil fuels.

Gizmodo also reports that microplastics have been found in newly deposited Arctic snow.

NPR reports that the Biden administration plans to designate an area of the Atlantic, off of New York, as a marine sanctuary.

Gizmodo reports that car tires also contribute a lot of pollution.

Food: NPR reports on beefalo, bison-cattle hybrids, as a meat source.

Politics: NPR reports on a group that is working to cut off Fox News' advertising revenue. More, from Gizmodo.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 840

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

The Arts: Some Gizmodo writers reflect on what the earliest human music was like.

Environment: (And politics) Gizmodo on right-wing outrage at suggestions that climate change may lead to problems, such as the condo collapse in Florida.

Gizmodo reports on (sort of) sunscreen for roads, which apparently cuts down on heat and pollution.

Finance: Relevant reports that we may soon see advertisements in our dreams.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.