We’re not the only ones singing the praises of the far-superior USB-C cord. The European Commission (EC) proposed a rule yesterday that would require small tech gadgets like phones, tablets, and headphones to have the same, standardized chargers. This small change would have huge ramifications for device makers.

The proposal aims to cut down on e-waste and all the perfectly good charging cables European citizens throw out every year, which the commission estimates is over 11,000 tons worth. If the law is passed (and there’s a very good chance it will be), electronics manufacturers will have two years to make all new devices USB-C compatible so consumers won’t need to buy a new charger with every new device.

• The EU has been trying to cut down the number of cords in its citizens’ junk drawers since 2009, when there were 30+ different chargers to choose from. It’s slimmed down since then to three popular options.
  

Tim Cook says get your grubby hands off my ports

The company most affected by the ruling by far would be Apple, the tech company that notoriously does not play well with other devices. While some newer iPad versions have USB-C ports, iPhones still use Apple’s Lightning charger. It could cost the company up to $1 billion to change course.

• In 2018, 21% of all smartphones sold in the EU had a Lightning port.

Apple released a statement arguing that this rule would stifle innovation and hurt consumers. In the past, Apple has objected to common charger mandates, saying they would create even more waste when everyone dumps their different cords to replace them with the new one.

Big picture: Apple and the EU have been getting along about as well as dairy and a Gen Z’s stomach. Among its other antitrust battles, Apple has been accused by the EU of violating competition laws. —MM

The FAA released fresh numbers yesterday showing that while the problem of unruly passengers on flights remains historically high, it’s on a gradual descent.

The agency has recorded 4,385 unruly passenger incidents this year—more than 70% of which involve masks. And so far in 2021, it’s handed out $1.1 million in fines. But FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said the zero-tolerance policy the agency introduced in January is working: Unruly passenger incidents have fallen 50% from early 2021.

The backstory: Routine flights have devolved into daycare centers during the pandemic, with passengers increasingly lashing out over safety policies like mask mandates. In some extreme cases, exasperated flight attendants have resorted to duct taping the most disobedient passengers to their seats.

• What they have done: Airlines including Southwest and American have banned alcohol sales on flights until 2022.

Zoom out: Aviation reps testified on Capitol Hill yesterday as lawmakers put more pressure on the industry to make flying less miserable for everyone. —NF

The net worth of US households rose to a record $141.7 trillion in the second quarter, up 19.6% from a year ago, the Fed reported yesterday.

• Net worth = your assets (savings, stock holdings, real estate) – your liabilities (loans, credit card debt).

The unprecedented rise in net worth reflects two defining trends of the US economy in 2021: a surging stock market and a white-hot housing market. Of the $5.85 trillion increase in net worth, stocks accounted for $3.5 trillion, and real estate appreciation was responsible for $1.2 trillion.

• Home equity percentage, or the portion of your home that is actually yours as you pay off a mortgage, rose to 67.7% in April, the highest level since the 2008 financial crisis.

We had a lot of help along the way. The government’s stimulus measures to counter the Covid-induced recession, such as enhanced unemployment benefits, fortified personal balance sheets with the strength of 10 million lentils.

Zoom out: Higher net worth also came with a big surge in IOUs. Household debt jumped 7.9% in Q2, a more rapid pace than in previous quarters, spurred by skyrocketing home prices and cheap borrowing costs. —SQ

Stat: The persistent global chip shortage will cost the auto industry $210 billion in revenue, according to consulting firm AlixPartners, nearly double its previous estimate. Automakers are estimated to lose 7.7 million units of production this year as factory shutdowns across Southeast Asia have delayed a return to supply chain normalcy.

Quote: “The worst time in the world we want to shut down the government is in the middle of a pandemic where we have 140,000 people a day getting infected and 2,000 people a day dying.”

Dr. Fauci is one of many prominent figures pressuring lawmakers to work out a deal to keep funding the government past next Thursday. The White House budget office told federal agencies yesterday to prepare for the first shutdown of the Covid era.

Read: The scientist and the AI-assisted, remote-control killing machine. (New York Times)

Get deep: Explore hundreds of topics related to navigating this strange thing we call life on this site.

Three short pod episodes: Take your pick. 1) The power of perspective & prioritizing family and friends 2) 5 lessons from Allbirds’s IPO journey 3) How to make social media work for you

Weekend food guide: Yes, it’s all pumpkin-themed. Try pumpkin cinnamon granola, DIY pumpkin pie spice, a homemade pumpkin spice latte, and creamy pumpkin ravioli. (H/t Sidekick; sign up for more great recs here).

It’s nearly the weekend, but don’t turn your brain off quite yet—here’s a fun logic puzzle from the Guardian.

Wittgenstein has been murdered. The culprit is one of either Friedrich Nietzsche, Lou Andreas-Salomé, Karl Marx, or Ludwig Feuerbach. They make the following statements. You have been correctly informed that the guilty person always lies, and everyone else tells the truth.

Nietzsche: Salomé is the culprit.
Salomé: Marx is innocent.
Feuerbach: Salomé’s statement is true.
Marx: Nietzsche’s statement is false.

Who killed Wittgenstein?

Nietzsche.

From the Guardian: "If Nietzsche is telling the truth, then Salomé is the culprit and therefore a liar. Thus Marx is not innocent, meaning he is the culprit. We can’t have two culprits, since this is forbidden in the setting of the question, and so we are led to contradiction. Nietzsche must therefore be lying. If he is lying, then everyone else tells the truth, which they can without contradiction. Thus Nietzsche killed Wittgenstein."