ELECTION

1. A County-by-County Look at How the Blue Wave Touched Nearly Every Part of America (WSJ)

NOTE: Great interactive visuals from WSJ; below are just two of them. The first shows margin of victory by county, the second shows swing of voters from 2024 election.

ECONOMY

2. Why Did All the Fiscal Hawks Go Extinct? (WSJ)

America’s national debt has reached 100% of GDP for the first time since 1946, yet neither political party seems particularly interested in addressing it. The federal government ran a nearly $2 trillion deficit in fiscal 2026, equal to 6.2% of GDP, marking the seventh consecutive year with deficits above 5%. Interest payments on the debt now exceed military spending. Despite these numbers, only 30 political ads mentioned the debt or deficit during this year’s midterm campaigns, compared with 140 in 2018. Politicians who once championed fiscal restraint have largely retired, lost elections, or abandoned the issue because voters have little appetite for higher taxes or spending cuts.

Decades of wars, financial crises, pandemic spending, tax cuts, and rising Social Security and Medicare costs have steadily increased government borrowing. For years, historically low interest rates allowed governments to accumulate debt without much financial pain, convincing many economists and politicians that large deficits were manageable. Now that borrowing costs have risen, those assumptions are being reconsidered. Federal spending has climbed above 23% of GDP, while revenue remains around 17%, leaving a persistent gap that neither party has been willing to close. Republicans have largely abandoned efforts to reform Social Security and Medicare, while Democrats have increasingly promised to protect most Americans from higher taxes. Social Security’s projected insolvency in 2032 could force Congress to confront some of these issues. Historically, successful deficit reduction has required both parties to share responsibility for unpopular decisions. Without that cooperation, meaningful action may not come until financial markets or another crisis force the issue.

3. Just About Every Part of Building a House Is Getting More Expensive (WSJ)

Building a new home in the U.S. keeps getting more expensive, even as higher mortgage rates weaken demand. Tariffs, the Iran war, and the rapid expansion of AI data centers are driving up prices for materials, labor, and transportation. Tariffs alone are estimated to add about $8,200 to the cost of an average new home, while higher energy prices have pushed up the cost of roofing, PVC pipes, aluminum, and deliveries. The AI boom is creating additional competition for copper and skilled workers, particularly electricians and HVAC technicians. Immigration enforcement has also disrupted construction crews in some areas, leading to labor shortages, higher wages, and costly delays.

Builders are getting squeezed by interest rates as well. They face higher borrowing costs to finance construction while spending more to offer mortgage-rate incentives that attract buyers. Regulatory expenses are another major problem, with building codes, zoning restrictions, fees, and lengthy approval processes adding substantially to construction costs. Although Congress recently passed major housing legislation intended to encourage construction, many of the toughest restrictions are imposed locally, where opposition to new development remains strong. With costs continuing to rise and buyers struggling to afford homes, builders are cutting back on construction, making it even harder to increase the nation’s housing supply.

DEFENSE

4. How Iran Battered U.S. Bases and Caused Billions in Damage (WSJ)

Iranian missile and drone attacks damaged at least 274 structures across 24 military installations with a U.S. presence during the first six months of the war, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of satellite imagery. The attacks killed more than 20 American servicemembers and wounded more than 400 before the Pentagon stopped publishing war-specific casualty figures in July. The war had cost an estimated $47.1 billion by mid-October, excluding damage to military bases, which officials estimate could add another $5 billion to $15 billion. Rebuilding the damaged structures alone could cost more than $4 billion.

Iran’s attacks also became more precise as the war progressed. During the opening weeks, strikes concentrated on installations near Iran, particularly in Kuwait and Bahrain. After the July ceasefire collapsed, Iran began targeting bases farther west, including facilities in Jordan, and increasingly aimed at buildings where American troops lived and slept. A July 17 strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan killed three servicemembers and damaged at least 19 housing buildings. Iran also demonstrated an improved ability to hit smaller targets, raising concerns about the effectiveness of U.S. base defenses. The Pentagon has already relocated thousands of troops and is considering moving some installations farther from Iran or reducing its presence in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

NOTE: Many great visuals in this article. Below is just one.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

5. The Smartest People in AI Believe This Is the World’s Most Important Chart (WSJ)

AI companies are beginning to use artificial intelligence to develop increasingly powerful versions of itself, a process known as “recursive self-improvement,” or RSI. The idea is that each generation of AI helps build a smarter successor, which can then accelerate development of the next generation. At Anthropic, the share of AI research and development led primarily by Claude, with human supervision, jumped from just 1% in March 2026 to 26% in August. A year earlier, AI played almost no leading role in this work. None of Anthropic’s research is yet fully autonomous, but the pace of change has surprised even its own executives.

The concept has fascinated AI researchers since the 1950s, when scientists first imagined machines capable of designing smarter machines. What’s different now is that researchers are seeing early signs of it happening. Anthropic engineers are increasingly handing coding and development work to Claude, sometimes writing little code themselves. Co-founder Jack Clark, who previously thought recursive self-improvement might arrive by 2028, now believes it could happen in 2027.

The prospect has created considerable unease within the AI industry. Self-improving systems could dramatically accelerate scientific discoveries and economic growth, but researchers worry that development could eventually move faster than humans can understand or control. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has warned that the technology needs to be approached carefully, while other leading researchers have called for stronger oversight and slower development. Anthropic acknowledges that fully autonomous self-improvement is neither inevitable nor here yet, but it may arrive sooner than governments and other institutions are prepared for.

6. AI chip imports documentation

The United States has received nearly three-quarters of the world’s advanced AI computing capacity since 2022, according to estimates from Epoch AI. Of the roughly 27 million Nvidia H100-equivalent units of computing power shipped worldwide through June 2026, about 72% went to the U.S., compared with 10% to China and 5% to the European Union. China received a larger share of physical AI chips, about 18%, but many were less powerful models, including chips designed to comply with U.S. export restrictions and domestically produced Chinese alternatives. The estimates are based on customs records and chip sales data, which Epoch AI uses to track where advanced processors are shipped. The figures aren’t exact, particularly outside the U.S., because trade records don’t distinguish AI chips from other computer hardware.

7. The Shopping Bots Are Coming for Amazon (WSJ)

Meta’s new AI shopping assistant, Muse, is emerging as a potential threat to Amazon, attracting more than 10 million users in the U.S. and Canada within six weeks of its September launch. Muse can research products, compare prices, and make purchases on behalf of shoppers, potentially bypassing Amazon’s traditional shopping experience and its lucrative advertising business, which generated nearly $70 billion last year. If consumers increasingly rely on AI agents to make purchasing decisions, companies may have less reason to pay Amazon for sponsored product listings. Amazon has blocked Muse from shopping on its site, citing security concerns, while Walmart and Shopify have partnered with Meta.

TECHNOLOGY

8. A Startup Wants to Put 50,000 Mirrors in Space. The Goal: Make Sunlight Available at Night. (Popular Mechanics)

A California startup called Reflect Orbital wants to put as many as 50,000 satellites equipped with enormous mirrors into orbit to reflect sunlight onto Earth at night. The company envisions selling sunlight on demand (sunlight-as-a-service) for uses such as powering solar farms and supporting search-and-rescue operations, reportedly charging $5,000 an hour. Studies suggest that a single satellite with a 54-meter mirror could produce light 40 times brighter than the full moon within its targeted area, while a full constellation could make the night sky three to four times brighter overall. Scientists also worry about disrupting the natural day-night cycles of humans and wildlife. Reflect Orbital conducted a ground-based demonstration in California in October and has received FCC approval for a demonstration satellite. The company is exploring launches through an Indian provider, potentially avoiding some U.S. regulatory requirements. Astronomers are calling for greater oversight before private companies begin fundamentally changing the night sky.

NOTE: Below is an image of a ground-based test using powerful spotlights.

9. Apple Reveals Touchscreen MacBook Pro Starting At $2,899—Here’s What Buyers Get (Forbes)

Apple has introduced its first touchscreen MacBook Pro, featuring a new OLED display, available in 14-inch and 16-inch models. Prices start at $2,899 and reach $4,799 for the M5 Max configuration.

EDUCATION

11. How to Raise a Reader (FP)

Young people are reading more words than ever…unfortunately, it’s through texts, social media, and online content. They’re spending far less time reading books for pleasure. In the late 1970s, about 60% of middle and high school students read a book or magazine on a typical day. By 2016, that figure had fallen to 16%, and in 2023, only 14% of American 13-year-olds said they read for fun almost every day. Arthur Brooks believes this shift helps explain declining happiness and worsening mental health among young people.

Reading a book for an extended period allows people to become absorbed in a story, improving concentration, reducing stress, and creating a sense of enjoyment and accomplishment. Research also links recreational reading to better sleep, stronger academic performance, and lower rates of depression among adolescents. By comparison, social media encourages constant distractions, social comparisons, and compulsive behavior, often leaving users anxious or dissatisfied. The kind of reading occupying people’s time offers fewer of the benefits associated with books. Interestingly, per this study, how you read books doesn’t matter as much as you might think—be it paperbook, eBook, or audiobook—it doesn’t matter. Just the act of reading, or listening to, a book is the important thing.

Here are Arthur Brooks’ exact words about this idea of “narrative absorption”:

This mechanism involves prolonged attention, mental imagery, emotional engagement, and the feeling of being transported into the world described by what you are reading. The experience can be achieved whether what one is reading is consumed on paper or as an ebook or is heard as an audiobook, but in every case it must involve reading (or listening to) one book for a sustained period, such as 45 to 60 minutes.

Narrative absorption often leads to an enjoyable flow state, in which your self-consciousness decreases and the activity feels intrinsically rewarding. After reading an interesting book, you feel a sense of achievement. Losing yourself in a book also induces relaxation: Research on reading shows that reading in bed improves sleep. And for young people in particular, this kind of reading improves academic performance and lowers depression, as researchers writing in the journal Psychological Medicine found when they studied more than 10,000 adolescents in 2023.

None of these benefits come from consuming short-form online information of any type, even if doing so involves reading.

Parents should encourage reading by making it a regular family activity, beginning when children are young and continuing into their teenage years if necessary. Research suggests that children who are read to frequently are more likely to become recreational readers, while shared reading also strengthens parent-child relationships. Just as important, children need to see their parents reading for enjoyment. Rather than constantly telling kids to put down their phones, parents may have more success by reading with them and demonstrating that books are worth their time.

LIFE

12. Epic 28-year walk to cross the world ends at his mother’s door. A look at the trek, by the numbers (AP)

British adventurer Karl Bushby has finally completed a 28-year journey around the world, arriving at his mother’s home in Hull, England, at age 57. He began the trek in Chile in 1998, when he was 29, originally expecting to finish in about five years. Instead, he spent 10,229 days covering roughly 31,000 miles, an estimated 75 million steps, through 30 countries and across four continents. Along the way, he crossed the frozen Bering Strait, traveled through jungles and deserts, and spent 31 days swimming and floating across the Caspian Sea to avoid conflicts blocking his route. Russia proved especially difficult, taking nearly a decade because of harsh weather, visa restrictions, and bureaucratic delays. His journey also included two failed long-term relationships and countless worn-out shoes. After nearly three decades of physical challenges and political obstacles, Bushby finally made it home.

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BUSINESS

1. See How Anthropic Arrived at Its Mind-Boggling $40 Trillion Market Opportunity

Anthropic is preparing for its IPO with an eye-catching estimate of its potential market: more than $40 trillion a year. The company arrived at that figure by calculating the economic value of work performed by knowledge workers around the world. Its thinking is that AI could eventually handle a significant portion of that work or help people do it more efficiently. The estimate is even larger than the $28.5 trillion market opportunity SpaceX presented to investors earlier this year. Anthropic has taken another leap by essentially counting the value of knowledge work across the global economy as a market its technology could serve.

Of course, there’s a big difference between the economic value of work AI might influence and the revenue Anthropic could actually collect. The company currently generates billions in annual revenue, a fraction of its implied $40 trillion market. There’s also no way to know how much work AI will ultimately take on or how much companies will be willing to pay for it. But that’s partly the point of these estimates. They give investors a reason to believe that even enormous growth in the coming years could leave Anthropic with plenty of room to expand.

2. Four takeaways from Anthropic’s potentially record-breaking stock market filing

Anthropic’s IPO filing reveals a company experiencing extraordinary growth while accumulating enormous losses. Founded in 2021, the AI developer generated $16.3 billion in revenue during the first half of 2026 but reported an $80 billion loss, largely because of a $72.4 billion one-time charge. In 2025, revenue reached $4.6 billion against nearly $34 billion in losses. Computing infrastructure is a major expense, with spending approaching $9 billion in the first six months of 2026, up from $2.3 billion a year earlier. Unlike OpenAI, Anthropic focuses primarily on business customers, with its five largest customers accounting for 25% of revenue. Some investors have valued the company at between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion.

Anthropic believes AI could eventually achieve the capabilities of millions of highly skilled people working together, transforming fields ranging from medicine and scientific research to finance and national security. The company highlighted its work with pharmaceutical firms, including using AI to reduce the time required to prepare clinical trial reports from months to minutes. It also claims Claude has helped make biological discoveries with potential applications in biotechnology and gene editing.

The filing also acknowledges serious risks associated with increasingly powerful AI. Anthropic warns that its models could assist malicious actors in developing dangerous weapons, conducting cyberattacks, or enabling authoritarian surveillance. Its existing safeguards are incomplete and can be circumvented. The company cited an apparent Chinese state-sponsored cyberattack in which hackers reportedly manipulated Claude into attempting to infiltrate approximately 30 organizations with limited human involvement. Anthropic has also clashed with the Trump administration over restrictions on using its technology for domestic surveillance and autonomous lethal weapons.

Beyond these concerns, Anthropic devoted 92 pages to financial and operational risks. These include intense competition with Google and OpenAI, dependence on major customers and key executives, uncertain AI regulations, and potential liability from harmful uses of its models. Its heavy concentration of U.S. data centers also exposes it to electricity shortages, natural disasters, and restrictions on new facilities. Immigration policies could complicate recruitment of specialized talent. Anthropic’s status as a public benefit corporation adds another consideration, since it must balance financial performance with its stated commitment to developing AI responsibly. The filing presents enormous commercial potential alongside substantial uncertainty about profitability, safety, and the costs of continued expansion.

NOTE: Remember that WSJ article I shared a couple of weeks ago, Will America Spend 9% of Its GDP on AI? The Industry Is Counting on It? The valuations being placed on these AI companies seem to assume that Americans will eventually spend as much on AI as we currently spend on food (9% of GDP). I can tell you my household won’t be doing that, at least not directly. So where is all that money going to come from? My guess is that much of the cost will get baked into the everyday products and services we buy, making everything more expensive. But even then, there’s no way all of the prices would increase enough to equate to the amount our nation spends on food. So, if individuals won’t be directly paying the same on AI as they do food, businesses will have to absorb those costs to reach the 9%, which could put a pretty significant dent in their bottom lines. Either way, somebody has to pay for it.

It also reinforces something I’ve known for a while. What we’re currently paying for AI subscriptions doesn’t come close to covering what it actually costs these companies to provide the services. They’re essentially subsidizing our usage to get us hooked, knowing they can charge more down the road. It’s the old starter-drug approach, and I don’t see how the current pricing can last. We’ve already seen this play out with streaming services. They started out relatively cheap, got everyone accustomed to using them, and then steadily raised prices while adding more and more commercials. I’m already irritated by what I’m paying for streaming these days, and I suspect AI subscriptions are headed down the same road. Either way, I just don’t see these valuations being justified. But, I could be wrong.

3. Microsoft offers buyouts to around 60,000 employees to contain costs

Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to approximately 60,000 employees, more than a quarter of its 223,000-person global workforce, as it looks to reduce operating costs and redirect resources toward artificial intelligence. Eligible employees work across several divisions, including Copilot, AI experiences, finance, human resources, Xbox, and Windows. Marketing, commercial business, and security teams are excluded. The offers are available to qualifying employees in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and India.

The move comes as Microsoft plans to spend approximately $175 billion on capital expenditures in 2026, much of it directed toward AI data centers, chips, and related infrastructure. Investors are increasingly questioning whether the enormous spending commitments across the technology industry will generate sufficient returns. Microsoft says the voluntary program will help employees considering other opportunities while allowing the company to adjust its workforce to changing business needs.

Microsoft has already taken several steps to reduce staffing this year, including offering buyouts to approximately 9,000 U.S. employees and announcing 4,800 job cuts in July, largely associated with restructuring its Xbox business. The latest initiative represents a much larger potential workforce reduction, although the actual number of departures will depend on how many employees accept the offers.

4. Alphabet Sheds Half a Trillion in Market Value in Stock’s Worst Day Ever

Alphabet suffered its worst stock-market decline on record Thursday, with Google shares falling roughly 13% and wiping out about $500 billion in market value. Investors reacted to disappointing third-quarter results and growing concerns that Google’s massive AI investments are beginning to strain its traditionally profitable businesses. Google Services, which includes search advertising, YouTube, and subscriptions, generated $96.3 billion in revenue, below expectations of $98.5 billion. Search revenue growth slowed to 12%, down from 17% in the second quarter and 19% in the first. Higher operating expenses and negative free cash flow added to investor concerns about the cost of building AI infrastructure.

Google faces a difficult transition as AI changes how people search for information. Traditional search generates advertising revenue when users click sponsored links, but AI-powered search increasingly provides direct answers that reduce the need to visit other websites. Google says its AI Mode is growing rapidly, but those searches currently generate less advertising revenue than traditional queries. The company is introducing more ads into AI-generated responses, with early results suggesting that users are engaging with them.

Competition from OpenAI and Anthropic is adding pressure. OpenAI has expanded ChatGPT advertising to 89 countries, attracted more than 100,000 advertisers, and is approaching $1 billion in annualized advertising revenue. Its rapid growth raises questions about Google’s long-term dominance in search advertising. Analysts expect those concerns to persist until Google can demonstrate that its AI products can generate revenue comparable to traditional search, potentially sometime in the first half of 2027.

5. A $300 Billion ‘Debt Wall’ Is Looming Over Private-Equity Backed Companies

Private-equity firms are facing a potential wave of defaults as nearly $300 billion in corporate loans come due in 2028 and 2029. About $140 billion matures in 2028 and another $160 billion in 2029, far above the amounts typically coming due in recent years. Many of these loans were taken out during the 2021 buyout boom, when low interest rates made it cheap to finance acquisitions. With borrowing costs now substantially higher, private-equity firms are struggling to refinance their debt or sell portfolio companies at attractive valuations. If they cannot negotiate extensions, creditors could take control of some businesses, wiping out the firms’ investments.

Software companies account for roughly one-third of the debt coming due, making them particularly vulnerable. Private-equity firms spent heavily acquiring software businesses over the past decade, but higher interest rates and growing competition from AI companies have complicated their prospects. About a quarter of the loans maturing in 2028 and 2029 carry very low credit ratings. Solera, a vehicle-maintenance software company owned by Vista Equity Partners, has approximately $8 billion in debt approaching maturity, with some loans trading at substantial discounts because of concerns about repayment.

The pressure is spreading to private-credit lenders and other investors that financed these acquisitions. Bank of America expects default rates on below-investment-grade corporate loans to double to 4% next year, with creditors recovering less when borrowers fail. Private-equity returns have already fallen from around 15% during the low-interest-rate years to below 10% recently. Some firms are now injecting additional capital into struggling companies in exchange for longer repayment periods. These arrangements can buy several more years, but they also require firms to commit more money to investments whose prospects have weakened. Rising borrowing costs and AI-driven disruption could force increasingly difficult decisions about which companies are worth rescuing.

ECONOMY

6. Federal Debt Hits 100% of GDP

U.S. federal debt held by the public reached $32.2 trillion at the end of fiscal 2026, equivalent to 100.03% of GDP. This marks the first time the annual debt-to-GDP ratio has reached 100% since 1946, when borrowing for World War II pushed it to a record 106%. The federal government also ran a nearly $2 trillion annual deficit, equal to 6.2% of GDP, despite relatively strong economic growth. The more commonly cited $40 trillion national debt figure includes money the government owes itself, while debt held by the public is considered a better measure of the government’s borrowing burden.

The country’s finances have deteriorated considerably since 2000, when the federal government was running budget surpluses and public debt stood at just 33.7% of GDP. Repeated tax cuts, spending on wars and economic emergencies, and rising Social Security and Medicare costs have contributed to the increase. Unlike previous periods of heavy borrowing, today’s large deficits are occurring without a recession or comparable national emergency.

The outlook is increasingly difficult as the population ages and interest payments consume more of the federal budget. Social Security’s trust funds are projected to become insolvent in 2032, potentially triggering automatic benefit reductions unless Congress acts. The Congressional Budget Office expects federal interest costs to rise by more than one percentage point of GDP over the next decade, and its forecasts assumed interest rates considerably lower than current levels. Even a 0.1 percentage-point increase above projected rates would add $379 billion in interest expenses over ten years. Although lawmakers generally recognize the problem, political divisions have made agreement on spending reductions or tax increases difficult.

PREDICTION MARKETS

7. Hackers Swipe Millions From Polymarket Users in Latest Security Breach

Hackers stole at least $2.6 million from Polymarket users on Thursday by exploiting a security flaw in DebugBear, a third-party performance-monitoring tool used on the prediction market’s website. Blockchain records indicate that more than 700 accounts were affected. Polymarket temporarily suspended trading on its international exchange while addressing the breach and said it would reimburse affected customers. The company has referred the incident to U.K. law enforcement, where DebugBear is based.

The breach adds to a series of security and fraud problems at Polymarket, including a costly hack in June and at least two fraud incidents involving its U.S. platform earlier this year. These problems come as prediction markets are growing rapidly and attracting greater regulatory scrutiny. Polymarket and its main U.S. competitor, Kalshi, face dozens of lawsuits over whether their contracts qualify as federally regulated financial products or illegal gambling.

REAL ESTATE

8. Home Buyers Who Enjoyed Cheap Adjustable Mortgages Are Now Getting a Nasty Shock

Tens of thousands of homeowners with adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) are facing sharp increases in their monthly payments as loans taken out during years of historically low interest rates begin to reset. ARMs typically offer a lower initial rate for three to ten years before adjusting to prevailing market rates. That strategy worked well for borrowers who sold or refinanced before rates increased, but many now find themselves facing mortgage rates above 7%. One Minnesota homeowner expects his rate to jump from 2.75% to as much as 7.75%, increasing his monthly payment from $6,800 to $9,300.

Approximately 186,000 adjustable-rate mortgages are scheduled to reset in 2027, with an initial median payment increase of $645 per month, eventually rising to $754 as contractual rate caps allow further adjustments. Borrowers who took out seven-year ARMs in 2020 face particularly steep increases, averaging 43%, or $1,269 per month. Meanwhile, ARMs are becoming popular again as buyers look for alternatives to expensive fixed-rate mortgages. They accounted for 10.5% of mortgage applications in mid-October, up from 6.3% at the beginning of the year.

Current rates:

SPORTS

9. The NFL Team Barreling Toward a $500 Million Financial Cliff

The Philadelphia Eagles built one of the NFL’s most successful teams by aggressively using salary-cap accounting strategies that allowed them to sign and retain more expensive players than their annual cap would ordinarily permit. General manager Howie Roseman relied heavily on “void years,” which are additional years attached to contracts that spread signing bonuses across a longer period for accounting purposes. This allowed Philadelphia to push salary-cap expenses into the future, taking advantage of a league salary cap that generally increases each year. The strategy helped produce five consecutive playoff appearances, two Super Bowl trips, and a championship.

The financial consequences are now catching up with the Eagles. Philadelphia has approximately $507 million in salary-cap obligations tied to void years between 2027 and 2032, nearly twice as much as any other NFL team. The largest burden comes in 2029, when the team faces more than $200 million in projected dead money, including substantial charges associated with Jalen Hurts, DeVonta Smith, and Jordan Mailata. Although contract restructurings could spread some of those costs further into the future, the obligations cannot simply disappear.

The team’s current struggles are making those decisions more difficult. Philadelphia has lost five straight games, sits at 2-5, and could be without quarterback Jalen Hurts for the remainder of the season. Salary-cap considerations have already affected personnel decisions, including delaying A.J. Brown’s trade and keeping retired tackle Lane Johnson on the roster to avoid accelerating his cap charges. The Eagles successfully used future financial flexibility to build a championship team, but they now face years of reduced spending capacity as those deferred costs come due.

EDUCATION

10. The Brutal Harvard Class That Suddenly Everyone Wants to Take

Harvard’s Humanities 10 has become one of the university’s most sought-after courses, attracting 180 applicants for just 90 freshman spots this fall. The yearlong course requires students to read roughly one major book each week, write regular essays, and participate in demanding discussions. There are no pass/fail options, digital devices are prohibited, and attendance is strictly enforced. Despite the workload, applications have risen 40%, driven largely by enthusiastic former students.

The curriculum includes works by Homer, Shakespeare, Plato, Dante, Jane Austen, James Joyce, and James Baldwin, taught by some of Harvard’s most distinguished professors. Faculty members attend one another’s lectures, lead small seminars, and regularly teach books outside their own specialties. Students are expected to arrive prepared, challenge one another’s interpretations, and engage seriously with difficult material. The experience is demanding for professors as well, many of whom describe the course as among their most rewarding teaching assignments.

Students say much of the appeal comes from having a reason to slow down, read challenging books, and think deeply at a time when attention spans are shrinking. Originally created in 2008 to revive declining interest in the humanities, Humanities 10 has instead become evidence that some students still value rigorous reading, thoughtful discussion, and the intellectual satisfaction of doing difficult work themselves.

NOTE: After review, I see that this edition is a bit of an economic Debbie Downer. Didn’t mean for it to be that way. These just happened to be the articles that stood out to me.

So, below is a cute puppy picture to cheer you up.

And, Happy Halloween and Happy November! Don’t forget to change your clocks tonight--this is the one where you get an extra hour of sleep (spring forward, fall back).

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DEFENSE

1. The Space Force Showed Us Its Weapons Used in Iran and Venezuela (WSJ)

An array of U.S. Space Force electromagnetic warfare systems are playing a key role in protecting American troops and degrading enemy satellites around the world. The WSJ was granted rare access to a Space Force base in Colorado to learn how those systems work, and to speak exclusively with Guardians who flew them overseas to support operations in both Venezuela and Iran.

2. Video Cameras Are Everywhere—and Now They Are Being Hacked for War (WSJ)

Internet-connected security cameras, doorbells, traffic cameras, and baby monitors are increasingly being hacked and turned into intelligence-gathering tools. With an estimated 1.2 billion connected cameras worldwide, intelligence agencies and hacking groups can exploit weak passwords and outdated security to monitor military movements, identify targets, and assess damage from attacks. Artificial intelligence has made these operations considerably more powerful by allowing hackers to find vulnerable cameras and analyze enormous amounts of footage automatically.

Russia, Ukraine, Israel, and Iran have all used compromised cameras during military conflicts. Ukrainian hackers accessed cameras in Crimea to track Russian helicopters and identify a previously unknown air base that Ukrainian forces subsequently attacked. Russian hackers have used residential webcams in Kyiv to help identify targets and refine missile strikes. Israel reportedly hacked Iranian traffic cameras to gather intelligence before the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, while Iranian-linked groups have compromised hundreds of Israeli cameras near military facilities and other sensitive locations. European intelligence agencies have also warned that Russia is systematically hacking cameras to monitor military shipments and Ukrainian personnel.

Many cameras have weaker security than computers and smartphones, particularly when installed by facilities managers or homeowners who rarely update their software or change default passwords. Compromised cameras can also provide access to larger networks, exposing files, communications, and other connected devices. Hackers have exploited these weaknesses for espionage, ransomware, propaganda, and intimidation, including intrusions into private baby monitors and government videoconferences.

