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"It is easy to love your friend, but sometimes the hardest lesson to learn is to love your enemy."

–Sun Tzu (544 B.C. – 496 B.C.)

Today’s Dose of Discussion isn’t exactly uplifting – but it tackles an incredibly important topic close to our teams' hearts.

Nearly 50,000 Americans died from suicide in 2022, the highest number in recorded history, per newly published CDC data based on US death certificates.

Preliminary data also indicates suicides were more common last year than any other year since 1941, at an estimated 14.4 per 100,000 people.

🤔 Who is most affected?... On an annual basis, suicides increased last year across every age group, race/ethnicity, and gender, with two exceptions: Americans aged 10-24 (-8.4%), and American Indians/Alaska Natives (-6.1%).

Some other findings:

• Males typically account for around 80% of all US suicides. 2022 was no different (79.4%).
• Americans aged 85+ had the highest suicide rate among all age groups last year, followed by those aged 25-34 and 75-84. On the flip side, Americans aged 10-24 and 65-74 had the lowest rates of suicide.
• American Indians/Alaska Natives had a higher suicide rate last year than all other racial groups, at ~24 per 100,000 people; White Americans placed second with ~16 suicides per 100,000 people.

According to previous peer-reviewed research, suicide is linked with a wide variety of factors like economic uncertainty, substance use disorder, social isolation, and difficulty accessing mental health care.

📸 Big picture: The US suicide rate has increased by more than 35% since 2000. Over the same period, the number of Americans attempting suicide has remained relatively stable at around 2 million per year.

📊 Flash poll (long-form): In your opinion, what steps should the US take to reduce the amount of suicides among its population?

Click here to leave a response.

+IMPORTANT: If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

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🇹🇼 Taiwanese Vice President William Lai visited the US over the weekend, drawing criticism from China. VP Lai, the front-runner to be Taiwan's next president after upcoming elections in January, traveled to New York City late Saturday for what was officially billed as a 24-hour transit stopover on his way to Paraguay. The visit sparked backlash from China, which claims democratically self-governed Taiwan as its own territory (Background). Beijing has repeatedly denounced Lai's ongoing trip, which includes a stopover in San Francisco on Wednesday as he travels back to Taiwan.

⚽🏆 The Women’s World Cup is down to its final four teams: Spain, Sweden, England, and Australia. The first semifinal, featuring Spain vs. Sweden, is scheduled for early tomorrow morning. Both teams have won all five of their World Cup games so far, including Sweden’s 5-4 shootout win against Team USA. The second match features England against Australia, with the Aussie women making their first-ever semifinal appearance (​​this match is scheduled for early Wednesday morning).

🌍🎤 Taylor Swift is about to start the international leg of her Eras Tour. After performing 53 US shows over the past five months, Swift is in the midst of a two-week break before heading to perform 78 shows in 26 cities around the world over the next year (she’ll then return to the US/Canada for her final 15 shows). The initial US portion of the Eras Tour generated over $600 million in ticket sales, per Fortune, which by itself would represent the fifth highest-grossing tour in history. Swift is currently projected to earn between $1 billion and $1.5 billion in ticket sales over the entire tour; both figures would represent a new all-time record.

The death toll from the wildfire that razed the historic city of Lahaina, Hawaii, climbed to 93 over the weekend. This makes it the US’ deadliest fire since 1918.

An estimated ~2,200 structures have been destroyed (~80% of those residential) so far, and more than 2,100 acres burned.

🤔🔥 What caused the fire?... It’s still officially undetermined (though many are speculating about downed power lines). 

But once started, the fire spread – fast. Winds, combined with dry conditions and extra-flammable nonnative grasses and shrubs, made the blaze nearly impossible to contain in its earlier stages, per officials.

• The Big Island experienced maximum winds of 87 MPH last Tuesday, the day the fire started, then 67 MPH on Wednesday.

😬 Looking ahead… As of Sunday morning the fire was mostly contained, but its death toll should continue to rise. Hundreds are still missing, and crews with cadaver dogs had covered just 3% of the search area as of Saturday, per Maui’s police chief.

📸 Big picture: At least two other fires are burning in Maui, though none besides the Lahaina fire have caused any deaths so far. The collective economic damage is severe, however. Officials estimate rebuilding Maui will cost an estimated $5.5 billion.

💬 Quoted… "I think we can all agree Elon isn't serious and it's time to move on."

In a Threads post yesterday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he’s moving his focus away from a potential cage fight against Twitter/Tesla/SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and implied that Musk is intentionally delaying the match and spewing more hot air than a hot-air balloon (we added that last part; sorry, it's just the WWE promoter in us).

• As of 5 pm ET yesterday, Musk hadn’t publicly responded to Zuckerberg's latest comments, which came after Musk posted about an “epic location” for the bout, as well as what he claimed was a screenshot of a text conversation with Zuckerberg in which Musk appeared to suggest they meet for "a practice bout" later today.

