Zynsurrection Time
Plus: War in Sudan, federal homeschooling regulations, E.A. vs. progress studies, and more...
Run, don't walk to stock up on Zyn nicotine pouches, which will now be a lot harder to find.
Nationwide online* sales were suspended after a subpoena was issued by the Washington, D.C., attorney general related to whether the company had been complying with the District's ban on flavored nicotine products. "A preliminary company investigation found that there have been sales of flavored nicotine pouch products in Washington, D.C., Philip Morris [International] said," reports The Wall Street Journal. "Most of these sales were associated with some online sales platforms and independent retailers, the company said." Zyn.com has paused online sales, but many users report that the patches have simultaneously become harder to find at formerly reliable gas stations and bodegas.
Zyn pouches, which come in flavors like mint and cinnamon, are about as risky as nicotine gums and patches. Many smokers, and even vapers, have switched to Zyn pouches as an alternative or a means of tapering off. But many are theorizing that Zyn's popularity on TikTok is leading regulators to give it extra scrutiny, akin to how the flavored-nicotine crackdown took on new life when officials started to worry about teens using Juuls. Never mind the fact that TikTok's demographic is beginning to skew older.
"We do not use social media influencers, and we refuse requests for such partnerships," a company spokesman told Quartz. "Manufacturers, regulators, retailers and social media platforms must work together to ensure these products are only used by people 21+, and we believe that we're doing our part to achieve that objective."
But the regulators' war on flavored tobacco products, under the guise of ensuring kids don't get addicted, shows no signs of abating and frequently ends up harming adult nicotine users who are looking for healthier alternatives than cigarettes.
It's also the government telling users that they know best, and that non-state-approved vices are wrong and bad, worth making more dangerous—not a job I elected anyone to do.
Joining forces: Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un emerged from a series of meetings touting a new defense pledge—a vow to assist each other in the event of "aggression" from any other nation.
It's not shocking that this Cold War–era agreement (first signed in 1961, then scrapped circa 2000) is being revived right now. North Korea has played a significant role in aiding and abetting Putin's war in Ukraine, supplying ballistic missiles and munitions for much of the past two years. The two leaders have been getting even cozier with each other than they already were.
"This is a truly breakthrough document, reflecting the desire of the two countries not to rest on their laurels, but to raise our relations to a new qualitative level," said Putin. Kim called Putin "the dearest friend of the Korean people."
Russia and North Korea "consistently defend the idea of forming a more just and democratic, multipolar world order," reports Russian state-owned media Tass, seemingly citing a section of the agreement that is not yet available for public consumption.
Scenes from Austin: Fun fact, the best swimming hole in central Texas is privately owned.
QUICK HITS
- In Sudan, another civil war is intensifying. "Fighters battling the military often film themselves celebrating as neighborhoods burn on their push to the city center," reports The New York Times.
- Willie Mays, one of the baseball greats, died yesterday at 93.
- The difference between effective altruism (E.A.) and progress studies, explained (in terms both camps will surely find fault with). "EA tends to see progress as pretty much inevitable: It's barreling ahead and almost unstoppable, and if we throw all of our weight against it we might, at best, be able to slow it down a tiny bit—and thereby give ourselves a decade or two in which to prevent human extinction. In contrast, the progress community sees progress as fragile, in need of constant protection, and highly contingent on people driving it forward. In most of human history, inventive periods were brief and then died out; the Industrial Revolution was the first inventive period that kept going and accelerating. We shouldn't take that for granted—especially when we already see signs of a slowdown."
- "Far from being somehow at odds with July 4 and the Declaration of Independence, Juneteenth celebrates the greatest achievement of the principles of the Revolution," writes Ilya Somin at The Volokh Conspiracy.
- Never forget surfer oppression (among all the other types of oppression that became routine during the pandemic):
Remember four years ago? pic.twitter.com/Pr8xRZCykC
— ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????? (@718Tv) June 18, 2024
- Federal homeschooling regulations sound like a terrible idea:
BREAKING: "Scientific American" calls for federal homeschooling regulations. Hell no. pic.twitter.com/ksHMTDTMfz
— Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) June 18, 2024
*CORRECTION: Only online sales were suspended following the subpoena.