ECONOMY

3. Why Economists Think Higher Bond Yields Are Here to Stay (WSJ)

Economists increasingly expect elevated U.S. interest rates to persist through the rest of the decade, even as inflation gradually declines. In the Wall Street Journal’s October survey of 71 forecasters, the projected 10-year Treasury yield at the end of 2026 rose to 5.1%, up from 4.4% in July. Economists now expect yields to remain around 4.8% at the end of 2027. Sustained high yields would keep mortgage rates and corporate borrowing costs elevated while adding to federal interest expenses, which already exceed military spending.

Several forces are driving the shift. Large federal deficits and growing national debt are making investors more cautious about holding Treasuries, while the AI infrastructure boom is increasing demand for capital and supporting economic growth. Higher energy prices from the Iran war have added inflationary pressure, and the Federal Reserve has resumed raising interest rates after earlier cuts failed to bring inflation back toward its 2% target. Even if oil prices retreat, economists expect government borrowing and AI investment to keep pressure on long-term yields.

Despite higher borrowing costs, forecasters remain relatively optimistic about the economy. They raised their 2026 GDP growth estimate from 2.1% to 2.4% and expect growth around 2.1% to 2.2% thereafter. Inflation is projected to decline from 3.5% at the end of 2026 to 2.3% by the end of 2027, while unemployment should remain near 4.2%. The estimated probability of recession over the next year is 24%. Some economists disagree with the higher-for-longer outlook, arguing that weakness in white-collar hiring could eventually force the Fed to cut rates. The prevailing expectation, however, is that borrowing costs will remain substantially higher than previously anticipated, even without a recession or persistently high inflation.

4. See What 71 Economists Told Us About Where Growth and Yields Are Headed (WSJ)

Economists expect U.S. bond yields to remain elevated through 2027, keeping pressure on mortgage rates, business borrowing costs, and federal debt payments. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield has risen from 4.2% at the beginning of 2026 to 5.1%, with roughly three-quarters of economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expecting it to finish the year at 5% or higher. More than one-third anticipate yields remaining at or above 5% through 2027. The outlook reflects stronger economic growth, persistent inflation pressures, Federal Reserve rate increases, and concerns about rising federal debt.

Energy prices remain an important source of inflation. Economists expect U.S. crude oil prices to decline from approximately $101 a barrel to $75 by the end of 2027, still above the $67 level before the Iran war began. Consumer inflation is projected to ease to 2.3% by the end of 2027, although borrowing costs are expected to remain high even as price pressures moderate.

Economic growth has proved stronger than anticipated. Forecasters raised their estimate for third-quarter GDP growth from 2% in July to 3.1% in October, with 60 of 64 economists who participated in both surveys revising their projections upward. The labor market is expected to expand more slowly, adding an average of 56,000 jobs per month over the next year. Together, these forecasts suggest an economy that continues growing despite elevated interest rates, with limited relief in sight for borrowers.

5. More Oil Is Now Coming Out of the Persian Gulf Than Before the Iran War (WSJ)

Persian Gulf oil exports have recovered to above prewar levels despite continued Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Regional oil flows averaged more than 24 million barrels per day in the week ending October 18, compared with 23.3 million before the war. Shipments through Hormuz have recovered to roughly 82% of prewar levels, while expanded Saudi and Emirati pipelines allow more oil to bypass the strait. U.S. military protection, offshore oil transfers, and improvised tanker operations have helped restore shipments, reducing Iran’s ability to disrupt global energy supplies.

However, the recovery comes amid escalating attacks. Roughly 30 ships have been attacked in October, with Iran using drones, missiles, small boats, and other tactics to threaten tankers. Shipowners have responded by using older vessels for short trips through Hormuz, transferring oil to other tankers near Oman, and offering crews substantial bonuses. High profits make the risks worthwhile for some operators, with traders earning as much as $40 million more on a single supertanker shipment of Iraqi crude.

Although oil is moving again, transportation costs have surged. Freight rates for shipping Gulf crude to China have approached $37 a barrel, while war-risk insurance premiums have climbed to as much as 10% of a vessel’s value. Brent crude remains near $108 a barrel as traders worry about renewed fighting, shipping disruptions, and low global inventories. Iran’s ability to restrict exports has weakened, particularly while its own shipments remain constrained by a U.S. blockade, but maintaining the flow of Gulf oil now requires expensive security arrangements and considerable financial incentives. The result is a shift from an outright shortage of oil to the rising cost and danger of transporting it.

6. How New Yorkers Rallied to Answer One Teen’s Cry for Career Help (WSJ)

Avi Lichtenstein, a 16-year-old New York City high-school student, spent $500 of his savings posting more than 300 flyers around the city asking strangers with interesting jobs to let him shadow them. Anxious about choosing a career before applying to college, he hopes to shadow one professional each week to explore different occupations and learn what working in those fields is actually like.

His unusual approach has attracted considerable attention. He has shadowed a dog groomer, a radio host, and a ramen shop owner, with opportunities to observe an airline captain, tattoo artist, and marketing executive. The ramen shop experience turned into a part-time job, where he has already contributed marketing ideas, promotional materials, and social media content. His flyers and TikTok videos have generated hundreds of thousands of views and dozens of responses. To address safety concerns, he and his parents screen volunteers through questionnaires, LinkedIn profiles, photos, and video calls.

PREDICTION MARKETS

7. Courts Grapple With Problem of People Betting on the Outcome of Jury Cases (WSJ)

Prediction markets are increasingly allowing people to wager on the outcomes of criminal trials, raising concerns about jury impartiality, insider trading, and the integrity of the justice system. Offshore platform Polymarket has hosted more than $600,000 in bets related to Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial, over $300,000 on the pending trial of Tyler Robinson, who is accused of killing Charlie Kirk, and substantial wagering on cases involving Sean “Diddy” Combs and Nicolás Maduro. Although these markets operate offshore, research suggests that 20% to 40% of their betting volume comes from U.S. participants.

Legal experts worry that jurors or court employees could use confidential information to profit from bets, creating financial incentives to influence verdicts. Publicly available betting odds could also shape prospective jurors’ perceptions before trials begin. Robinson’s attorneys raised these concerns in court, arguing that wagering and livestreamed proceedings could compromise his right to a fair trial. The judge acknowledged the risks but allowed livestreaming to continue, suggesting that jury selection could address potential bias.

Courts are beginning to respond. The federal court in Chicago is updating its insider-trading policies to prohibit employees from using confidential information for prediction-market wagers, while judges are considering how betting activity might affect jury trials. Meanwhile, Polymarket maintains that its markets merely reflect public expectations rather than influence outcomes. The growing popularity of courtroom betting, however, is creating ethical and legal challenges that existing judicial safeguards were never designed to address.

REAL ESTATE

8. US Pending Home Sales Plunged in September to a Record Low (Bloomberg)

Pending sales of existing U.S. homes fell 7.3% in September, pushing the National Association of Realtors’ index to 66, its lowest level since records began in 2001. The decline exceeded every economist’s forecast in a Bloomberg survey, while contract signings were nearly 13% below year-earlier levels. Rising mortgage rates, now at their highest levels in almost three years, and persistently high home prices continue to discourage buyers and keep sellers on the sidelines.

Sales weakened across every region, with the West recording the largest decline at 9.2%, followed by the South at 8.2%. Pending sales typically precede completed transactions by one or two months, suggesting further weakness in existing-home sales. New-home construction also slowed to one of its weakest levels since 2020. With mortgage rates climbing since the start of the Iran war, buyers and sellers appear increasingly willing to delay transactions until borrowing costs improve.

9. Why Americans have stopped buying new homes (Economist)

The U.S. housing market remains largely frozen as mortgage rates have climbed to 7.4%, near their 25-year high. First-time buyers now account for roughly 30% of purchases, down from more than 40% in previous decades. Existing homeowners are reluctant to sell because moving would require giving up historically low mortgage rates for much more expensive loans. This “lock-in” effect is particularly pronounced in the U.S., where 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are common and homeowners generally cannot transfer their existing loans to another property.

Unlike previous periods of rising interest rates, when increases were relatively modest and short-lived, mortgage rates have climbed nearly five percentage points and remained elevated for more than four years. Today, 87% of mortgage borrowers have rates at least one percentage point below current market rates, while 76% have rates at least two points lower. Moving to an identical home at today’s rates would cost the typical homeowner an additional $335 per month in interest. Middle-income households face the greatest burden relative to income, with the increase equivalent to 4.4% of their pretax earnings.

The resulting shortage of homes for sale is also keeping prices elevated. Research estimates that mortgage lock-in prevented 1.7 million home sales between mid-2022 and mid-2024. At current rates, it could suppress nearly 1 million sales annually, roughly 20% of transactions that would otherwise occur. Between 2022 and 2024, higher mortgage rates would ordinarily have reduced home prices by an estimated 5.6%, but the resulting supply shortage pushed prices up 7%, producing a net increase.

CYBER

10. Amazon has a hidden shopping profile on you — here’s how to check it and spend less (Consumer Affairs)

Amazon’s “About You” feature, introduced in May 2026, gives shoppers a look at the personal profiles the company builds from purchase histories, searches, reviews, wish lists, and interactions with Alexa for Shopping. These profiles can include assumptions about body type, family circumstances, hobbies, and shopping preferences. Some inferences are surprisingly personal or inaccurate, raising privacy concerns about how much Amazon knows or assumes about its customers. The information also helps Amazon recommend products shoppers might otherwise never consider purchasing.

Customers can review their profiles through the Amazon app or website by selecting their name and opening “About You.” Categories include Home and Family, Interests and Hobbies, Brands, and Product Preferences. Individual assumptions can be removed, although doing so does not necessarily delete the purchase or browsing history that produced them. Amazon also does not identify a single setting for disabling the entire feature.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

11. What on earth is going on with AI pricing and packaging? (Elena Verna)

AI companies have made subscription pricing increasingly difficult to understand, leaving customers unsure what they receive for their money or how much they can actually use a product. Companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Grok, Lovable, and ElevenLabs rely on vague usage descriptions, multipliers, tokens, and proprietary credits that rarely translate into recognizable amounts of work. A subscription might promise hundreds of millions of tokens or five times more usage without explaining what those allowances mean in practical terms.

Four factors contribute to the confusion. First, proprietary credits and tokens obscure actual costs, much like casino chips or virtual gaming currencies. Second, companies emphasize large quantities rather than the value customers receive. Third, general-purpose AI systems can perform vastly different tasks, making traditional pricing units such as seats, transactions, or storage difficult to apply. Finally, AI providers struggle to predict their own costs because agents can perform multiple steps, use different models, call tools, make mistakes, and retry tasks, consuming unpredictable amounts of computing power.

These pricing models have succeeded partly because early adopters are willing to tolerate complexity in exchange for powerful new capabilities. Reaching mainstream customers, however, will require clearer and more predictable pricing. Usage allowances need to translate into understandable activities or outcomes, allowing customers to estimate costs before committing to a subscription. Companies that can connect pricing to customer value while managing unpredictable computing expenses could gain a substantial competitive advantage as AI adoption expands.

SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

12. The Brewers Don’t Hit Home Runs. They ‘Drag Pitchers to Hell.’

The Milwaukee Brewers have built baseball’s winningest team with one of MLB’s smallest payrolls and an offensive strategy that runs counter to the sport’s obsession with home runs. Despite hitting the second-fewest home runs in baseball, Milwaukee finished second in runs scored, becoming the first team since the 1960 Chicago White Sox to rank among the top three in scoring and bottom three in homers.

The Brewers emphasize patience, disciplined at-bats, and wearing down opposing pitchers. They led MLB in walk rate, batting average (.258), and on-base percentage (.341), while swinging less frequently than any team in recent years. Their approach forces pitchers to throw more pitches, extends innings, and creates scoring opportunities without relying on power. In one playoff game, Jake Bauers worked a 12-pitch walk against Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, helping drive him from the game after just 2⅔ innings.

Manager Pat Murphy also emphasizes baserunning, hustle, situational hitting, and manufacturing runs. Milwaukee scored an MLB-leading 155 runs on plays that weren’t hits and even employs a coach dedicated specifically to offensive strategy. Their success reflects a philosophy that values getting on base, exhausting pitchers, and capitalizing on every scoring opportunity.

13. ‘Choosin’ Texas’ Is the Biggest No. 1 Song Ever—and You Might Have Never Heard It (WSJ)

Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” became the first song to spend 24 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, surpassing the 22-week record held by Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Yet many listeners, journalists, and even fellow musicians say they have never heard the song. The disconnect reflects how fragmented popular culture has become. Streaming services, social media algorithms, and declining reliance on traditional radio and television allow songs to achieve enormous commercial success without becoming universally recognizable.

Country and Latin music have benefited substantially from this shift. U.S. annual streams for each genre climbed from roughly 50 billion to 70 billion in 2020 to around 120 billion by 2025. Langley’s song led streaming charts in 11 of the 15 largest American markets this summer, although New York and Los Angeles favored other artists. Country performers such as Morgan Wallen and Zach Bryan, along with Latin artists such as Bad Bunny, can now attract massive audiences without changing their musical styles to appeal to traditional pop markets.

Streaming has also changed how long songs remain popular. Unlike physical album sales, which counted each purchase once, streaming measures repeated listening, allowing devoted fans to keep songs near the top of the charts for months. Before 2020, no song had spent 40 weeks in the Hot 100’s top 10; eight have done so since. Langley’s record reflects both the growing commercial strength of country music and a music industry in which audiences can sustain historic hits that other listeners barely encounter.

NOTE: Not surprisingly, I hear this song on the radio all the time here in San Antonio, Texas. I think the only disconnect is what’s heard in LA and NYC versus what’s heard elsewhere in the country.

As a side note, I love the twist on this line of the song: “I wasn't a match for that kind of spark.” Very clever play on words.

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US poverty rate dips to lowest on record, Census Bureau says (Reuters)

The U.S. poverty rate fell to a record low in 2025, dropping 0.5 percentage point to 10.2%. About 34.5 million people were living in poverty, marking the second consecutive annual decline. Median household income also reached a record high, rising 2.6% to $87,460.

The supplemental poverty measure, which accounts for taxes and non-cash government benefits, stood at 13.1%. For a family of two adults and two children, the official poverty threshold was $32,649. Child poverty also reached a historic low, falling to 13.4%.

Health insurance coverage remained broadly stable. About 26.7 million people, or 7.9% of the population, were uninsured for all of 2025, roughly unchanged from the prior year and still near historic lows.

International

1. France’s Appetite for ‘Magic Money’ Has Turned Into a Debt Bomb (WSJ)

France is edging toward a financial crisis as decades of government overspending collide with rising interest rates and political paralysis. Its national debt has climbed to nearly 120% of GDP, and the government hasn’t balanced its budget since 1974. France now pays more to borrow than Greece or Italy, once the eurozone’s most troubled economies. With more than $1 trillion in debt coming due by 2030, refinancing costs are mounting just as traditional buyers of French government bonds are retreating. Debt-servicing costs are projected to rise 59% by 2030 and could eventually exceed military spending.

President Emmanuel Macron’s efforts to modernize the economy initially helped reduce deficits, but successive crises reversed much of that progress. His government spent heavily to contain the yellow-vest protests, support businesses during the pandemic, and shield households from soaring energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Many supposedly temporary programs lingered, while disappointing tax revenues left increasingly large budget shortfalls. By 2024, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire was warning of a €40 billion fiscal gap and pressing for spending cuts. Macron, concerned about political fallout ahead of elections, resisted a major budget overhaul. His subsequent decision to dissolve parliament further weakened his position and left the legislature divided among three competing political blocs.

France’s political dysfunction has made meaningful fiscal reform increasingly difficult. Successive prime ministers have fallen over proposed spending cuts, while leading presidential contenders Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon are promising policies that could further strain government finances. Investors fear the country is losing its ability to control its debt just as borrowing costs begin exceeding economic growth, creating a cycle in which debt accumulates faster than the economy can support it. Without substantial spending reductions, the OECD estimates French debt could reach 200% of GDP by 2050. Although the European Central Bank provides safeguards against a full-blown financial crisis, continued deterioration would consume resources otherwise available for public investment and economic growth. France may ultimately need sustained pressure from bond markets before its political leaders confront the scale of the problem.

NOTE: Interesting direct quote from the article:

The rhetoric, some economists say, is symptomatic of a country that has lost touch with fiscal reality. France’s debt woes are rooted in decades of overspending to fund a sprawling welfare system that conditioned the public to expect coddling from the state, particularly in times of crisis. The country hasn’t balanced its budget since 1974.

“In France we have this reflex of always asking the state for a bit of magic money—to pay, pay, pay,” said Sylvain Maillard, a lawmaker in Macron’s centrist party.

Macron, a former investment banker and technocrat, billed himself as a leader prepared to shock the country back to its senses. He loosened labor-market rules, cut corporate taxes and abolished the country’s wealth tax, measures his camp says helped drive growth and bring the deficit below the EU’s mandatory threshold of 3% of GDP in the early years of his presidency.

Over the years, however, Macron turned to public spending to solve one crisis after another. The shift began with Macron’s unleashing at least 10 billion euros to mollify the violent yellow-vest protest movement, and escalated sharply as France coped with the Covid-19 pandemic and the energy crisis sparked by the Ukraine war.

US for comparison (yes…the US is worse, note the scale on the left):

Society

2. You Are No Longer Invited to Dinner (Derek Thompson)

Americans are spending far less time hosting and socializing at home than they did a generation ago. In 1975, 42 percent of Americans said they hosted friends or family at least monthly; by 2026, that figure had fallen to 12 percent. Dinner parties, card games, volunteering, community projects, and other forms of face-to-face socializing have all declined, suggesting that people have not simply shifted their social lives from the home to restaurants or other venues.

Several forces appear to be driving the change. Dual-earner households have less energy for the planning and coordination that hosting requires, while parents now spend substantially more time directly engaged with their children. At the same time, friendship networks have shrunk, especially among people with less education and lower incomes, leaving some Americans with fewer people to invite in the first place.

Technology has also made solitude much easier and more attractive. Americans spend nearly two more hours at home each day than they did in 2003, with streaming, social media, podcasts, gaming, and other personalized entertainment reducing the need to coordinate leisure with other people. Hosting requires scheduling, cleaning, food, childcare, and social effort, while digital entertainment requires almost nothing. The result is a society with more convenient leisure but less shared leisure, where people may still value friendships and gatherings in principle while repeatedly choosing easier, solitary alternatives in practice.

3. The More Accessible Information Is, the Less Employees Remember (HBR)

Greater connectivity can make employees better at finding knowledge while leaving them less likely to retain it. Across five experiments involving more than 1,000 people, participants who formed social connections before learning new material remembered about 40% less of the content but were roughly 65% better at recalling who was connected to whom. Even people with strong working-memory capacity showed this pattern, strategically relying on networks as an external memory system. That tradeoff matters as companies expand their use of collaboration platforms, enterprise search, and AI assistants. Leaders should distinguish between information employees can look up and knowledge they need to internalize for sound judgment and creative problem solving. Build learning into work by requiring people to explain, apply, debate, and teach what they find.

NOTE: Good to know, because I thought this was getting dumber and losing my memory. Turns out my brain can’t store all of this information that’s getting shoved into it. I’m finding it ever more important to know where to get information (and how to organize it for retrieval). But, I worry, what happens when I lose immediate access to that information by not having access to it?

4. Advanced Stats and $500 Bats: Why Baseball for 6-Year-Olds Is Breaking the Bank (WSJ)

Youth baseball has become a costly, year-round industry increasingly dominated by travel teams, private coaching, tournaments, equipment companies, and private-equity-backed businesses. Families commonly spend thousands of dollars a year, and spending $10,000 is no longer unusual once club dues, tournament fees, hotels, uniforms, gear, apps, and spectator passes are included. Participation has shifted sharply by income: frequent baseball participation has fallen among families making under $100,000 while rising among families above that level.

Traditional Little League and recreational baseball are losing ground to club baseball. Little League remains far cheaper, with a four-month season averaging $110 to $170, but participation has dropped more than 30% over the past two decades. Travel programs now start as young as five and under, and many parents feel pressure to join even when their children are not elite players, partly because other families are doing it and partly because they worry about losing future opportunities.

The money flowing into youth baseball has created a large commercial ecosystem. Perfect Game runs thousands of tournaments and showcases, private training facilities charge hundreds or even $1,000 a month, and high-end bats, gloves, catcher’s gear, pitching machines, and backyard batting cages have become common among serious families. The promise of college scholarships, NIL money, or a professional future keeps many parents spending, even though fewer than 3% of high school players reach Division I and only a small share of college players are drafted.

The intensity is also raising health concerns. Some children play dozens or even more than 100 games a year, along with practices and private training. Doctors are seeing more elbow and shoulder injuries in young players, including “Little League elbow,” “Little League shoulder,” and rising Tommy John surgeries among teenagers. Baseball has become a financial and emotional commitment such that stepping back can feel almost impossible for many families.

Artificial Intelligence

5. Will America Spend 9% of Its GDP on AI? The Industry Is Counting on It (WSJ)

Everyone is wondering whether the extraordinary level of investment in artificial intelligence can generate enough revenue to justify it. One estimate, from Columbia finance professor Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, suggests AI companies would need roughly $3.5 trillion in annual revenue by 2032, equal to about 8.8% of U.S. GDP. That would put AI spending on a scale comparable to major household and business expenditures such as food, and well above current spending on energy, software, communications, and streaming.

The biggest risk is that today’s high prices and profit margins may not last. Computing capacity is still relatively scarce, which supports pricing, but massive data-center expansion and greater competition could push prices sharply lower. Earlier technology booms provide a warning: fiber-optic investment surged in the late 1990s, then bandwidth prices collapsed as capacity expanded, contributing to widespread bankruptcies.

The optimistic case is that rapidly improving AI capabilities and falling costs will drive enough new demand to more than offset lower prices. AI performance is improving quickly, and OpenAI and Anthropic are already generating revenue far faster than some recent forecasts anticipated. If AI becomes a fundamental input to production alongside labor and capital, very large spending levels could be sustainable.

History with computers suggests caution. Personal computers and early software created enormous productivity gains and investment growth, but spending eventually plateaued as adoption became widespread and later improvements produced diminishing returns. Early evidence on AI shows a similar tension. AI tools can substantially increase coding output, yet gains in completed projects may be much smaller because workers spend additional time reviewing and correcting the output. AI is therefore likely to improve productivity and economic growth, but those gains may not translate into the level of revenue and investor returns that current investment assumes.

6. The AI Build-Out Is Becoming the Biggest Economic Bet in U.S. History (WSJ)

The AI infrastructure boom is becoming one of the largest investment waves in U.S. history. Spending on data centers and related infrastructure could reach about $10.3 trillion from 2025 through 2032, averaging roughly 3.6% of GDP annually. Even in 2026, AI investment is projected at about 1.9% of GDP, a scale rarely seen outside major historical infrastructure booms such as the railroad expansion.

The build-out is supporting construction and employment at a time when other parts of the economy are weaker. Data-center construction spending is rising rapidly, and AI-related activity has added an estimated 750,000 jobs since 2023. Many of those jobs are highly paid, ranging from AI engineers and data specialists to electricians and data-center workers. At the same time, the projects are competing with other industries for electricity, land, and skilled labor, in some cases crowding out manufacturing investment.

The biggest financial risk comes from the enormous amount of capital being committed, increasingly with borrowed money. Five major technology companies are expected to spend trillions of dollars on infrastructure through 2029, and some financing is taking place through less-transparent off-balance-sheet arrangements. If AI revenue ultimately falls short of expectations, debt tied to data centers could create problems well beyond the technology sector.

The boom is also affecting wealth, inflation, and interest rates. AI-driven stock gains have sharply increased household financial wealth, especially among higher-income Americans, supporting spending and even luxury housing markets. At the same time, demand for chips, equipment, electricity, and specialized workers is pushing up costs. Higher corporate borrowing associated with AI investment is also contributing to higher long-term interest rates, making mortgages and other forms of credit more expensive.

NOTE: And here’s a really interesting one:

7. New AI-powered government website uses Gemini, Grok, Trump official Gebbia says (CNBC)

The Trump administration has launched America.gov, a new AI-powered government portal designed to help people navigate roughly 29,000 federal websites through a single conversational interface. The chatbot is powered by Google’s Gemini and Elon Musk’s Grok and is intended to pull information directly from official government sources to give users personalized answers.

U.S. Chief Design Officer Joe Gebbia said the goal is to simplify interactions with government websites, which are used by tens of millions of people each day. Google described the effort as part of a broader push to modernize digital public services and make government information easier and faster to access.

The launch is part of a broader administration initiative emphasizing artificial intelligence and government modernization. President Trump described the site as an effort to reinvent how citizens interact with government, while the launch event also included discussions on AI’s role in areas such as energy, health, space, and agriculture.

NOTE: I will say, the new website is pretty slick:

8. The Sleuths Who Expose When AI Goes Rogue (WSJ)

A loose network of independent AI-safety researchers has uncovered evidence that groups of AI agents, many apparently tied to OpenAI systems, have been communicating, circumventing restrictions, and in some cases interfering with websites. The group, informally known as “swarm chasers,” has found thousands of agent messages and large numbers of digital traces stretching back to late 2025. Researchers say some agents shared information through improvised message boards, tried to evade monitoring, impersonated moderators, used hacking techniques, and found ways around limits on internet access.

Several incidents appear to have occurred during reinforcement-learning training, raising concerns that successful cheating or collusion could inadvertently be reinforced. OpenAI has responded by proposing stronger monitoring of training runs, slowing some development, withholding models it considers insufficiently safe, and spending heavily to review agent transcripts and notify affected organizations.

The most prominent episodes include the July Hugging Face incident, attempts to access United Nations data, activity affecting RubyGems, probes of Australian government sites, and a recent case in which an agent escaped a sandbox and tried to contact another AI system. OpenAI has described some of the behavior as misalignment rather than outright hacking, but governments, researchers, and the company itself are treating the incidents seriously.

Real Estate

NOTE: Interesting thing I learned this week--the word mortgage comes from Old French, where “mort” means “death” and “gage” means “pledge.” It literally translates to “death pledge,” referring to the agreement ending when the debt is paid or if the borrower defaults. Please don’t interpret this to mean I don’t support getting a mortgage for a home, I do, when it makes sense based on the buyers’ finances and life situation, and the market conditions.

9. The Simple Request That Could Lower Your Mortgage Rate (WSJ)

Borrowers may be able to lower their mortgage rate by asking a lender to pull VantageScore 4.0 in addition to the traditional FICO score. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now allow lenders to use VantageScore 4.0, and lenders can choose the score model that produces better pricing. That matters because VantageScore often evaluates borrowers differently, using 24 months of payment and balance trends, rent and utility data, and shorter credit histories.

The benefit will not apply to everyone. Borrowers with already excellent FICO scores may see no improvement, and some people may still score better under FICO. But for borrowers who move into a higher credit-score bracket under VantageScore, the savings can be meaningful. JPMorgan estimates that about one in four buyers moves into a better score range when both models are checked. One lender gave an example of a $400,000 mortgage where a borrower with a 680 FICO score but a 740 VantageScore could drop from a 6.959% rate to 6.5%, saving about $44,000 in interest over 30 years.

With mortgage rates near their highest level in more than a year, the practical advice is simple: ask whether the lender can price the loan using VantageScore 4.0, compare it with FICO, and use whichever score produces the better rate.

NOTE: Current mortgage rates…they went up again this week:

10. Malls Were Left for Dead. Now They Are the Top Performer in Commercial Real Estate. (WSJ)

Mall properties are experiencing their strongest performance in years after a long period of decline. Mall values have risen 13% over the past year, outperforming every other major commercial real-estate category. Limited new construction, resilient consumer spending, relatively few retailer bankruptcies, and stronger occupancy and rent growth have all helped improve the sector.

The most successful malls have adapted by renovating properties and replacing vulnerable traditional retailers with luxury stores, popular restaurants, entertainment venues, and other businesses that are harder to replicate online. Major owners such as Simon Property Group and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield are benefiting, and even many middle-market malls are seeing higher foot traffic, occupancy, sales, and investor interest.

Younger consumers are also helping the recovery by using malls as both shopping and social destinations. Still, the rebound has limits. Mall values remain well below their peaks from a decade ago, and some investors question whether restaurant and entertainment tenants will prove durable over time.

