The Sunday Fix: January 7th
Friendship, Golf Records, Freight Costs, and More
Well, Happy New Year! I hope your first week of 2024 was an easy one. We’re only seven days in and we’ve had a door blown off an airplane, a South Korean opposition leader attacked, and a man jump into a Bass Pro pond naked. Buckle up.
If you’ve enjoyed the Fix, send this along to a family member, friend, or colleague. The more the merrier.
Sunday Selection
The most important or interesting headlines. News worth knowing about.
MIT Obesity Pill
MIT researchers have developed a new approach to take on obesity: a vibrating capsule designed to simulate the sensation of fullness, similar to the effect of drinking a glass of water before a meal (which I didn’t know was a thing). The capsule, which looks like a standard multivitamin in size, contains a vibrating motor activated by stomach acid.
In laboratory tests, “administering the pill to test animals 20 minutes before eating resulted in a reduction of food intake by approximately 40%.” The capsule works “by stimulating mechanoreceptors, which in turn send signals to the brain, triggering the production of hormones that reduce hunger and enhance the digestion process.”
As obesity-related drugs and treatment become more popular, this method offers a potential alternative to other solutions like Ozympic / Wegovy. The research team is currently focusing on ensuring the safety of this system, with plans for ramping up production and conducting human trials.
Lots of good dad jokes here. MIT is shaking things up in the fight against obesity? Good vibrations? Shake it off?
Full story from Brian Heater at TechCrunch
Middle East Tensions Rise
It continues to be tense in the Middle East as we kick off 2024. Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group, launched ~40 rockets into Israel, coinciding with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to the region.
The attack by Hezbollah was in response to the killing of Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut. The Israeli airstrike killed Arouri and six others. Israel, while not confirming the strike, has vowed to target Hamas leadership
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivered speeches on Wednesday and Friday outlining the terror group’s posture. The Scroll outlines the key points below:
Nasrallah promised to fight “without restraints” if the IDF initiates a war but said that the group is content for now to fight “with calculation.”
Nasrallah also highlighted the importance of the Houthis’ attacks on commercial ships to the Iranian-led Axis of Resistance’s war on “the Zionist entity.”
“The most qualitative step [in the resistance’s war on Israel] was the challenge in the Red Sea,” Nasrallah said on Wednesday. “This is a brave and great step with the farthest-reaching impact.”
As Nasrallah mentioned, the Houthi rebels based in Yemen have been launching attacks on commercial vessels traveling through the Red Sea, a critical route between Asian and Western countries. The Houthis have said they are targeting ships that are associated in some way with Israel. Although the Houthis are using inexpensive methods to launch these attacks, the group has been extremely effective in disrupting global trade, increasing global freight prices and escalating tensions in the region.
The US and its coalition partners are not loving what the Houthis are doing. The 12-country coalition put out a statement Wednesday, issuing a stern warning to the rebel group:
“Ongoing Houthi attacks in the Red Sea are illegal, unacceptable, and profoundly destabilizing,” says the statement issued by more than a dozen nations. “The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways.”
Some good charts / images below show how the Houthi attacks are impacting shipping routes and costs.
Full stories from Vox and AP News.
NRA Leader Out
Wayne LaPierre, the longtime head of the National Rifle Association (NRA), announced his resignation amidst allegations of misuse of the organization's funds. His departure, effective at the end of this month, comes just before the start of a civil trial in New York, where Attorney General Letitia James is suing him, the NRA, and two other executives. The allegations include millions spent on private jets, yachts, safaris, and other perks.
LaPierre, who has been a dominant figure in shaping US gun policy since 1991, stated health reasons for his resignation. Despite his resignation, James has stated that the trial will proceed as scheduled.
LaPierre is accused of setting up a $17 million contract for himself with the NRA and using NRA funds for personal travel and luxury services. The lawsuit demands repayment from LaPierre and the co-defendants and seeks to ban them from leadership roles in charitable organizations in New York.
Oscar Pistorius Freed
The South African Paralympian is out on parole after serving half of his 13-year sentence for murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius rose to fame in 2012 when he became the first double-amputee to run in the Olympics. Just six months later, he shot Steenkamp through a bathroom door, claiming that he thought she was an intruder.