🚚📈 Stat of the Day: The phrase “what can brown do for you?” has been flipped on its head to become “what can I do for brown?” Searches on Indeed for jobs with "UPS" or "United Parcel Service" in the title jumped more than 50% in the week after the UPS/Teamsters five-year deal was announced – a deal under which UPS drivers will eventually average $170,000 in total pay and benefits.

🤔 Did You Know?... It turns out, not every newly-married couple actually wants a breadmaker 😱. According to a new Realtor.com survey of couples who have created a wedding registry within the last two years, 85% said they would have preferred cash toward a down payment on a home instead of typical registry gifts.

📰 Worth a Read: Whether You Call It 'Skiplagging' or 'Hidden-City Travel,' It's Contentious → (NY Times)

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• ☝️ The ongoing Perseid meteor shower reached its peak overnight Saturday, showering the night sky with up to 100 meteors per hour.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with The Wine Connection

• 💰 US markets closed mixed on Friday (S&P: -0.1%; Dow: +0.3%; Nasdaq: -0.6%); the Nasdaq fell two straight weeks for the first time this year.
• 🤔 A look at the inverted yield curve: The price of longer-term US Treasury bonds remains below those of shorter-term bonds, an anomaly known as an inverted yield curve; it’s earned fame as a harbinger of economic downturns, the WSJ reports.
• ⚖️ Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of FTX, was ordered to jail after a judge revoked his bail for alleged witness tampering.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

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• 🍿 Barbie held the top spot at the domestic box office for a fourth straight weekend with $33 million in ticket sales; The Last Voyage of the Demeter earned just $6.5 million in its opening weekend vs. a reported production cost of $45 million.
• 🏈 Men who play organized football are more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease later in life, per a peer-reviewed study published Friday in JAMA Network Open.
• ⚾ The MLB launched an investigation into social media posts involving Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco; the posts accuse Franco, 22, of having an inappropriate relationship with a minor.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 👣 Walking 4,000 steps/day – or roughly two miles – reduces the risk of dying from any cause, with additional steps leading to a further decrease in mortality, per a new meta-analysis of studies published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
• 👂 Researchers in London have successfully reversed hearing loss in mice using gene therapy, per a new study published in PNAS.
• 🤖🚘 California regulators late Thursday voted to allow self-driving car companies Waymo and Cruise to launch 24/7 paid driverless ride-hailing services in San Francisco; on Saturday, as many as 10 driverless Cruise vehicles in SF stopped working, causing traffic jams. (Background)

MISCELLANEOUS

• ✈️ A Florida-bound American Airlines plane dropped 15,000 feet in 3 minutes during a flight on Saturday; the plane went on the land safely at its destination.
• 🚫 Private jet owners may soon be able to keep their flight information private, thanks to a new bipartisan FAA reauthorization bill that passed the House in late July by a 351-69 margin.
• ⚖️🚨 A small Kansas town’s police force raided the office of a local newspaper and the home of its owners on Friday; US legal experts say the raid, which centers around a confidential tip the newspaper received, is likely unprecedented in modern times; a 98-year-old co-owner of the newspaper collapsed and died one day after the raid.

CLICKBAIT

• 🙅 How to keep yourself safe from scammers.

Monday: National Creamsicle Day

Tuesday: The property manager of Mar-a-Lago faces arraignment in Trump’s classified documents case; National No SpongeBob Day

Wednesday: Depp vs. Heard docuseries debuts on Netflix; The Little League World Series begins

Thursday: Weekly unemployment claims

Friday: President Biden hosts Japanese and South Korean leaders at White House

On Friday, we covered how US execs and lawmakers are increasingly moving away from investing based on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations.

❓ Our question to you: In general, do you support investing based on ESG considerations?

• 👍 Yes: 38%
• 👎 No: 40%
• 🤷 Unsure/other: 22%

Click here to read the best responses from Friday’s poll.

+Note on sample size: We received 9,647 votes and 916 longform responses.

Former fashion designer Barbara Lakin is applying her love for clothing to a new project – sewing one-of-a-kind outfits for refurbished Barbie dolls. 

🎀 It's the simple things... The dolls' makeovers aren't just for fun, however. Barbara donates all of the finished Barbie dolls to the Little Shop of Kindness, a free "shop" where migrants arriving in NYC can receive basic necessities along with comfort items for their children.  

• “It’s hard to imagine what these children have gone through," Barbara, 66, told CNN, speaking about the migrant families. "I think for a child to have a toy, especially in these circumstances, is really important. It’s something that can comfort them, something that they can hold close.”  

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

1. Arche
2. Cav
3. De
4. Hal
5. Maj

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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1. Arche = Ruler (e.g., archangel, archetype)
2. Cav = Hollow (cavity, cave)
3. De = Moving away from (deletion, descend)
4. Hal = Breathe (inhale)
5. Maj = Greater (major, majesty)