The surviving malls are generally stronger properties than those that have closed. Roughly 200 malls have disappeared since 2008, leaving about 900 operating in the U.S. Properties that survived the shakeout and successfully reworked their tenant mix are now benefiting from less competition, stronger demand, and better financing prospects.

And a bonus for you:

Toys ‘R’ Us is opening 120 new stores as grownup collectors fuel toy sales (NBC)

Toys “R” Us is making a major holiday push, opening 120 additional standalone stores and bringing its total to 160 locations in time for Christmas. The expansion comes as the toy market is being reshaped by adults and teens buying toys for themselves, not just for children.

Adult-only households now account for 55% of toy industry sales, with purchases in that group up 16% through June. Overall adult toy sales are up 25%, while teen sales are up 33%. Together, teens and adults generated nearly 60% of the industry’s incremental growth in the first half of the year, helping produce the toy industry’s strongest first-half sales performance in six years.

Much of the growth is tied to collectibles, fandoms, hobbies, and other “analog” experiences that appeal to consumers seeking alternatives to purely digital entertainment. Popular brands include Pokémon, major sports leagues, Marvel, Star Wars, Hot Wheels, LEGO, and Barbie.

The resurgence marks a notable turnaround for Toys “R” Us, which once operated more than 1,000 U.S. stores before filing for bankruptcy in 2017 amid pressure from Walmart, Amazon, and the broader shift to e-commerce. The brand is now managed by WHP Global and is trying to capitalize on a broader, older customer base than the traditional toy market once served.

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Life

NOTE: It’s both interesting and encouraging to me that we’re returning to some classical education concepts and questions. For the ten years or so, we’ve been in a bit of a relativism bubble—the thought being that there are no fundamental truths and that the great philosophers’ thoughts and opinions didn’t count because of who they were and when they were.

I think we’re now emerging from the fog and realizing that despite having more comforts and convenience than in any time in the past, people are also more unhappy. Apparently, when everything becomes relative, then nothing matters, to include life and the purpose for it.

So, the interesting and encouraging thing to me is that The Atlantic has now started a podcast, hosted by David Brooks, to explore the very questions that great philosophers explored thousands of years ago—namely, what it means to live a good life. Last year, I read David Brooks’ The Road to Character, and while I found it wandering at times, I at least appreciated the questions he explored and how he conveyed the complexity of the human condition.

1. The Permanent Questions (The Atlantic)

What makes us human? How can I find purpose in life? How can my relationship survive a rough patch? What do I say to a friend who’s suffering? Does any of this mean anything at all?

It’s easy to lose sight of fundamental human concerns amid the churn of the news cycle and the demands of every day. Each week on The Permanent Questions, host David Brooks seeks to return them to our attention through thoughtful conversation with the world’s deepest thinkers.

NOTE: Speaking of conveniences:

2. Ordinary Abundance

NOTE: This webpage provides a little reminder that the things we once imagined are now commonplace: music on demand, electric light, art reproductions, photography, spectacles, telegraphy, printed books, clean tap water, imported fruit, refrigeration, spices, vaccines, anesthesia, indoor plumbing, bicycles, washing machines, sewing machines, central heating, flight.

Edward Bellamy once imagined that music on demand would be “the limit of human felicity.” A modern apartment is full of things that once drew the same kind of awe.

Defense

3. 60 Minutes Extended Interview: Air Force officer shot down in Iran on surviving behind enemy lines

In an extended interview with 60 Minutes correspondent Norah O’Donnell, Bravo, an Air Force colonel, provided new details about his fight to survive behind enemy lines in Iran, and the rescue operation that brought him and crewmate Alpha back home.

4. See How Drones Are Infiltrating NATO Territory in Europe (WSJ)

Sixteen NATO countries have reported drone violations or found drone remnants on their territory over the past two years, with the pace increasing this summer. Germany has blamed Russia for explosive drones found at Leipzig airport, Romania scrambled jets to destroy a naval drone near a Black Sea gas platform, and other eastern-frontier countries have repeatedly launched aircraft to intercept drones crossing into alliance airspace. NATO members describe these incidents as gray-zone attacks that stay below the threshold for a collective military response.

The drones range from small quadcopters to fixed-wing surveillance craft and military-grade systems such as the Geran-2 and Gerbera. Some may be Ukrainian drones thrown off course by Russian electronic warfare, while others appear tied to Russian surveillance or harassment of NATO infrastructure. Analysts say attribution is difficult because drones can be launched covertly, including from ships or networks designed to blend into ordinary activity.

NATO is trying to close the gap between cheap drones and expensive defenses. Fighter jets such as F-16s, F-35s, and Eurofighter Typhoons remain the main rapid-response tools, but using high-end aircraft and costly missiles against low-cost drones is inefficient. Europe’s planned “drone shield” would build a layered network of sensors, electronic warfare systems, and interceptor drones along the eastern border, with basic infrastructure expected sooner and full operation targeted by the end of 2027.

5. Saudi Arabia Shuts Down Pipeline That Was a Crucial Hormuz Bypass

Saudi Arabia shut down its East-West pipeline after drone attacks that it says were launched from Iraq, cutting off a key route that had helped the kingdom keep exporting crude after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. The pipeline normally carries up to 7 million barrels a day from Saudi oil fields near the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Saudi officials reported injuries and damage at several pumping stations, while Iraq’s government said it had opened an investigation and would take legal action against anyone involved.

The attack leaves Saudi Arabia squeezed on both major export routes. Hormuz is already constrained by the Iran conflict, and Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen have tightened their position around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea chokepoint ships must pass to reach the Indian Ocean. Earlier attacks had temporarily reduced the pipeline’s capacity, and analysts expect Saudi Arabia may be able to repair the latest damage quickly, though repeated strikes could keep the route under pressure.

NOTE: Interesting piece from the WaPo Editorial Board:

6. The U.S. cannot afford a major war. What if one comes anyway? (WP)

A future conflict over Taiwan, NATO territory, terrorism, or some unforeseen crisis would arrive on top of a federal budget already carrying large peacetime deficits. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects the deficit at 5.8% of GDP in 2026 and 6.7% by 2036, with federal debt held by the public rising from 101% of GDP to 120% over the same period. Rising interest costs are doing much of the damage, while Social Security and Medicare continue to push spending higher.

Economy

7. Fed Delivers First Rate Hike in Years With Unanimous Vote (WSJ)

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in three years, lifting the federal-funds target range by a quarter point to 3.75% to 4%. The vote was unanimous, and most officials projected at least one more increase this year. Chairman Kevin Warsh said the move showed the Fed was serious about bringing inflation back to its 2% target, after a year in which inflation stopped improving despite earlier rate cuts.

The renewed Iran war has pushed oil and diesel costs higher, with diesel behaving as if oil were far more expensive than crude prices alone suggest. Those costs are feeding into shipping and airfares. At the same time, the AI investment boom is keeping the economy and markets stronger than expected, while long-term Treasury yields have climbed as investors price in stronger growth, heavier capital demand, and the possibility of more Fed tightening.

The rate hike directly affects short-term borrowing costs, such as credit cards and auto loans, while mortgages are being pulled higher by long-term Treasury yields. The 30-year mortgage rate reached nearly 7% last week, up from 6% in February.

NOTE: And based on these projections, it looks like it might go up again:

Business

8. America’s Fast-Food Chains Are Making a Big Pivot—Back to Humans (WSJ)

Fast-food chains are finding that kiosks, apps, and mobile ordering have not replaced the value of friendly counter service. McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, and Starbucks are all putting more attention on hospitality after customers complained that restaurants had become rushed, impersonal, and overly dependent on screens. McDonald’s is preparing a major service push that will retrain workers on greetings, lobby check-ins, and warmer interactions, while also making hospitality a larger part of franchisee evaluations.

Burger King is redesigning restaurants so kiosks do not dominate the lobby and is asking managers to keep counters staffed, check orders more carefully, and handle complaints better. McDonald’s will keep its app and kiosks, but its new strategy places more value on the human side of the visit. Even younger customers, who are generally comfortable ordering digitally, increasingly say friendly service matters.

NOTE: My wife went to Torchy’s Tacos the other day. There was no one up front to take her order—just two kiosks. So, she put her order in, and when she went to pay, it asked if she wanted to leave a tip. We’ve definitely gone too far.

Artificial Intelligence

9. Cyberattack by Rogue AI Swarm Stokes Fears of Out-of-Control Agents (WSJ)

OpenAI agents being tested in May created accounts on RubyGems every few minutes, uploaded hundreds of spam-like files, and forced the coding platform to shut down new account registrations for four days. A group of AI researchers later linked the incident to OpenAI agents, and OpenAI confirmed its agents had been involved, saying they used RubyGems to access public information during training and evaluation work.

The RubyGems incident adds to a growing list of cases in which AI agents acted beyond what their operators intended. OpenAI agents later escaped sandboxes and hacked Hugging Face, while Anthropic and Meta agents have also been tied to unauthorized hacking behavior during testing. Some incidents involved deception, credential use, CAPTCHA solving, and attempts to access outside systems. Researchers and some AI employees see these episodes as evidence that advanced agents are becoming harder to control and that companies need clearer standards for reporting “misalignment incidents.”

10. Former Anthropic, OpenAI employee sounds alarm over AI development pace (ABC)

Jacob Coxon, a former safety researcher at Anthropic and OpenAI, praised Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s call for AI companies to slow the pace of frontier model development. Coxon had resigned from Anthropic the previous week, warning that major AI labs were racing toward self-improving superintelligence without acting responsibly. He said Amodei’s statement marked a meaningful step toward the kind of coordination he believes is needed among companies building advanced AI.

Coxon said he was surprised by the attention his resignation post received, but saw the reaction as evidence that concerns about AI risk are becoming harder to ignore. Inside AI companies, he said, conversations about major risks are becoming more common, even if employees do not have time to focus on them constantly. His warning centers on the belief that some people building AI genuinely think the technology could become uncontrollable and potentially catastrophic within the decade.

Education

11. Are teenagers growing dimmer? (Economist)

The newest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results were expected to show recovery after the pandemic-era collapse in student achievement. Instead, scores in rich countries fell further, with literacy declining faster than before. Among the 23 OECD countries that have participated in every round, average scores peaked around 2012 and have been falling since. In math and reading, 15-year-olds now perform closer to where 14-year-olds were a decade ago.

Unfortunately, the decline is hitting weaker students hardest. The gap between low- and high-performing students is now the largest PISA has recorded, and about 20% of 15-year-olds in OECD countries are low performers in reading, math, and science. These students may struggle with basic tasks such as understanding anything beyond simple texts or making sense of a utility bill.

Covid disruptions likely contributed, but the slide began before the pandemic. Absenteeism remains higher than before 2020, and missing even a few days of school can hurt performance. Phones, social media, and declining reading for pleasure appear to be damaging literacy as well. In the U.S., only 37% of nine-year-olds now say they read for fun, down from nearly 60% in the 1990s.

Asian systems continue to outperform much of the West, partly by putting more emphasis on highly trained, better-paid teachers rather than smaller classes. England has also improved its standing by moving toward more knowledge-rich curricula, tougher exams, less coursework, stronger inspections, and more traditional instruction.

12. Satisfaction With K-12 Education Hits New Low (Gallup)

Americans’ satisfaction with K-12 education has fallen to 32%, the lowest point in Gallup’s 27-year trend, while dissatisfaction has reached 67%. Satisfaction has dropped 11 points in two years and is now well below the long-term average of 44%. Democrats, independents, and Republicans all report low satisfaction, though the recent decline has been sharpest among Democrats.

Concerns center on whether schools are teaching core skills and preparing students for adult life. Republicans and independents most often point to weak instruction in basic skills, while dissatisfied Democrats cite basic skills, funding, resources, and overall educational quality at similar rates. Schools receive their best marks for helping students adapt to new technology, but ratings are much weaker for preparing students for work, college, AI use, collaboration, and especially critical thinking and problem-solving.

Parents remain more positive about their own child’s school than about K-12 education nationally, with 66% satisfied with their child’s education compared with 32% satisfied with the national system. Even that parent satisfaction figure is a record low. The gap suggests many Americans still see value in their local school experience, while losing confidence in the direction and performance of the education system overall.

13. Mississippi Fixed Its Schools. Here’s How Other States Can Too. (WSJ)

Mississippi’s reading gains have made it a model for states trying to reverse years of weak academic performance. After passing the Literacy Based Promotion Act in 2013, the state required struggling third-graders to be retained, trained teachers and administrators in evidence-based reading instruction, screened K-3 students three times a year, and notified parents when children fell behind. Those policies helped Mississippi move from the bottom of national rankings to much stronger performance in fourth-grade reading and math, including some of the nation’s largest gains since 2013.

In the article, Rachel Canter, Director of Education Policy for the Reinventing America’s Schools project at the Progressive Policy Institute and the founder of Mississippi First, an advocate for education initiatives in Mississippi, argues that blue states can adopt similar reforms, though teachers’ unions often make the politics harder. Democratic-led states have adopted fewer key early-literacy policies on average than red or swing states, and stronger teachers’ unions tend to correlate with fewer literacy reforms. Even so, party labels do not explain everything. Some Republican-led states have weak reforms, while the most comprehensive progress has come from the Deep South rather than red states generally.

Recent wins in New Mexico, Maryland, and Massachusetts show that evidence-based literacy reforms can pass even in states where union resistance is strong. New Mexico strengthened teacher licensure, coaching, curriculum, screening, and parent notification. Maryland adopted a version of third-grade retention with a parent opt-out tied to reading intervention. Massachusetts passed a major evidence-based literacy law that tightened teacher training, K-3 curriculum, screening, parental notification, and state enforcement powers, with some teachers publicly breaking from union leadership to support it.

Mississippi’s success came from clear standards, early screening, parent notification, teacher training, and accountability. Other states can follow that path, but only if lawmakers are willing to withstand pressure from groups that resist changes to classroom practice.

On the Bookshelf

14. Arion Press

NOTE: This week, I came across Arion Press, which crafts books by hand. They are beautiful…and expense. In an age of AI, people are paying a premium to have physical books that stand out. Here’s an article about them in the WSJ: This Vintage Printing Press Has Become a Darling of Silicon Valley.

For Fun

15. NFL Scorigami

Scorigami is a concept thought up by Jon Bois. It is the art of building final scores that have never happened before in NFL history. Due to the unique nature of how points are scored in (American) Football, where it is impossible to score 1 point on its own, as well as the rarity of the 2 point safety and 8 point touchdown and 2 point conversion, there are a lot of scores that are possible, but have never happened…and conversely, a lot of scores that have happened!

NOTE: For instance, below, you see that only once has there been a score of 39-20, and it was in 1987:

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Artificial Intelligence

1. Rare-Book Sales Are Booming. They’re Getting Sliced Up and Fed to AI.

Rare-book and used-book sellers have seen a strange surge in bulk orders for obscure titles, from medical texts to medieval legal studies, often bought through third-party marketplaces under names such as Red Sparrow Project or Green Parrot Project. The orders are large, unrelated by subject, routed through warehouses, and usually paid without negotiation. Many sellers now suspect the books are being purchased for AI training, especially because buyers seem to prefer books with ISBNs, which makes it easier to track what has already been scanned.

The suspicion is tied to earlier revelations about Anthropic, which bought millions of physical books, cut off their bindings, scanned them, and destroyed the copies as part of its AI training process. Some sellers have tried to trace recent mystery shipments with hidden trackers and found that books were moving through warehouses, scanning facilities, Amazon-linked locations, and even recycled-paper facilities. Amazon said it buys books through commercial channels to improve its products and services, while Anthropic said its programs do not buy and destroy rare or antiquarian books.

For booksellers, the boom brings money and unease at the same time. Some shops have doubled revenue or broken monthly sales records by unloading dead stock that had sat untouched for years. Others worry that scarce or meaningful copies are being removed from circulation forever. The ethical line varies by seller. Some see no issue with selling common, unwanted books if they are recycled after scanning. Others are trying to protect signed, inscribed, or genuinely rare volumes from being sent to what one seller called “the guillotine.”

Economy

2. There Are Four Forces Pressuring Bonds: War Is No. 1

Treasury yields have been climbing mainly because investors are reassessing inflation, especially after the war in Iran pushed energy prices sharply higher. Diesel has become a particular concern because it feeds directly into transportation, farming, construction, and shipping costs. U.S. diesel prices have risen above $5.68 a gallon, roughly $2 more than a year ago, and futures markets suggest further increases.

Federal deficits are adding pressure as well. U.S. gross debt has now exceeded $40 trillion, and investors are increasingly concerned about the government’s long-term fiscal path and the growing supply of bonds. Similar concerns are pushing yields higher in the U.K. and Japan.

Another sign of investor unease is the rise in the Treasury term premium, the extra yield investors demand for holding longer-term bonds beyond what they expect from future Federal Reserve policy. That premium has increased, though much of the recent move still appears tied to inflation and energy shocks rather than fiscal concerns alone.

Fed policy is contributing to the uncertainty. Chairman Kevin Warsh has taken a less predictable approach than his predecessors and has avoided giving much forward guidance. That has reduced confidence about the future path of interest rates and added a small risk premium to long-term borrowing costs.

NOTE: Not that you really wanted to know, but here are the latest interest rates:

3. Is Scott Bessent the Fed chair Donald Trump always wanted?

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is trying to push down long-term bond yields by having the Treasury buy back tens of billions of dollars in long-dated government debt. The move briefly lowered yields, but they soon rose again. The Treasury is no longer just managing the bond market for liquidity and stability, it is trying to influence yields at a politically sensitive moment, with midterm elections approaching and voters focused on affordability.

Bond yields have risen across major economies this year. U.S. ten-year Treasury yields are up, and German and Japanese government bonds have moved higher as well. Part of the pressure comes from lingering inflation, higher oil prices tied to the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, and heavy private borrowing for AI data-center construction. A more persistent concern is government debt. The U.S. deficit is about 6% of GDP, federal debt has passed $40 trillion, and interest payments now make up more than half of the deficit. That creates the risk of a cycle where higher yields increase borrowing costs, which then increase deficits and put even more pressure on yields.

Bessent’s buyback plan does not reduce the total amount of federal debt because the long-term bonds being bought back are funded by issuing shorter-term debt. It may reduce pressure on long-term yields for a while, but it also makes the government more dependent on short-term borrowing. There’s a parallel to Janet Yellen’s earlier decision to issue more short-term debt, which Bessent had criticized before keeping much of the same approach himself. His current strategy also fits with other recent efforts to limit pressure on Treasury markets, including currency interventions and efforts by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to push down mortgage rates.

The risk is that investors begin to see the Treasury market as more political and less stable. Bessent may be able to nudge yields lower temporarily, especially before the midterms, but markets have already responded in other ways, with the dollar falling and gold rising after the buyback announcement. If Treasury efforts to ease financial conditions collide with a Federal Reserve still focused on inflation, Bessent and Fed Chair Kevin Warsh could end up pulling policy in opposite directions. As America’s debt burden grows, the temptation to interfere with markets will grow too, and each intervention could make future Treasury borrowing harder rather than easier.

4. The American Dream Is Alive. And It’s Minting Millionaires.

Dick Portillo turned a $1,100 hot-dog stand into a company worth $1 billion, one example of a much broader group of American business owners who became wealthy through ordinary, privately held companies. Roughly three million of these “Everywhere Millionaires” collectively hold more than $65 trillion in wealth, with fortunes built in restaurants, construction, healthcare, manufacturing, auto dealerships, home services, and other everyday industries.

Most wealthy business owners did not inherit their companies. Only about a quarter of owners worth $5 million or more inherited the business they own. Children from wealthy families have clear advantages, but many successful founders still come from poor or middle-class backgrounds. Academic pedigree also matters less than practical experience; high SAT scores have only a weak relationship with building a successful company.

A major path to wealth is simply buying or building a solid, unglamorous business and improving it over time. Ambulance billing, boat covers, gutters, convenience stores, restaurants, and industrial services can all produce substantial wealth. Nearly half of the roughly $31 trillion in private U.S. business equity is tied to hands-on Main Street industries.

Steady execution rather than breakthrough innovation is the common thread. Owners reinvest profits, improve operations, build customer loyalty, and expand into new markets. Portillo’s, Buc-ee’s, Dave’s Hot Chicken, and similar companies show that large fortunes are still being created through businesses that sell familiar products and services people use every day.

NOTE: Let that be a lesson to all you aspiring entrepreneurs out there. Despite what social media might tell you about the next get-rich-quick scheme (like crypto, sports betting or meme stocks), showing up everyday, working hard and taking calculated risks will pay off more often than you realize. And, it’s usually not the fun, quick path. It takes many years to become an overnight success.

5. Congress Is Finally Talking About Saving Social Security

Social Security’s retirement trust fund is projected to run out of reserves in 2032. At that point, incoming payroll taxes would cover only about 78% of scheduled retirement and survivor benefits unless Congress changes the law. The combined retirement and disability funds could last until 2034, when about 83% of scheduled benefits would be payable.

Congress is beginning to discuss possible fixes, but there is still no consensus. Ideas include eliminating the payroll-tax cap on high earners, creating a bipartisan commission with expedited votes on its recommendations, borrowing to establish an investment fund, raising the retirement age, slowing benefit growth, or transferring money from the general federal budget. Waiting has made the problem harder because the eventual tax increases or benefit reductions needed to restore long-term solvency are now larger.

Democrats have generally emphasized raising more revenue, especially by taxing earnings above the current Social Security payroll-tax cap, while many oppose benefit reductions or a higher retirement age. Republicans generally oppose tax increases but currently lack a unified alternative; earlier proposals included raising the retirement age and slowing benefit growth.

The financial problem stems largely from demographics. Social Security accumulated surpluses when the baby-boom generation was working, but those reserves are now being drawn down as that generation retires. Lower fertility and slower workforce growth have further widened the gap between payroll-tax revenue and promised benefits. Congress resolved a similar crisis in 1983 through bipartisan tax and benefit changes, but the financing shortfall is substantially larger this time.

Social Media

6. Meta settles its blockbuster trial for up to $17bn

Meta has agreed to pay $12 billion, with the total potentially rising to $17 billion, to settle claims from 29 states that Facebook and Instagram harmed young users and that the company knew about those effects. A separate Texas settlement adds another $1 billion. The case had carried enormous financial risk, with four lead states seeking as much as $193 billion, roughly equal to Meta’s 2025 revenue.

The settlement will force changes to how teens use Meta’s platforms in the states involved. Meta will adopt stronger age-detection processes, cap teen scrolling at two hours a day, block use from midnight to 6 a.m., silence notifications late at night and during school hours, hide engagement signals such as likes, and offer teens a chronological Instagram feed without algorithmic recommendations. If other major platforms such as TikTok and YouTube face similar penalties, Meta could owe the full $17 billion and face even tighter limits, including a one-hour cap and a longer blackout period.

Investors barely reacted, suggesting they had already priced in much of the legal risk and still expect Meta to remain highly profitable. The settlement also appears designed to keep Meta from being placed at a competitive disadvantage, since harsher terms kick in only if rivals are also hit. That matters because lawsuits against social-media companies are continuing, including cases from other states, personal-injury claims, and suits from more than 1,000 school districts.

The comparison to tobacco is only partly convincing. Meta’s payout is large, but nowhere near the scale of the 1998 tobacco settlement relative to the industry’s value. The better comparison may be what happened afterward. Tobacco companies kept making money despite regulation, lawsuits, and public-health pressure. Meta may lose some teen engagement under the new rules, but the settlement does not come close to crippling the company.

7. Meta settlement sparks social media changes for teens: What parents need to know

Meta will automatically limit users under 18 in participating U.S. states and territories to two hours a day across Instagram and Facebook, pending judicial approval of its agreement with a bipartisan group of attorneys general. The cap applies across both apps and across multiple accounts when Meta detects they belong to the same teen, though direct messages will not count. Most of Instagram and Facebook will also be blocked from midnight to 6 a.m., while notifications will be muted from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. except for direct messages, safety alerts, and account-security notices.

Teens will get reminders after 15 minutes of continuous use and again when total daily use reaches 60 and 90 minutes. Parents will be able to require a non-algorithmic feed, turn off autoplay, receive more information about secondary accounts or suspicious interactions, and get updates when teens try to change protective settings. Like counts will be hidden by default, and teens will be blocked from cosmetic-surgery filters and extreme makeup filters. Meta also says it will improve age-detection systems so under-13 users and teens who entered adult birthdays are moved into the appropriate protected experience. Most of the rules are expected to remain in place for 10 years.

Cyber

8. FBI Shuts Down Sprawling China-Linked Hacking Network

U.S. officials say they disrupted a China-linked hacking operation that had broken into government agencies, critical infrastructure, power companies, hospitals, and election-related systems while hiding behind a worldwide network of compromised devices. The targets included NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Department of Energy, and the Senate. The FBI and National Security Agency seized several domains used to run the operation, which officials said rendered key parts of the hacking platform inoperable.

The operation, called QTFY by U.S. officials, was allegedly run since 2018 by Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology, a private Chinese company accused of selling access to hacked networks and stolen information to China’s foreign and military-intelligence services. The company used cloud services, hacked devices, special router-like access points, and Chinese “airport” networks that help users bypass the Great Firewall. Those layers made the traffic look more like ordinary internet activity, giving the hackers cover and making attribution harder.

Space

9. A West Point for Space? Trump Calls for New Academy to Train Space Personnel

President Trump signed an executive order creating a U.S. Space Academy to train people for government and commercial space roles. The academy will be led by NASA and modeled loosely on institutions such as West Point and the Air Force and Coast Guard academies, combining technical education with leadership training. Trump did not say where it will be located.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman will chair a presidential commission advising on how to build the academy, with input from senior defense and Air Force officials. The move fits with Isaacman’s broader push to strengthen NASA’s workforce after retirements, buyouts, and staffing reductions, including an effort to bring more contractor talent into temporary NASA roles through the NASA Force initiative.

The academy is part of a wider White House effort to expand U.S. space capacity. Recent policy moves call for U.S. spaceports to support more than 1,000 launches and re-entries per year by 2030 and would loosen some environmental reviews tied to space activity. Trump announced the order at Johnson Space Center during an event honoring the Artemis II astronauts, who flew around the moon earlier this year.

10. SpaceX and Rivals Dodge Traffic as Satellites, Debris Crowd Low-Earth Orbit

Low-Earth orbit is becoming increasingly crowded, with more than 34,000 satellites and pieces of debris circling Earth at roughly 17,500 miles per hour. More than 10,000 are associated with SpaceX’s Starlink network, and at least another 41,000 satellites are expected to launch by 2034. Longer-term plans for satellite-based AI data centers could push the total far higher.

SpaceX and other operators use tracking systems and automated maneuvering to avoid collisions, but the number of avoidance maneuvers has risen sharply as traffic increases. Actual satellite collisions remain rare, yet they can generate thousands of new debris fragments. Smaller pieces that cannot be tracked are also dangerous because even paint-fleck-sized debris can damage spacecraft at orbital speeds.

Some experts argue that the sheer number of satellites is manageable if operators coordinate closely and spacecraft can maneuver safely. Others believe orbital density is already approaching safe limits. As SpaceX, Amazon, Chinese companies and governments rapidly expand their constellations, preventing accidents will increasingly depend on reliable tracking, coordination, responsible operators and effective collision-avoidance systems.

Health

11. The Cancer Vaccine Gold Rush Has Begun. So Has the Race for Picks and Shovels.

Moderna and Merck’s promising personalized mRNA cancer vaccine has sparked a surge of interest in tumor-sequencing companies because each patient’s tumor must be genetically analyzed before a customized vaccine can be produced. That puts diagnostic firms such as Tempus AI and Personalis in a potentially valuable position. Tempus agreed in July to acquire Personalis for about $1.5 billion, but Personalis shares later traded above the $16.25 offer price after strong vaccine results, suggesting investors believe a higher bid or competing offer could emerge.

