Good morning. On today’s docket:

• 🏛️ Congress has been historically unproductive this year
• 🇵🇰 Pakistan + artificial rain
• 🤔 How will AI impact the job market?

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be about a 4.88-minute read.

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“Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.”

–Dale Carnegie (1888-1955)

The 118th edition of Congress could use a stern reprimand from Principal Strickland in Back to the Future, because it’s shaping up to be the biggest slacker of its kind in modern history, per new data from analytics firm Quorum.

This year, the first of the ongoing two-year session of Congress, a total of 20 bills have been passed by both chambers and signed into law, with another four measures awaiting President Biden’s signature. This combined 24-bill figure is at least 3x lower than any other first-year session of Congress dating back to 1989, when such data first became available.

• Of the 24 bills approved in 2023, the vast majority were either uncontroversial measures with little or no opposition – like renaming VA clinics and minting new coins – or must-pass legislation like raising the federal debt ceiling or avoiding a government shutdown.

⏩ Driving the trend: While periods of divided government typically result in more legislative gridlock on Capitol Hill, the current lack of productivity is unprecedented dating back to the Great Depression, when Congress didn’t hold its first meeting each year until December.

• Some analysts point to the House as the main source of dysfunction. Through September, the chamber had passed its fewest number of bills in a decade (224), and was on track to meet for just 117 days this year – well below its average of 151 days/year the previous two decades.
• On the flip side, GOP House lawmakers largely blame the Democrat-led Senate and President Biden for Congress’ historically unproductive 2023 session, saying they refused to take up hundreds of House-approved bills to address key issues.

👀 Looking ahead… Next year is projected to be just as unproductive as 2023 on Capitol Hill, as lawmakers turn their focus to the upcoming presidential election and legislative fights over federal spending.

📊 Flash poll: How do you feel about the current level of gridlock in Congress?

• It’s a major issue
• It’s a minor issue
• It’s not an issue at all

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🚢🌍 The US announced an international naval coalition to defend the Red Sea from attacks by Houthi militants in Yemen. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the new coalition – which includes the UK, Canada, France, Italy, Norway, Spain, and others – is aimed at warding off Houthi attacks on merchant ships, which have escalated in recent days. Iran-backed Houthi militants first began seizing merchant ships one month ago, framing the incidents in the southern Red Sea – which sees ~12% of all global trade pass through it – as a show of support for Hamas in Gaza. Houthi leaders initially said they were targeting Israeli shipping, but have attacked merchant ships from a wide variety of nations.

🇵🇰 Pakistan used artificial rain for the first time to combat smog. On Saturday, scientists from the UAE used two planes equipped with cloud-seeding technology to stimulate rain in the Pakistani city of Lahore, which features air pollution levels 66x higher than the WHO's danger limits. In the cloud-seeding process, different salts are released into existing clouds to encourage the production of rain, which brings polluting aerosol particles down with it.

🇰🇷 South Korean researchers developed an AI tool that can diagnose childhood autism. The scientists trained their algorithm using images of nearly 2,000 retinas from child patients, combined with their autism symptom severity test scores. Upon completion, the AI model was able to identify patients diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder with 100% accuracy based solely on the shape of their optic disc.

Yesterday, the US Census Bureau dropped its most recent annual population report. The main takeaway? National population growth is still historically low, but trends are returning to pre-pandemic norms.

The US gained more than 1.6 million people this past year, growing by 0.5% to reach a total population of 334,914,895, per the report. That’s a slight uptick from the 0.4% increase in 2022, and well above the 0.2% increase in 2021.

Some other takeaways:

• The South has the team on its back. The region accounted for 87% of the nation’s growth in 2023.
• Growth is happening in more states… In 2023, 42 states as well as DC had an increase in population, up from 31 states and the District of Columbia in 2022 and 34 states in 2021.
• … but not in all states. New York and California saw the largest population drops by number of people (101,984 and 75,423, respectively), while Texas saw the greatest increase (473,453).

🌍 Population growth is slowing in many places around the world. The global population is expected to virtually stop growing by the end of this century for the first time in modern history, due in large part to falling fertility rates, according to a Pew Research analysis of UN data.

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Elon Musk, like many other thought leaders, maintains that artificial intelligence will get humans to a point where “no job is needed.” 

Is he – and the others – actually right?

By the numbers: According to a recent ResumeBuilder survey of 750 business leaders at companies that either currently use AI or plan to use it in 2024, the AI-pocalypse is already beginning. 37% of those surveyed said that AI replaced workers in 2023, and 44% report there will be layoffs in 2024 due to efficiencies created by the technology.

• The top AI use-cases at the companies surveyed were customer support, research, and creating summaries of meetings or documents.

