Good morning, and welcome to Thanksgiving week. Today’s fun fact: There are at least 10.3 million dogs prescribed anti-anxiety medication in the US, per the American Pet Products Association (via Harper’s).

And ready for this? That’s more than the number of humans on anti-anxiety medication in the US, a number clocking in at 9.7 million as of March 2020. Though if you factor in the almost 30 million who were prescribed antidepressants at that same time, humans once again take the top spot.

Do with this information what you will.

P.S. If you’re on the fence about seeking help with your mental health, this is your sign to take the leap. There are some great resources here.

In today’s edition:

• 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia is building a floating turtle
• 👋🍺 The World Cup says bye to booze
• 🤔 Shoplifting in America

...and more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 3.61 minutes to read.

“It is better to learn late than never.”

–Publilius Syrus (85 BC – 43 BC)

On Friday, an American Bar Association panel voted 15-1 to drop a nationwide requirement that all law school applicants take the LSAT or any other standardized admissions test.

⏩ Driving the decision… Panel members said the move is intended to bring the ABA in line with other national school accreditors, none of which require standardized tests for admission (though the individual schools themselves often do).

Comments from the public regarding the ABA’s plan were polarized, largely around the issue of diversity.

• A coalition of 59 law school deans signed an open letter in dissent, warning such a move would lead to schools relying on other, more subjective criteria for admission, which could ultimately harm diversity.
• In support, other experts cited research showing students of color tend to score lower on the LSAT and argued eliminating the tests would remove a potential barrier for admission.

👀 Looking ahead… The policy change will take effect for students applying in fall 2025. Individual schools are still allowed to require the LSAT under the new rules – and it appears many will still do so.

🎓 Zoom out: LSATs aren’t the only standardized test going the way of the BlackBerry. Last year, more than 1,000 undergraduate colleges and universities made the SAT and/or ACT optional for all college applicants during the pandemic, a practice many are extending through at least 2023.

📊 Flash poll: Do you think colleges and universities should require standardized tests for undergraduate admission? (Click a link below to record your vote + see a follow-up question.)

Yes

No

Unsure/other

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia recently unveiled plans for the largest floating structure ever built. The turtle-shaped behemoth, named Pangeos, has a maximum length of 1,800 feet and a max width of 2,000 feet. It features everything needed to support a community of up to 60,000 people, including hotels, luxury villas, parks, shopping centers, clubs, and both ship and aircraft ports. The $8 billion ‘terayacht’ will reportedly be able to power itself and cruise around indefinitely, thanks to solar panels and a wave energy generator system in its flippers.

🌍 The COP27 conference concluded on Friday with a new deal to support poorer countries affected by climate change. The agreement, which lacks many concrete details, sets up a timeline for countries to work out said details over the next year – so it’s currently unclear which countries will be required to contribute to the fund. China, the world’s largest emitter, argued that money should only come from historically wealthier countries, like the US and EU. But on the other side, EU officials said any fund that doesn’t feature money from China or India, two of the three highest-emitting countries in the world, is “unacceptable.”

🇸🇪 The Nord Stream pipeline leaks in September were conclusively a result of sabotage. Swedish investigators announced the news on Friday after discovering evidence of explosives around the two undersea natural-gas pipelines, which link Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea. Officials said their investigation may be able to uncover details like where the explosive materials were manufactured, though work is still ongoing.

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World Cup matches officially began yesterday. But arguably the biggest pre-kickoff news concerning the tournament 62.5% of the world is projected to watch came on Friday, when Qatari officials banned alcohol sales at any games.

Though the move is an about-face from the country’s initial promise to serve beer outside of stadiums and before games, it doesn’t exactly come as a surprise. A week ago, Qatar’s royal family decreed that beer tents be moved to less prominent areas around the stadiums – and in general, the country is known for its strict laws surrounding drugs and alcohol.

Some fun facts:

• There are only two liquor stores in the country.
• Drinking in public? Straight to jail (plus a fine). Being drunk in public? Also straight to jail (plus a fine).
• As of 2019, there’s a 100% tax on alcohol imports. Which leads Qatar to have the most expensive beer in the world, per a 2021 report from Expensivity. (An 11-ounce bottle will set you back $11.26.)

🍻📉 The boots-on-the-ground impact: Just like Barry Bonds’ home run record, Qatar’s beer ban has an asterisk or two. Booze can be purchased at a handful of dedicated FIFA Fan Festival zones outside of the stadium – or even inside the stadium, if you shell out $22,600 for a corporate hospitality ticket.

And despite these asterisks, FIFA has to be fielding some… not so nice emails from Budweiser execs. The beer giant, which has been the World Cup’s official beer sponsor since 1986, paid $75 million to sponsor the event. Per the chief supply officer at Budweiser’s parent company, more of its beer was projected to be drunk in the country during the four weeks of the World Cup than in an entire year.

+In other on-the-field news: The US plays its first match at 2 pm ET today. See a full tournament schedule and results.

💬 Quoted…​​ "I don't see any reason for it.”