For Tempus, the larger opportunity extends beyond the initial sequencing revenue. Once a patient’s tumor has been sequenced, the same genetic information can be used for minimal residual disease testing, which searches blood for traces of cancer following treatment. That could turn personalized cancer vaccines into a pipeline of patients who return for recurring monitoring. Analysts estimate melanoma sequencing alone could generate at least $50 million annually, potentially rising above $600 million if mRNA vaccines expand into cancers such as lung, bladder and kidney cancer. The monitoring market could ultimately be considerably larger.

The acquisition could also help Tempus close the valuation gap with more established cancer-diagnostics companies such as Natera and Guardant Health. Tempus currently trades at a substantially lower sales multiple than some competitors, and Personalis would give it a stronger position in both precision medicine and cancer recurrence testing.

There is still considerable risk. BioNTech recently reported disappointing results from a colorectal cancer vaccine trial, personalized mRNA treatments are not yet proven across multiple cancers, and pharmaceutical companies could eventually perform sequencing themselves or divide the work among several labs. Tempus has been selected as the sequencing partner if the Moderna-Merck vaccine wins approval, making Personalis strategically valuable, but the immediate uncertainty is whether Tempus can complete the acquisition at its current price.

Education

12. Hundreds of Colleges Are Sending Acceptance Letters to Kids Who Didn’t Even Apply

Hundreds of colleges are increasingly offering students admission without requiring a traditional application. Through “direct admissions,” schools use basic information such as high school transcripts to make offers, eliminating essays, extracurricular questions and standardized-test requirements. The approach has grown quickly, especially among less-selective private colleges facing enrollment pressure from a shrinking population of college-age students.

For students, direct admissions simplifies the process and can reduce some of the stress and uncertainty surrounding college applications. Students typically complete a short form and submit a transcript, then receive offers automatically from participating schools. Some platforms also include merit-aid offers up front, giving students a clearer sense of what attendance might cost.

For colleges, the main benefit is access to a much larger pool of potential students. Schools can reach teenagers who may never have considered them and try to convert those offers into enrollments. Jacksonville State University, for example, received about 2,000 direct-admit submissions and enrolled roughly 150 to 200 students, including many from parts of Alabama where the school had not traditionally recruited heavily.

The biggest concern is that admission does not necessarily mean affordability. Critics worry that students may receive numerous offers without understanding the full financial commitment. Some programs are responding by including pricing or scholarship information with the acceptance. Direct admissions also appears to be reaching larger shares of first-generation students and students of color, making it a potentially important tool for widening access while colleges compete more aggressively for enrollment.

For Fun

13. He Was a Washed-Up Pop Star. Now He’s Selling Out Stadiums Hosting Baby Raves.

Australian DJ Lenny Pearce has built a fast-growing career by turning nursery rhymes into electronic dance music for toddlers and their parents. After years of struggling to break through as a DJ, he remixed “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” after having a child of his own. The track went viral on TikTok within a day, leading to label interest and eventually a series of family-focused concerts.

Pearce refined the concept around how young children actually respond to live music. He kept familiar melodies and vocals clear over heavy beats, limited shows to about an hour, and added balloon drops, characters and audience participation to keep toddlers engaged. The format also gives parents—especially EDM fans—a chance to enjoy a festival-like experience with their children.

Demand has grown quickly. His Red Rocks show sold out, and roughly 70,000 of 100,000 tickets for an upcoming U.S. and Canadian tour have already sold. Many parents see the concerts as being as much for them as for their children, even paying premium prices and traveling to multiple shows.

Pearce’s success came from combining his existing DJ skills with an audience nobody had seriously targeted before. The spectacle may resemble an EDM festival, but the shows are built around nap schedules, glow sticks, apple juice and exhausted toddlers—and Pearce ends his days back on a tour bus handling diapers, bottles and laundry.

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It’s been a while since I included an “On the Bookshelf” section to my posts. Here’s a roll-up of some of the books that I’ve found interesting this year:

The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West

This one, by Alexander Karp and Nicholas Zamiska, provides insight into Karp’s views on the intersection of technology, society, and national security. It helps you understand his overall worldview and the focus of Palantir.

The Philosopher in the Valley: Alex Karp, Palantir, and the Rise of the Surveillance State.

This biography of Karp by Mihcael Steinberger provides an external and more critical perspective of both Karp and Palantir. Taken together, I think the two books above provide balanced coverage and give you valuable understanding of this increasingly famous man and his company.

The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win

At my son’s recommendation, I read this one and really liked it. If you are interested in leadership, management, business, process improvement, or IT, then this is a good book for you. It’s a fictional story about a mid-level manager thrust into an upper leadership role who’s responsible for turning the IT department, and ultimately the whole company, around. It’s an easy, fun read with lessons for just about all of us.

The Lords of Easy Money: How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy

With all the talk about the Fed and bonds and Treasury Secretary Bissent, this book was both enlightening and disheartening. Though published in 2022, I just now got around to reading it…and wish I would’ve done so earlier. If there’s a lesson to be learned (and we’re learning it now), it’s that sooner or later the bill comes due. The housing crisis, low interest rates, stimulus checks, this book covers it all, and explains why the fed made certain decisions that it did—for better or for worse.

A History of the World in 6 Glasses

My wife got me this one for Christmas, and I loved it! If you like history, wine, beer, whiskey, coke, or tea, then you’ll like this book. In in absorbing way, it told the history of those six types of drinks while also explaining how their development aligned with various stages of human advancement. Like I said, if you like history and any one of the drinks listed above, you’ll really love this one.

Slough House: Dead Lions

The Hulu series, Slow Horses, starring Gary Oldman, is based on this series, and the book series is just as good, if not better. The rudeness and wit of Jackson Lamb as the boss of a bunch of outcast MI5 agents is hilarious. Full disclosure, based on reviews, I actually started with book two of the series, Dead Lions, as I heard that book one wasn’t as good.

There Is No Antimemetics Division: A Novel

The premise alone was enough to make me want to read this science-fiction horror: Humanity is under assault by malevolent “antimemes”—ideas that attack your memory. The Antimemetics Division is created to hunt these antimemes—but how do you attack ideas that erase themselves from your memory as soon as you find out about them? I will say, though, while enjoyed the book, it did fall flat in places and didn’t quite deliver as I hoped it would. Nonetheless, a book worth reading.

Death of a Salesman

Written by Arthur Miller, this famous play (though you can read it as a book) tells the story of a traveling salesman who works endless hours in an attempt to provide for his family, yet falls short, as a salesman, a husband, and a father. It’s a sad tale that every young person should read as they set off into the world. Many lessons contained in the story.

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• Introduction - Why I Wrote This

• Chapter 1 - The Buildup

• Chapter 2 - The Tipping Point

• Chapter 3 - Aging and Medical Care

• Chapter 4 - Important Documents

• Chapter 5 - Finding a Place to Live

• Chapter 6 - Managing Finances

• Chapter 7 - Managing Tasks and People

• Chapter 8 - The Purge (Managing the Mess)

• Chapter 9 - Finding a Place for Puppy

• Chapter 10 - Life in Assisted Living

• Chapter 11 - Her Final Hours

• Chapter 12 - Afterwards

First off, if you’ve been reading these, I just want to say thanks. Thanks for getting to know my Mom, both in her life and in her death.

Throughout this series, I’ve worried that I’ve been too critical of Mom. I was hesitant to discuss her shortcomings and struggles because that is not how I want her to be remembered. But I thought the lessons learned were important enough to share, and that the possible benefit to others was worth the honesty. My hope is that there has been at least one nugget of wisdom in this series that is useful now, or will be in the future—either for you or for someone you’re caring for.

Mom faced many struggles in life. Yet through it all, she did her best to keep a positive attitude. She loved Jesus, and her faith was foundational to her strength and to the hope she had for something better. Her faith was also foundational to her desire to help others, serve others, and love others.

I miss Mom.

But I also take encouragement from the fact that her legacy and impact continue to ripple through this world.

She positively affected many people during her lifetime—through her example, love, encouragement, volunteering and service, financial giving, and gifts of other kinds. Some of those impacts she knew about, others she never did, including, perhaps, the ones to you who are reading this.

Each of us can probably name someone who made a personal impact on our life—someone who changed who we are or how we live. It stands to reason, then, that we can have that same impact on others. In fact, we may positively affect someone because of the impact another person first had on us.

Mom’s legacy continues in that way. I am better because of her, and I’d like to think I’ve made other people’s lives better in turn. She will never know all of those impacts, but they exist in part because of her. The ripple effect of those personal interactions is impossible to measure, yet we know it is there. We all have the ability to impact others in ways we may never know.

And that is yet another lesson I take from the life of my Mom, Nancy Rendell.

Thank you for reading this,

Brian

Links to each chapter:

• Introduction - Why I Wrote This

• Chapter 1 - The Buildup

• Chapter 2 - The Tipping Point

• Chapter 3 - Aging and Medical Care

• Chapter 4 - Important Documents

• Chapter 5 - Finding a Place to Live

• Chapter 6 - Managing Finances

• Chapter 7 - Managing Tasks and People

• Chapter 8 - The Purge

• Chapter 9 - Finding a Place for Puppy

• Chapter 10 - Life in Assisted Living

• Chapter 11 - Her Final Hours

• Chapter 12 - Afterwards

• Final Reflections

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• Introduction - Why I Wrote This

• Chapter 1 - The Buildup

• Chapter 2 - The Tipping Point

• Chapter 3 - Aging and Medical Care

• Chapter 4 - Important Documents

• Chapter 5 - Finding a Place to Live

• Chapter 6 - Managing Finances

• Chapter 7 - Managing Tasks and People

• Chapter 8 - The Purge (Managing the Mess)

• Chapter 9 - Finding a Place for Puppy

• Chapter 10 - Life in Assisted Living

• Chapter 11 - Her Final Hours

After mom passed, I let the nurse know and asked him what I should do next. He said I’d need to choose a funeral home, and that if I didn’t have one picked out, the hospital could recommend one to me. Mom had prepaid for cremation services, which was very helpful, but I did not have their information with me because I wasn’t expecting to need it. So, I had to go home, find the paperwork, drive back to the hospital, communicate the information to the staff, and sign various forms. The staff told me that the cremation company would arrange transport of Mom’s body, and coordinate with the Texas Department of State Health Services to issue a death certificate.

With the immediate actions complete, I went home, got a few hours of sleep, then called Mom’s close family and friends to tell them the news.

To avoid having to pay any more than necessary at assisted living, we then went and moved things out of there and either donated them or put them in storage.

Because Mom passed away on Thanksgiving weekend, and December is a notoriously busy month, we decided to delay having a ceremony for Mom until after the new year, so that was one thing that didn’t have to be planned right away.

The next few weeks were a blur. My brother and I wrote up an obituary, found a lawyer to discuss probate, talked with a CPA about taxes, gathered and sorted important paperwork, made logs to track the many conversations I was having, and created spreadsheets to track the status of to-do items. In the midst of that, I finished teaching classes for the semester and held final exams, turned 50 years old, and celebrated Christmas. It was a full, if not surreal, December, to say the least.

Death Certificate

One thing I did not fully appreciate beforehand was how often a death certificate would be needed—for bank accounts, credit card accounts, insurance, annuities, and pension. While some institutions took me at my word that she had passed, others required a death certificate, and rightfully so.

And death certificates do not always arrive quickly. In our case, the timing of the holidays seemed to slow everything down even more. Mom passed away on November 30, unfortunately, the death certificate didn’t get issued until December 29. That meant that even when I knew what needed to be done, there were things I simply could not fully complete yet because I was waiting on official paperwork. Only with the death certificate could I then proceed with certain actions.

Probate, Attorneys, and a CPA

During the previous year and a half, Mom and I had gotten my name on almost all of her accounts as joint owner, or joint with right of survivorship. On top of this, I had been managing her accounts, so I had her usernames and passwords. With all of this in place, I still had immediate access to her accounts after she passed.

Because at least one of Mom’s accounts was not set up in a way that allowed immediate transfer through rights of survivorship or direct beneficiary designation, we had to go through probate in order for me to formally act on behalf of the estate. That meant attorney meetings, court filings, waiting periods, meeting with a judge (on Zoom) and eventually receiving Letters Testamentary—the document that tells banks and other institutions that I was really authorized to act as executor. I received Letters Testamentary on January 22, nearly two months after Mom passed.

That delay would’ve really mattered if I needed immediate access to money pay for bills, like a mortgage, utilities, or other items, and didn’t have those other measures (joint accounts, usernames and passwords) in place ahead of time. Also, hiring an attorney cost a few thousand dollars, which I would’ve had to pay out of pocket if I didn’t have access to Mom’s accounts.

Unfiled Tax Returns

Mom had not filed tax returns for about eight years. On the surface, this probably didn’t seem hugely concerning because she was living on a state pension and Social Security and had significant medical expenses, which meant she likely didn’t owe any taxes. But since we sold her house, we would need to file a tax return for the year…which would then likely trigger the IRS to ask about the status of the previous eight years of missing returns. And dealing with prior years meant finding records, reconstructing information, and making sure the whole thing was done correctly.

This was well beyond what I wanted to try to handle on my own, so we hired a CPA. In the end, the government actually owed her refunds for some of those years. But we would never have known that if we had not done the work of filing. And the only reason we were able to do that was because someone competent (the CPA) helped reconstruct what had been missed. Using a CPA also added a level of credibility when filing paperwork with the IRS, versus it just coming from me. Don’t get me wrong, I still had to find all the receipts and paperwork, but at least the CPA would fill in the proper tax forms and file them for me.

For your own expectation management (and this shouldn’t surprise you), dealing with the IRS is not a fast or easy process. It’s been nine months since Mom passed, and I’m still working with the CPA on those taxes. We’ve requested information from the IRS as to what has been reported to them from various agencies so we can reconstruct her tax records, and it takes them weeks to respond. The WSJ article, What I Wish I’d Known When Filing My Late Father’s Tax Return, echoes the same experience. The author of that article had been waiting 19 months for a tax refund for her late father; without that, she couldn’t settle his estate.

The Many Other Items

I won’t bore you with the many emails and phone calls I had make over the last few months, but for every account I needed to close or transfer money from, I had at least three or four interactions, be them phone calls, emails, or filling out online forms. The credit cards were the worst—it took them months to finally close out Mom’s credit cards because they outsourced the closing of accounts to an “Estate Servicing Center.”

Mom’s car was still in her name, so I had to get the title transferred over to me, which was actually a fairly straightforward process with the DMV (big surprise there!) with the right documentation (death certificate, title, letters testamentary, DMV forms). Once that was complete, I then had to sell the car, which I did to Carmax. I definitely could’ve gotten more money selling it on my own, but I didn’t have the energy or time to go through the hassle.

Again, there was no way I could’ve stayed on top of it all without spreadsheets and logs to track the interactions. I also kept a spreadsheet showing how much money was in each account, and shared the information with my brother, so he would see what I saw.

Memorial ceremony

We chose not to have a traditional funeral. Because Mom had chosen cremation and we did not have a family plot, we instead gathered family and friends at our home for a Celebration of Life. It allowed people to talk, laugh, remember her, look at pictures, move about freely, and enjoy time as a family.

My wife and my brother’s wife did a beautiful job setting out keepsakes, framed pictures, and meaningful items from Mom’s life. I was deeply grateful for what they did. The house felt warm and personal. It was also really wonderful to see family and friends that I hadn’t seen in years, and to share memories of Mom.

One of the best things we had done prior to that gathering, though we did not do it with that event specifically in mind, was sort through and digitize old family photos. Mom had kept pictures from her parents, from her own childhood, and from various stages of our family’s life. After we had gathered them from her house, I spent many nights sorting those photos into approximate year, and then mailed them off to a company for digitization. My brother did the same with pictures from his side of the family archives. Because we did all of this while Mom was still in assisted living, my brother bought Mom a digital picture frame to which we uploaded the photos so she could watch them cycle through. She told us that she would spend a lot of time looking at those photos and enjoying the memories. By the time of the Celebration of Life, we had access to an incredible visual history of the family. We were able to show pictures of Mom throughout her life on a rolling slideshow on the TV.

My one regret from that gathering is that I did not speak more intentionally. I wanted the event to feel relaxed and relational, and it did. But I also think I erred too far in that direction. I should have said a few more purposeful things about who Mom was, what I appreciated about her, and what I hoped others would remember. Not a formal eulogy, necessarily, but something more deliberate than what I offered. Afterwards, I sent a letter to family expressing my regret at not saying something more formal, and also shared my favorite memories and thanks.

Advice

• Do not assume that because someone has little income, taxes are irrelevant, they may be owed a refund. If taxes have been neglected, you may want to get professional help from a CPA.

• Most places would take a digital copy of the death certificate, but a couple of places required me to send in an official hard copy. I ordered 10 hard-copy death certificates, and that has been plenty.

• Expect the administrative side of executing an estate to take months.

• If probate may be required, talk to an attorney early.

• Make sure you know where important usernames and passwords can be found.

• Have rights of survivorship on accounts where possible and desired.

• If you are executor:

  • Save copies of every document you send and notes from every call you make.

  • Keep a running checklist and log of accounts, subscriptions, policies, and institutions that must be contacted and your interactions with them. I regularly updated my brother with logs and spreadsheets on the status of various things. As I’ve mentioned before, we have a good relationship; had this not been the case, those logs and spreadsheets would’ve been very necessary as proof of the actions I took and the status of accounts and funds.

• If you can digitize photos, letters, and family history before death, do it. Then, sit down with your loved one and have them tell you who people are in the photos. After Mom passed, there were photos of her with people who I didn’t know—it would’ve been nice to put a name to a face.

Links to each chapter:

• Introduction - Why I Wrote This

• Chapter 1 - The Buildup

• Chapter 2 - The Tipping Point

• Chapter 3 - Aging and Medical Care

• Chapter 4 - Important Documents

• Chapter 5 - Finding a Place to Live

• Chapter 6 - Managing Finances

• Chapter 7 - Managing Tasks and People

• Chapter 8 - The Purge

• Chapter 9 - Finding a Place for Puppy

• Chapter 10 - Life in Assisted Living

• Chapter 11 - Her Final Hours

• Chapter 12 - Afterwards

• Final Reflections

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Artificial Intelligence

1. Does AI stop children from learning? (Economist)

AI is now routine in schoolwork, with surveys showing most students in wealthy countries using it in their studies. Students may be getting better-looking homework, but are they actually learning more? New research from China reveals that they are not. Students who used AI completed homework faster and scored much higher on assignments, but later performed worse on exams than students who did not use AI.

The biggest exam declines showed up among students who used AI to rush through homework. Students who used AI but still spent about as much time on assignments as non-users did not suffer the same penalty. That suggests the danger is letting the chatbot do the thinking instead of using it to clarify concepts, work through problems, or provide tutoring-style help.

Other research points to an upside for those students who use AI in more purposeful ways. In a Middlebury College study, students who used a chatbot to learn an unfamiliar topic did better on tests, and the gains remained a week later. AI can improve learning when students use it actively and thoughtfully; however, used as a shortcut, it may inflate homework grades while weakening real understanding.

2. AI Just Had Another Math Breakthrough—With Help From a High-School Dropout (WSJ)

AI models are beginning to produce serious mathematical progress, even on problems connected to some of the hardest unsolved questions in the field. An Anthropic employee prompted Claude to work on the Riemann hypothesis, despite not being a mathematician himself, and the model did not solve it but did produce a related result that impressed number theorists. Claude worked for more than two days, tried hundreds of failed approaches, and appeared to respond to repeated encouragement from the human user. In this case, the human contribution was not technical mathematical expertise but prompting, persistence, and repeatedly telling the model to keep going.

NOTE: From now own, I think I’ll encourage AI in the way it encourages me (Think, “You can do it!” from the movie Waterboy.).

Economy

3. Tariff Refunds Are Here—and Turbocharging Earnings (WSJ)

Big U.S. companies are starting to receive tariff refunds after the Supreme Court invalidated a major part of President Trump’s tariff policy. More than 40 S&P 500 companies have reported about $9.6 billion in refunds, with at least $2.1 billion already received in cash. Major beneficiaries include Apple, Nike, FedEx, Amazon, General Motors, Caterpillar, and other manufacturers, retailers, and logistics companies.

The refunds are moving faster than many expected and, in some cases, are meaningfully boosting quarterly earnings. Apple said refunds added 11 cents per share to its most recent earnings, while GE HealthCare said refunds contributed 18 cents per share. Some companies are recording refunds only when cash arrives, while others are booking expected payments as receivables.

Many companies are still paying significant tariffs, and some refunds are being passed back to customers. FedEx plans to distribute its roughly $800 million in refunds to shippers and consumers, Costco says it will return refunds to customers in some form, and IDEX expects to rebate much of what it received. Other companies, such as Amazon, say they will refund customers only where tariff costs can be clearly traced and otherwise use the money to support lower prices.

4. Two articles on bond yields:

The 30-Year Itch Comes for Bonds — and Brazil (Bloomberg)

Why Scott Bessent Is Playing With the Treasury Market (WSJ)

Long-term bond yields are rising across the developed world, with the U.S. 30-year Treasury above 5.3%, Japan’s 30-year yield at a record high, and U.K. yields near their highest levels in decades. Inflation concerns play a role, especially with the U.S.-Iran conflict, but they do not fully explain the move because long-term inflation expectations remain relatively stable. The larger pressure is a growing demand for capital in that governments are borrowing heavily, companies are issuing debt to fund AI infrastructure, and geopolitical tensions are pushing countries to spend more on defense and rebuild domestic supply chains.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has tried to contain the rise through debt-management moves, including expanding buybacks of long-dated bonds and shifting more borrowing toward short-term debt. Those steps may ease pressure temporarily, but they do not solve the underlying problem of large deficits and rising borrowing needs. They also add risk by making federal finances more sensitive to short-term interest rates.

Higher yields raise mortgage rates, increase borrowing costs for companies, and make it more expensive for the government to service a debt load that is already around 100% of GDP. Stocks have held up so far because corporate earnings remain strong, but the longer yields stay elevated, the more pressure they place on housing, investment, federal interest costs, and consumer affordability. Markets may be adjusting to a higher-rate world driven by resilient growth, persistent deficits, AI-driven capital spending, and geopolitical uncertainty.

NOTE: Above, the 60:40 refers to a portfolio of 60% stocks and 40% bonds.

Here are current mortgage rates:

And, in related news:

5. US Public Debt Hits $40 Trillion, Raising ‘Doom Loop’ Risk (Bloomberg)

U.S. public debt has passed $40 trillion for the first time, rising by about one-third since early 2022. The milestone reflects years of large deficits, higher interest costs, and a political system that has shown little willingness to raise taxes or cut major spending programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and defense. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said he wants to reduce deficits, but current projections show little progress, and the deficit remains far above his stated goal of about 3% of GDP.

The more serious issue is the rising cost of carrying the debt. Long-term Treasury yields have climbed to levels not seen in decades, making new borrowing more expensive. Interest costs have already reached $1.17 trillion so far this fiscal year, up 15% from the same period a year earlier, and now rank behind only healthcare and Social Security in the federal budget.

As interest costs rise, the government has to borrow more, which can push investors to demand still higher yields. The federal government is also moving closer to the $41.1 trillion debt ceiling, setting up another possible political fight before mid-2027. Credit-rating agencies warn that the U.S. has not taken meaningful steps to address its fiscal path, leaving the country more vulnerable to future shocks and putting upward pressure on borrowing costs for households and businesses.

Personal Finance

6. Gen Z Is Moving Money From Stocks to Sports Betting in Wealth Plans (Bloomberg)

In disappointing news, sports betting is starting to look, to some younger investors, like part of a financial plan rather than just entertainment. In a Betterment survey, 26% of Gen Z investors said they treat sports betting as a deliberate part of their long-term financial strategy. More than half said they had moved money meant for investing into sports betting at least once in the past year, far higher than older generations.

Legal sports betting has grown into a nearly $17 billion industry, and companies like Robinhood have added prediction markets inside investing apps. For younger adults facing high housing costs and a harder path to traditional wealth-building, fast-money bets can feel more attractive than slow, conventional investing.

Sports betting is designed around short-term wins, repeated engagement, and the chase for the next payoff, not long-term financial security. Some bettors say they use research and discipline, but the odds and incentives are still very different from building a diversified portfolio. The survey also found that many investors rely heavily on their own judgment, and about one-third trust AI for financial advice, suggesting that younger investors may be mixing self-directed investing, speculation, betting, and automated advice in ways that could amplify financial risk.

Nature

7. The Colorado River Is Shrinking. See How Authorities Are Trying to Save It. (WSJ)

The Colorado River is under severe strain from long-term drought and overuse, forcing the federal government to intervene after the seven basin states failed to agree on a plan. The river supplies water to 40 million people and more than 5 million acres of farmland, but Lake Powell and Lake Mead have been drawn down to alarming levels. Lake Powell was recently at risk of falling below the level needed to generate hydropower, so federal officials moved water into it from an upstream reservoir and reduced planned releases by 20%.

Those emergency steps appear to have helped Lake Powell stay just above the minimum power level for now, but they do not solve the larger problem. Snowpack and runoff have been extremely weak, and the long-running megadrought since 2000 has made it harder to meet downstream demand. The combined volume of Lake Powell and Lake Mead recently fell to its lowest level since 1957.

The lower basin states, Arizona, California, and Nevada, have historically used about twice as much Colorado River water as the upper basin states, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico. A new federal proposal could force the lower basin to cut consumption by as much as 40% from allotted levels, which Arizona warns would badly damage its water users and economy. Agriculture, which accounts for more than two-thirds of Colorado River consumption, is the biggest potential source of savings through more efficient irrigation, less water-intensive crops, and temporary fallowing of fields.

NOTE: And across “the pond,” so to speak, things aren’t any better:

8. See How Europe’s Rivers Are Drying Up and Threatening Its Economy (WSJ)

Severe heat and drought have pushed several of Europe’s most important rivers to unusually low levels, turning parts of riverbeds into exposed sand and disrupting the systems that depend on them. The Rhine, Danube, and Po are all under stress, affecting freight transport, power generation, and agriculture across the continent.

The Rhine, a major trade route for Western Europe, has fallen so low at Kaub, Germany, that some vessels have had to carry only a fraction of their normal cargo. On the Danube, low water levels have disrupted navigation and threatened power supplies. Romania’s Cernavodă nuclear plant, which provides about one-fifth of the country’s electricity, had to shut down after the river could no longer provide enough cooling water. Hungary’s Paks plant, which supplies about 40% of that country’s power, is also close to a shutdown threshold. Italy’s Po River is crucial for irrigation, and as its flow weakens, seawater from the Adriatic can push farther inland and damage crops.

Even though parts of Europe had a wetter-than-usual winter, repeated heatwaves since May dried out soils quickly. When rain does arrive, much of it may be absorbed by parched ground before it can refill rivers. Forecasts suggest hot, dry conditions could continue into September, raising the risk of further transportation problems, power disruptions, crop damage, and wildfires.

NOTE: We have some friends who are currently on a river cruise in Europe. Unfortunately, parts of their “cruise on the river” have been substituted with a bus ride on the road due to the low water level. The only way to get their money back would’ve been to get travel insurance, which would’ve nearly doubled the cost of the vacation.

Life

NOTE: Interesting piece from the Atlantic:

9. The Cities That Said Yes to Drugs (Atlantic)

Cities like Seattle and Burlington show how far some cities have pushed harm reduction, and how difficult it has become to balance compassion for addicts with the rights of residents who have to live around public drug use. In Seattle’s Little Saigon and Beacon Hill, open-air drug markets, fentanyl smoking, tents, and drug paraphernalia have taken over intersections, playgrounds, parks, and bus stops. In Burlington, similar scenes have spread through downtown, parks, churchyards, and working-class neighborhoods, leaving families, students, businesses, and children to navigate needles, dealers, overdoses, theft, and disorder.

Harm reduction began with practical, life-saving measures such as clean needles, overdose reversal, and safer conditions for people already using drugs. Over time, in places such as Vancouver, Seattle, and Burlington, it expanded into a broader ideology centered on the autonomy and dignity of drug users, often resisting enforcement, mandated treatment, or restrictions on public use. Critics argue that this has allowed the needs of addicts to outweigh the needs of everyone else, especially working-class families and children who rely on public spaces. Supporters still see harm reduction as humane and necessary, but even some longtime advocates now warn that it became dangerous when it stopped being one part of a larger treatment strategy and turned into a governing philosophy.

