Pook-Emu Bee: Links For 03-15-26

I missed posting Pook-Emu Bee links on Friday and Saturday was newsletter day. But today we are back and ready to trim down my list of unused Pook-Emu Bee links. If you enjoy the (almost) daily links and commentary, you can also follow via feed.

1. Quinn Cook says overseas hoops career hurt by global politics (Mark J. Spears for ESPN. March 11, 2026.)

Losing the opportunity to play in Rwanda was an unexpected bummer. But I would have questioned the plan of signing up to play in Iran before the tensions of early 2026.

1. OS/2 Never Went Away. Its Successor Has Received An Update (Jenny List for Hackaday. March 13, 2026.)

I’d try a free and open source and free as in bird OS/2 successor.

1. NYC Council Dems float bizarre plan to crack down on the supermarket self-checkout line (Rich Calder for the New York Post. March 14, 2026.)

It’s always adorable when people who are not particularly bright think they are being subtle when they try to be clever. With that being said, I would not want to scan 15+ items in self-checkout.

1. The other war the world is ignoring (Feryaz Ocakli and Yelana Bieerman for The Interpreter. March 13, 2026.)

I an puzzled by the take that China wants Pakistan to light up Afghanistan and that India has motivations for aligning itself with the Taliban other than increasing pressure in Pakistan.

1. Chinese Lawmaker Proposes Sex Ed in Kindergarten to Boost Birthrates (John Heyward for Breitbart. March 13, 2026.)

I would have suggested not having a state-sponsored infanticide policy for four decades but it’s probably too late for that idea.

1. Qatari Fund Cooks Up a Premium Papa Johns Bid (Jamie Wilde for The Daily Upside*. March 13, 2026.)

Time to use the pizza Qatar?

1. WordPress Launches Playground-Powered Personal Workspace, but Reception Is Mixed (Rae Morey for The Repository. March 12, 2026.)

There is a reason I draft all of my articles outside of WordPress.

1. Over $56,000 in clothing stolen during Lululemon, Alo theft ring in Brooklyn and Manhattan (Julia Burns and Zoe Cosgrove for News12 Brooklyn. March 13, 2026.)

In Newsletter Leaf Journal 241, I expressed my willingness to reserve judgment about an individual who had stolen $30,000 of Labubu collectables. My reasoning: Maybe he stole them to destroy the abominations. Here too I reserve judgment. While this theft ring most likely consists of criminals who should be in prison, I cannot yet rule out the small possibility that their goal was to take a stand against the common misconception that leggings are pants.

1. Rough winter leaves many NYC traffic signals on the fritz (Liam Quigley for Gothamist. March 8, 2026.)

I did not see this particular problem in my area. But even if I had, I would not adjust my pro-salt take.