• Former President Donald Trump doesn’t plan on returning to Twitter despite CEO Elon Musk reversing his lifetime ban over the weekend, preferring to stick with his own social-media site Truth Social instead. The former president’s account is now visible on Twitter, with his most recent tweet from January 8, 2021.

🛒 Stat of the Day: One-third of all shoppers say they’ve stolen something while using a self-checkout machine, per this month’s Harper’s Index.

🤯 Did You Know?... Tomatoes are native to North America, meaning there was no such thing as tomato sauce in Italy until the late 17th century.

📖 Worth a Read: From a White House Wedding to a Pet Snake, Alice Roosevelt’s Escapades Captivated America → (Smithsonian Magazine)

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• ☝️ Some areas near Buffalo, New York, received six-and-a-half feet of snow from a lake-effect storm over the weekend; this storm was the reason the Buffalo Bills played a “home” game in Detroit on Sunday.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🐭 Bob Iger, who served as Disney CEO from 2005-2020, will replace current Disney CEO Bob Chapek effective immediately, the company announced late last night.
• ⚖️ Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced to 11.25 years in prison on Friday; she was previously convicted on four counts of criminal fraud for deceiving investors about her company’s blood-testing technology.
• 🛍️ Walmart, Best Buy, Kohl's, Macy's, and Target all have Black Friday sales starting tomorrow. | Frontier Airlines announced a new sale of its all-you-can-fly GoWild! Pass, which will be offered for $599/year through Friday (down from the typical $1,999/yr).

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏛️ The Justice Department opened an antitrust probe into Ticketmaster parent Live Nation Entertainment following last week’s T-Swift ticket debacle, per the NY Times.
• 🍿 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever led the domestic box office in its second weekend, earning $67 million; the final film in Marvel’s Phase Four has now earned just shy of $300 million worldwide.
• 🏈🏎️🏌️‍♀️ Results: In college football, unranked South Carolina upset No. 5 Tennessee 63-38, while No. 12 Oregon defeated No. 10 Utah 24-20. (New AP Top 25) | Sebastian Vettel wrapped up his Formula One career with a 10th-place finish at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. | Lydia Ko won LPGA player of the year yesterday along with the richest prize in women's golf history, at $2 million.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🚀🌕 Watch as Artemis 1's Orion capsule flies by the moon at 7:44am ET this morning.
• 💊 The FDA approved a first-of-its-kind treatment to delay the onset of type 1 diabetes.
• ☄️ A fireball that soared over Ontario, Canada, early Saturday morning was the sixth object ever detected in space before it struck Earth, per the European Space Agency.

EVERYTHING ELSE

• 🙏 Five people were killed and 18 were injured in a mass shooting at an LGBTQ+ club in Colorado Springs, CO, on Saturday night.
• 🎂 President Joe Biden turned 80 years old yesterday, making him the first octogenarian to ever serve in the nation’s highest office.
• 🏛️ AG Merrick Garland appointed prosecutor Jack Smith to serve as an independent special counsel overseeing the agency’s ongoing criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump; the move came in response to Trump’s announced 2024 candidacy. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)
• 🎓 The Biden administration filed an emergency appeal at the Supreme Court on Friday, asking the justices to lift two separate federal court rulings currently blocking their student loan forgiveness program. (Background | From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 🪆 These little wooden dolls might actually have souls.

On Friday, we covered the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and the various controversies surrounding the choice of host country.

❓ Our question to you: Do you agree with FIFA’s decision to host the World Cup in Qatar?

Follow-up question: Are you going to watch the World Cup?

• 👍 Yes: 13% | 100% of this group said they plan on watching this year
• 👎 No: 66% | 51% of this group said they’re going to watch, while 49% aren’t
• 🤷‍♀️ Unsure/other: 21% | 43% of this group said they’re going to watch, while 57% aren’t

See the full 360° view.

+Note on sample size: We received 9,354 responses.

Monday: The president’s annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon

Tuesday: Best Buy, HP, Nordstrom, and others report Q3 earnings

Wednesday: The Fed publishes minutes from its November meeting; weekly unemployment claims; it's Fibonacci Day

Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving!🥳🦃 US markets are closed

Friday: Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day; National Native American Hertiage Day

+Over the weekend: It’s Small Business Saturday

Best friends Peter John and Jaswant Sidhu have been golfing together for fifteen years. And recently, Jaswant scored the first hole-in-one of his entire career. 

• “He teed a lovely shot and got a hole-in-one," said Peter of the victory. "We celebrated and it was absolutely phenomenal." 

⛳️ But wait, there's more... Immediately following Jaswant's milestone, Peter stepped up... and scored his own hole-in-one. On the very same hole.

🤯 Bottom line: The men did the math and realized there was about a 1-in-17-million chance for both golfers to score as they did. "None of us knew what to say," said Jaswant. "I think we were all in shock!”

Guess the definitions of the following Greek/Latin root words.

1. Cephal
2. Circum
3. Inter
4. Lax
5. Nov

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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Start referring.👇

1. Cephal = Head (e.g., cephalic, cephalopod)
2. Circum = Around (circumference, circumnavigate)
3. Inter = Between (intersection, intermission)
4. Lax = Not tense (relax, laxative)
5. Nov = Nine (November, novennial)