10 Items From the Week | 26 Jan 25
News from the past week, and a few other things.
👋 Hello Reader, I hope you had a great week.
Of the things that crossed my desk this week, here are a few that stood out.
1. An Extremely Detailed Map of the 2024 Election
This map shows detailed results from 42 states and the District of Columbia, representing 74 percent of all votes cast in the 2024 presidential election.
NOTE: This interactive map has a fascinating level of detail, right down to individual neighborhoods.
2. The New Politics of Immigration
There is a tension in U.S. public opinion about President Trump’s immigration plans. After the past four years of record immigration, much of it illegal, most Americans support mass deportations. In a recent Times-Ipsos poll, 55 percent of adults said they favored “deporting all immigrants who are here illegally.” Dissatisfaction with the Biden administration’s relatively open immigration policies — especially among working-class voters, across races — helped Trump win the election. Still, most Americans are uncomfortable with the specific policies that would be necessary to deport anywhere close to all undocumented immigrants. Only 38 percent of U.S. adults support using the military “to find and detain undocumented immigrants,” an Axios-Ipsos poll found this month. Only 34 percent said they supported separating families as part of rapid deportations.
3. U.S. Homes Sales in 2024 Fell to Lowest Level in Nearly 30 Years
U.S. existing-home sales fell in 2024 to the lowest level since 1995, the second straight year of anemic sales due to stubbornly high mortgage rates. High costs related to homeownership sapped sales again. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage has hovered between 6% and 8% since late 2022, making it prohibitively expensive for many Americans to buy homes at current prices, which hit record highs last year. Rising home insurance and property tax costs are also adding to homeowners’ expenses. Unlike mortgage rates, which fluctuate, these costs are poised to continue rising.
4. Americans Are Carrying Bigger Credit-Card Balances
Americans are spending more on credit cards and carrying bigger balances month to month. JPMorgan Chase, the biggest U.S. bank, said in its most recent quarterly report that it saw higher revolving credit-card balances, or the amount people don’t pay off monthly. Capital One also said the proportion of people making just the minimum payment is above prepandemic levels. Credit-card delinquencies, meanwhile, continue to tick up. JPMorgan said 2.17% of accounts had balances that were more than 30 days past due in the fourth quarter, up from 2.14% the year prior. Customers with accounts 90 days past due also edged higher. The rise in delinquency rates has been slowing, however, and banks aren’t flagging any serious signs of distress. Inflation is also starting to ease, and the labor market remains solid.
NOTE: This trend continues to concern me. As our federal government looks to tighten its belt, so too do the American people. Both of these will impact the economy further.
5. Screens Have Taken Over Classrooms. Even Students Have Had Enough.
Class time has become screen time in American schools. Kindergartners now watch math lessons on YouTube, counting aloud with the videos. Middle-schoolers complete writing drills on Chromebooks while sneaking in play of an online game. High-schoolers mark up Google Docs to finish group projects. The rapid tech transformation amounts to a grand experiment playing out in American schools. Accelerated by pandemic-era online learning, the move has happened with little debate, conflicting research and high stakes for the nation’s children. Educators wonder whether the digitization of the classroom has really benefited learning—or if it’s done kids a disservice. Some teachers say online tools help create more engaging lessons and provide personalized instruction. Others say the screen-heavy approach has distracted students and burned out teachers. The shift runs counter to the prevailing advice from doctors and psychologists to limit tech use. Some frustrated parents are trying to opt their kids out of school technology, with varying degrees of success. Even some students pine for more analog methods. “For parents who want to reduce screen time, schools are undercutting them,” said Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at New York University’s Stern School of Business whose recent book, “The Anxious Generation,” helped fuel smartphone bans in schools across the country. “The entire day is filled with technology,” said David, a junior at a private high school. “We use our computers from first period to eighth period, and even at lunch there’s no socializing because everyone is on their phones playing games.”
NOTE: I’m pretty sure I’ve said it here before, but I highly recommend the book, “The Anxious Generation,” mentioned above. Digital technology has done more harm than good for our children.
