the friday brief
3 things that matter
the dhs shutdown hits spring break travel with record tsa wait times
forty-one days into the partial government shutdown, more than 480 transportation security officers have quit since february 14; callout rates at major hubs have reached 40 to 50 percent on single days. wait times exceeded four and a half hours at several airports, the longest in the agency's 25-year history. the acting administrator told congress on march 25 that across this shutdown and the 43-day closure from october to november 2025 combined, tsa will have reached nearly $1 billion in missed paychecks by march 27. in the early hours of march 27, the senate passed a bill to fund tsa and most of dhs, excluding ice and cbp. the bill now moves to the house, where a vote could come as early as today.
ta landmark jury verdict holds meta and youtube liable for addictive platform design
a los angeles jury found meta and youtube liable on march 25 for the addictive design of their platforms, the first time a us court has held social media companies responsible for engineering products that harm young users. the plaintiff, now 20 and identified as kgm, testified she began using youtube at age 6 and instagram at age 9, later developing anxiety, depression, and body dysmorphia. jurors assigned meta 70 percent of the responsibility and ordered $6 million in total damages. both companies plan to appeal. the case is a bellwether for more than 1,600 pending lawsuits from families and school districts nationwide.
The Iran War is hitting american farmers before a seed goes in the ground
one-third of the world's seaborne fertilizer supply passes through the strait of hormuz. with the waterway blockaded since february 28, urea prices at the new orleans import hub have risen nearly 30 percent since the war began. corn farmers entering spring planting season are the most exposed: corn requires significantly more nitrogen than soybeans. analysts estimate us corn acreage could fall by one to one and a half million acres this year as farmers shift to less fertilizer-intensive crops. disruptions are expected to carry into 2027 planning.
1 thing to know
prediction markets and the price of early information
as the iran war entered its second week, $529 million in contracts were traded on polymarket tied to the timing of us military strikes. one account made more than $500,000 on a bet placed just over an hour before the strikes broke publicly. two israelis, including a military reservist, were indicted in february 2026 for using classified information to bet on polymarket during israel's earlier strikes on iran in 2025. the platforms are not operating at arm's length from the administration: donald trump jr. is a strategic adviser to kalshi and an investor in polymarket, and the doj and cfpb both closed open investigations into polymarket after january 2025. on march 23, under congressional pressure, both platforms announced new insider trading rules, and three pieces of legislation were introduced to restrict contracts on war and government action.
1 thing to try
a university of exeter study of nearly 20,000 people found that 120 minutes per week in a natural setting was associated with a 59 percent greater likelihood of reporting good health and higher well-being, regardless of how the time was accumulated. one long walk or six twenty-minute breaks produced the same result. local urban parks qualified. late march is the lowest-barrier entry point of the year. treat it as a standing weekly appointment.
