Tuesday, September 9
Monday, September 8
Headlines
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Japan’s prime minister is resigning after striking tariff deal. Shigeru Ishiba ate the frog and is now packing up his office after less than a year as prime minister, he announced at a news conference yesterday. But his departure has little to do with the deal itself: Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party lost its majority in the upper house of Japan’s Parliament in July, as voters worried about inflation and immigration more than the impending trade deal. As for said agreement, President Trump lowered tariffs on Japan to 15% in exchange for Japan agreeing to buy more American exports and invest $550 billion in the US. As for how long he’d been drafting his notice, Ishiba said only, “Who would seriously negotiate if I were to say, ‘I’m quitting?’”
POTUS watches Alcaraz best Sinner at US Open. President Trump, a former mainstay at the US Open, returned to Arthur Ashe Stadium yesterday for the first time since 2015, flanked by members of his family and administration to take in the men’s final. He and the other ~23,000 attendees witnessed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain defeat his rival and last year’s US Open winner, Jannik Sinner of Italy, in four sets. But many ticketholders experienced significant difficulty getting into the one entrance available due to security measures for the president. Despite a 30-minute delay to the start time, rows of seats were still empty as the match began. Trump received notable boos, as well as some cheering, from fans. He attended as a guest of Rolex. On Saturday, in the women’s final, Belarus’s Aryna Sabalenka beat American Amanda Anisimova to take home her second consecutive US Open victory.
Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande won big at MTV Video Music Awards. The 41st iteration of the show, at NYC’s UBS Arena, saw Mariah Carey win the annual Video Vanguard Award for outstanding contributions to pop culture and perform a long medley as her British alter ego (which included no Christmas songs). Lady Gaga won the award for artist of the year and popped in for a minute before dashing off to her concert at Madison Square Garden. Ariana Grande took home three awards, including video of the year. Sabrina Carpenter also won thrice, including best pop artist. Sign of the times: A Labubu dressed as a Moon Person appeared on the red carpet.—HVL
At A Glance
See photos from yesterday's total lunar eclipse.
Winning $1.8B Powerball tickets sold in Texas and Missouri.
How microplastics are continuously invading our bodies.
Company uses AI to produce Bible videos.
Study finds joyful music could help with carsickness.
Darth Vader's lightsaber sells for $3.7M.
The enduring allure of Q-tips.
Watch a city built to scale in Minecraft.
Clickbait: Snail's shell dooms him to life of celibacy.
Historybook: Michelangelo’s David statue unveiled to the public (1504); St. Augustine, Florida, becomes first permanent European settlement (1565); Singer Patsy Cline born (1932); Ruby Bridges, first Black student to attend an all-white school in Louisiana, born (1954); Queen Elizabeth II dies (2022).
In The NEWS
Worker Nest Eggs
401(k) plans, explained
Originally intended for corporate executives, the 401(k) is now, arguably, the most famous section of the US tax code and a staple in worker benefits packages and personal finance guides (watch 101).
Roughly 70 million Americans, with a total of more than $7T invested, use these long-term, tax-advantaged accounts to build toward a more secure retirement.
Some critics claim that with 401(k) plans, companies offloaded the risk of retirement savings to workers without the training to avoid volatile portfolio mixes. Amid the 2008 financial crisis, many 401(k) plans lost over a quarter of their value, an event that hit those near retirement particularly hard.
... Read our full explainer on the plans here.
Also, check out ...
> A work-free retirement is a relatively recent phenomenon. (More)
> Ted Benna was an accountant who invented what became the 401(k). (More)
> 401(k) plans had an average of $112K as of 2023. (More)
Spirals of Destruction
What are hurricanes?
Hurricanes are examples of tropical cyclones—rotating, low-pressure storm systems with winds exceeding 74 mph—that form over the warm waters of the North Atlantic and Northeast Pacific oceans. Able to grow to over 1,000 miles in diameter, tropical cyclones can unleash multiple feet of rain and storm surges.
All tropical cyclones consist of a central eye with no extreme weather, a violent eyewall of intense winds funneling warm, moist air upward, and spiraling rainbands composed of clouds and thunderstorms (see breakdown). The water in the air releases energy when it condenses, which accelerates wind speeds and provides a continuous supply of storm clouds until landfall.
Hurricanes are categorized by maximum sustained winds on the Saffir-Simpson scale and have caused over $1.5T in damage from 1980 to 2024.
... Read our full overview on hurricanes here.
Also, check out ...
> How the Earth's curve and rotation cause hurricanes to spin. (More)
> Hurricanes might have killed 300 times more people than reported. (More)
> Explaining how the hurricane forecasting "cone" actually works. (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
What's your story?