6. Ted Cruz: TikTok’s Return Would Be a ‘Very Dangerous Situation’
NOTE: Below is a partial quote from interview with Ted Cruz; the emphasis is mine. It’s scary to think, not just of the information being collected about users (to include what they’re watching), but what is fed to users in their algorithms.
Senator Cruz: If we are sitting here 91 days from now and TikTok is still live and China is still owning and controlling it, that will be a very dangerous situation because the Chinese communist government uses TikTok—number one for espionage, and number two to push propaganda and very harmful content to our children that pushes self-harm, suicidal ideation, substance abuse, antisemitism, anti-Americanism and anti-capitalism. It is a potent propaganda tool. The Chinese variant of TikTok, for their kids—number one, the hours they can use it are limited, and number two, they’re pushing things like math and hard work and discipline…It really is astonishingly harmful. So their kids are studying calculus and our kids are being told to chew Tide Pods. That’s a problem
7. How Much Is Your College Football Team Worth?
Ohio State just won the right to call itself college football’s national champions by stomping Notre Dame. But even before they took down the Fighting Irish, the Buckeyes had already earned an even more lucrative title. Ohio State is the most valuable program in college football. The Buckeyes would be worth $1.96 billion if the team could be sold on the open market, according to an analysis by Ryan Brewer, an associate professor of finance at Indiana University Columbus. That puts Ohio State just ahead of Texas ($1.9 billion) and rival Michigan ($1.66 billion), with six other programs—Georgia, Notre Dame, LSU, Penn State, Tennessee and Texas A&M—topping the billion dollar mark. Brewer conducts his study by analyzing a program’s finances and asking: What would it be worth if it could be bought and sold like a professional franchise? From next season, colleges will be allowed to pay their athletes about $20 million a year—and Brewer expects athletic departments to tighten their belts in other areas. Coaching staff salaries that ballooned when the talent on the field was free, for instance, are already starting to correct themselves, Brewer says. Even though the Buckeyes aren’t actually for sale, college sports is entering an era when such ideas aren’t entirely removed from reality. Private equity is already circling athletic departments. Brewer thinks that throwing open the door to investment funds could be particularly beneficial for smaller schools, which could use capital infusions to help them pay players. Those types of X-factors are also why Brewer says that in the alternate universe where the top college football teams were on the market, he wouldn’t be surprised if the final price were closer to $4 billion. He calculates what the financials say a team should cost. But sports teams are rare assets where the price tag can blow well past the intrinsic value. The Washington Commanders recently set an NFL record by going for $6 billion. Brewer envisions a scenario where college football teams become the subject of bidding wars between the people already pouring cash into the sport: ultrawealthy alumni.
8. What’s Your Major? Some Say ‘Sports’ Should Be an Acceptable Answer.
Nike wants to lobby universities to offer minors or majors in athletics. Students would earn credits for time spent working on their sport (in other words, practicing and playing it) and also for taking classes in a more theoretical curriculum that helps them understand the social, cultural, anthropological and physiological elements of athletics. Some models suggest the major could include sport-specific strategy courses, along with courses in nutrition, performance psychology and physiology. It is an idea that has gained momentum in an era when athletes are now able to be compensated for their name, image and likeness, or N.I.L., which allows some of the most popular student athletes to be paid as much or more than some professionals.
NOTE: This is an interesting concept. On the surface, I honestly don’t have an issue with this, after all, it’s a free society where students can choose their own major based on their career interests. If they want to major in basketball in hopes to get a job in that field—either as an athlete, coach, or some other role—then why not. Sports is a billion-dollar industry, so why shouldn’t students be allowed to become that much smarter about a particular sport by majoring in it? Think of the course possibilities: Evolution of Basketball Offenses, Nuances of the Power I Formation, and Extending Your Playing Career Through Healthy Habits.
