Month: September 2020

Enlarge / Protesters demonstrate during a 'No Evictions, No Police' national day of action protest against law enforcement who forcibly remove people from homes on September 1, 2020 in New York City. (credit: Getty | Angela Weiss)

Citing the risks of COVID-19 spread, the Trump administration on Tuesday said it would halt US evictions through the end of the year, wielding a rarely used power of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Under the order, the CDC is halting residential evictions of people who are unable to pay full rent due to income loss and who expect to earn no more than $99,000 in income this year (or no more than $198,000 if filing a joint tax return). Renters hoping to be protected by the order must also certify, under penalty of perjury, that if they are evicted, they “would likely become homeless, need to move into a homeless shelter, or need to move into a new residence shared by other people who live in close quarters because [they] have no other available housing options.”

The order does not offer any financial relief—either for renters or for housing providers—and it doesn’t relieve anyone from having to pay their rent in full eventually. It also doesn’t prevent housing providers from charging interest or applying fees and penalties.

A few months back, before COVID-19 upended life, we tried out a new video concept: we took a bunch of random folks and forced them to play Nintendo games in our science laboratory studio while we did science upon them filmed them talking about the games. The first video we got out of the experience covered Super Mario Bros., but we also had one more game on tap that day—Mario Kart 8.

In our new video, you can watch three different players, with three different levels of skill, power their way through Mario Kart 8 on Switch. We managed to scoop up a new player and a well-seasoned video game veteran to offer some commentary on how the game feels; and to provide some expert-level contrast, we also roped in speedrunner and Mario Kart record holder Amber_cxc. Amber_cxc also gives a good breakdown of the ins and outs of Mario Kart speedrunning, along with tips and hints on how to get faster in going around those crazy-ass tracks.

There are more War Stories videos in production, too, so if you're looking for more deep dives into the challenges of making games, stay tuned—we've got them coming!