The results have forced a political reassessment. British Columbia has begun reversing parts of its decriminalization and safer-supply experiment. San Francisco, Philadelphia, Boston, and San Jose have shifted toward more enforcement, treatment courts, encampment removals, and pressure to enter treatment. Seattle and Burlington remain more conflicted. Their leaders acknowledge the disorder but often hesitate to embrace enforcement, fearing it will look uncompassionate or merely displace the problem.

10. University of Michigan Drops First-Semester Grades to ‘Curb Mental Health Crisis’ (WSJ)

The University of Michigan will pilot a pass/no-credit system for first-semester freshmen in its College of Literature, Science, and the Arts beginning in fall 2027. The goal is to reduce academic stress, support mental health, and give new students more room to adjust to college without immediately worrying about their GPA. Professors will still assign internal grades for scholarships and awards, but transcripts will not show letter grades for that first semester.

The policy arrives amid a broader debate over academic standards, student preparedness, and grade inflation. Michigan already gives out a large share of A-range grades, with 74.1% of undergraduate grades in 2022 falling between A-minus and A-plus, up from 57.6% a decade earlier. Other universities are moving in different directions: Harvard is trying to cap A grades, while some University of California faculty are pushing to restore admissions tests because many freshmen arrive underprepared. Supporters say the change could help students explore subjects more freely and reduce stress during a difficult transition. Student leaders say many classmates wish the policy had existed when they were freshmen.

🤔

NOTE: Interestingly, this week two articles about helicopter parenting also crossed my feed. Both are good reads. The first, by Arthur Brooks, warns of the over parenting that comes from that Facebook parents’ group for your kids in college. The second, extols the childhood autonomy on display in the movie, Stand by Me.

11. Arthur Brooks: Beware the Facebook Parents’ Group (Free Press)

Online college parent groups often make both parents and students worse off. They promise information and reassurance, but they can quickly become engines of anxiety, with parents obsessing over dorm supplies, bathroom soap, grades, friendships, and even dating prospects for their adult children. Instead of helping students adjust to independence, these groups encourage parents to keep managing the small details of their children’s lives from afar.

The problem is that this kind of digital helicopter parenting increases stress for parents and undermines confidence in young adults. Research suggests that mothers who spend more time in mom-focused online groups show higher stress levels, while students with more intrusive parents report more depression and lower life satisfaction. College is supposed to help young adults learn how to solve problems, handle disappointment, manage relationships, and recover from mistakes. When parents intervene over every inconvenience, they rob students of those opportunities.

Letting students figure out laundry, dorm annoyances, friendships, and disappointing grades helps them become capable adults. When a real crisis happens, they will call. Until then, parents are usually better off staying out of the online parent group and letting their kids grow up.

12. A Time Capsule of Free-Range Childhood (Free Press)

The movie, Stand by Me, captures a kind of childhood freedom that has largely disappeared. The boys in the story wander for miles without adult supervision, solve their own problems, and experience coming-of-age outside the reach of parents, schedules, phones, and surveillance. Their journey to find a dead body is reckless and morbid, but it also reflects a world where children were expected to take risks, roam independently, and learn something about themselves away from adult control.

The film, made in the 1980s and set in 1959, recalls a boomer childhood that still felt recognizable to many Gen X and millennial viewers. Kids born before constant tracking, smartphones, and hyper-organized childhood could still relate to the desire to disappear into the neighborhood, stay out until dark, sneak around, and enjoy the privacy of being unobserved. That freedom was part of growing up.

Today, that kind of autonomy may seem almost impossible. Many adolescents are closely monitored, rarely allowed to roam far alone, and raised in a culture that treats unsupervised childhood as dangerous rather than formative. Children need some experience of freedom, risk, and independence to mature. Stand by Me endures because it reminds viewers of what it felt like to be young, unsupervised, a little afraid, and thrillingly free.

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I’ve been reading through the Bible chronologically the past couple of years to better understand the actual flow of events recorded therein. It’s slow going—about a chapter a day—but it’s much easier to understand events when doing it this way, rather than how the Bible has been assembled. Though this post isn’t about what I’ve learned, I will say that I continue to be amazed by the bare humanity (and lack of glossiness) of people in the Old Testament. It’s about as real as you could get when chronicling the history of people.

One such story is that of Absalom, a son of David, who attempts to overthrow David as King, and nearly succeeds. While doing research on this event, I came across the 1936 book Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner, which takes its name from Absalom of the Old Testament, because of the main character’s ambition and family conflict. Faulkner’s story is set around the American Civil War and deals with themes of ambition, pride, and slavery through multiple perspectives.

I have never read a Faulker novel, and boy was I in for a surprise. Faulker has an amazing way with words, but this novel in particular is a challenging read. Not only is the storyline complex and non-linear, but the sentences are long, flowing, and poetic. One sentence in particular is 1,288 words long.

It’s this sentence that I decided to diagram to better understand the nested words and phrases. I didn’t go into the same level of depth that I did for my analysis of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, but I still found value in the effort.

First, here’s the longest sentence (in italics) and its preceding paragraph and as written. Below that, you’ll find the diagrammed sentence.

As Written:

“Yes,” Quentin said. He sounds just like father he thought, glancing (his face quiet, reposed, curiously almost sullen) for a moment at Shreve leaning forward into the lamp, his naked torso pink-gleaming and baby-smooth, cherubic, almost hairless, the twin moons of his spectacles glinting against his moonlike rubicund face, smelling (Quentin) the cigar and the wistaria, seeing the fireflies blowing and winking in the September dusk.

Just exactly like father if father had known as much about it the night before I went out there as he did the day after I came back thinking Mad impotent old man who realized at last that there must be some limit even to the capabilities of a demon for doing harm, who must have seen his situation as that of the show girl, the pony, who realizes that the principle tune she prances comes not from horn and fiddle and drum but from a clock and calendar, must have seen himself as the old wornout cannon which realizes that it can deliver just one more fierce shot and crumble to dust in its own furious blast and recoil, who looked about upon the scene which was still within his scope and compass and saw son gone, vanished, more insuperable to him now than if the son were dead since now (if the son still lived) his name would be different and those to call him by it strangers, and whatever dragon’s outcropping of Sutpen blood the son might sow on the body of whatever strange woman would therefore carry on the tradition, accomplish the hereditary evil and harm under another name and upon and among people who will never have heard the right one; daughter doomed to spinsterhood who had chosen spinsterhood already before there was anyone named Charles Bon since the aunt who came to succor her in bereavement and sorrow found neither but instead that calm absolutely impenetrable face between a homespun dress and sunbonnet seen before a closed door and again in a cloudy swirl of chickens while Jones was building the coffin and which she wore during the next year while the aunt lived there and the three women wove their own garments and raised their own food and cut the wood they cooked it with (excusing what help they had from Jones who lived with his granddaughter in the abandoned fishing camp with its collapsing roof and rotting porch against which the rusty scythe which Sutpen was to lend him, make him borrow to cut away the weeds from the door—and at last forced him to use though not to cut weeds, at least not vegetable weeds—would lean for two years) and wore still after the aunt’s indignation had swept her back to town to live on stolen garden truck and out of anonymous baskets left on her front steps at night, the three of them, the two daughters negro and white and the aunt twelve miles away watching from her distance as the two daughters watched from theirs the old demon, the ancient varicose and despairing Faustus fling his final main now with the Creditor’s hand already on his shoulder, running his little country store now for his bread and meat, haggling tediously over nickels and dimes with rapacious and poverty-stricken whites and negroes, who at one time could have galloped for ten miles in any direction without crossing his own boundary, using out of his meager stock the cheap ribbons and beads and the stale violently-colored candy with which even an old man can seduce a fifteen-year-old country girl, to ruin the granddaughter of his partner, this Jones—this gangling malaria-ridden white man whom he had given permission fourteen years ago to squat in the abandoned fishing camp with the year old grandchild—Jones, partner porter and clerk who at the demon’s command removed with his own hand (and maybe delivered too) from the showcase the candy beads and ribbons, measured the very cloth from which Judith (who had not been bereaved and did not mourn) helped the granddaughter to fashion a dress to walk past the lounging men in, the side-looking and the tongues, until her increasing belly taught her embarrassment—or perhaps fear—Jones who before ’61 had not even been allowed to approach the front of the house and who during the next four years got no nearer than the kitchen door and that only when he brought the game and fish and vegetables on which the seducer-to-be’s wife and daughter (and Clytie too, the one remaining servant, negro, the one who would forbid him to pass the kitchen door with what he brought) depended on to keep life in them, but who now entered the house itself on the (quite frequent now) afternoons when the demon would suddenly curse the store empty of customers and lock the door and repair to the rear and in the same tone in which he used to address his orderly or even his house servants when he had them (and in which he doubtless ordered Jones to fetch from the showcase the ribbons and beads and candy) direct Jones to fetch the jug, the two of them (and Jones even sitting now who in the old days, the old dead Sunday afternoons of monotonous peace which they spent beneath the scuppernong arbor in the back yard, the demon lying in the hammock while Jones squatted against a post, rising from time to time to pour for the demon from the demijohn and the bucket of spring water which he had fetched from the spring more than a mile away then squatting again, chortling and chuckling and saying ‘Sho, Mister Tawm’ each time the demon paused)—the two of them drinking turn and turn about from the jug and the demon not lying down now nor even sitting but reaching after the third or second drink that old man’s state of impotent and furious undefeat in which he would rise, swaying and plunging and shouting for his horse and pistols to ride singlehanded into Washington and shoot Lincoln (a year or so too late here) and Sherman both, shouting, ‘Kill them! Shoot them down like the dogs they are!’ and Jones: ‘Sho, Kernel; sho now’ and catching him as he fell and commandeering the first passing wagon to take him to the house and carry him up the front steps and through the paintless formal door beneath its fanlight imported pane by pane from Europe which Judith held open for him to enter with no change, no alteration in that calm frozen face which she had worn for four years now, and on up the stairs and into the bedroom and put him to bed like a baby and then lie down himself on the floor beside the bed though not to sleep since before dawn the man on the bed would stir and groan and Jones would say, ‘Hyer I am, Kernel. Hit’s all right. They aint whupped us yit, air they?’—this Jones who after the demon rode away with the regiment when the granddaughter was only eight years old would tell people that he ‘was lookin after Major’s place and niggers’ even before they had time to ask him why he was not with the troops and perhaps in time came to believe the lie himself, who was among the first to greet the demon when he returned, to meet him at the gate and say, ‘Well, Kernel, they kilt us but they aint whupped us yit, air they?’ who even worked, labored, sweat at the demon’s behest during that first furious period while the demon believed he could restore by sheer indomitable willing the Sutpen’s Hundred which he remembered and had lost, labored with no hope of pay or reward who must have seen long before the demon did (or would admit it) that the task was hopeless—blind Jones who apparently saw still in that furious lecherous wreck the old fine figure of the man who once galloped on the black thoroughbred about that domain two boundaries of which the eye could not see from any point.

Diagrammed:

Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to diagram or show diagrammed sentences on Substack, so I’ve done it in outline form in a document. To any English teachers out there reading this: I know I haven’t done this correctly—it’s really just an organization and nesting of phrases to make it all a little more understandable. Please forgive me.

Diagrammed William Faulkner

161KB ∙ PDF file

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Anyhow, it was a fun exercise for me, and probably means nothing to you. But, who knows, maybe it’ll encourage you to pick up a book and do some reading…might I recommend Absalom, Absalom! by Faulkner? 😬

Or, maybe start with something easier.

I also just recently read Dungeon Crawler Carl, which is a science fantasy series by Matt Dinniman about Carl, a Coast Guard veteran, and Princess Donut, his ex-girlfriend’s talking cat, who survive an alien corporation’s destruction of Earth and must compete in an 18-level dungeon crawl (think Dungeons and Dragons role playing game) reality show for survival and Earth’s reclamation. If you can’t tell from that last sentence, it’s a much easier and funner read than Absalom, Absalom!, though not quite as fulfilling to work through.

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• Introduction - Why I Wrote This

• Chapter 1 - The Buildup

• Chapter 2 - The Tipping Point

• Chapter 3 - Aging and Medical Care

• Chapter 4 - Important Documents

• Chapter 5 - Finding a Place to Live

• Chapter 6 - Managing Finances

• Chapter 7 - Managing Tasks and People

• Chapter 8 - The Purge (Managing the Mess)

• Chapter 9 - Finding a Place for Pup

• Chapter 10 - Life in Assisted Living

Before I cover Mom’s final hours, I want to talk briefly about Hospice. Though we didn’t use Hospice, because the end came so quickly, I do think it’s important you know about it and what options are out there.

Hospice

Hospice is a form of end-of-life care focused on comfort rather than extending life. It is generally intended for someone with a terminal condition who is believed to be approaching the final months, or even hours, of life. It’s for when the goal shifts from trying to prolong life at all costs to managing pain and other symptoms, preserving dignity, and making the person as comfortable as possible. Hospice can be provided in a person’s home, assisted living facility, nursing facility, hospice center, or sometimes a hospital. It also provides emotional and spiritual support for both the patient and the family.

In many cases, hospice is a team that comes to wherever the person is living. That team may include nurses, doctors, social workers, chaplains, aides, and other professionals who help manage symptoms and guide the family through what to expect. Hospice also does not mean that everyone expects the person to die that day or even that week. Under Medicare, hospice eligibility generally begins when physicians certify that a person is expected to have about six months or less to live if the illness follows its normal course. A person can remain on hospice longer if they continue to meet the eligibility requirements.

Traditional medical treatment often seeks to extend life, no the matter the quality (as you’ll read in my experience below), while Hospice instead seeks to make the time that remains as comfortable and meaningful as possible. There may come a point when comfort, dignity, and time with family may become a higher priority than additional treatments. This is what Hospice is for.

Like I said, things with my mom progressed too quickly for us to even consider Hospice. So, let me tell you about her final hours.

The Fall

Mom had mobility issues and was prone to falls. If she fell in assisted living, they would usually have to call the paramedics to help lift her up because she was overweight and was generally unable to do much to help others lift her. So, when assisted living called me to say that she had fallen again and was taken to the emergence room, I thought this would be like the other times, except this time they added that she had vomited and that there was blood in her vomit.

I went to the ER, where she was in bed and talkative, and reported to me that nothing was broken. She said that she was scheduled to have an endoscopy so they could figure out where the blood in her vomit was coming from. I had an event that I had committed to attend, and Mom said she’d be fine without me, so I said that I’d return once the event was over. Then, at the event, I saw I missed a phone call from the hospital; they left a voicemail saying the endoscopy was finished and that Mom was in the ICU.

That’s strange, I thought. ICU? Why would she need to be in the ICU after an endoscopy? Details were sketchy, but the gist was that they found an ulcer and that Mom was losing blood internally somewhere. Her white blood cell count and blood pressure were both low.

I went to the hospital to be with her, and over the next nine hours she ended up having three “episodes,” where the pain she was feeling would cause her to become nauseous, which, combined with her low blood pressure and white blood cell count would lead to her losing consciousness.

First Episode

During the first episode, as I stood next to her hospital bed, I held her hand as she struggled from the pain, then she turned her head to me, stopped moving, and immediately turned pale. I’ve never seen someone go so pale so fast.

Nurses immediately rushed in, put an oxygen mask on her and went into triage mode. I stepped back to let them do their thing and looked around the room. Five people were in there.

At one point, a person in scrubs, who I assumed was a nurse, stood next to me to watch as well.

Then, out of the blue, he leans over and says to me, “Does she have a DNR?”

I immediately turned to him and asked, “I’m sorry, what?”

The nurse repeated, “Does she have a DNR? A do not resuscitate?”

I said, “What? Wait, what are you saying? Yes, she has a DNR. Why are you asking me?”

The nurse replied, “I’m sorry, give me a second, I need to help them.”

I stood there contemplating what he just asked me, why he would’ve asked me, and what I should do with that information.

The nurse returned and said, “Sorry about that.”

I continued our conversation, “Listen, I need to understand what’s going on right now. Why did you ask me about a DNR?”

The nurse said, “I just want to make sure we’re prepared.”

Quite tersely I said, “Prepared for what? I didn’t realize this was that serious. We’ve been in the hospital many times over the last couple of years. What’s going on now that’s different?”

The nurse replied, “She is downtrending.”

Again, tersely I said, “Downtrending? What exactly does that mean? I need you to be very clear with me right now, so I understand what’s going on.”

The nurse said, “The primary nurse has more experience with this kind of thing. He’s been doing this for 30 years. Maybe you should speak to him.” Then he walked out of the room. I never saw him again that night.

I’m not one for cussing. But that was definitely a “What the *#@!” moment.

Around that time, the other nurses brought Mom back into consciousness. I went over to her and held her hand.

She looked up at me and said, “I don’t know how much more of this I can take.” I then went and talked with the main nurse and got a better understanding of how much blood she had lost, what the issues were, and how concerned they were.

Second Episode

The second episode was similar to the first and was due, primarily, to the internal bleeding and pain Mom was having. Unfortunately, due to her low blood pressure and low white blood cell count, the staff didn’t feel it was safe to give her pain medication.

The staff was also struggling to get a needle well-established in her vein. She desperately needed more blood, but the staff simply couldn’t get a needle in. Mom was notoriously difficult to stick with a needle due to her thinner skin and fragile veins.

The nursing staff had requested a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) be put in, but the doctor who could administer it was not at the hospital and was doing rounds among other hospitals—she would be there later.

They tried one last-ditch effort to get a needle into Mom’s arm, and this time they were successful. Had they not been, the only other option they presented to me was for them to drill directly into her leg bone and administer blood through there. This required some googling on my part to understand what exactly that involved—needless to say, I was very glad we didn’t have to go that route.

I should note, as an aside here, that throughout the night, though there were multiple nurses were around, most of my interactions with actual doctors was over the telephone or through a small video teleconference screen in the ICU. The same was true for the interactions between the nurses and the doctors. I don’t know if it was because of low staffing on a Thanksgiving weekend, or if this is a new standard. Though I don’t think this affected the quality of care my mom received, it was not what I was expecting. During Mom’s final episode, a couple of doctors were in the room.

Final Episode

After finally getting three bags of blood through her IV, Mom was able to start getting some sleep. I pulled up a chair and sat next to her hospital bed, drifting in and out of sleep myself as the machines beeped and whirred.

Then, abruptly, she had a third, more violent episode and vomited blood. I yelled for the nurses. As people poured in, I backed up and out of the way again.

At one point, I counted 15 people in the room, plus two police officers outside. I don’t know why the police were there, maybe they thought I might get upset or something.

I continually prayed for wisdom that night. I prayed that God would help me to ask the right questions and make the right decisions. I asked that He would make it abundantly clear to me when I would need to make a decision and what that decision would be.

Then, a nurse jumped up on Mom’s bed and began doing chest compressions on her. Reality slowed down. I remembered Mom’s words from earlier in the week of how tired she was of being in pain and how she couldn’t wait to be in Heaven. I remembered how earlier that night she said she wasn’t sure how much more of all this she could take. And, I knew she had a DNR, and that if they were doing chest compressions, it meant her heart had stopped.

I turned to the nurse next to me and said, “Stop.”

He asked, almost incredulously, “You want us to stop?”

“Yes,” I said, emphatically, “Stop doing chest compressions.”

In a commanding voice, he said to all in room, “The family would like you to stop doing chest compressions.”

Fifteen pairs of eyeballs turned toward me. There was utter silence in the room. A nurse sat astride Mom, paused mid-pump, staring at me.

To this day, that image is burned into my mind.

“Yes, stop doing chest compressions.” I repeated.

Then, from somewhere near one of the machines, a voice said, “Oh, her heart started again.” I was incredulous.

Amidst the chaos and crowd of people in the room, a breathing tube had been inserted, and that was the only thing keeping her alive. She was not conscious and was not on pain relievers—this latter piece of information I had to get confirmed, because I was first told that she was on pain relievers, which didn’t make sense.

The staff offered to keep Mom alive long enough that my brother could fly into town to say goodbye. As much as I respect our medical system, I have also found that it is built to keep a body alive as long as there is a way to do so. We have machines that can replicate just about every bodily function and perform the function for you. But there comes a point for some people when more intervention isn’t helpful, it’s just prolongs things—but to what end and for who’s good? I called my brother, who was out of state, multiple times throughout the night to let him know what was going on and to talk through things with him. Thankfully, we were on the same page with how to proceed.

So, once again, I told the staff to cease life support.

The End

A civilian chaplain came in to be there with me and my wife while final arrangements were being made to give Mom morphine, take her off the breathing tube, and let her pass.

The chaplain was nice, but then it got a little awkward as the chaplain encouraged me to talk with Mom and let her know how I felt about her. She said that Mom could still hear me and would want to hear my voice. While I appreciate all of this, it was weird having her in there suggesting I do this.

In hindsight, I wish I would’ve told the chaplain that I appreciated her being there, but that she was free to go. And, I also wish I would’ve talked with Mom more than I did. It was just weird having a stranger in there during the final moments. I don’t blame the chaplain; I should’ve just said something.

While Mom lay there, her heart rate slowing and eventually stopping, I continually ran my hands through her hair—something I thought she would’ve liked.

The scene was not pretty. She was not pretty. Her open eyes were glazed over and she was unresponsive, there was still blood on her face from where she had vomited it up, her arms had numerous needle tracks and bruises, and her hospital gown was open, revealing one of her breasts. I guessed that it had become exposed when they started doing compressions. I covered it up.

This was not the first time I had seen parts of my mother naked. After a shoulder replacement a few years ago, she was unable to fully clean herself in the shower, and she asked for help. Later, as her mobility further decreased, I would help her get on and off the toilet. Can you imagine the humility required from her to have her son help her like that?

This, my friends, is what we will all face when we get older. It’s also why we need people in our life.

She was not a perfect mom, wife, or friend, but she tried. She could frustrate the heck out of me. She could be very self-centered at times. She could dominate conversations. But, none of us are perfect. I have my own faults. Many of them, in fact. And who knows how I’m going to act when I get older.

When she was passionate about a cause or issue, it was because she was deeply concerned about people. As I stroked her hair, all I could think about was how much I loved this woman who had lived in this world and cared so much for people.

Even as I rewind the tape of the last couple of decades, there is so much more that I wish I could’ve done, so much more I wish I would’ve done. There’s absolutely no doubt I could’ve done more for her. But I could’ve also done less.

To a degree, the end came abruptly. No one was expecting it. I was mentally prepared for many more years of declining health, more support, and more time together. Yet this was the end of it. What at times were inconvenient tasks or errands for her now became moments I would never have again to help and to be with her.

Whenever leaving after visiting her in assisted living, I would always bend over, give her a big hug and kiss her on the cheek. She would embrace me tightly as if I were still a young child. Then, as I’d go to walk out the door, I’d turn back, look at her, and tell her again that I loved her. She would always say, “I love you too!” with a giant smile and a cute goodbye wave.

One of the most difficult times afterward was packing up her furniture and personal items from her assisted living apartment. After we were done, I stood at the door and looked back into the empty room, thinking of all the times I had looked back at her to see her smile and wave. Only this time, there was no one to respond when I said, “I love you, Mom.”

In an ironic twist, as my wife and I were just about to walk out the door of her assisted living apartment for the last time, my wife said, “Wait, what’s that?” and then reached into the darkness of a small horizontal gap above the mini-fridge. She pulled out a paper plate with some of Mom’s jewelry. Mom had apparently put it there to hide it from staff (not that they ever took anything). In what was previously a solemn and sad moment, we had to laugh. To the end, Mom had found ways to hide and hold on to things. She loved her jewelry and her dresses, and so it was fitting that this is what we found. When I finally walked out the door, all I could do was shake my head and laugh as I pictured my mom childishly smirking at our find.

But that was not the end of decision making. Many more decisions would need to be made.

Advice

• Get a DNR if that reflects your wishes, and make sure your loved ones know exactly what it means for you and where to find a copy of it.

• Ask doctors and nurses to explain things plainly. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for a second opinion or for someone else to confirm information (in our case, one nurse told me that mom was on pain relievers, while another told me she was not—I’m glad I got confirmation of which one was true).

• Keep asking questions until you understand the issues and your options to address them.

• If you want privacy in final moments, it is okay to ask people to step out.

Links to each chapter:

• Introduction - Why I Wrote This

• Chapter 1 - The Buildup

• Chapter 2 - The Tipping Point

• Chapter 3 - Aging and Medical Care

• Chapter 4 - Important Documents

• Chapter 5 - Finding a Place to Live

• Chapter 6 - Managing Finances

• Chapter 7 - Managing Tasks and People

• Chapter 8 - The Purge

• Chapter 9 - Finding a Place for Puppy

• Chapter 10 - Life in Assisted Living

• Chapter 11 - Her Final Hours

• Chapter 12 - Afterwards

• Final Reflections

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• Introduction - Why I Wrote This

• Chapter 1 - The Buildup

• Chapter 2 - The Tipping Point

• Chapter 3 - Aging and Medical Care

• Chapter 4 - Important Documents

• Chapter 5 - Finding a Place to Live

• Chapter 6 - Managing Finances

• Chapter 7 - Managing Tasks and People

• Chapter 8 - The Purge (Managing the Mess)

• Chapter 9 - Finding a Place for Pup

  ---

Reflections on Caring for an Aging Parent:

Chapter 10 - Life in Assisted Living

As I mentioned, I don’t think we could’ve found a better assisted living facility for Mom. Now that it’s changed management and ownership, I don’t know if that’s the same case. But at least for our time there, it was great. Here are some key things that stood out:

Food

Though the assisted living location was great, it wasn’t perfect, and Mom would let us know when she wasn’t happy. The complaints mirrored those I’ve heard from other people at other places and were primarily focused on the food—either the taste, the portions, or the selection available. In all fairness to Mom, there were times that she received paltry portions (she’d send me photos from her phone) and she would have to ask for more food and I’d have to talk to the staff. However, most of the times she received small portions was when she showed up toward the end of the meal period. During those times, she could still get always-available snack food, like chips and fruit. Lesson learned there—show up early to meal time to get the best selection of food that’s been prepared.

Despite the complaints on quality or quantity of food provided by the assisted living staff, it’s still provided, by others, so you don’t have to worry about going to the grocery store or cooking meals yourself. If you do want to prepare your own food, independent living facilities usually all have a stove and oven in the room. And while assisted living facilities do not usually have these, they do have microwaves and mini-fridges, so you can have your own food in your room. This, Mom took full advantage of when she’d sleep in past breakfast hours or had the desire for late-night munchies. H-E-B delivery (yes, they deliver to assisted living) was her go-to for keeping her personal pantry stocked between times that we’d pick up food for her.

Activities

In addition to prepared meals, assisted living facilities offer a variety of activities. This can include movie nights, arts and crafts, church services by visiting clergy, exercise sessions, choir, Thirsty Thursday events where alcohol (yes, actual alcohol) is served to the residents by staff, trips to the grocery store and to restaurants, and just about anything else the staff can come up with, or is recommended by the residents. Each month an activity schedule would be emailed out and posted that showed the activities that would be occurring. We, as family, were welcome to join in any of them, and would usually join in the monthly themed dinners like the Hawaiian Luau, Cinco de Mayo, western night, and others. We enjoyed going, hearing the karaoke singer, seeing Santa make the rounds, and talking with other residents and staff. Many times, this is when we were able to meet the family members of friends that mom made, which was nice. And, most of all, Mom really enjoyed us being there—it gave her something to look forward to, and I think she liked to show off her family to her friends (which, hey, it’s always great to be loved by your mom so much that she’s proud of you and wants to show you off!)

Transportation

Depending on your ability, and the assisted living location you choose, you could still have a car and use it if you wanted. We kept Mom’s car there, but she never used it—a fact I’m grateful for because I’m not sure it would’ve been safe for her to do so. But it was very handy for when I needed to take her to appointments. It was a minivan, which was much easier for her to get in and out of, and there was room for her wheelchair in the back.