Yet, on the other hand, I worry about the second- and third-order effects. For instance, what happens when one student on the team decides to be a business major, while another decides to major in basketball. On average, the one who majors in basketball should become smarter about, and better at, basketball than his peer. This, in turn, would lead to that athlete getting more time on the court. Over time, this would lead to more athletes majoring in their sport rather than choosing a different degree, which ultimately narrows down their options after their athletic career ends. And, if this is the case, then those students better make the most of an N.I.L. deal, since about 99% of them (according to the NCAA) will not be going into the pros, at least as an athlete.
9. Almost 90% Of Employers Won’t Hire New Graduates – 4 Ways To Land Your First Job
89% of HR leaders say they avoid hiring recent graduates, even while almost all of them (98%) say their organization is struggling to find talent. Instead of hiring recent graduates, openings are filled by freelancers, retired former employees, robots/ AI or just leaving the position unfilled. Where recent graduates have been hired within the past year, 78% of HR leaders have already fired at least some of them. The above findings come from a survey by research firm Workplace Intelligence and Hult International Business School. Survey respondents included 800 HR leaders and 800 full-time employees ages 22-27 with an undergraduate degree received within the past three years. Here are four ways to do just that and land your first job: 1. Remember that real-world experience doesn’t only come from a job 2. Highlight technical skills – and fill any gaps 3. Demonstrate intangible skills with tangible examples 4. Have a game plan for how you’d contribute from day one.
10. The Deep-Sea Battle Over the World’s Data Cables Is Heating Up
In an increasingly fraught hybrid war between Russia and the West, undersea cables and pipelines are a soft-under belly. The length and remote location of the cables leaves them vulnerable to sabotage. Any successful attack could have a big knock-on effect. Undersea cables are vital for funneling both data and energy across the globe. According to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 99% of the world’s data is transmitted through subsea cables, including an estimated $10 trillion a day in financial transactions. Since starting the full-blown war in Ukraine, Russia is suspected of being increasingly willing to rip these cables up to destabilize its opponents. However the alleged attacks, often in remote locations by boats that aren’t even under Russian flags, makes it hard to pin the blame. NATO is ramping up efforts to monitor alleged attacks by Russian-linked ships. In January it announced a new mission in the Baltic Sea to provide both enhanced surveillance of undersea cables and deter any Russian actions.
And a Few More
A few other items that crossed my desk.
North America
Everything Trump did in the first executive orders and actions of his presidency
President Donald Trump started his second administration with a blitz of policy actions to reorient the U.S. government. His executive orders cover issues that range from trade, immigration and U.S. foreign aid to demographic diversity, civil rights and the hiring of federal workers. Some have an immediate policy impact. Others are more symbolic. And some already are being challenged by federal lawsuits. In total, the Republican president’s sweeping actions reflect many of his campaign promises and determination to concentrate executive branch power in the West Wing, while moving the country sharply rightward. Here is a comprehensive look at Trump’s directives so far in his first days.
Pentagon to Send 1,500 Additional Troops to U.S.-Mexico Border
The Pentagon said on Wednesday that it would send 1,500 active-duty troops to the southwestern border by the end of the month, the vanguard of what military officials described as a rapidly evolving, high-priority mission that could ultimately number several thousand forces. A senior Defense Department official said 1,000 Army soldiers and 500 Marines, as well as additional intelligence analysts and helicopters and their crews, were being rushed to the border to begin fulfilling one of President Trump’s top policy priorities: stemming the flow of migrants into the United States. In addition to the ground troops, the Pentagon said that it would provide military aircraft to support Department of Homeland Security flights of more than 5,000 undocumented migrants from areas near San Diego and El Paso. Mr. Trump on Monday signed an executive order that gave the military an explicit role in immigration enforcement. It also directed the Defense Department to come up with a plan “to seal the borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion.”
Inside the Plan to Receive Thousands of Mexicans Deported From the U.S.
