🐤 Grass Jordan

🏦 Markets: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appeared for his second consecutive day of congressional testimony on Wednesday, but it didn’t clear up any uncertainty about future interest rate hikes.

He noted that the central bank hasn’t “made a decision on the March meeting” after acknowledging that inflation remains a major issue for the economy and individual Americans.

The waiting game is toying with investors as Wall Street closed on another mixed day. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite finished up a fraction of a percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2%.

🍊 Sunny V: OJ and vodka have made a great team since the first screwdriver was poured — but now the pairing is getting a nostalgic update. Sunny D, the ubiquitous orange drink that you probably remember from the fridge of your childhood, is launching a decidedly adult-themed product with its new Vodka Seltzer canned beverage. Believe it or not, this wasn’t developed in some corporate office or taste-testing lab. Fans of the original drink pleaded with Sunny D to produce it, and the company listened! You can enjoy a four-pack of the drink without too much guilt. Each can only has 95 calories and doesn’t contain any sugar while delivering 4.5% alcohol by volume. Early customer feedback indicates most people think it tastes better than other hard seltzers on the market. Pick yours up at a local Walmart starting Saturday.

👑 “Not my king”: England’s newest monarch will be officially crowned in less than two months, but not all of his subjects are happy about it. Although Queen Elizabeth enjoyed widespread popularity during her record-long reign, her son, King Charles III, is inheriting a kingdom that is inhabited by a growing number of folks who want to see the end of the monarchy. Furthermore, he’s become a divisive figure amid the fallout with his son and daughter-in-law, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. As King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla made their way through Colchester this week, the many critics lining the streets seemed to be making more noise than the supporters who wanted to get close to royalty. Many protesters donned shirts and signs declaring “Not My King!” while booing at the couple. A recent poll found that only about 1 in 3 young adults believe Britain’s monarchy should continue.

🐝 Oh, bee-have: Countless stories have been written in recent years regarding the decline in the number of bee colonies around the world. This has a serious domino effect on many elements of the environment and experts have been considering various methods of dealing with the problem. This week, the U.S. government announced the authorization of the first honeybee vaccine, which Dalan Animal Health CEO Annette Kleiser said works “like magic” against illnesses that have killed off so many bees. “You vaccinate the queen and she passes it on to the millions of offspring that make the colony,” she said. Since insects don’t naturally make antibodies, previous assumptions were that vaccines would have no real effect on bees. The recent development has turned that common belief on its head without any apparent impact on the honey or pollination resulting from the vaccinated colonies.

🙅‍♂️ Toss the junk: President Joe Biden has repeatedly voiced his opposition to the hidden fees that are often tacked onto consumer bills for just about everything these days. He has called on lawmakers and regulators to take action, and now the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is adding additional pressure. The agency called on states to increase efforts to root out and eliminate or transparently disclose so-called “junk fees.” The White House planned a meeting with lawmakers from across the country on Wednesday in order to discuss actions that have already been taken while offering tips about what more needs to be done. For her part, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge called out those who add charges to rental properties, asserting that these “hidden, duplicative, or unnecessary fees” are especially detrimental to Americans struggling to make ends meet.

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NBA legend Michael Jordan has clearly earned his reputation as one of the very best basketball players to ever set foot on the court. When it comes to golf, however, he apparently needs a bit of help gaining the upper hand on professionals.

That’s why several design elements of the course at his golf club — The Grove XXIII — is so important.

What makes it different

In sports, as in life, it’s important to understand your weaknesses and accentuate your strengths. And when Jordan was sizing up better golfers that he might play against at his club, he knew what would give him a clear advantage.

Pro golfer Rickie Fowler shared the details in a recent interview, noting that the fairways on the course are designed so that those who have longer drives will end up in a notoriously narrow fairway — if they’re lucky enough to stay out of the rough.

Meanwhile, golfers like Jordan, who don’t drive the ball as far, have a much wider fairway to aim for. As Fowler explained: “The shorter you hit it, the wider it is.”

That gives the club’s owner a serious edge over Fowler and other professional golfers who play against him for money on the exclusive course.

More than just the fairway

Legendary designer Bobby Weed was responsible for creating the challenging course and those who have played it say there are multiple elements that make it so tricky.

In addition to the narrowing fairway, the course makes use of South Florida’s frequently shifting wind patterns to keep golfers on their toes when predicting where the ball will land.

Some pro golfers have found a bright spot in playing against Jordan, though. According to Dustin Johnson’s trainer, talking trash while at The Grove XXIII makes him a bigger psychological threat against competitors.

There are many reasons to drink margaritas responsibly — but one of them has nothing to do with the liquor in each drink. Instead, medical professionals are advising people to be aware of the potential risks associated with handling too much lime before going out in the sun.

One woman’s cautionary tale

Social media influencer Isabel Tan recalled finding a dark spot on the skin around her mouth after a night of drinking margaritas recently. After initially dismissing it as nothing serious, it began to darken and become flaky, at which point she decided to visit a dermatologist.

The doctor asked what she had to drink and quickly arrived at the diagnosis of phytophotodermatitis, which is a condition resulting from the combined impact of lime juice and sunlight.

“The lime wedge on the rim of the cup must have been rubbing against my lips,” Tan explained.

A pretty common phenomenon

While Tan’s TikTok post about her experience racked up more than a million views and introduced a lot of people to an issue commonly called “margarita burn,” the condition is actually pretty common. Fortunately, most cases are mild and don’t result in permanent damage.

Nevertheless, it’s frustrating for those who receive blister-like outbreaks — so here are some prevention and treatment tips you can remember to avoid a similar fate.

• Most cases involve limes, but celery can also be a culprit.
• You don’t have to be outside to be affected — squeezing limes near a window can be enough to result in phytophotodermatitis.
• Serious cases can be treated with a topical steroid prescribed by a dermatologist.
• When handling limes (particularly in the sun), wash your hands immediately afterward.

Even though most cases aren’t serious, there’s no reason for a good margarita to result in anything worse than a little hangover.

While standout high school athletes can often rely on scholarships to gain entry to colleges that they might not otherwise be able to afford, that is not the case for students who want to attend any of the nation’s eight Ivy League institutions.

Now, two Brown University basketball players (one current and one former) are challenging the ban on athletic scholarships with a lawsuit claiming that the rule is illegal.

At the heart of the case

Grace Kirk, who currently plays on the Brown women’s team, and Tamanang Choh, who was on the men’s squad until last year, are hoping to win a class-action lawsuit applying to current and former athletes at Ivy League schools dating back four years.

The lawsuit alleges that the eight colleges are essentially engaged in a coordinated price-fixing scheme by refusing to provide any financial relief for athletes who represent them in various sports.

All eight schools — in addition to Brown, they include Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Dartmouth — have had a ban in place on athletic scholarships since 1954.

Defending the prohibition

Although this makes the Ivy League the only Division I conference without such compensation, its executive director dismisses claims that the longstanding policy is unfair.

Robin Harris touted the “foundational principle that student-athletes should be representative of the wider student body, including the opportunity to receive need-based financial aid.”

She went on to claim that this approach “provides each Ivy League student-athlete a journey that balances a world-class academic experience with the opportunity to compete in Division I athletics and ultimately paves a path for lifelong success.”

The lawsuit, on the other hand, notes that other elite universities are able to “maintain stellar academic standards while competing for excellent athletes, and without agreed upon limits on price.”