My wife and I attended the same high school. I had a crush on her back then, but it was unrequited. We didn't see each other for a decade after high school, until one new year's eve when we both ended up at the same IHop. Something about the cut of my jib as I consumed my French Toast must have triggered a change, because she started to finally come around. Long story short, it took me 14 years to get laid in high school. It turns out that my lack of romantic prowess may have been ahead of its time. According to Faith Hill in The Atlantic (Gift Article), fewer young people are getting into relationships. Teens Are Forgoing a Classic Rite of Passage. "In a 2023 poll from the Survey Center on American Life, 56 percent of Gen Z adults said they’d been in a romantic relationship at any point in their teen years, compared with 76 percent of Gen Xers and 78 percent of Baby Boomers. And the General Social Survey, a long-running poll of about 3,000 Americans, found in 2021 that 54 percent of participants ages 18 to 34 reported not having a 'steady' partner; in 2004, only 33 percent said the same." (We've ruined young people's attention span for everything else, so maybe we've ruined it for relationships, too. Or maybe the modern difficulty everyone seems to have forging meaningful real-life connections has spilled over into romance. Or maybe teens just use different lingo to describe relationships. I try to avoid the topic altogether with my own Gen Z teen children, aside from my one non-negotiable rule: No eating at IHop until college.)

2

Who's on First?

"Maybe President Trump isn’t clamoring to push Ukraine under the bus after all. Tuesday’s meeting in Jeddah, between his top officials and their Ukrainian counterparts, ended with the Americans handing Kyiv a clear advantage—militarily and diplomatically—and putting Moscow in a tight, awkward spot." The U.S. Just Handed Ukraine a Clear Advantage.

+ CNN: "Even if Russian negotiators can impose their own conditions on the ceasefire – a Ukrainian withdrawal from Kursk, for example, the small pocket of Russia captured by Ukraine, where fighting is now raging – it is hard to imagine that its greater territorial demands, yet alone the goal of removing NATO from its western flank, would be met." Trump said Russia had ‘all the cards,’ but this ceasefire proposal just called Putin’s bluff.

+ Needless to say, this situation could change dramatically on the drop of a dime - or a Truth Social post. But the tariff-like flip-flop on this issue is surprising. My guess is that there is some serious daylight between what Trump wants and what some in his administration want. But it's just a guess. Speaking of guessing, I've seen about 50 headlines on Putin's response to the ceasefire proposal, and none of them seem to agree on his position. AP: Putin agrees in principle with proposal for Ukraine ceasefire and says more discussions are needed. "We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis." (There may only be two people in the world who aren't clear on the root causes of this crisis.)

3

Debbie Downers

Benzos are featured prominently in two major series: The White Lotus and the Pitt. I'm guessing they're also featured prominently in the way many Americans are managing the 2025 news cycle. They work fast. But getting off of them can be a long, difficult effort. NYT (Gift Article): Don’t Underestimate the Risks of Benzodiazepines.

4

Steamed Price

The price of eggs in America has become a major story. But it's nothing compared to this. Japan is short on rice. NYT (Gift Article): Going Once, Going Twice: 165,000 Tons of Rice. "Japan doesn’t have enough rice, a pillar of its diet. A shortage forced supermarkets to implement buying limits, and soaring prices have driven restaurants to hike prices of everyday food. Things have gotten so dire that, for the first time, the government is tapping its emergency stockpile in an effort to drive down prices."

+ Japan also has a shortage of people to serve rice. Enter the cat-eared robots. Japan’s service robot market projected to triple in five years.

5

Extra, Extra

Probationary Status: "It is sad, a sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that’s a lie." Judge orders Trump administration to reinstate most fired probationary staff. Meanwhile, Democratic Attorneys General Sue Over Gutting of Education Department. And a "federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked parts of President Trump's executive order targeting a prominent law firm for its representation of Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign and for causes unpopular with his administration. Can the courts hold the line against these attacks on government and the rule of law?

+ Well Done, Weldon! Aside from Matt Gaetz, is any nominee bad enough for the GOP Senate to reject them? Shockingly, yes. Congratulations to Dr. Dave Weldon. White House withdraws controversial pick to run the CDC.

+ Global Virus: So much for American exceptionalism. A lot of the self-inflicted trends afflicting us are afflicting the rest of the world as well. Measles highest in 25 years in Europe, WHO says. We're also exporting some afflictions. NYT (Gift Article): Tuberculosis Resurgent as Trump Funding Cut Disrupts Treatment Globally. These programs don't cost much. Cutting them doesn't gain a single MAGA vote. So what's the point other than cruelty? Speaking of which: U.S. citizen child recovering from brain cancer deported to Mexico with undocumented parents.

+ Bald Truth: "Soon after taking the medicine, Millich said he felt strange symptoms. He woke up one day anxious, dizzy and slurring his words. Later his libido plunged, and his genitals shrank and changed shape." WSJ (Gift Article): They Wanted a Quick Fix for Hair Loss. Instead, These Young Men Got Sick.

+ Oversharing? Meta is trying to block ex-employee’s book alleging misconduct and harassment. "An arbitrator has instructed the book’s author and its publishers to stop publishing the book."

+ Come as a Revelation "It wasn’t until my early 20s that I learned women don’t urinate out of their vaginas. If sperm are stupid, so are men. At the same time, while humanity’s future may feel difficult to imagine, some people are already living in it. And they’re designing technology that is next-level bonkers, both reassuring and frightening in terms of fatherhood, which may destroy traditional ideas of reproduction altogether." Rosecrans Baldwin in GQ: Are men in a spermpocalypse?

6

Bottom of the News

"It is not known how widespread the practice of manipulating pre-approved suits is within ski jumping. Lindvik and Forfang said they knew nothing about deliberately altered equipment, but their coach Magnus Brevig and equipment manager Adrian Livelten confessed." Three more ski jumpers suspended as cheating scandal engulfs sport.

+ Kay Cheon of Dune Coffee Roasters is the 2025 US Barista Champion.

+ Wisconsin boy, 4, calls 911 because his mom ate his ice cream.

+ Taxi stars reunite to pay tribute to castmate Danny DeVitomore than 40 years after show's end.