Mexico’s plan to receive thousands of its deported citizens from the United States is nothing short of ambitious. Plans are underway to build nine reception centers along the border — massive tents set up in parking lots, stadiums and warehouses — with mobile kitchens operated by the armed forces. Details of the initiative — called “Mexico Embraces You” — were revealed only this week, although Mexican officials said they had been devising it for the past few months, ever since Donald J. Trump pledged to conduct the largest expulsion of undocumented immigrants in U.S. history. Nearly every branch of government — 34 federal agencies and 16 state governments — is expected to participate in one way or another: busing people to their hometowns, organizing logistics, providing medical attention, enrolling the recently returned in social welfare programs like pensions and paid apprenticeships, along with handing out cash cards worth about $100 each. Officials say they are also negotiating agreements with Mexican companies to link people to jobs. President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico has called the expected large-scale deportations a “unilateral move” and has said she does not agree with them. But as the country with the single largest number of unauthorized citizens living in the United States — an estimated four million people as of 2022 — Mexico has found itself obligated to prepare. Mexico is not alone in preparing: Guatemala, its neighbor to the south that also has a large undocumented population in the United States, recently rolled out a plan to absorb its own deportees.
Senate Confirms Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary as JD Vance Breaks Tie
Pete Hegseth, a former Army National Guardsman and Fox News host, was narrowly confirmed Friday by the Senate as secretary of defense, overcoming accusations of sexual assault and excessive drinking that Democrats said were disqualifying but that he and his allies called smears. Republicans largely stuck together to approve one of President Trump’s most controversial cabinet picks, backing him as a “change agent” for the Pentagon, after hours of tension over whether the nominee had enough support. Shortly after the vote got under way, Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) said in a statement that he would support the nominee, providing the key 50th vote. Vice President JD Vance, in his role as president of the Senate, then broke the tie, confirming Hegseth by 51-50.
Jan. 6 Defendants Leave Prison as Trump’s Broad Pardons Draw Sharp Reactions
Some of the highest profile defendants convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot were set free Tuesday, as President Trump’s broad grant of clemency drew mixed reactions within his own Republican party and among those who stormed the building that day. As of Tuesday, 211 people—every clemency recipient—who had been in federal Bureau of Prisons custody had been released, officials said, a process that took roughly 12 hours. Trump’s stunning Day One move to give pardons or commutations to all of the roughly 1,500 people charged in the attack instantly upended the largest investigation in the history of the Justice Department, whose lawyers spent much of Tuesday moving to dismiss a stream of pending cases—at Trump’s demand.
Trump orders release of long-secret final files on JFK, RFK, MLK assassinations
President Trump on Thursday ordered the declassification and release of long-secret files on the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
Europe
Ukraine Is Losing Fewer Soldiers Than Russia — but It’s Still Losing the War
The war of attrition between Russia and Ukraine is killing soldiers at a pace unseen in Europe since World War II. Ukrainian artillery fire, explosive drones and mines are killing Russian troops, as they repeatedly charge across the no-man’s land. As Ukrainian positions are exposed, they are suffering heavy casualties inflicted from afar by Russian drones, shells and glide bombs. Calculating the scale of the casualties, and therefore the war’s trajectory, is difficult: The information is a state secret in both countries. The Ukrainian government has been especially secretive, restricting access to demographic data that could be used to estimate its losses. The most complete publicly available tallies of Ukrainian deaths come from two opaque websites that track obituaries, posthumous medal awards, funeral announcements and other death-related information published online. The websites — Lostarmour.info and UALosses.org — have produced similar results: They have each individually counted about 62,000 Ukrainian soldiers who have died since the invasion.Lostarmour and UALosses say they can only find some of the dead soldiers, because obituaries are published with a delay, and some deaths are never publicized at all. Lostarmour estimates that more than 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers had died by December, in total. By comparison, Russian researchers and journalists have used similar methods to estimate that Russia had suffered more than 150,000 battlefield deaths through the end of November. Combining the estimates, with their caveats and shortcomings, analysts conclude that Russia loses slightly fewer than two soldiers to death and severe injury for every Ukrainian fighter who suffers the same fate. This ratio has not allowed Ukraine to overcome Russia’s population and recruitment advantages. At current trends, Ukraine is losing a larger share of its smaller army. There are currently more than 400,000 Russians facing about 250,000 Ukrainians on the front line, and the gap between the armies is growing, according to the military analyst familiar with Western assessments.
