Millions of US Millennials Moved in With Their Parents This Year – https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/millions-of-us-millennials-moved-in-with-their-parents-this-year/ar-AA14Y5JT#comments
Most Expensive Zip Codes — https://ipropertymanagement.com/research/most-expensive-zip-codes
There is no mystery to controlling inflation. You just have to stop spending money you don’t have…stop lending out money at interest rates below inflation…and stop ‘printing’ up extra money to cover the holes in your budget. Instead, most governments continue to spend and print. Inflation is on the rise almost everywhere. And for the first time in modern history, much of the entire world’s middle class – the people who make the world work – is facing a grim period of higher inflation and lower real standards of living.
Three Strikes, You’re Out! More on the government’s middle class massacre – Bonner Private Research https://bonnerprivateresearch.substack.com/p/three-strikes-youre-out
But wait…it’s worse in North America.
I’m just thankful I haven’t retired yet.
The Administration for Community Living (ACL) has published its profile of older Americans 2021, an annual summary of critical statistics related to the older population. The updated report shows an older population that’s increasing in size and diversity.
The older population is growing and becoming more diverse — https://healthjournalism.org/blog/2022/12/the-older-population-is-growing-and-becoming-more-diverse/
And in case you’re thinking none of this matters because you are still young…
We found that midlife, generally considered to encompass the ages of 40 to 65, has become a time of crisis…the midlife crisis experienced by most people is subtler, more nuanced and rarely discussed among family and friends. It can be best described as the “big squeeze” – a period during which middle-aged adults are increasingly confronted with the impossible choice of deciding how to split their time and money between themselves, their parents and their kids.
The real midlife crisis confronting many Americans — https://theconversation.com/the-real-midlife-crisis-confronting-many-americans-114347
Due to the holiday, travel, and entertaining I’ve been spending less time in front of my screens.
Well, time to get back to my normal screen time habit.
Cryptocurrencies are a social movement based on the belief that markings in a ledger on the internet have intrinsic value. The organizers of these ledgers call these markings Bitcoin, or Dogecoin, or offer other names based on the specific ledger. That’s really all a cryptocurrency is. There’s no magic. It’s not money, though it has money-like properties. It’s not anything except a set of markings. Sure, the technology behind the ledgers and how to create more of these markings is kind of neat. But crypto is a movement based on energetic storytellers who spin fables about the utopian future to come. In a lot of ways, cryptocurrencies are like Florida land that no one ever intends to use. It has value in the moment it is traded, but only because there’s a collective belief that it has some intrinsic worth.
Matt Stoller BIG newsletter 12.07.21 — https://mattstoller.substack.com/
FTX seems to be a textbook example of how many investors are easily hoodwinked by media narratives about the latest investment genius who has magically discovered some new way of delivering unprecedented returns.
How Easy Money Fueled the FTX Crypto Collapse – https://mises.org/wire/how-easy-money-fueled-ftx-crypto-collapse
Good book. It should be required reading for everyone before they invest a single penny.
Update 12.01.22
One more extra credit reading assignment. FTX’s Collapse Was a Crime, Not an Accident
Increased consumption of ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) was associated with more than 10% of all-cause premature, preventable deaths in Brazil in 2019. That is the finding of a new peer-reviewed study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Examples of UPFs are prepackaged soups, sauces, frozen pizza, ready-to-eat meals, hot dogs, sausages, sodas, ice cream, and store-bought cookies, cakes, candies and doughnuts.
UPFs have steadily replaced the consumption of traditional whole foods, such as rice and beans, in Brazil.
Millions Suffer as Junk Food Industry Rakes in Profit, by Colin Todhunter — STRAIGHT LINE LOGIC
Here is a link to the original study https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(22)00429-9/fulltext
Concerns about the mental health impacts of social media activity are longstanding, and have only intensified in recent years. In 2021, for example, internal research at Instagram made public by Frances Haugen showed the drastic mental health impacts of the photo app on teen users – including increased rates of eating disorders among teen girls – and sparked widespread calls for stronger regulation.But TikTok hosts similar harmful content, and experts warn a host of innovative features of the platform raise unique concerns.
What TikTok does to your mental health: ‘It’s embarrassing we know so little’ — https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/oct/30/tiktok-mental-health-social-media
All social media is not bad.
But some platforms are worse than others.
Some earlier posts:
More Social Media Use Linked to More Depression and Anxiety in Teens
Quit Social Media – Dr. Cal Newport
I Thought I Told You To Put That Phone Down!
Twitter and Facebook ‘harming children’s development’ – Telegraph
So, which is most effective? Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic set out to answer this question by comparing statins to supplements in a clinical trial. They tracked the outcomes of 190 adults, ages 40 to 75. Some participants were given a 5 mg daily dose of rosuvastatin, a statin that is sold under the brand name Crestor for 28 days. Others were given supplements, including fish oil, cinnamon, garlic, turmeric, plant sterols or red yeast rice for the same period.
“What we found was that rosuvastatin lowered LDL cholesterol by almost 38% and that was vastly superior to placebo and any of the six supplements studied in the trial,” study author Luke Laffin, M.D. of the Cleveland Clinic’s Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute told NPR. He says this level of reduction is enough to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes. The findings are published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Statins vs. supplements: New study finds one is ‘vastly superior’ to cut cholesterol – https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/11/06/1134094540/statins-vs-supplements-new-study-finds-one-is-vastly-superior-to-cut-cholesterol
Sometimes diet and exercise alone are not enough to keep cholesterol in check. I currently take a low dose statin 10 mg daily. My test results from 09.27.22: cholesterol 197, HDL 71, LDL 102, triglycerides 69.
Oh, and continuing the theme of full disclosure the thing on my leg Image Challenge – November 2022 was MUD.
Skin examination reveals a dark pigmented irregular lesion R anterior shin. Noticed for the first time after a morning of yard work. Previous dermatology history includes a large Becker’s nevus L scapula, several small hematomas, multiple mocha colored age spots and solar keratoses. Patient has never consulted Dermatology and has never been followed medically for his Becker’s nevus. No family history of skin cancers.
The skeptical cardiologist was asked to give a lecture in July on diet to the cardiology fellows in our training program at Saint Louis University. Needless to say, I didn’t hew to current recommendations from the American Heart Association or the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. For example, these recommendations are still promoting the narrative that…
What is the Optimal Diet for the Prevention of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease? — The Skeptical Cardiologist
Great lecture. Thank you Dr. Pearson.
HT to Barry Rithotlz at https://ritholtz.com/ for finding and posting cool charts.
I pass them along because they’re scary.
How’s your 529 plan doing?
lifeunderwriter.net 
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