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Everyone has a story to tell; some are more interesting than others... so, who tells the stories of the ones no one wants to hear? Do we just leave them behind because they don't interest us?
SELF CENTERED AMERICANS, especially those with WEALTH, POWER, and POSITION care only for that which benefits them... only associate with those who it is perceived will benefit them.
For instance,
what do religious people want more than anything else?
TO GO TO HEAVEN and live eternally...
Is this not a selfish motive?
The road to get to HEAVEN is... paved with very good intentions, but the end result is always singular and personal.
Why not live that same kind of life without expecting anything in return?
Just strive to be that same kind of person, doing those same kinds of things, without expecting an eternal life in HEAVEN.
Besides, no one really knows where heaven exists...
Is it in another solar system?
Is it in another galaxy?
Perhaps another dimension...
or maybe another universe?
What is left of your body after you die is just an essence, your spirit if you will... like a puff of smoke... I am sure your mind and its thoughts are intact, and you can imagine yourself with having any kind of body you want, but it is not REAL.
Although, you will perceive it as real.
How does or will your essence/spirit fit in with the rest of the universe because of all the great things you did on earth?
How will you be differentiated from everyone else since you will have no physical features?
DO WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN DOING WITHOUT EXPECTATIONS FOR YOURSELF...
Scientists found a new way to turn sunlight into fuel
As with natural photosynthesis, the new molecule temporarily stores two positive and two negative charges.
Credit: Deyanira Geisnæs Schaad
A research team from the University of Basel, Switzerland, has developed a new molecule modeled on plant photosynthesis: under the influence of light, it stores two positive and two negative charges at the same time. The aim is to convert sunlight into carbon-neutral fuels.
Plants use the energy of sunlight to convert CO2 into energy-rich sugar molecules. This process is called photosynthesis and is the foundation of virtually all life: animals and humans can "burn" the carbohydrates produced in this way again and use the energy stored within them. This once more produces carbon dioxide, closing the cycle.
Sunday, September 7
Will America become a bidet nation?
A bidet at the Toto showroom in West Hollywood,
CA. Stephen Osman/Getty Images
Bidets are on par with punctual trains in the amount of envy they inspire in Americans visiting Japan.
The water-spraying toilets are standard there, thanks to the century-old Japanese toilet manufacturer Toto, which popularized them in the 1980s and ’90s. The company sells both standalone bidets and patented toilets with a bidet feature called a Washlet, which are the iPhones of bathroom fixtures—with features like self-sanitizing capabilities and heated seats that open automatically.
Bidets are on par with punctual trains in the amount of envy they inspire in Americans visiting Japan.
The water-spraying toilets are standard there, thanks to the century-old Japanese toilet manufacturer Toto, which popularized them in the 1980s and ’90s. The company sells both standalone bidets and patented toilets with a bidet feature called a Washlet, which are the iPhones of bathroom fixtures—with features like self-sanitizing capabilities and heated seats that open automatically.
Americans behind
While 80% of Japanese dwellings have a bidet toilet, and a washlet-equipped gas station loo is not a novelty in the country, only 2.5% of American toilets have tush-washing capabilities.
For decades, Toto struggled to promote its hygienic tech in the US due to Americans being wary of its cheeky ads, especially one that drew backlash for featuring bare bottoms. But TP shortages during the pandemic inspired many Americans to consider alternatives, and Toto Washlet sales in North America nearly doubled between 2019 and 2020.
And Toto is still hoping that bidets will catch on like anime:Earlier this year, the company told the Japanese publication Nikkei that it planned to triple the number of US showrooms it has to 300 by 2026.
Last week, Toto opened a $224 million factory in Georgia where it’ll produce 300,000 of its luxury toilets (some possibly without bidets) yearly for North American bathrooms.
Big picture: An industry report last year showed that over 40% of Americans remodeling their homes are installing toilets with special features, including bidet toilet seats. But a Toto might remain a dream for many, as renovations in owner-occupied homes are expected to stall next year, per Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.—SK
Robert Reich
Sunday thought: He’s losing
Friends,
As I travel around the country flogging my new book Coming Up Short (which, please remember, you can order here, and the audiobook here), I’m seeing a groundswell of revulsion against Trump.
His economy is a disaster. He promised to bring down prices, yet the prices of most goods are rising. Food prices are soaring. Job growth has stalled. American manufacturing has contracted for six straight months.
Trump’s poll numbers are dropping like stones.
The ghost of Jeffrey Epstein continues to haunt him.
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