Tuesday, May 20
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Austria wins 69th Eurovision Song Contest, with Israel and Estonia finishing second and third, respectively (More) | Listen to Austria's winning song, "Wasted Love" (More)
> Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers, and New York Knicks advance to NBA Conference Finals; see bracket and schedule (More) | ... and NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs' second round wraps over the weekend; conference finals begin tomorrow (More)
> Journalism edges Gosger to win 150th Preakness Stakes (More) | Scottie Scheffler wins 2025 PGA Championship for his third career major title (More)
Science & Technology
> World's first human bladder transplant successfully carried out two weeks ago, doctors announced yesterday; recipient lost the majority of original organ to cancer (More)
> OpenAI introduces Codex, its first AI agent dedicated to generating production-ready software code (More) | Google I/O 2025, the company's annual developer conference, kicks off tomorrow; see preview (More) | Google 101 (More)
> Researchers discover how malaria-causing parasite hides from body's immune system; bug turns genes on and off, allowing infected cells to stick to blood vessel walls and evade antibodies (More) | Learn more about animal-to-human diseases (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +0.7%, Dow +0.8%, Nasdaq +0.5%) despite report revealing second-lowest consumer sentiment level on record (More)
> Walmart will "eat" some tariff costs, pass some of the cost to consumers, Treasury secretary says; statement comes amid pressure from President Donald Trump for Walmart to assume tariff costs (More) | Black faith leaders plan May 25 Target boycott, pressing retailer to reestablish diversity initiatives (More)
> New Jersey Transit engineers reach deal to end three-day strike; trains to resume normal operations tomorrow (More) | See previous write-up (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Car bomb near California fertility clinic kills one person, wounds four others; FBI identifies suspect, calls attack an act of terrorism tied to antinatalist ideology (More) | What is antinatalism? (More) | Tornadoes in Kentucky, Missouri, and Virginia kill at least 28 people (More)
> President Donald Trump to call Russian President Vladimir Putin today to discuss end to war in Ukraine (More) | Russia launches sweeping drone attack (More) | Israel launches expanded ground invasion in Gaza, with strikes killing over 100 people in 24 hours, per Gaza's Health Ministry (More)
> Polish presidential election heads to June 1 runoff, with liberal mayor slightly ahead of conservative historian (More) | Pro-West candidate wins Romania’s election, defeating populist-nationalist candidate (More) | Portugal's ruling center-right party leads in snap election, on track to fall short of majority (More)
Eating Smart & Healthy - part I
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In 1987, at the young age of 40, I quit smoking, drinking alcohol, eating red meat, fried food, and sugars. These feats were accomplished COLD TURKEY.
However, after the first couple of years, possible more but I doubt it, I allowed myself to CHEAT.
I ate:
- 3-4 hamburgers a year
- 3-4 pizzas a year
- 1-2 beef hotdogs a year
- KFC once or twice a year
- 1-2 glasses of wine at New Year's
- 1-2 Snickers a year
My cholesterol (both good and bad) varies from 84-91 which is not that bad at all.
Why did I do this?
My doctor told me that if I quit smoking at the age of 40, I could reclaim 90% of the damage, maybe more, that had been done to my body.
I went from 250 lbs down to 210 lbs over a period of years that has now stabilized at 215 and have maintained that to my current age of 77.5 which I consider to be a pretty damn good accomplishment.
My diet is comprised of: chicken, turkey, salmon, cod, tuna, yogurt, bran, beans of all sorts, basmati rice, vegetables, a few nuts and fruit. I eat moderately; small meals five times a day works best for meal - those meals include snacks.
Counting calories is also done on an intermittent basis where I have a goal of 2,000/day or less, never to exceed 2,500. Although, there is this trick that I often employ. If I eat 1,500 one day, then 2,500 the next day, I still average out to 2,000. This helps maintain the goal.
5 phrases introverts use that set them apart: Extroverts bring energy, ‘but not much more,’ says psychology expert
As a leadership consultant who studies workplace psychology, I’ve spent more than 30 years helping thousands of individuals and CEOs at multimillion-dollar organizations.
I’ve always been observant of the different personalities I work with, especially when I was an executive myself. During team meetings, extroverts always jumped in first, eager to lead the conversation. They often brought energy, but not much more. The people who earned my trust were the ones who listened and then spoke with precision. Almost every time, they were the introverts.
