I'm so much taller than my parents that people laughed when they walked me down the aisle during my wedding. My mom always answered questions about my height by explaining that the milkman was quite tall. I've never seen my height (6'4) as an advantage. Height limits which cars you can fit into, your legroom on flights, seems to cause increased back and neck problems, and for what it's worth, I don't see a lot of really tall, really old people walking around. And of course, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Which brings us to America, the once worldwide leader in height that seems to be shrinking. WaPo (Gift Article) examined this very clear trend and discovered it's connected to factors such as aging, obesity, immigration, modern medicine, inequality, school lunches, and more. Why are Americans getting shorter? (Oddly, the article omits any mention of the retirement of my childhood milkman.)

2

Punt, Pass, and Clique

Are you ready for some football? That used to be a relatively simple question. But in recent years, our answer to that question has (like so many other things) become dependent on geography, income, and yes, politics. Let's head to the gridiron to tackle the latest line of scrimmage in America's endless Culture Bowl. WaPo (Gift Article): The Changing Face of America’s Favorite Sport. "In much of Mississippi, which has the highest poverty rate and highest rate of high school tackle football participation in the country, the risk-reward calculus remains tilted heavily in favor of playing. According to the NFL, the state has the fourth-most players in the league this season on a per capita basis, behind Georgia, Louisiana and Alabama."

3

Kill Switch

According to data gathered from cities across America, the murder rate dropped by about 13% this year. Yes, we're killing each other less. "And it’s not just murder. FBI data for the third quarter show that every category of crime except for motor-vehicle theft is down, some of them sharply, year over year from 2022. (As for the car thefts, they seem—in one of the weirdest data flukes you’ll ever see—to have been driven almost entirely by TikTok videos showing the ease of breaking into certain Kias and Hyundais.)" The Atlantic (Gift Article): America’s Peace Wave.

+ "A Gallup poll released this month found that 77% of Americans believe crime rates are worsening." Most people think the U.S. crime rate is rising. They're wrong.

4

Netflix and ill

"Adults can also have what doctors call a post-viral cough that lasts for three weeks or more after other symptoms go away." This year, it seems like there's coughing everywhere. Are we just more attuned to coughing since the pandemic or did staying away from each other for all that time make us less efficient at fighting off viruses? NYT (Gift Article): The Case of the Never-Ending Illness. "Post-pandemic, winter has become one big blur of coughs and colds. Did something change?"

5

Extra, Extra

Recession Supression: "The economy is ending the year in a remarkably better position than almost anyone on Wall Street or in mainstream economics predicted, having bested just about all expectations time and again. Inflation has dropped to 3.1 percent, from a peak of 9.1. The unemployment rate is at a hot 3.7 percent, and the economy grew at a healthy clip in the most recent quarter. The Fed is probably finished hiking interest rates and is eyeing cuts next year. Financial markets are at or near all-time highs, and the S&P 500 could hit a new record this week, too." Everyone expected a recession. The Fed and White House found a way out.

+ Oil Tanked: Key remaining threats to the economy include the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. And, in terms of economics, the actions of the Iran-backed Houthis could have the biggest impact. Oil giant BP has announced it is pausing all shipments of oil through the Red Sea after recent attacks on vessels by Houthi rebels. Here's the latest from CNN, BBC, and Times of Israel.

+ Deal Estate: "Conceived about 40 years ago to give seniors more freedom in their final years of life, the assisted-living industry has been reshaped by real estate speculators looking to cash in on an aging nation. They were aided by Congress in 2008, when a new law gave certain investors the ability to hold senior-housing properties tax-free while also taking a slice of their annual income." WaPo (Gift Article): Understaffed and neglected: How real estate investors reshaped assisted living.

+ Why Don't We Steel Away: "China and Chinese companies have come to dominate global steel production. Of the nearly 2 billion metric tons of steel produced annually across the globe, about 54% comes from China." That increases the likelihood of regulators approving a deal just struck between US Steel and a Japanese giant. Storied US Steel to be acquired for more than $14 billion by Nippon Steel.

+ Putin on the Ritz: "In all, Mr. Putin has overseen one of the biggest transfers of wealth within Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. Huge swaths of industries — elevators, tires, industrial coatings and more — are now in the hands of increasingly dominant Russian players." NYT (Gift Article): How Putin Turned a Western Boycott Into a Bonanza.

+ Francis Boom Bah: "Pope Francis formally approved letting Catholic priests bless same-sex couples, the Vatican announced Monday, a radical shift in policy that aimed at making the church more inclusive while maintaining its strict ban on gay marriage."

+ Watch Case: "The move comes following an ITC ruling as part of a long-running patent dispute between Apple and medical technology company Masimo around the Apple Watch’s blood oxygen sensor technology." Apple to halt Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 sales in the US this week.

+ Howard Weaver: The journalism world lost a great champion last week. A pen-pal friend of mine and a mentor to so many young journalists. Howard Weaver, editor who led Anchorage Daily News through transformative years, dies at 73. You can read Howard's memoir of his news years: Write Hard, Die Free: Dispatches from the Battlefields & Barrooms of the Great Alaska Newspaper War.

6

Bottom of the News

"Humans are a basically civilized species. We know not to go barefoot in restaurants, treat our friends’ living rooms like landfills or nap on the shoulder of our office cubicle mate. And yet, as soon as we step inside an airport or onto a plane, our manners seem to vanish. Perhaps it’s the delirium of travel or the belief that everyday rules do not apply to vacations, much like calories don’t count on holiday and foreign currencies aren’t real money. Or maybe there has never been a canon for proper passenger behavior — until now." WaPo (Gift Article): The 52 Rules of Flying.