Middle East
Hamas Is Effectively Back in Control in Gaza
After Israeli troops stood down when a cease-fire came into effect in the Gaza Strip, Hamas began sending thousands of its forces onto the streets to establish control. The deployment—envisioned by the agreement that pauses the fighting while the combatants exchange hostages for prisoners—highlights how the U.S.-designated terrorist group remains the dominant power in the territory. Israel hasn’t been able to destroy the group or empower an alternative. Hamas punctuated its authority Sunday by parading armed and uniformed militants through the streets flashing V-signs to cheering crowds. When Hamas transferred the first Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, Arab mediators said they could see fighters from Hamas’s core Nukhba Force unit clad in full military gear and armed. The open show of force after months of being pushed underground was a signal that aid groups and governments will need to cooperate with Hamas as reconstruction efforts get under way in the coming weeks—an outcome Israel has hoped to prevent.
East Asia
South Korea’s Impeached Leader Is Indicted on Insurrection Charges
South Korea’s impeached and arrested president, Yoon Suk Yeol, was formally indicted on Sunday on charges of leading an insurrection last month when he briefly imposed martial law, prosecutors said. Mr. Yoon’s indictment means that his trial is likely to start soon. It follows the indictments of a former defense minister and several military generals and police chiefs, all of whom face criminal charges of helping Mr. Yoon commit the same crime. He is the first president in South Korean history to face criminal charges while still in office. His downfall began when he unexpectedly declared martial law on Dec. 3, accusing the opposition-controlled National Assembly of “paralyzing” his government. The Assembly voted the measure down, forcing him to rescind the order after about six hours. But it has set off South Korea’s worst political crisis in decades.
Technology
Tech Leaders Pledge Up to $500 Billion in AI Investment in U.S.
Some of the world’s most prominent names in technology are pledging to pour as much as half a trillion dollars into building artificial-intelligence infrastructure in the U.S., in the latest high-profile initiative timed with the start of the Trump administration. The joint venture, known as Stargate, is led by the ChatGPT maker OpenAI and the global tech investor SoftBank Group. It will build data centers for OpenAI. The database company Oracle and MGX, an investor backed by the United Arab Emirates, are also equity partners in the venture. The companies are committing $100 billion to the venture and plan to invest up to $500 billion over the next four years. The plans, key elements of which remain vague, were announced Tuesday at a White House ceremony with President Trump. Stargate’s first data center will be in Texas. The site, which started construction last year, will be operated by Oracle and used by OpenAI, a person familiar with the project said.
NOTE: Other articles say the first data center is located in Abilene, Texas, and is the size of Central Park. I also came across this chart in a different article that shows power consumption of data centers:
Health
C.I.A. Now Favors Lab Leak Theory to Explain Covid’s Origins
The C.I.A. has said for years that it did not have enough information to conclude whether the Covid pandemic emerged naturally from a wet market in Wuhan, China, or from an accidental leak at a research lab there. But the agency issued a new assessment this week, with analysts saying they now favor the lab theory. There is no new intelligence behind the agency’s shift, officials said. Rather it is based on the same evidence it has been chewing over for months. The analysis, however, is based in part on a closer look at the conditions in the high security labs in Wuhan province before the pandemic outbreak, according to people familiar with the agency’s work. A spokeswoman for the agency said the other theory remains plausible and that the agency will continue to evaluate any available credible new intelligence reporting.
Have a great week!
The Curator
Two resources to help you be a more discerning reader:
AllSides - https://www.allsides.com/unbiased-balanced-news
Media Bias Chart - https://www.adfontesmedia.com/
Caveat: Even these resources/charts are biased. Who says that the system they use to describe news sources is accurate? Still, hopefully you find them useful as a basic guide or for comparison.