Monday, May 19
Robert Reich
They’re just scapegoats. Here’s the real cause of our growing national debt.
Friends,
Last Friday, the credit rating of the United States was downgraded. Moody’s, the ratings firm, announced that the U.S. government’s rising debt levels will grow further if the Trump Republican package of new tax cuts is enacted. This makes lending to the United States riskier.
(Moody’s is the third of three major credit-rating agencies to downgrade the credit rating of the United States.)
So-called “bond vigilantes” are being blamed. They’ve already been selling the U.S. government’s debt, as the Republican tax package moves through Congress. They’re expected to sell even more, driving long-term interest rates even higher to make up for the growing risk of holding U.S. debt.
At A Glance
World's first flying car prototype makes public debut. (w/video)
Malaysians build bridge to help endangered monkeys.
Dolphin researchers win interspecies communication prize.
US News ranks all 50 states.
See the new $1 Space Shuttle gold coin.
The evolution of American school lunches.
See realistic bird costume at Cannes.
Some people have receptors to smell bugs.
Clickbait: Researchers discover life has literal glow.
In The NEWS
America's Financial Center
What is Wall Street?
Wall Street is an eight-block-long avenue in New York City’s Financial District where most of the country's biggest banks have, at one time, had their headquarters, including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America. It dates back to the 1700s with the establishment of two institutions: the New York Stock Exchange and New York City’s first official slave market.
Wall Street eventually came to symbolize the financial center of the US. The street's mythos has evolved into a cultural phenomenon, giving rise to popular movies and books.
Some historians believe the English named “Wall Street” after a wall the Dutch built to keep them out (it runs down roughly the same path as the wall). Others argue that Wall Street could have been named after the Walloons (also known as “the Waal”), the French-speaking early Dutch settlers of Manhattan (read history).
... Read our full deep dive on Wall Street here.
Also, check out ...
> An interactive map of early New York City. (More)
> What is r/WallStreetBets? (More)
> Explaining Wall Street's architecture. (More)
A Fantasy in the Mind
A primer on dreams
Every night, we spend about two hours dreaming—mostly during REM phases when the body is paralyzed, with brain waves closely resembling those during waking periods.
The hippocampus—the brain's memory center—plays a central role in dream construction. Half of all dreams draw from specific real-life experiences, and patients with a damaged hippocampus have been shown to experience less detailed dreams.
Early history is filled with examples of vivid dreams interpreted as prophecy, divine revelation, or a bridge between the living and the dead. Beyond their meaning, psychologists have variously suggested the purpose of dreams is to process difficult emotions, consolidate memories, mentally rehearse real-life experiences, or they are just a byproduct of the complex brain.
... Read our full deep dive on dreams here.
Also, check out ...
> Why only some people remember their dreams. (More)
> The neuroscience behind lucid dreams. (More)
> What are nightmares? (More)
Our Last Years
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For 20 odd years, one is growing up, going to school, and pretty much taken care of by their parents.
Then for forty some years they work, then for another twenty years they lived retired before passing away into another kind of life or no life at all.
20 - 40 - 20 = 80
maybe 20 - 45 - 25 = 90
Not many people live into their nineties and when that happens, we are looking at:
20 - 45 - 30 = 95
So, life is divided into an unequal third, or pretty much an equal 50/50.
40 - 40 = 80
or
50 - 50 = 100
Most of us, don't think about how our lives may or may not be divided, we just live our lives trying to live it the best way that we can.
My point to all of this is that once we retire, the duration of our lives (based up age 67) is about as long as our life was before we started working.
We need to plan for that eventuality to make sure that we enjoy those last years.
Volcanic white gold: A lithium deposit valued at $1.5 trillion has been discovered in the U.S.
McDermitt Caldera in Oregon is attracting attention for what could be one of the largest lithium deposits ever identified in the United States. Many view it as a potential boost for domestic battery production, while local communities voice concern over the impact on wildlife and cultural sites.
The excitement stems from estimates that value the deposit at about $1.5 trillion. Some geologists say these ancient volcanic sediments could contain between 20 and 40 million metric tons of lithium.
“This feature is 16 million years old, and we’re making decisions in a matter of years,” said Sammy Castonguay, a geologist at Treasure Valley Community College. Castonguay’s statement has stirred local debate over how the development might reshape the high desert. Industry advocates see a path to addressing the ballooning need for electric vehicle batteries.