And therein lies the backbone of the opposing argument. Many industry thought leaders opposite Musk believe that the data marking and predicting AI-induced layoffs reflects fear more than reality.

For example: while positions like research and data analysis are ripe for automation, companies will likely still need someone to prompt the AI, make sense of the results, and take action. Marc Cenedella, founder of Leet Resumes and Ladders, compares this shift to mid-century office culture, when the efficiency of word processors eliminated entire floors of typists.

📝 Bottom line: Societally transformative inventions have been created and widely adopted since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution (radio, TV, cars, GPS, assembly lines, computers, etc.), and the workforce has a history of malleability. Translation: most of us will probably be fine in the future – and if we’re not, we’ll likely adapt.

💬 Quoted… “[Target] implied that the only reason they were closing the stores was because of theft. That may or may not be true. My guess is: Not true.”

• According to a new CNBC investigation, Target likely misled the public by blaming theft and violence when it closed nine stores in four cities this past September, since crime was actually worse at other Target locations it kept open near those stores. CNBC said its investigation indicated Target’s announcement was aimed at obscuring poor financial performance and advancing the company’s legislative agenda, which includes seeking higher prison terms for organized retail crime.

🌿 Stat of the Day: The US market for cannabinoids derived from hemp – a low-regulated category of intoxicating products that includes CBD and Delta-8 THC, aka “weed lite” – is estimated to be ~$28 billion, or the same size as America’s entire legal weed market, per research firm Whitney Economics.

🤔 Did You Know?... Tennis balls used to be white, but were changed to yellow for TV viewers in 1967 following a suggestion from British broadcaster and biologist Sir David Attenborough.

📰 Worth a Read: Why some Indians want to change the country’s name to ‘Bharat’ → (The Conversation)

• 👆 A Minnesota commission yesterday selected the final design for a new state flag that features a white North star on a dark blue shape of Minnesota.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

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• 💰 US markets closed up across the board (S&P: +0.6%; Dow: +0.7%; Nasdaq: +0.7%); the Dow saw its fifth straight record close, while the S&P 500 closed just shy of its record high.
• 🌐 Nearly 36 million US Xfinity accounts were compromised after hackers gained access to Comcast’s internal data systems in October, the company revealed yesterday.
• 🚗 GM has reportedly cut the size of its US Buick dealership network in half through an ongoing voluntary buyout program. | ✈️ Southwest Airlines reached a new preliminary labor agreement with its pilots’ union, ending months of negotiations.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• ⚡ Percy Jackson and the Olympians officially debuted on Disney+ and Hulu last night, one day earlier than initially planned.
• 👗👑 An evening dress worn by Princess Diana sold at auction for $1.15 million, setting a new record for an article of clothing from the deceased British royal.
• 🏀 Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant returned to the court yesterday for the first time since his 25-game suspension last season.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

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• 🚀 Blue Origin successfully launched its first space mission since its New Shepard rocket was grounded 15 months ago following a failed launch.
• 🐒 Chimps and bonobos can recognize photos of former group mates 25+ years after last seeing them in the flesh, with photos of close friends eliciting an even stronger positive reaction, per a new study published in PNAS.
• 🐺 Colorado wildlife officials announced the successful release of five gray wolves into the state wilderness for the first time since the 1940s.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🪦 One day after halting work to remove the Confederate memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, a federal judge yesterday said he will allow the removal to proceed.
• 📝 A federal judge ordered a list of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged victims and associates to be made public as part of a settled lawsuit against Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
• 🚫🗳 Former President Donald Trump is ineligible to appear on the primary ballot in Colorado due to the 14th Amendment’s ban on insurrectionists holding office, Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled yesterday; the unprecedented decision was placed on hold pending a potential appeal to the US Supreme Court. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 🥇📺 The 10 best TV shows of 2023.

Bolo the pitbull recently visited Hopkinsville, Kentucky's Police Department as part of an initiative to let rescue pets visit the station for day visits to boost morale. 

🦴 From orphan to station dog... The officers at the station were used to the four-legged day visitors, but none of them had ever hit it off quite like they did with Bolo. 

• “Oddly enough, everybody fell in love with him,” said Police Chief Jason Newby. By the time Bolo had to start heading back to the shelter, the team decided to adopt him.

Can you name the holiday movies to which the following poorly-explained movie plots are referring?

1. Kids hop on a strange train.
2. Rich man gains necessary perspective to enjoy Christmas.
3. Boy almost shoots his eye out.

(keep scrolling for the answers)

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1. The Polar Express (2004)
2. A Christmas Carol (1938)
3. A Christmas Story (1983)