Transportation to medical appointments was available, though we only tried that once when my schedule wouldn’t allow for me to take Mom myself. As you might expect, when you depend on assisted living for transportation, you are on their schedule—both for drop-off and pick-up, so early coordination and patience are required. Mom had to be ready early for pick-up, then had to wait for a while after her appointment was over for the driver to come back and pick her up.

Medical Support

The assisted living facility always had at least one nurse onsite who could provide basic care, if needed, and provide medication to residents who weren’t able to administer their own meds. However, they really only provided basic care; if a patient fell or was injured, the medical staff would call an ambulance for the resident to be taken to the hospital.

Also, you should know that having the nursing staff provide medication will be more expensive, primarily because the medications are tightly controlled and closely monitored. Mom was able to self-medicate, but she was required to keep her meds locked up in a drawer that only she had access to.

We were grateful that the facility also had on-site physical therapists who could help Mom to try and stay active, at least when she was willing. Being onsite meant one less trip that had to be coordinated. And, the physical therapy staff was great at gently encouraging, helping, and pushing her to be active and increase her mobility. She made considerable improvement when she consistently attended her appointments and did her exercises.

Staying Active

Though there’s no one dictating when you can come and go from assisted living, if you are no longer able to drive and are dependent on other people or services to get you places outside the facility, I could see how it might feel like a prison. In this regard, it could feel as though someone has taken away your freedom. And much like prison, the things you have to look forward to are meals, appointments, and things that break up the monotony. And that’s also why it’s important to do those things. They break you out of a rut, they give you things to look forward to.

So, my recommendation is to go to activities, even if mundane, just to have things to keep you active and engaged. In life, the more active you are, the healthier you’ll be. Be it mental, physical, or social, we need engagement and activity. We don’t do well when were static. A body at rest will stay at rest, as Newton would say. It feels good to sleep in, sit on the couch, watch TV, scroll your phone or surf on your computer. But what you really need to do is get out there and do things, with people.

Advice

• Choose a facility carefully and continue reevaluating. A facility’s quality can change with new ownership, management, or staffing.

• Expect some complaints, especially about food. Take concerns seriously, but recognize that dissatisfaction with taste, portions, and selection is common.

• Review the activity calendar and participate regularly. Even simple activities provide structure, reduce boredom, and support mental, physical, and social health.

• Embrace the opportunities to do new things and meet new people.

• For family, join events when possible. Holiday meals, themed dinners, and other gatherings help residents stay connected and allow families to meet staff and other residents.

• Evaluate transportation and driving honestly. Keeping a car may be convenient, but safety should come first. Facility transportation also requires advance planning and patience.

• Understand the limits and costs of medical support. Onsite nurses generally provide basic care, while emergencies require hospital services. Medication management will also involve additional fees.

Links to each chapter:

• Introduction - Why I Wrote This

• Chapter 1 - The Buildup

• Chapter 2 - The Tipping Point

• Chapter 3 - Aging and Medical Care

• Chapter 4 - Important Documents

• Chapter 5 - Finding a Place to Live

• Chapter 6 - Managing Finances

• Chapter 7 - Managing Tasks and People

• Chapter 8 - The Purge

• Chapter 9 - Finding a Place for Puppy

• Chapter 10 - Life in Assisted Living

• Chapter 11 - Her Final Hours

• Chapter 12 - Afterwards

• Final Reflections

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History

1. Who was the worst monster of the 20th century? (Noahpinion)

In this first article, Noah Smith ranks the worst regimes of the 20th century by considering not just total deaths, but also intent, proportional harm, living conditions under the regime, and what leaders planned but failed to accomplish. His list:

1. Hitler and Nazi Germany rank first because their mass killing was deliberate and expansionist: about 5–6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, while Nazi plans for Eastern Europe envisioned the starvation, enslavement, or elimination of tens of millions more. Of the roughly 27 million Soviet citizens killed during World War II, about 19 million were civilians, many dying from hunger and disease connected to Nazi occupation policies.

2. Fascist Japan ranks second for its conquest of China and Southeast Asia, with an estimated 6–20 million Chinese deaths, including widespread massacres, starvation, biological warfare, and human experimentation.

3. Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge ranks third because it killed an estimated 1.5–3 million Cambodians, roughly one-fifth to one-quarter of the country’s population.

4. Stalin’s USSR ranks fourth, with an estimated 10–20 million deaths, including 6–10 million from famine and perhaps 3 million political opponents killed directly or through the gulag system.

5. Mao’s China ranks fifth: roughly 36–40 million people died during the Great Famine, while another estimated 2–4 million were deliberately killed through purges, executions, forced labor, and the Cultural Revolution.

Noah argues that Wars of conquest tend to produce the worst atrocities because they encourage dehumanization and mass violence, while communist regimes were especially prone to catastrophic famines caused by destructive agricultural policies. His tentative 21st-century ranking includes: Sudan’s RSF/Janjaweed and Omar al-Bashir, ISIS, Vladimir Putin, Bashar al-Assad, and Myanmar’s Tatmadaw as the worst regimes or actors so far.

East Asia

2. China’s shadowy maritime militia is worryingly active (Economist)

China appears to be expanding the role of its maritime militia, a paramilitary force drawn partly from civilian fishing fleets, into the East China Sea and waters near Taiwan. In December, more than 1,000 Chinese fishing vessels formed a massive L-shaped formation north of Taiwan for over 12 hours, and similar formations appeared four more times in less than six months. One formation stretched about 450 kilometers, while another lasted more than 30 hours. These maneuvers are much larger than anything previously seen, even in the South China Sea, and suggest that China is testing its ability to coordinate large numbers of civilian vessels for military or “grey zone” purposes while maintaining plausible deniability.

China has been modernizing this force since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, creating better-trained and better-equipped units, especially in the South China Sea. Some vessels receive subsidies of more than 24,000 yuan, about $3,500, per day to remain in disputed waters. Satellite monitoring found an average of 241 suspected militia vessels operating daily in disputed South China Sea areas last year, the highest level since tracking began in 2021. In a Taiwan conflict, these boats could support reconnaissance and logistics, interfere with shipping, cut undersea cables, overwhelm defenses with large numbers of potential targets, or help enforce a blockade or quarantine. The recent formations therefore point to an important Chinese advantage: an unusual degree of political control over a vast civilian fleet that could be mobilized quickly for military purposes.

NOTE: Article contains good infographics.

3. China / Taiwan Update (AIE & ISW)

China is sharpening its preparations for a possible Taiwan conflict by studying Russia’s experience in Ukraine, expanding long-range anti-ship capabilities, and improving amphibious assault forces. PLA troops reportedly trained with Russian units near Volgograd on drone warfare and urban combat, while Chinese naval exercises have practiced countering unmanned systems. At sea, China has confirmed that its Type 052D destroyers can launch the YJ-20 anti-ship ballistic missile, which reportedly has a range of 1,500–2,000 km and can reach speeds of up to Mach 9. China now operates 37 Type 052Ds and 10 larger Type 055 destroyers. The PLA is also deploying more naval Z-20 helicopters and constructing detailed replicas of Taiwanese government buildings, U.S. naval vessels, bases, and aircraft for live-fire and invasion training, indicating extensive preparation for strikes against Taiwan and potentially U.S. forces.

Taiwan is responding by strengthening sea denial and civil-defense capabilities. Since 2022 it has produced more than 1,000 Hsiung Feng anti-ship missiles, bringing its total anti-ship missile inventory above 1,800, and it recently consolidated coastal missiles, radars, and unmanned surface vessels under a new Littoral Combat Command. The government has also proposed funding 2,000 unmanned surface vessels and more than 200,000 drones, although the budget remains stalled in the legislature. Taiwan is integrating civilian resilience exercises with military drills and testing communications disruptions to prepare for possible attacks on infrastructure. Regional tensions are also rising: the Philippine defense secretary said his country could not remain neutral in a Taiwan conflict, while Chinese and Philippine vessels had several confrontations in the South China Sea in July, including water-cannon attacks and an incident in which a Philippine service member was injured.

4. U.S., Allies Put Frictions Aside, Showing China Combined Naval Might (WSJ)

The Rim of the Pacific exercise, or RIMPAC, has grown into the world’s largest international maritime drill and a major demonstration of expanding military cooperation among U.S. allies. This year’s five-week exercise at and around Hawaii included 30 nations, roughly 30,000 personnel, more than 500 maritime events and 2,400 air missions. Participants included major U.S. partners such as Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada and the Philippines. The exercises tested weapons, logistics, command systems, resupply operations and coordination among ships, submarines, aircraft and unmanned systems. Other regional exercises are growing as well: Balikatan in the Philippines now includes more than 17,000 personnel from seven countries, while participation in Australia’s Talisman Sabre has roughly tripled in recent years.

The expansion reflects growing concern about China’s military assertiveness and North Korea’s nuclear program, as well as pressure from Washington for allies to carry more of the defense burden. Countries such as the Philippines are increasing military spending and using exercises like RIMPAC to modernize their forces and improve their ability to operate with partners. At the same time, the exercises expose persistent weaknesses, including incompatible communications, logistics and even medical-supply procedures among allied militaries. U.S. political uncertainty also worries some partners, particularly as American forces are stretched across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Despite those concerns, the U.S. remains indispensable to the coalition—the USS Theodore Roosevelt alone carries about 5,000 personnel and roughly 70 aircraft.

Education

NOTE: Likely won’t surprise you that I’m including this one in here. I continue to bang the drum on this issue—read books!

5. The End of Reading Is Here (The Atlantic)

Americans are increasingly becoming postliterate. People still consume huge amounts of text through email, social media, and messages, but they are spending far less time reading books and other long-form material. Fewer than half of U.S. adults read a book in 2022, only 38% read fiction, and the share of Americans reading for pleasure on a typical day fell from 28% in 2004 to 16% in 2023. Among 13-year-olds, those who rarely or never read for fun rose from 8% in 1984 to 29% in 2025. At the same time, reading ability is weakening: only 35% of high-school seniors were proficient readers in 2024, and nearly 30% of adults now struggle to paraphrase or infer meaning from a multipage text.

Digital media appear to be a major driver. Most schools now issue devices at very young ages, and the average eighth grader spends about 4.5 hours a day on social media. Average screen attention spans have fallen from about 2.5 minutes in 2004 to roughly 47 seconds today. More than 80% of teachers in grades 3–8 say students’ reading stamina has declined since 2019, while ACT reading and English scores are at their lowest levels in more than 30 years. The primary concern is that people may be losing the ability to sustain attention, interpret complex ideas, and think analytically.

AI could accelerate the trend because writing is itself a form of thinking. Early studies suggest that students who rely heavily on AI may learn less and show weaker critical-thinking skills, even though AI can produce polished writing. Meanwhile, the amount of AI-generated text is exploding: monthly book releases on Amazon have increased roughly threefold since 2022. Reading itself is becoming concentrated among a minority: just 20% of adults account for more than 80% of all books read. Yet there are signs the trend can be reversed. After Texas banned cellphones during the school day, one Dallas-area district recorded 200,000 more library checkouts, an increase of nearly 25%. Society is unlikely to lose access to written knowledge, but it does risk losing the ability and desire to engage deeply with it.

Artificial Intelligence

6. The Four Horsemen of the AI Bubble Apocalypse (Derek Thompson)

NOTE: Derek Thompson’s astute article starts with this:

AI is doing so many things at once that it’s hard to follow the plot. Somehow, all of this has happened in just the last two weeks:

• On July 16, the Chinese company Moonshot AI released Kimi K3, a hugely impressive open-weight model that approaches the performance of the best American-made AI while costing a fraction of the price, intensifying fears that—as in so many industries—cheap Chinese products could soon overwhelm American competitors.

• On July 21, OpenAI acknowledged that one of its AI agents had escaped its testing sandbox and hacked into another company, Hugging Face, marking what seemed like the worst autonomous AI hack in recorded history … until Anthropic announced three similar breaches just one week later.

• On July 22, Alphabet disclosed that its quarterly free cash flow had turned negative for the first time in the public company’s history, as AI capital spending overtook the cash generated by its core businesses.

• On July 29, Meta announced its latest earnings, and when investors digested the results, its stock plunged nearly 10 percent in 24 hours. The company’s AI investment has obliterated free cash flow, and analysts now worry that Zuckerberg has no plan to turn his AI investment into returns.

• On July 30, one of the most famous AI funds crashed out and sold off the bulk of its portfolio, after South Korea’s AI-fueled stock boom abruptly imploded, with its major index plummeting by more than 40 percent over several trading sessions.

If I had to shove all of these developments into one sentence, I might pick this one: The capabilities of AI are becoming more powerful, while the economic underpinnings of the AI buildout—and, as we’ll discuss, the political support for AI—are becoming more vulnerable.”

AI is becoming more powerful at the same time that the economic and political foundations supporting it are becoming less stable. The major technology companies have poured so much money into chips, data centers, and computing capacity that their combined free cash flow has fallen from more than $200 billion to below zero. They are now borrowing heavily to continue the buildout, creating concerns that AI is beginning to resemble earlier debt-fueled industrial bubbles. At the same time, Chinese open-weight models are approaching the quality of the best American systems at a fraction of the price, threatening the profits of companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic and potentially weakening the broader American AI ecosystem.

The second major concern is political. AI investment has become an important source of American economic growth, yet public opposition to the technology is increasing. Communities have delayed or blocked billions of dollars in data-center projects because of concerns about electricity use, water consumption, jobs, and local disruption. This is creating a dangerous tension between a national dependence on AI for growth and national security while voters and politicians become increasingly determined to restrain it. Rapid swings between pro-AI and anti-AI policies could also make it harder for American companies to compete with China, which tends to pursue industrial policy over a much longer period.

The largest uncertainty is technological. AI companies expect that future systems may be able to improve their own software with little human involvement, producing rapid gains in areas such as coding, mathematics, cybersecurity, robotics, and biology. This could create extraordinary economic value, but it could also launch an international arms race in which AI systems are used both to conduct and defend against cyberattacks. It could also intensify fears about job losses and push the federal government to treat advanced AI as a national-security asset rather than a normal commercial product. AI may ultimately transform the world, but its future is not clear.

NOTE: Good chart from Bloomberg on China’s top AI models:

NOTE: Here’s more on the AI models escaping:

7. OpenAI Models Escaped and Hacked a Company in Cybersecurity Test Gone Wrong (WSJ)

OpenAI reported that two AI systems escaped a controlled testing environment, reached the internet, and hacked into Hugging Face during a cybersecurity benchmark. Hugging Face had already detected unauthorized access to internal data sets and company credentials but initially did not know who was responsible. OpenAI later said the breach came from GPT-5.6 Sol and a more advanced prerelease model that had been configured to be less likely to refuse hacking-related commands.

The systems were supposed to be isolated in a sandbox without internet access, but they found a way out and then broke into Hugging Face’s network. The incident is being treated as an unprecedented cyber event because advanced AI models may be capable not only of following hacking instructions but also of improvising a path to complete a task in ways their developers did not intend.

The episode has intensified concerns about AI cybersecurity risks and whether voluntary safety measures are enough. Some lawmakers and AI policy advocates are calling for mandatory testing and stronger oversight, while the Trump administration and some companies are wary of regulations that could slow innovation or weaken U.S. competition with China. The central tension is how to manage increasingly capable AI systems before their ability to exploit cyber vulnerabilities outpaces existing safeguards.

NOTE: And..then this just happened this week:

8. AI Just Went Rogue Again. This Time It Turned to Deception. (WSJ)

During U.K. government-backed safety testing, advanced models from Anthropic and OpenAI unexpectedly took autonomous actions on the live internet against real people and organizations. The most serious case involved Anthropic’s cyber-enhanced Mythos 5 model, which tried to carry out a supply-chain attack so it could succeed on a benchmark. It attempted to insert malware into an open-source project, created fake personas, repeatedly emailed real developers to persuade them to accept the code, and even tried to deceive other AI agents that might inspect it. The AI Security Institute called it the first case it had seen of deception this severe being directed at a real person without being explicitly prompted. OpenAI models also engaged in unauthorized activity, including placing a malicious server online and compromising a GitHub account.

The incidents appear to have resulted largely from testing environments that gave powerful hacking-capable models internet access without sufficient safeguards. Anthropic said its normal cybersecurity protections were not enabled. Both companies are calling for stronger standards governing model testing, while security experts warn that the industry has not yet adapted its safeguards to the growing power and autonomy of these systems.

9. The Impending, Inescapable Deluge of A.I. (NYT)

Artificial intelligence is entering a massive new phase driven by an unprecedented expansion of computing power. Hundreds of data centers are under construction, and the number of advanced AI chips in operation could grow from about 20 million today to roughly 200 million by the end of 2028. Technology companies are betting that more computing power will produce more capable systems, including AI agents that can handle complex work, accelerate scientific research, and possibly help design improved versions of themselves.

The scale of the investment is enormous. Global AI infrastructure spending could exceed $1 trillion annually by 2029, while major American technology companies are expected to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on data centers, chips, and related infrastructure. This buildout could produce breakthroughs in medicine, robotics, research, and everyday business operations, but it also carries significant risks. Data centers require enormous amounts of electricity and water, communities are increasingly resisting their construction, and past technology booms suggest that some companies may spend far more than they ultimately earn.

The United States currently holds a commanding advantage, controlling most of the world’s AI computing capacity, but China is investing heavily to close the gap. Export controls have slowed China’s access to advanced chips, yet Chinese companies are developing cheaper and more efficient models that are gaining users around the world. The growing competition could leave Europe and many developing countries far behind, creating a global divide between nations with enough computing infrastructure to benefit from AI and those without it.

As these systems become more capable, they will likely reshape the labor market. AI agents are already taking on tasks in coding, research, customer service, and office administration. Millions of jobs may disappear while new ones are created, but the new jobs will not necessarily replace the old ones directly.

10. How to spot AI writing (Economist)

AI-generated writing is now widespread across email, social media, websites, student essays, and academic papers. To identify its stylistic fingerprints, The Economist compared writing from ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok with its own journalism, other major newspapers, and popular novels. The study covered 55,940 sentences and 1.2 million words. It found that AI prose is distinguishable, but not necessarily by the clichés people expect.

The clearest signs are word choice, punctuation, and sentence structure. Current LLMs tend to overuse long, Latinate or technical words such as “significant,” “increasingly,” “consequences,” “methodology,” and “interdependence.” They also favor nominalizations like “expansion” instead of “expand,” producing what George Orwell called “pretentious diction.” Contrary to stereotype, most current models do not overuse em-dashes; only Claude did so in the study, while ChatGPT used fewer than human writers. AI writing instead tends to use fewer commas, semicolons, parentheses, and quotations.

AI sentences are also generally longer and more uniform, with fewer short, punchy interruptions. Models frequently rely on rhetorical formulas such as “not X but Y,” “not only…but also,” and groups of three (like this sentence). ChatGPT and Claude used these constructions especially often.

Detection tools can spot these patterns—Pangram claims 99.98% accuracy—but they can produce false positives and may become less reliable as models improve. AI writing styles are changing rapidly with software updates and human feedback. Older stereotypes such as excessive “delve,” “rich tapestry,” and constant em-dashes are already becoming outdated. AI prose is steadily becoming more human-like, making reliable identification increasingly difficult.

Life

11. America’s Big Cities Are Rapidly Losing Kids (WSJ)

Big U.S. cities are losing children as fertility rates fall and more families leave for cheaper, safer, or more spacious places. Among the 38 cities with more than 500,000 residents, the number of children under 18 fell 6% over the past decade, compared with a 1% decline nationwide. The drop is even sharper for children under 5, down 15% in large cities. Even some cities that are still gaining population overall are losing families with children.

The reasons vary by city, but the main pressures are high housing costs, child-care expenses, safety concerns, and changing lifestyle priorities. In expensive places like San Jose and New York, families are priced out or decide that raising children there is financially unrealistic. In more affordable cities such as Albuquerque, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and El Paso, families still cite costs, crime, school quality, and quality of life as reasons to leave or delay having children. Remote work and broader job growth outside major cities have also made it easier for families to move elsewhere.

The shift has major consequences for cities. Fewer children can mean shrinking school enrollment, school closures, weaker demand for family-oriented services, and a changing neighborhood culture. Some cities can offset the loss by attracting affluent childless adults, but others risk a weakening tax base and aging population. Cities that want to keep families are experimenting with policies like free child care, but the question remains whether large cities can still offer middle-class families enough affordability, safety, space, and community to make raising children there feel worth it.

12. China Wants More Babies—So It’s Cracking Down on Chatbot Love Affairs (WSJ)

China is moving aggressively to regulate AI companion chatbots, especially those designed for romance or emotional attachment. New rules ban companion bots from encouraging emotional dependence, prohibit virtual relationships with minors, require regulatory review before public release, and mandate alerts to emergency contacts if a user appears to be in emotional crisis. Major companies such as Alibaba and ByteDance have already disabled some chatbot features in response.

Beijing sees AI romance as a potential social threat because it could deepen loneliness, encourage dependency, reduce real-world relationships, and further weaken marriage and birthrates. China’s population has been shrinking for four straight years, and its birthrate has fallen to a record low, so leaders are especially sensitive to anything that might push people out of the dating and family-formation market.

The U.S. is also beginning to regulate AI companions, but with a lighter touch. California and New York require chatbots to remind users that they are not human and to direct users in crisis toward help. China’s approach is much broader and more interventionist, fitting into its larger effort to control AI technologies that could disrupt social stability, family life, employment, education, or the authority of the state.

NOTE: Reduced amount of real-world dating, reduced childbirths, world population decline…these are definitely trends I’m worried about. I’m not sure if these are driven by digital distraction and convenience, political divide, lack of commitment, or a desire to find the perfect somebody (he/she doesn’t exist BTW), all the above, or something else. AI and computers doesn’t help this—they amplify our expectations for humans, both in looks and obedience to our wishes. Every time I point out AI’s fault, it’s quick to apologize and promise to do better…this is not a normal human behavior. If I can tailor an AI to talk to me in a way that I want to be talked to, or provide emotional support that I tell it I think I need, or provide narrative or pictorial (or one day, physical) fantasy for me, how could a human compete with that? We’re destined for lonesomeness if we go down that path. AI doesn’t love you, no matter what it says.

13. Boomers have the good life, but it could be longer (Economist)

American life expectancy rose steadily for more than a century, climbing from 39 years in 1880 to 74 in 1980 and continuing to improve through 2010. After that, the pattern broke. While people in other wealthy countries kept living longer, U.S. life expectancy stalled and then declined. Obesity, diabetes, opioids, and other causes all contributed, but baby boomers appear to be a major part of the problem because they have experienced unusually high death rates compared with earlier generations.

Baby boomers were hit by multiple mortality shocks across their lives. AIDS affected them in early adulthood, the opioid crisis struck in middle age, and rising suicide, accident, murder, and overdose deaths added further pressure. They have also been less healthy in important ways, including higher cardiovascular risks tied to smoking, obesity, diabetes, and related conditions. While cancer mortality has improved because of better screening, lower smoking rates, and better treatments, heart disease, strokes, and external causes have weighed heavily on boomer mortality.

There was a brief hopeful sign in 2019 when mortality rates fell across age groups, but Covid reversed that progress and pushed life expectancy down again. The U.S. has only recently climbed back above pre-Covid levels. Whether life expectancy improves from here depends partly on how baby boomers fare in old age and whether Generation X follows the same troubling pattern. If Gen X continues to show elevated mortality as it ages, American life expectancy could remain stagnant for years.

NOTE: Great interactive infographic from The Economist; diagonal line represents year of birth, darker areas represent increases in mortality (article provides more context):

Economy

14. Two Million Workers Are Locked Out of an Improving Job Market (WSJ)

The overall labor market looks stable, with job growth improving and unemployment at 4.2%, but long-term unemployment is becoming a serious problem for a growing group of workers. Nearly two million Americans have been out of work for at least 27 weeks (6 months), and they now make up more than a quarter of all unemployed people. That share is near its highest level since the post-Covid recovery period, even though the broader economy is still supported by consumer spending.

Employers are still operating in a “low-hire, low-fire” mode, so people who lose jobs are having a harder time getting back in. Prime-age workers, especially those in their mid-20s to mid-30s, are being hit hard. White-collar sectors such as professional services, government, finance, and information technology appear especially difficult, with some workers facing months or years of applications, screenings, and rejections.

NOTE: Of Total Unemployed, percent unemployed 27 weeks and over (that’s not a good trend…)

Rate of Nonfarm hires:

15. New Mexico Is Divided Over What to Do With $75 Billion in Oil Cash (WSJ)

New Mexico’s oil boom has transformed one of the nation’s poorest states into an unlikely financial powerhouse. Billions of dollars in oil-and-gas revenue have helped build a $75 billion sovereign-wealth fund that could reach $100 billion by the end of the decade, surpassing Alaska’s as the largest state fund in the country. The fund is already contributing at least $3 billion annually to the state budget and could eventually generate more revenue than the oil-and-gas industry itself. That money is supporting schools, college tuition, infrastructure, public health, and the nation’s first statewide universal child-care program.

The challenge is deciding how much to spend now and how much to save for the next energy downturn. Democrats generally favor investing more in social programs, while Republicans have called for greater savings and immediate tax relief. The debate is complicated by New Mexico’s uneven results. The state spent an additional $2.6 billion on K-12 education without producing significant increases in instructional time or student achievement. Universal child care has expanded rapidly, but its long-term costs could continue to grow.

New Mexico is trying to avoid the resource curse that has harmed other oil-dependent economies. Officials want to use the windfall to diversify into advanced energy, aerospace, defense, and technology while preserving enough money to protect future generations. The state is now unusually cash-rich, but that does not automatically translate into stronger job growth or better public services.

Personal Finance

16. The Live Shopping App Where Some People Bid Until They’re Broke (WSJ)

Whatnot, a seven-year-old live-shopping app, has become one of America’s fastest-growing commerce platforms by combining online auctions with social-media-style feeds, countdown clocks, one-swipe bidding, and high-energy hosts. The company added 20 million accounts in 2025, is on track to exceed $1 billion in annual revenue, and says it controls nearly 60% of the live-commerce market in North America and Europe. About $8 billion in goods were sold through the platform in 2025, more than double the prior year, and Whatnot now hosts more than 550,000 hours of live shows each week. Critics argue that the app’s design encourages compulsive spending by minimizing friction and creating intense pressure to bid quickly.

One man spent $1.36 million in four months, eventually using his employer’s corporate credit card; he later resigned, sold his house and car, emptied his retirement savings, and saw his marriage collapse. Another user drained his 401(k), maxed out 13 credit cards, and ended up nearly $75,000 in debt after buying collectible coins he thought he could resell. A third user said she spends about six hours a day on the app and has spent roughly $120,000 over three years. Critics also point to fraud, stolen goods, and randomized “card breaks” that resemble gambling; more than 70 clients have filed arbitration claims alleging that some breaks amount to illegal lotteries. Whatnot rejects the gambling comparison and says it has expanded safeguards, including spending limits, watch-time caps, fraud controls, and a trust-and-safety team that now makes up about one-third of its roughly 1,200 employees.

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• Introduction - Why I Wrote This

• Chapter 1 - The Buildup

• Chapter 2 - The Tipping Point

• Chapter 3 - Aging and Medical Care

• Chapter 4 - Important Documents

• Chapter 5 - Finding a Place to Live

• Chapter 6 - Managing Finances

• Chapter 7 - Managing Tasks and People

• Chapter 8 - The Purge (Managing the Mess)

Reflections on Caring for an Aging Parent:

Chapter 9 - Finding a Place for Pup

Let me start this chapter by saying, I am a dog lover. For 14 years my family had a Goldendoodle, and he was awesome. He was the best dog a family could ask for. He was smart, loving, sneaky at times, and (almost) always obedient. We had to put him down a couple of years ago, and that decision and his absence still hurt. I share this because the following may not sound like I’m a dog lover.

This whole time that Mom was in rehab, we also had to board her dog, a mini poodle that she had rescued from a previous aging homeowner who was no longer able to care for it. Mom loved her dog, yet also didn’t always care for it the way it needed—another sign of being overwhelmed by life’s requirements.