Authorities initially charged Pistorius with manslaughter but ultimately changed the charges to murder. He was ultimately sentenced to 13 years in prison. However, under South African law, “all offenders are entitled to be considered for parole”, meaning early release under certain conditions at the halfway point in their sentence.
According to BBC, Steenkamp's mother said she accepted the decision to release the former athlete - but added her family was the one "serving a life sentence"
Record Breaking Golf
I have identified the world record that I believe I am meant to break: the most golf rounds played at different courses in a single year. Patrick Koenig set this record on January 2nd after finishing his 580th round of golf in 365 days, far exceeding the previous record of 449.
Koenig is an accomplished golf photographer who attempted to break the record in 2018 - he reached 400 courses. He was more successful on his second try, deemed “RGV Tour 2.0”. You can check out all the courses he played or a nicely done video about Koenig below.
Secondary Selections
Pat McAfee accuses ESPN executive of sabotaging his show (CNN)
FAA orders temporary grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 (NBC News)
Japan earthquake: Woman in 90s found alive under rubble five days later (BBC)
The Fix’s Picks
Summarizing and linking to some of my favorite reads, podcasts, photos, and clips from the weekend.
The Science of Friendship
It feels like an inevitable part of adulthood is the attrition of some close friends. People change, life gets busy, people move. Our circles naturally get smaller as we age, but what about gaining new close friends?
I thought this article about friendship from the WSJ was interesting. It discussed some research on developing close friendships. For better or worse, it doesn’t happen overnight. Researchers estimate that it takes ~200 hours for someone to become a close friend.
People can generally maintain three to five close friendships, says Beverley Fehr, a social psychologist who specializes in the study of close relationships at the University of Winnipeg. Beyond that, “there just isn’t enough time and energy to go around.”
Forming a friendship in the first place takes a certain number of hours of being together, research has found.
We need between 40 and 60 hours together for an acquaintance to become a casual friend, according to a study by Jeffrey Hall, professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas, who surveyed adults who moved to a new location as well as college freshmen in their first two months of school.
In order to move from casual friends to close friends, you need to spend an additional 140 to 160 hours together for a total of about 200 hours, the study found.
Museum of Lost Memories
I came across this account, Museum of Lost Memories (MOLM), on Instagram and I thought it was so cool. I was going to explain what the account does, but David (the guy who started MOLM) does the job for us in a letter I found on his website:
You can check out his latest post below of a trip to Jackson Hole in 1978. I really enjoyed reading through the comments too. General consensus: life flies by, savor it.
Housing Market Preview 2024
I’ve enjoyed reading Ben Sprague’s Sunday Morning Post. He has some good writeups about the housing market, where he thinks prices are going, etc.
He just put out his 2024 Preview (below). I thought his take was interesting:
One of the driving variables in the housing market for 2024 will again be interest rates. But unlike 2022 and 2023, interest rates in 2024 are almost certain to come down.
What is likely to be the effect of falling rates? Conventional wisdom is that when interest rates fall, prices rise. That is because a lower interest rate allows a borrower to purchase more home. However, I do not think this conventional wisdom will hold for 2024, and that is because of the aforementioned interest-rate lock-in effect. In some ways right now, the housing market is broken. This has been an unintended consequence of the Fed’s hawkish stance to raise rates as much as they have in order to control inflation. Keep in mind the Fed’s dual mandate is to control inflation and promote full employment; it is not to also engender a healthy housing market.
So right now the housing market is most unhealthy indeed. It will take a decline in rates to thaw it out. My expectation is that as rates drop, there will be a burst of pent-up supply from sellers who have been holding back. As this inventory hits the market, buyers will have more choices and increased leverage in negotiations. Price setting will flip from sellers to buyers, and prices will become more competitive (i.e. lower).
The Best of the Rest
All the funny or wise content I came across to kick your week off right
MSRP
Applebee’s
Target Dog
Ole Miss Couples
Alright! That’s a wrap. Thanks for reading. See you next Sunday!
Thanks for the shoutout and love the idea of taking on that golf record.