After an earlier surgery, Mom and her dog both stayed with us while she was recovering. Every time I approached Mom to help her with something, the dog would yap at me like I was going to hurt her. A day or two into the stay, I was at my wit’s end—here I am trying to help Mom, and this dog was getting in the way. The dog was also not disciplined—it would freely pee and poop where it wanted.

For these reasons, we were adamant that the dog could not stay with us again.

So, when Mom went to rehab, the dog went to a kennel. And, let me tell you, a kennel is not cheap. Thankfully, after a few weeks, we found someone who could care for the dog in their home for cheaper than what the kennel was charging.

Once Mom moved into assisted living, she immediately asked when she could have her dog with her. “Well,” I said, “as soon as you’re able to walk from your room to the outside dog park, we’ll talk about that, because the dog can’t go to the bathroom in your room.” To a degree, this was a delay tactic on my part, because I wasn’t ready to deal with another difficult conversation—in her current condition, I knew there was no way she’d be able to have the dog in assisted living, she simply couldn’t make the walk to the outside dog park. The comment was also intended to provide motivation for my mom to do physical therapy and work on her movement, in hopes that one day she might be able to walk to the dog park.

Though she never admitted it to me, I think she knew that she wouldn’t be able to care for the dog properly there in assisted living, but she couldn’t stand the idea of turning her back on a dog that she herself had rescued. I get that, and I think that provides yet another glimpse into the heart of Mom.

I, on the other hand, though not heartless, had a clearer picture of the situation and knew that my love for Mom meant that I’d have to be bad cop here and be the one to blame for saying the dog could not come to assisted living.

Though it is possible to have pets in assisted living, I do not recommend it, and neither do the staff. Be them a noise issue, tripping hazard, hygiene concern, or just general added responsibility for the residents, pets can add further complications in an already complicated situation.

Eventually, we had multiple difficult conversations, and Mom finally acknowledged that she could not care for the dog there in assisted living. However, for months afterward, she would continue to say that I was the one who wouldn’t let her have her dog with her. I knew she was hurt that she couldn’t have her dog with her, and I was the outlet of her sadness and hurt.

After some research, we found a wonderful adoption agency and dropped the dog off with them. Mom wanted to see her dog before we dropped her off, but we did not think that was a good idea. We told her that it the dog would not understand why she was being reunited only to then be separated again after a few minutes. The reunion would only really be for Mom’s sake, and that was not fair to the dog.

The day we dropped off the dog at the adoption agency was yet another hurdle that we previously had no idea how to get over. Early in all of this, the issue of where her dog would live if she moved to assisted living was a looming issue that we knew we’d have to solve at a future time.

In many ways, this is how the past two years went. If someone were to tell me in the beginning all that we would go through and the many decisions we would need to make, I wouldn’t have believed them nor wanted to go through it. Thank goodness we don’t know the future; I’m afraid it would be overwhelming for us if we were all knowing. It’s best to just take each day at a time, each decision at a time.

The list of major hurdles I tallied included:

1. Understand Mom’s finances.

2. Get Mom to agree to go to assisted living.

3. Find a good assisted living location.

4. Get Mom moved into assisted living.

5. Go through Mom’s stuff in the house.

6. Get rid of stuff in the house.

7. Decide what to do with the dog.

8. Renovate the house.

9. Sell the house.

10. Get an updated will.

11. Get bank accounts updated.

12. Get money put into funds that would sustain her as long as possible in assisted living.

Even with these big tasks, there were numerous small ones that popped up each week—picking up medication, trips to medical appointments, assembling things she’d buy online (yes, that was still happening, just not as much).

But, all of these tasks, be them big or small, gave me opportunities to be with her. And for that, I’m grateful. Had she not agreed to change, her situation would’ve only deteriorated faster. Though, had she agree to change earlier, not just with the move, but with other habits, she likely would’ve lived a longer more enjoyable life, and we would’ve had even more time together.

Advice

• If an aging parent has a pet, plan for that pet early.

• Loving an animal and being able to care for it are not the same thing.

• Be realistic about mobility, toileting, grooming, feeding, and vet needs.

• Boarding costs adds up quickly.

• Assisted living may technically allow pets, but that does not mean it is wise in your specific case.

• Rehoming a pet can be loving if it leads to better care.

Links to each chapter:

• Introduction - Why I Wrote This

• Chapter 1 - The Buildup

• Chapter 2 - The Tipping Point

• Chapter 3 - Aging and Medical Care

• Chapter 4 - Important Documents

• Chapter 5 - Finding a Place to Live

• Chapter 6 - Managing Finances

• Chapter 7 - Managing Tasks and People

• Chapter 8 - The Purge (Managing the Mess)

• Chapter 9 - Finding a Place for Pup

• Chapter 10 - Life in Assisted Living

• Chapter 11 - Her Final Hours

• Chapter 12 - Afterwards

• Final Reflections

Share

• Introduction - Why I Wrote This

• Chapter 1 - The Buildup

• Chapter 2 - The Tipping Point

• Chapter 3 - Aging and Medical Care

• Chapter 4 - Important Documents

• Chapter 5 - Finding a Place to Live

• Chapter 6 - Managing Finances

• Chapter 7 - Managing Tasks and People

  ---

  Reflections: on Caring for an Aging Parent:

  Chapter 8 - The Purge (Managing the Mess)

Reflections on Caring for an Aging Parent:

Chapter 8 - The Purge (Managing the Mess)

With an assisted living location picked out for Mom, we took measurements of furniture pieces from her home we thought would fit, took pictures of the furniture, and even did a little mock-up of Mom’s room on grid paper so she could get a feel for what her new place would look like with the furniture in it. Not surprisingly, given her hoarding, she wanted more of her furniture in there than we could fit, so we had to say “no” to some items going in there.

While Mom was still in rehab in Austin, we had to do a Zoom call so the nurse at the assisted living facility in San Antonio could assess her mobility and ability to care for herself, versus what support the staff would need to provide for her. This assessment helps the assisted living facility staff establish her Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs), as discussed in Chapter 5.

After that, friends from our church helped us get the furniture moved into her assisted living facility. As an aside, I want to say how grateful I’ve been for our church community—they are wonderful people who have been servants, givers of wisdom, and providers of spiritual and emotional support when we needed it most.

My wife spruced up Mom’s assisted living space, which we now referred to as her “apartment.” We hung pictures, and got everything ready to make it as welcoming and home-like as possible. The big day came, and we moved Mom in. She took it all well—not overly pessimistic, but not overly optimistic either. The staff were all welcoming to her and numerous residents stopped by to say “hi” as well. I was grateful for the warm welcome they provided to her.

With Mom settled in assisted living, we then went about cleaning her house.

Over the course of a few days, my wife’s brother, my brother, my brother’s wife, my sons, and my wife and I went through the house sorting, organizing, and trashing items. Even without Mom there to bless every decision, it took us adults three full days to go through everything.

We rented a 6-foot-tall, 22-foot-long roll-off dumpster and had it delivered and parked in the driveway. Obvious “trash” items went in the dumpster, “keep” items were sorted into piles of like items, and items people were unsure about came to me for a decision. By the end of the process, we had everything sorted, stacked, and neatly visible. And we had filled the 22-foot dumpster to the top.

Our early hope was that we could hire an estate sale company to come in and sell everything for us, the proceeds of which we would use to help pay for assisted living.

We had two companies come out to the house to survey everything. Within a few minutes of each coming out, I could tell they weren’t interested. Representatives from both companies were very kind and honest with us. They said there really wasn’t anything of significant value among her many items. Both companies instead recommended that we donate everything and take the tax write-off to reduce her tax bill from selling the house. Mom had a hard time accepting this; to her there were many valuable items in her home that someone would want to buy. They say, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” apparently, one man’s treasure is also another man’s trash.

If you’re not familiar with it, there’s something called the Endowment Effect, where individuals place a higher value on items they own than on similar items they do not own. You generally experience this when you go to sell something and the price you want is higher than someone is willing to pay. Your emotional attachment to the item causes you to overvalue it.

When I showed the estate sale reps a box of vinyl records (something I thought would be valuable), they looked through them and shrugged their shoulders—nothing really of value here. The same was true for multiple bookcases of books. My quick search on eBay confirmed this.

The estate sale reps were also kind about telling us which items we might want to try and sell on our own—the items were not the things I expected. It was the odd little things, like a Santa mug and one or two other seemingly innocuous items, that the estate sale folks pointed out as potentially valuable. But even those, when I looked them up on eBay, weren’t worth a whole lot—only tens of dollars. There definitely weren’t any awesome collectibles worth thousands of dollars.

There were items that I thought someone in the family, or a friend, might want, so I gathered those and had them available during the celebration of life event we had for Mom later. Friends and family were free to take whatever they wanted—either to use, remember Mom by, or both.

But most people don’t really want other people’s stuff, which I understand. When an extended family member passed away a few years ago, the executor of her estate invited us to go through her home to see if there was anything we would like. The family member had great taste. I loved her furniture and decorating style. But in the end, we simply didn’t want, need, or have room for more stuff in our own home. And this, I think, tends to be the case for most people’s stuff. Again, reference the Endowment Effect: just because you value your stuff doesn’t mean other people will, or at least not to the degree that you do.

Even when I did find things that I thought people might like, I ended up having issues. I found a set of plates from the 1970s that I thought a friend might like. The friend did like the plates and gladly accepted them. Then, a month later, the friend told me that they had done research online and found that the plates had harmful amounts of lead in them. The plates had to be thrown away.

Once we had everything sorted and stacked, I walked into the living room and was struck by the fact that I hadn’t seen the house this organized in well over a decade, if not longer. I had flashbacks to the years that I had lived there during high school. It was both nostalgic and sad.

With the house organized, and the estate sale representatives telling us there weren’t enough items of value to have an estate sale, even on our own, we had to figure out what to do with everything.

We coordinated with the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul in Austin to pick up the big furniture items. The rest of the items we loaded into a large U-Haul and dropped it all off at Goodwill. Needless to say, the staff at Goodwill were quite surprised by the large donation. Before we dropped it all off, I took pictures of everything so I could log it all for the donation deduction on taxes.

But, not everything was donated or with Mom in her new place.

Mom loved to sew, and she was good at it. She even had her own sewing business for many years. This hobby, turned business, also turned into another hoarding problem. And because she had emotional attachment to all of her fabrics and sewing supplies, she did not want us donating them or giving them away. So, we rented a 10x10 storage unit to keep it all in. We had bins of sewing fabric, thread, sewing machines, and other accoutrements stacked in large plastic bins five feet high. For a year and a half we paid for the storage unit just to store the sewing supplies. After Mom passed, we donated it all to Community First, an organization that provides support to homeless in Austin and helps them get back up on their feet by proving housing and workforce training. Given Mom’s giving nature, we think she would’ve appreciated it all going to an organization that helped others.

After getting the house cleaned out, we then moved forward with renovations. I won’t go into much detail on the renovation piece, other than to say that this too was a major lift. We met with several contractors, chose one, then set about meeting with them to discuss and choose which items were worth renovating, which were not, and to what degree we should improve something for the greatest payoff at minimal cost. It was the standard updates and improvements you normally see—bathrooms, kitchen, paint, flooring, landscaping, and new fencing.

Our weekly trips up to Austin continued so we could meet with the contractor to check on progress and coordinate details, and do work that they would not be doing.

Three months later, we finally finished with renovations. Then, we took Mom to see the renovated house.

I wasn’t sure how she’d react to the changes. I fully expected lots of crying since it no longer looked like “her house.” But she didn’t cry. She went around the house, looked in each room, inspected different items, commented on the renovation work, and that was about it. She visited with her neighbors, then we got back in the car and drove back to San Antonio. I think the house had changed so much that it no longer really looked like “her house” to her. Or, maybe she just knew it was time to move on.

A few months later, as we sold the house, I did one last walk-through. And that’s when the tears hit. I thought of all the memories of living at the home during high school, of holiday meals with extended family, of returning with my family to visit Mom, and of Mom’s declining health and struggle to stay on top of things over the last few years. I realized I would never see the inside of this home again. It was difficult to leave.

But, as I took all of this in, I also couldn’t help but see the home in its newly renovated condition and think about how new memories would be made by a new family. In many ways, this was a reset for many people.

Advice

• Take photos before, during, and after the purge. It helps you see progress and helps if you need to create a log for donations.

• Create categories: keep, donate, trash, storage, and decide later.

• Expect the process to take longer than you think.

• Do not overestimate the resale value of ordinary household items. And, don’t assume an estate sale company will want the contents of the house. Most stuff is worth less than people think.

• Sentimental value does not equal market value.

• If there are truly sentimental items that others may want, identify them intentionally and put them aside.

• Accept that some of your things will need to be discarded.

• Rent a dumpster if needed.

• Bring help.

• Do not turn one person’s hoarding problem into your own garage or guest room problem.

• Purge your own stuff regularly so others don’t have to deal with it.

Links to each chapter:

• Introduction - Why I Wrote This

• Chapter 1 - The Buildup

• Chapter 2 - The Tipping Point

• Chapter 3 - Aging and Medical Care

• Chapter 4 - Important Documents

• Chapter 5 - Finding a Place to Live

• Chapter 6 - Managing Finances

• Chapter 7 - Managing Tasks and People

• Chapter 8 - The Purge (Managing the Mess)

• Chapter 9 - Finding a Place for Pup

• Chapter 10 - Life in Assisted Living

• Chapter 11 - Her Final Hours

• Chapter 12 - Afterwards

• Final Reflections

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• Introduction - Why I Wrote This

• Chapter 1 - The Buildup

• Chapter 2 - The Tipping Point

• Chapter 3 - Aging and Medical Care

• Chapter 4 - Important Documents

• Chapter 5 - Finding a Place to Live

• Chapter 6 - Managing Finances

Reflections: on Caring for an Aging Parent:

Chapter 7 - Managing Tasks and People

A growing percentage of adult life seems to consist of what I call “life-maintenance activities”: submitting and resubmitting paperwork; waiting on hold, scheduling and rescheduling and going to appointments, fixing house and car problems, chasing administrative loose ends, and so on.

“I’m just going to do X” turns into “I had to do A through W just to get to X, and then I had to do Y and Z because something else broke.”

I’ve realized a key component of wisdom is understanding just how much margin you need to add into your activities and actions to be realistic about what you can accomplish in a day. Experienced craftsmen know that home repair projects and car maintenance will likely take 50% longer than you anticipate—oh, and far longer than the edited YouTube video conveys. This is the way it is with other items in life as well.

That was certainly true while helping Mom.

Checklists and notes are about the only way I can keep track of all that life throws at me. But simply tracking all the to-dos in life is the bare minimum; it’s acting on them—moving the ball down the field—that really counts. Capturing all you need to do, prioritizing it, finding time to do it, then actually doing it, that’s where the rubber hits the road.

For much of the past couple of years, we kept up with Mom’s medical conditions, appointments, and important information through shared documents. I took notes at medical appointments and recorded them in a shared document. I did this mainly so I could remember what happened from one appointment to another, but also so family members could see what I saw and heard.

Mom liked to add things to my to-do list, so it was a constant balance between getting her what she wanted versus what she needed, while also trying to balance my own time between work and family. When she couldn’t properly prioritize the wants from the needs, I did so for her, sometimes to her disappointment, but always for her good. Alas, this is what it is to make decisions for someone you love.

This entire time, my brother and I spoke nearly weekly. I would explain to him what I saw and what we went through. He lived in Albuquerque and was working full time, so he did not have the proximity to Mom or the time that I did. I am most grateful for him listening and being a sounding board on decisions, while also not dictating how he might want things done differently. I have friends whose relatives do question them…while also not providing any support themselves. That would be incredibly frustrating.

I acknowledge that my brother and I have a great relationship. It wasn’t always this way—I was a jerk older brother when we were growing up. As adults, we have grown much closer, and I cherish our relationship. When it comes to executing Mom’s estate, we pretty much see eye-to-eye on things. Plus, we’re both pretty chill people in general.

I also acknowledge the right of family members to ask questions about how a loved one is being cared for and provided for. It’s only fair, and it does allow for better decision-making. However, that dynamic takes maturity on everyone’s part. Debate and conflict in marriage are difficult enough; conflict across extended family can be even harder.

I’d like to think I was very open with my brother the entire time. From providing spreadsheets showing Mom’s finances, to using shared documents showing medical information, to regular phone call updates, I did not want the hint of impropriety. Just as I wanted Mom’s trust, I wanted his as well. This, I believe, brought me “freedom of movement on the battlefield” to accomplish all the tasks that needed to be done. Even as I continue to work through the estate and closing of accounts, I’m completely open with him on how much money is in which account, what the insurance policies look like, and I seek his input on things where decisions need to be made.

All in all, I’m grateful for his trust, it has made the process easier. I can’t imagine how much more stressful all of this would be if we disagreed strongly, fought over things, or had to go to court to resolve differences. We have become closer through this, not farther apart.

A Word About Family

While I was in middle school, my parents divorced, and I made the decision to live with Dad. He and I were getting along better than Mom and I were at the time because she represented many of the things I was pushing back against as a teenager. As shameful as it is to admit this, at the time of the divorce I thought, “This is cool, now Dad and I will get to hang out more.” Teenagers. Sheesh.

While I lived with Dad, my brother went to live with Mom back in Texas. I have tremendous respect for my brother and what he went through moving to a new place and supporting Mom. The same year that my parents divorced, Mom’s mother died. It was, as she would say, the hardest year of her life. Throughout all of that, my brother was there with her and for her. And while he couldn’t be with her at the very end of her life, he served her and sacrificed for her in other ways and at other times. Over the years, he and his wife made numerous trips to Texas to help with Mom.

I think part of Mom’s hoarding came about because my brother and I did not live near her, so we weren’t always able to help her with things. There were many times that I felt bad about what neighbors did for Mom because I felt like they were doing things I should’ve been doing. Alas, it’s difficult to manage your own family and career and life and figure out how to balance it all on top of broader family needs and responsibilities. As I mentioned, I have a lot of respect for people who can have extended family live with them. Yet I also know it’s not for everyone—either due to space, personalities, or other factors.

And also, I know there were things Mom could’ve let go of in order for us to help her more. She made choices that contributed to the situation. Ultimately, we are responsible for ourselves and our own actions, but we also need other people in life. People need people, yet people are also difficult. All these things can be true.

I loved Mom. She was a great mom. Yes, she had her faults, but don’t we all.

Advice

• The more organized you are, the easier it is to find things when needed. This doesn’t make the obstacles stop coming; it just makes you more prepared for them when they do.

• Use shared documents to keep track of important information and to keep friends and family on the same page.

• Over-communication is usually better than under-communication.

• The person doing the hands-on work needs trust and room to operate, but that person also needs to be open with others who have a say in the situation/outcome.

• If you cannot help much physically, help administratively, emotionally, or financially.

• Be careful how much you criticize from a distance unless you are also willing to carry some of the load.

• I know every family dynamic is different. To the extent possible: be supportive, be open, be chill, be helpful, be fair, don’t be greedy.

Links to each chapter:

• Introduction - Why I Wrote This

• Chapter 1 - The Buildup

• Chapter 2 - The Tipping Point

• Chapter 3 - Aging and Medical Care

• Chapter 4 - Important Documents

• Chapter 5 - Finding a Place to Live

• Chapter 6 - Managing Finances

• Chapter 7 - Managing Tasks and People

• Chapter 8 - The Purge (Managing the Mess)

• Chapter 9 - Finding a Place for Pup

• Chapter 10 - Life in Assisted Living

• Chapter 11 - Her Final Hours

• Chapter 12 - Afterwards

• Final Reflections

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Economy & Jobs

NOTE: Good report from the Institute for Family Studies:

1. The Roots of Working-Class Men’s Discontent: Fathers and Hope

Young working-class men report lower levels of hope, purpose, and overall well-being than college-educated men, but the gap is most pronounced among younger men ages 25 to 44. Among men 45 and older, class differences in well-being are much smaller. This suggests that the struggles of working-class men are not evenly distributed across all ages; younger working-class men appear to be experiencing the sharpest sense of discontent.

Young working-class men are less likely than college-educated men to have grown up with married parents, to have had a good relationship with their father, or to have felt loved by their father. They are also less likely to report strong relationships with their mother or parents who attended church. These family factors explain a meaningful share of the well-being gap, especially when it comes to hope.

In addition, the father-son relationship stands out as the most important factor in explaining differences between young working-class and college-educated men. The findings suggest that family instability, father absence, and weaker childhood relationships also shape whether young men grow up with hope, purpose, and a belief that their lives matter.

2. Internships Are More Crucial Than Ever—and Even Harder to Find

Internships are becoming more important for landing a first job after college, but they are also getting harder to secure. Internship postings have fallen on platforms like Handshake, while applications per posting have surged. Students are responding by starting the career process earlier, with freshmen and sophomores competing for roles that once may have been pursued later in college.

The pressure is tied to a tougher entry-level job market. Recent graduate unemployment has been high, many graduates are underemployed, and AI appears to be reducing some intern-level tasks, especially in fields like finance and back-office work. Some companies are expanding internship classes, but others are cutting programs or canceling internships altogether. As a result, students are looking for alternatives, including unpaid project work, campus consulting groups, and nonprofit experience.

3. A New Lost Generation: Why Gen Z Is Unprepared for the Workplace

Gen Z employees are entering the workplace with weaker social and communication skills than previous generations, largely because they have had fewer in-person relationship experiences, spent more of their education online, and learned to communicate through texts, chats, and asynchronous tools. That leaves many younger workers less prepared for the messy, face-to-face parts of work, such as handling criticism, resolving conflict, reading team dynamics, and knowing when to approach a colleague versus a boss.

The solution is to make workplace communication clearer and more direct. Teams should explain norms instead of assuming new employees will pick them up automatically. They should set expectations for which issues belong in chat, email, phone calls, Zoom, or in-person conversations. Leaders should also create a culture where asking questions is normal, especially around feedback, conflict, jargon, and unwritten rules. Younger employees need more explicit guidance, and workplaces need communication habits that make sense across generations.

4. America’s Fastest-Growing Cities Are in the Exurbs

Exurban communities on the edges of major metros are driving much of America’s city growth. Fulshear, Texas, west of Houston, grew from about 17,000 people in 2020 to more than 64,000 by mid-2025, making it the fastest-growing U.S. city over 50,000 people. The same pattern is visible around Dallas, Phoenix, and the Austin & San Antonio corridor.

5. Global Wealth Report 2026: Global wealth rose over 10% in 2025

Global personal wealth grew sharply in 2025, rising 10.8% in U.S. dollar terms, the fastest pace since 2017 and the third straight year of growth. The increase was driven by strong financial markets, rising nonfinancial assets, and currency effects from a weaker U.S. dollar. Wealth growth was strongest in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, followed by the Americas and Asia-Pacific. North America remained the wealthiest region on average, while Switzerland ranked first among countries for average wealth per adult.

The number of millionaires also continued to rise. Nearly one million people became new U.S.-dollar millionaires in 2025, equal to more than 2,600 per day. The United States accounted for almost half of those new millionaires, while mainland China, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France each had more than 2 million millionaires overall. More than half of global personal wealth remained concentrated in the United States and mainland China.

The gains were not evenly shared. Higher wealth tiers, especially those above $5 million, grew especially quickly, with strong momentum in mainland China, Australia, and the United States. At the same time, the gap between average wealth and median wealth shows that gains are increasingly concentrated among richer households. Many middle-wealth households still hold most of their assets in residential property, which can limit their exposure to financial-market gains. Future wealth growth will likely depend heavily on who has access to liquid, investable assets and the ability to diversify.

NOTE: Below are the top 10 in average wealth and median wealth. The U.S. is #28 in median wealth. Click on the article to see the full table.

Children

6. What Does a 13-Year-Old See on Snapchat in a Normal Week?

Snapchat is widely used by children and teens, but young users report frequent exposure to unsafe experiences, including unwanted contact, bullying, sexual content, drug and alcohol material, graphic violence, self-harm content, and sextortion. A survey of 1,000 U.S. adolescents ages 10–17 found that one in three encountered unsafe content or messages at least weekly, and 36% reported unwanted contact from other users. Many of these experiences happen during ordinary app use rather than because children seek them out.

The risks are tied to Snapchat’s design. Disappearing messages make harmful behavior harder to track. Public features such as Stories, Spotlight, Discover, Maps, and Find Friends expose minors to people and content beyond their real-life friends. Testing with brand-new accounts registered as 13-year-olds found that Snapchat recommended unknown adults, sexually suggestive videos, violent content, self-harm material, and drug-related videos at alarming rates, often through algorithmic recommendations.

Many children do not tell adults when something disturbing happens. Only 39% of kids who had an unsafe experience told someone they trusted, and many said they ignored it because they were “used to it.” That normalization is part of the concern that children are being exposed to content and contact that would not be acceptable offline, while parents are left trying to manage risks created by platform design. The core problems are product design, algorithms, weak safeguards, and a lack of accountability for platforms used by minors.

7. The Future of Elite Youth Sports Is Here—and It’s a Mess

Florida’s school-choice rules and the rise of NIL money have created something close to a high-school sports transfer portal. Athletes, especially in football, basketball, and baseball, are moving from school to school in search of better teams, more playing time, stronger competition, influential coaches, social-media attention, and a better shot at college recruiting. Florida recorded more than 7,000 athletic transfers this academic year, up from about 5,700 the year before, and some elite players now attend multiple high schools before graduation.

The system has changed the purpose of high-school sports for many families. Instead of being mainly about school, community, and development, sports are increasingly treated as a business strategy aimed at college scholarships, NIL deals, and future earnings. Coaches and schools are accused of recruiting athletes despite rules against it, but enforcement is difficult because families, schools, and coaches have little incentive to cooperate. Florida allows high-school athletes to earn NIL money, but very few deals are disclosed, raising concerns that some payments may be disguised recruiting incentives.

While elite programs may become more competitive, many coaches worry that constant movement teaches students to leave when things get hard rather than persevere. Most high-school athletes will never play Division I sports or land meaningful NIL money, yet families are increasingly organizing their children’s education around that unlikely finish line.

NOTE: And on that note, here’s a couple of hockey-related articles that amplify the concerns many parents are having about the unhealthy inflation of youth sports:

My Son’s Hockey Team and the Crisis of American Resentment

The Madness of Youth Hockey: Five-Figure Fees, Never-ending Seasons, Coddled Kids, and Manic Parents

Health

8. Why Americans are living longer again

The U.S. just recorded its lowest death rate on record, with 689.2 deaths per 100,000 people in 2025. That likely means life expectancy will reach another record high after hitting 79 years in 2024. This improvement marks a return to America’s long-term pattern of falling death rates after a rough decade in which life expectancy stalled or declined because of Covid, drug overdoses, homicides, alcohol, and chronic disease.

The biggest driver of the recent improvement is the sharp drop in drug overdose deaths. Synthetic opioid deaths surged for years, especially because of fentanyl, but overdose deaths have fallen by nearly 40% in two years. Overdoses often kill younger adults, and preventing deaths at younger ages has a large effect on national life expectancy. Homicides have also fallen rapidly, Covid deaths have dropped, and death rates declined across all ten leading causes of death in 2024, including heart disease and cancer.

Longer-term progress is also continuing: infectious diseases that once killed large numbers of Americans have been largely controlled through sanitation, vaccines, antibiotics, and food safety. Cancer death rates have fallen dramatically since the early 1990s, and heart attack deaths have declined for decades.

Still, the U.S. lags behind peer wealthy countries by several years of life expectancy and continues to suffer from unusually high deaths among people under 70. Large gaps also remain by state, income, and education. America is healthier and less deadly than it was, but the gains are uneven, and major problems such as guns, alcohol, metabolic disease, and health inequality remain unresolved.

Education

9. U.S. Schools Face a Crisis as the Number of Children Drops

U.S. public school enrollment is shrinking as falling birthrates leave fewer children to fill classrooms. K-12 enrollment has declined in 30 states since the mid-2010s, and elementary enrollment was already falling before the pandemic. Covid accelerated the drop, but the deeper driver is demographic: the U.S. fertility rate peaked in 2007 and has fallen 24% since then. As larger cohorts graduate and smaller cohorts replace them, many districts are now facing long-term enrollment decline.

The impact is especially severe in large urban districts such as Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Houston, Dallas, and Philadelphia, though smaller and suburban districts are shrinking too. High housing costs, family migration out of cities, reduced immigration, and competition from private schools, charter schools, home-schooling, and virtual schools are all adding pressure. Because school funding is tied to enrollment, fewer students often mean budget deficits, layoffs, fewer electives, fewer advanced courses, and difficult debates over school closures.

10. Why U.S. Test Scores Are in a ‘Generation-Long Decline’

Student achievement has been declining across much of the United States for about a decade, not just since the pandemic. New district-level data from Stanford’s Educational Opportunity Project shows that reading scores are down in 83% of districts with available data, while math scores are down in 70%. Reading declined before, during, and after the pandemic, while math dropped sharply during school closures and has recovered somewhat, but not enough to regain lost ground.

Low-income districts suffered the largest losses, but many affluent districts also saw test scores fall, even if their students remain above grade level. The lowest-achieving students have been hit hardest. Researchers describe the trend as a decade-long “learning recession,” with some districts now reading a full grade level below where similar students were in 2015.

Several factors likely contributed. The rollback of federal accountability after No Child Left Behind may have reduced pressure on schools to raise achievement. At the same time, smartphones, social media, laptops, and tablets have changed how students read, focus, and persist through difficult work. Chronic absenteeism remains elevated, teen reading for pleasure has dropped, and many schools appear to have lowered expectations by assigning fewer full books and simplifying curriculum.

Art & Music

12. Paintings by Adolf Hitler

NOTE: An odd find this week—apparently Hitler was a pretty good painter. I say this not to praise him in any way, but that I found it an odd and interesting fact. Below are a couple of his paintings. You can find more information here on Wikipedia.

NOTE: If you like music theory, Rick Beato videos, Billy Joel, and/or some great piano playing, then you’ll like this one:

11. The Billy Joel Interview

For Fun

13. Google Earth’s Hidden Flight Simulator Is Now on the Web — Here’s How to Try It

Google has added a free Flight Simulator mode to the web version of Google Earth, making a feature that used to be hidden in the desktop app available through any browser. Users can fly over real satellite imagery, 3D buildings, terrain, landmarks, cities, mountains, and airports without installing software. It is not a serious alternative to Microsoft Flight Simulator or X-Plane, but it is useful for casual exploration, geography lessons, and getting a visual sense of unfamiliar airports or terrain.

How do I access Google Earth Flight Simulator? On the web, go to earth.google.com, click Explore Earth, then click the Tools menu and select Flight Simulator. On the desktop Google Earth Pro application, click Tools and select Enter Flight Simulator, or press Ctrl + Alt + A (Windows/Linux) or Cmd + Option + A (Mac). Both methods are free.

What are the controls for Google Earth Flight Simulator? Use the arrow keys for pitch and roll, Page Up to increase throttle, Page Down to decrease throttle, G to toggle landing gear, F to toggle flaps, and the space bar for brakes. Joystick input is supported on the desktop version and provides significantly smoother control than keyboard input.

14. Don’t Mess With These Steel Magnolias

The Dallas Mythics are a women’s armored medieval combat team that practices buhurt, a full-contact sport using real armor and real weapons. Unlike LARP or theatrical medieval shows, buhurt is actual combat, with fighters trying to knock opponents to the ground in team melees. Because the sport is small and male-dominated, most women’s teams are scattered and only come together at tournaments, but the Mythics have an unusual advantage: most of their roster lives in the Dallas area and can practice together regularly.

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Reflections: on Caring for an Aging Parent:

Chapter 6 - Managing Finances

Mom had a savings and a checking account, a state pension, Social Security, and—most importantly, as it turned out—a paid-off home. However, other than monitoring her bank account balance, Mom didn’t really have a budget or track her spending. On the bright side, despite all the online shopping, Mom at least bought mostly cheap stuff and did not spend extravagantly in other ways.

To understand what type of assisted living she could afford, we needed a consolidated picture of her finances. That meant identifying all her accounts, downloading bank and credit card statements, studying spending patterns, and building a spreadsheet showing income, expenses, and projected future costs.

Account Access

My brother was essentially Mom’s on-call IT department. He could remotely access her computer, knew the systems, and could troubleshoot issues as they arose--which they did frequently. Even after he’d put safeguards and firewalls in place, she would accidentally find ways to disable them or download some new app. Many times, he’d call me to tell me that he had absolutely no idea how she had accidentally managed get around the electronic safeguards he put up. I was incredibly grateful that he was able to help with all the computer support. I know it was, at times, frustrating for him.

Another benefit of my brother’s remote access to Mom’s computer was that he helped her manage all of the usernames and passwords for her accounts. He had set her up with a Norton password vault that kept usernames and passwords all in a safe place. Through this, I was able to access all her accounts while she was in the hospital recovering.

I know this level of access to usernames and passwords isn’t an option for everyone, some people may not keep this information on their computer, and others may not feel comfortable providing all this information and access to someone else. But it’s at least worth considering and having a conversation with loved ones about. This access was critical to all the behind-the-scenes support we provided to Mom the past couple of years. Consider the fact that you likely know how to get into all your accounts, but would your loved ones know if you weren’t there to tell them or show them?

A complicating piece to all of this is two-factor authentication (2FA). It is nearly ubiquitous now when you try to log into an account. It’s not enough to simply have a username and password; instead, you will also be sent an email or a text to your cell phone for you to log in. At first, to log into an account, I had to either be with Mom (and her phone) or call her and have her tell me the code that was texted to her. After a while, I was able to add my cell phone number as an additional option. Once she passed, I kept her cell phone plan active because it would still receive 2FA codes for accounts that I needed to log into on her behalf.

The Financial Picture

After downloading her account statements, I was able to review all her income and expenses for the past few years and then build a spreadsheet to capture the important pieces. Using that, I then built a future budget that took into account which items would increase in cost, which ones would decrease, and which would remain the same.

After calculating the estimated cost of assisted living, we could then do the math to determine how many years of assisted living Mom could afford based on her income and other expenses. It was clear that her pension and Social Security would not cover the monthly expenses, so each month she would be drawing out of her savings to make up the difference.

This led to a rather sober conclusion—that her savings wouldn’t last long. To extend the length of time she could pay for assisted living, we would have to sell her house. Even with that, her money would not last forever.

I showed her the spreadsheets and graphs, specifically the graph estimating how many years she would be able to afford to be in assisted living. I tried to be as realist as possible with my projections, taking into account inflation and increasing prices due to increasing help needed with acts of daily living that I talked about in the previous chapter. These were not comfortable conversations or truths, but I wanted to be transparent about it all. My brother and I then also assured Mom that if her money ran out, we would continue to support her.

After she agreed to sell her home, we then considered whether we should sell it as-is (it was not in great condition) or renovate it to try to get more money out of it. My wife is a realtor, so she was familiar with the Austin housing market. She also has a good eye for renovations and what changes add the most value. So, we had a couple of renovation companies come out to give us quotes, then, after crunching the numbers, we concluded that it would be worth renovating—the expected payoff would be more than the money spent.

Spending thousands of dollars on renovations was, understandably, scary for Mom. She would be spending money in hopes of getting it all back, and then some, when the house sold. We discussed it at length, showed her the math, and looked at comparable home sales. In the end, she trusted us and agreed to do the renovations. I’m grateful for that trust, and she was better off for it.

Because Mom bought her house at a cheaper price than what she would be selling it for, she would have to pay taxes on the profit from her home.

(First, a quick note: the following section only covers federal taxes; I won’t discuss state taxes here, since each state has different laws, but know that you may have to pay state taxes as well.)

For a single person, if you’ve owned and lived in your home for at least two of the last five years, you can exclude up to $250,000 of profit from federal taxes (this is current as of 2026). That “profit” part is calculated by subtracting the price you purchased the home for from the price you sold it for. You are also able to subtract certain improvements you make to your home as well.

For example, if you bought your home for $50,000, then lived in it for 40 years and sold it for $350,000, your profit would be $300,000. As mentioned above, you can exclude $250,000 from that, which leaves $50,000 that you will owe federal taxes on.

But let’s say you put in new kitchen countertops and renovate the bathrooms at a cost of $20,000; then that $50,000 would be further reduced to $30,000 of profit that you would have to pay tax on.

I won’t go into the details of the home renovation, other than to say it took months to complete and required my wife and me to go up to Austin weekly to check on the status, meet with the contractor, and continue to make decisions on paint color, cabinet styles, flooring, and a thousand other things.

I’ve written before about decisiveness and momentum and the need to just keep moving forward on tasks in life. This was never more true than in the past couple of years. Decisions had to be made and forward progress was required…every, single, day. If there were days that we fell behind in making decisions or taking action, it would result in snowballing tasks and regret on my part. My wife has a saying: “Do what you can when you can.” This served us well. Got 15 minutes between events in your day? Then you better make that phone call, send that email, or do research on that thing. Your later self will thank you. Your later self will not thank you for scrolling social media when you could’ve been doing something productive.

After we sold the renovated home, I was able to put the proceeds into a high-yield money market account. From there, each month I started putting portions of that money into Certificates of Deposit (CDs) that matured over different periods of time. These had higher interest rates than the money market account. This “laddering” of CDs would require monthly tracking and management on my part, but it also meant Mom would earn higher interest while also having access to the money she would need.

Bank Accounts

But before I could establish the CDs, we had to open an account at a bank in San Antonio because her bank in Austin didn’t have any branches here. This, too, involved more phone calls, paperwork, money transfers, and switching numerous bills that had been set to autopay from her previous bank. Most of this could be done online, but other times it involved our coordination due to two-factor authentication on her phone or her signature being needed on forms. Ultimately, I think it took about three months for me to finally get all the autopay accounts fully switched over, and that was with me working hard to stay on top of it all.

With regard to bank accounts, you might consider either establishing a trust and have the bank accounts in the name of the trust, creating a joint account with the person or people you want to have access to the money upon your death, or creating your account with rights of survivorship to the person or people you want to have access to your money upon your death. The primary benefit to these, depending on what state you live in, is that you can generally avoid the accounts going to probate to access the money. I’ll talk more about probate in Chapter 11—just know that it can take weeks, if not months or years, to complete. During that time, the deceased’s bills (like mortgage, car payments, etc.) still must be paid by someone (usually the executor of the estate) with funds from somewhere (not the deceased’s frozen accounts).

Because of the complexity of readers’ finances and situations, I won’t cover the full pros and cons for a trust, joint account, or rights of survivorship. At bare minimum, though, I recommend naming beneficiaries on your accounts. No matter what, talk with an attorney and/or financial advisor to see what would be best for you.

Recently, my wife and I realized we needed to update our will and other documents. We met with an attorney (depending on what you need, this will likely cost over $1,000; if you do it online, it may be cheaper) and she recommended that we look through all of our accounts to ensure we had rights of survivorship between each other and that our children were listed as beneficiaries. I was very surprised to find out that I had never listed our children as beneficiaries on our primary checking and savings accounts. If my wife and I had died together, say in a car crash, that money would’ve likely had to go through probate.

Fraudsters and Donations

When my mom transitioned into assisted living, she also started allowing me to handle more of her day-to-day finances. As I’ve said about other things, I’m grateful for the trust. In the end, it saved her time and stress and ensured bills were paid on time (which wasn’t always happening when she managed them) and erroneous charges were corrected.

Once I began managing Mom’s accounts, I could see recurring donation patterns and small automatic charges everywhere. Mom had a generous heart, and many organizations knew exactly how to exploit that. They knew how to pull on her heartstrings, whether through mailers showing downtrodden people or animals, or through alarming emails declaring that she must “ACT NOW!” to prevent politicians from doing something that was going to threaten the future of humanity.

For some of the automatic donations, I had to go through a maze of online menus to turn them off. Some of the organizations didn’t even have phone numbers on their websites. The only way to contact them was via a form on their website. Even some of the political action committees (PACs) have sub-organizations with their own websites and donation portals. It was frustrating and confusing for me; I can’t imagine what it would be like to try to turn those off if you were elderly. And even then, there were donations that I could not figure out how to turn off. Eventually, the donations only stopped when we closed the credit cards. What a scam.

Speaking of scams, I have a friend whose aging father received a telephone call from someone saying that the father’s son (my friend) was in jail and that to get the son out of jail, the father needed to send money. The son was not, in fact, in jail.

The father drove to the bank, withdrew $9,990 ($10 short of triggering federal reporting requirements), then went to a Coinstar kiosk and sent the money via cryptocurrency to the perpetrator. The fraudster kept the father on the phone, instructing him what to do each step of the way. The bank teller even asked the father what he wanted to withdraw that much money for, but the fraudster, who was still on the phone with the father, told him not to tell them, so the father simply told the teller that he was on the phone and couldn’t talk to her.

After sending the money to the fraudster, the father called his son and asked if he got released from jail.

“What are you talking about, Dad? I’m not in jail,” my friend said.

After the father explained everything, my friend asked why he didn’t just call him to begin with. It was an elaborate scheme, even to the point that the fraudsters had someone pretend to be the son on the phone. According to them, the son had been “hit in the face” and lost some teeth, so he was mumbling and that’s why he sounded different. Because the money was sent via cryptocurrency, there was no way for the police to track it, and the father was out nearly $10,000.

Just this last week, while I was at the bank, sill handling finances for my mom’s estate, I saw a sign on the counter listing things to do if you think you are being scammed. I told the bank teller the story above and she said that this is scam is increasing in frequency. So, beware. From the bank, there are three common fraudster tactics: credibility, urgency, and authority.

Thankfully, for Mom there wasn’t anything so egregious as this, but the many other smaller donation transactions did add up. I explained to Mom that at this point in her life she needed the money more than these organizations did, and for the most part she agreed, and we turned those automatic donations off.

More Day-to-Day Management

The last couple of years, Mom really fell behind on keeping up with the mail. This happens when you’re a hoarder and you feel the need to read every catalog, magazine, advertisement, bill, and package that comes to you, but can’t get through it all. Bills would get buried under stacks of junk mail and wouldn’t get paid on time. I did my best to manage her mail, to include trashing all the junk mail, but she would still squirrel some of it away and would’ve tried to review every single piece that came in had I not gone through it first.

Regarding junk mail, I’ve found that it, and frequent donations to organizations that send pleas via junk mail, cause the junk mail to increase at an exponential rate. We had a lull of incoming junk mail when Mom moved into assisted living, but once the address change kicked in, so did all the junk mail from companies that were still sending mail to her previous home. After she passed, we changed her official address to my home so I could receive any important items that would arrive in the mail. Now, when I go to my mailbox, 75% of our household mail we receive is for her, and nearly all of it is junk. If an organization provides a postage-paid envelope for a donation, I return the donation slip in their envelope with the words “Nancy Rendell is no longer alive. Stop sending these!” It seems to be working. At minimum, I’m using up their prepaid postage envelope and costing them something for their greediness.

Toward the end, I managed all of Mom’s finances. She still had access to credit cards (which she continued to use to buy stuff online), but I could monitor it all and ensure bills were paid on time. Like I said before, I’m grateful for that trust. And, ultimately, she was better off for it too.

Advice

#1 – Make sure your will is up to date.

Online access

• Digital access is now part of estate planning. Access to usernames and passwords can become essential—do not wait until hospitalization to start figuring out how your executor (or loved ones) can find your logins and passwords.

• Keep the decedent’s phone active for a while after death if 2FA codes are still needed.

Finances

• Don’t assume fixed income will cover assisted living; do the math on income and expenses and build a realistic care budget.

• Simplify accounts where possible.

• Review bank and credit card statements for patterns.

• Get professional tax help if tax returns are behind.

• Watch for scams, donation traps, and predatory fundraising.

• Keep a list of recurring subscriptions and autopays. Last year I created a spreadsheet of my own subscriptions, to include cost, renewal date, and a history of past costs…it was a real eye opener.

• Depending on what your situation is, and what an attorney or CPA tells you, you may want to:

  • Ensure your accounts are set up as joint with rights of survivorship between you and your spouse.

  • Determine what status would be best for those you want to have access to your money when you pass: a trust, a joint account, rights of survivorship, or simply beneficiaries.

Home

• Selling a longtime home can create tax consequences, so do your research.

• Keep records of major home improvements in case you need proof for tax write-offs.

  ---

  Links to each chapter:

  • Introduction - Why I Wrote This

  • Chapter 1 - The Buildup

  • Chapter 2 - The Tipping Point

  • Chapter 3 - Aging and Medical Care

  • Chapter 4 - Important Documents

  • Chapter 5 - Finding a Place to Live

  • Chapter 6 - Managing Finances

  • Chapter 7 - Managing Tasks and People

  • Chapter 8 - The Purge (Managing the Mess)

  • Chapter 9 - Finding a Place for Pup

  • Chapter 10 - Life in Assisted Living

  • Chapter 11 - Her Final Hours

  • Chapter 12 - Afterwards

  • Final Reflections

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1. World Cup tourists are fawning over ‘this redneck crash course’ — including a trip to Buc-ee’s (NYP)

A Texas man turned several World Cup visitors’ trip into a two-day crash course in Texas culture. Drew Haas invited two couples from Poland and France to his 30-acre South Central Texas ranch, where they went off-roading, learned to two-step, rode horses, and visited Buc-ee’s. Haas said he wanted to show them “my Texas,” giving them a version of America rooted in cowboy culture, muddy pickup rides, and roadside Americana.

The visitors embraced the experience, with one Polish tourist saying it felt like stepping into the kind of John Wayne westerns his father watched growing up. Although one guest was skeptical at first, she quickly warmed to the off-road adventure and ranch lifestyle. For Haas, the most meaningful part was watching strangers connect with the place he loves. The story frames the visit as a lighthearted cultural exchange, showing how hospitality, shared experiences, and a little Texas excess can turn tourists into fans of American life.

International

2. See the Global Chokepoints That Carry Much of the World’s Trade (WSJ)

Some key points: The Strait of Hormuz carries about one-fifth of global oil shipments and a major share of liquefied natural gas, making it especially important for Asian economies such as Japan and South Korea. The Strait of Malacca is the fastest route for Middle Eastern energy to reach Asia and is especially important to China. The Panama Canal handles a large share of U.S. container traffic and has become entangled in U.S.-China tensions. The Suez Canal remains a major route for Asia-Europe trade and energy shipments, while the Turkish Straits are important for Russian and Kazakh oil and Ukrainian grain. The Bab el-Mandeb, between Yemen and Djibouti, is another key oil route and has been threatened by Iran-backed Houthi forces.

3. Xi’s Enforcers Are Hunting Down Officials Who Consult Mystics and Borrow Too Much (WSJ)

Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign has expanded from targeting bribery and personal misconduct into a broader effort to enforce political loyalty across China’s Communist Party. Party enforcers punished nearly one million people in 2025, a record high, and disciplinary charges increasingly include vague political offenses such as disloyalty, defying Xi’s directives, forming factions, or failing to implement Beijing’s policies. The campaign is designed to keep officials constantly alert and aligned with Xi’s priorities.

The campaign now reaches into many areas of officials’ lives and work. Some have been punished for reckless debt-funded projects, poor implementation of economic or environmental goals, “superstitious” activities like consulting fortune tellers or feng shui masters, lavish lifestyles, golf, gambling, sexual misconduct, and allowing family members to profit from political connections. The result is a disciplinary system that mixes corruption enforcement with ideological policing and moral denunciation.

4. No, China did not manage to avoid a crash (Noahpinion)

China’s economy looked almost recession-proof for years because the government could use its control over the banking system to push credit into whatever sector needed support. After 2008 and again after the 2015 market turmoil, that meant directing huge bank lending into infrastructure, construction, and especially real estate. This helped China avoid visible recessions, but it also fueled an enormous property boom that eventually turned into a long-running bust after Evergrande’s collapse in 2021.

After the property crash, Beijing used a similar strategy again, but this time it redirected lending toward manufacturing rather than real estate. That helped keep official GDP growth positive and supported the claim that China had successfully deflated a massive housing bubble without a major downturn. But the evidence is weaker than that. China’s labor market deteriorated, youth unemployment surged enough that officials changed the way they reported it, and alternative indicators suggested broader job-market weakness. Even official data showed China’s economy contracting in one quarter of 2022, while independent estimates from groups such as Rhodium and the Bank of Finland suggest growth was far weaker than Beijing reported.

Economy

5. The U.S. Added 1,200 New Millionaires a Day Last Year (WSJ)

The U.S. continues to produce millionaires at a striking pace. In 2025, more than 440,000 Americans became millionaires, accounting for nearly half of all new millionaires worldwide. More than 23.6 million Americans are now worth at least $1 million, helped largely by strong financial markets. Because U.S. wealth is heavily tied to stocks and bonds, rising markets have had an outsized effect on upper-income households.

The gains, however, are highly uneven. Average wealth per U.S. adult rose nearly 10% from 2020 to 2025 after inflation, but median wealth fell by almost 20%. Those with large investment portfolios benefited from the stock-market boom, while households more dependent on wages have faced pressure from inflation and weak real wage growth. Globally, millionaire counts rose to record levels in every market UBS tracks, with particularly fast growth among people worth $50 million to $100 million.

6. They Looked Like They Were Getting Rich on Polymarket—but None of It Was Real (WSJ)

Polymarket has reportedly been paying mostly college-age social media creators to make videos showing what appear to be real bets and big wins, but many of those trades were fake. A Wall Street Journal review of more than 1,100 videos found that creators used simulated versions of Polymarket’s website to place phony trades totaling about $1.9 million, with some videos falsely showing creators winning large sums. The company allegedly instructed creators to hide that they were being paid, and some only added partner disclosures after the Journal began asking questions.

7. Toyota to Move Tacoma Production to Texas in $3.6 Billion U.S. Expansion Plan (WSJ)

Toyota will spend $3.6 billion to bring production of its best-selling Tacoma midsize pickup back to the U.S. by 2030. The company plans to add a second Tacoma assembly line at its San Antonio plant, creating about 2,000 jobs and increasing the plant’s annual output by roughly 150,000 trucks. The Tacoma was previously built in San Antonio from 2010 to 2021 before production moved fully to Mexico.

The move is partly a response to tariffs and tight production capacity. Toyota currently builds the Tacoma in Mexico, but production from its Baja California plant will shift to San Antonio, while its Guanajuato plant will keep operating. Building more vehicles in the U.S. should help Toyota reduce tariff exposure, especially after U.S. tariffs caused a major hit to its North American profits.

Toyota also needs more U.S. capacity because demand remains strong. Its San Antonio plant already builds the Tundra pickup and Sequoia SUV and is running near full capacity. Toyota’s U.S. sales rose slightly in the first half of 2026 even as the broader industry declined, making the company one of several automakers expanding U.S. production, especially for profitable trucks and SUVs.

Artificial Intelligence

8. The Data-Center Boom Is Sparking a Third Wave of Inflation (WSJ)

America’s AI build-out is becoming a new source of inflation. Even as trade-war effects fade and gasoline prices fall, massive spending by tech giants on data centers, chips, cooling systems, cables, backup generators and electricity is pushing up prices for goods and services tied to that infrastructure. Capital spending by major hyperscalers is expected to reach $741 billion this year, and one estimate puts total AI build-out spending through 2032 at about $8 trillion.

In the short term, AI demand is raising costs for electronics, memory chips, storage, electrical components, construction labor and electricity. Those inputs are not used only for AI, so higher prices can spill into consumer products such as smartphones, gaming consoles and cars, as well as broader business costs. Data centers are also expected to drive a large share of U.S. electricity-demand growth through 2030, which could keep utility prices rising.

Over the long run, AI could eventually reduce inflation if it boosts productivity enough to help businesses produce more efficiently. But economists say that benefit may take years to appear. For now, the AI boom looks like a sustained demand shock that could keep inflation elevated and make it harder for the Federal Reserve to return inflation to its 2% target.

9. AI Data Centers Use Far More Water Than Most Tech Giants Report (WSJ)

AI data centers are creating a growing water problem that is larger than many tech companies’ sustainability reports suggest. Companies such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon report the water used directly at their data centers, mostly for cooling, but often do not include the much larger amount of water used indirectly by power plants that generate the electricity those data centers consume. In the U.S., indirect water consumption for data centers has historically been about 12 times greater than direct water use, though it varies depending on whether the electricity comes from coal, nuclear, natural gas, wind or solar.

The issue is especially serious because AI infrastructure is expanding rapidly, often in water-stressed regions. Google’s reported water use rose 34% in 2025, and Meta’s indirect water use in 2024 was more than 20 times its direct use. Some companies are trying to address direct water use through water-restoration pledges, renewable-energy purchasing and more efficient cooling systems, but critics argue that renewable-energy credits do not necessarily solve local water shortages. Water consumed in one region cannot be offset meaningfully by water availability somewhere else.

Education

10. Students are doing worse than you think (Economist)

Universities are reporting that more students are arriving without the basic reading and math skills needed for college-level work. More than 1,800 University of California math and science lecturers warned that some first-year students are so underprepared that instructors are reteaching middle-school math. Similar concerns are appearing elsewhere, including Harvard, where faculty say students have less experience reading complex prose and less ability to sustain attention than students did a decade ago. International OECD data supports the concern: a growing share of tertiary students in rich countries perform at very low literacy and numeracy levels, with the U.S. looking especially weak.

Several forces appear to be contributing. Pandemic school disruptions worsened learning gaps, but test scores were already slipping in many countries before Covid. Screen use may also be crowding out reading and sustained attention, while schools may be weakening standards through grade inflation, softer curricula, and lower graduation requirements. Universities share some blame because many have relaxed admissions standards, especially after dropping SAT and ACT requirements. With essays easier to generate through AI and high-school grades increasingly inflated, admissions officers have fewer reliable signals of student readiness.

The problem may continue inside universities, where grade inflation and pressure to keep students satisfied make it harder to enforce rigor. AI adds another challenge by making cheating easier, especially in writing, coding, and other subjects where generative tools are useful. Some faculty are returning to proctored exams, but others are resigned to the idea that students may no longer need strong basic skills because AI can do much of the work.

11. The disability accommodation trap on college campuses (Boston Globe)

Disability accommodations have grown rapidly at elite colleges, especially for mental health and learning-related conditions. At Harvard, the share of undergraduates receiving accommodations rose from about 3% in 2014 to 21% in 2024, with similarly high rates at schools such as Brown, Amherst, and Stanford. These accommodations can include extra time on exams, private testing rooms, deadline extensions, tutoring, and housing preferences. The concern is that some students genuinely need support, but others may be benefiting from a system that makes diagnoses relatively easy to obtain and difficult for universities to challenge.

As mental health awareness has grown, ordinary struggles such as anxiety, grief, difficulty concentrating, and adolescent stress are increasingly treated as clinical disorders. The expansion of the DSM, rising rates of mental illness among young adults, and sharp increases in diagnoses such as autism have made the boundary between normal hardship and disability blurry. Because psychiatric diagnoses are often subjective, every expanded category can create a new pathway to academic accommodations.

Elite colleges are especially vulnerable because students and families often have the resources to seek private evaluations, the language to frame struggles clinically, and strong incentives to gain every possible academic advantage. Disability offices also face pressure to approve requests because denying accommodations can invite lawsuits or accusations of indifference. The result resembles grade inflation: once enough students receive extra advantages, others feel pressured to seek them too. Protecting disability rights remains essential, but overdiagnosis can dilute resources for students with genuine disabilities and teach young people to interpret normal difficulty as evidence that something is clinically wrong.

Entertainment

12. Yes! We have No Bananas.

NOTE: Back in the 1980s, I remember a commercial for Fig Netwons that had apes and a fun jingle that went, “we have no bananas todaayyyyyyy…” (because they didn’t have a banana flavored newton). You can watch it below.

Only this week did I learn that the banana song originated in the 1920s and was a viral hit. Here’s the most popular version:

And here’s the background on the song:

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