12/4/20 Recommended issues: Christmas trees, gun rights, life

Good day!

Each week we handpick newsletter issues by independent writers you may have missed that provide new or unique perspectives. 

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Here's what's worth reading this week...enjoy!

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE CHRISTMAS TREE INDUSTRY?

Growing & Selling Christmas Trees, in Alternative Assets by Stefan von Imhof on Nov 29

This issue gives fascinating insight into the whole industry around Christmas trees… You’ll learn about how tree farms get started, how trees are priced, how pricing and demand has changed over time, how margins on trees may compare to other land use, which US states are worst to buy trees in (spoiler: average trees in California cost over 2x those in North Dakota!), and much more. It’s all totally digestible and will leave you with some fun facts for your holiday parties (or holiday zoom calls as the case may be…). If you’ve ever had a snowflake’s worth of curiosity about Christmas trees, it’s well worth the read… (2686 words; ~10 minutes) Read it…

DO GUN RIGHTS & VOTES CORRELATE?

National Democrats' misguided re-embrace of gun control in Slow Boring by Matthew Yglesias on Nov 25

This issue delves into the recent history of the (US) Democratic Party and their relationship to gun rights in America, such as how it has changed over time, why, how different groups respond to gun-related voting (ex: people are more motivated to vote AGAINST legislation that’s trying to take away their personal gun rights than FOR legislation that reduces gun rights for other people).  It highlights some eye-opening data related to the senate and explains why progressives still don’t see the voting benefit of pushing for strong gun legislation. But that’s not it… The issue ends with data on how alcohol deaths in the US (higher) compare to gun deaths (lower) and Matthew rather provocatively questions the morality of pushing for gun-control laws but not alcohol-control laws. I’m sure he doesn’t expect everyone to agree, but it’s quite a perspective twist that may make you pause for a moment. (3191 words; 11.5 minutes) Read it…

AUTHORING YOUR LIFE

Everything life gives you is material in With Chude by Chude Jideonwo on Nov 26

This one is short and sweet -- and ties in to the holiday season as well as the chaos (mess? disaster?) of 2020. It’s reminding us that whatever happens to us is material we can choose to do what we want with... and we are the ones that get to choose how we write our story. At a time of year (or heck, during this year in general) when it’s easy to be frustrated and unhappy that nothing is normal and we’re “missing” things, Chude offers a quick, refreshing break in perspective that’s worth taking a couple of moments to think about and remind yourself you can apply to your own life if you want to. (242 words; 1 minute) Read it…


Some interesting facts for the week:

• In case you’ve yearned to see one of the sharks used in Jaws, after 25 years in a storage bin, the last remaining shark (“Bruce”) has now been moved to a new Los Angeles museum. (Understandably, 11/25)

• Ugh...In the US, there are more alcohol-related deaths (70k in 2017) than firearm-related deaths (~40,000 in 2016). (Slow Boring, 11/25)

• Because of a law passed in 1997, the US is able to mint platinum coins of any denomination... which could include a $1trillion (!!!) coin... holy smokes! And it’s a thing people actually consider doing to reduce the federal deficit. (The Magnet, 11/24)

• Tis the season for a random Christmas fact: 25-30 million real Christmas trees are sold in the US and  around 50 million are sold in Europe. I’m curious why Europe sells so many more, especially when a 2019 Gallup Poll shows 93% of Americans celebrate Christmas… (Alternative Assets, 11/29)

• The very first gas station in the US was founded in 1907 and by 1929 the number had skyrocketed to 300,000 stores selling gas (almost all of which were gas stations). Wow! (The Diff, 11/13) Also, fascinatingly, the number of gas stations has plummeted in the last 2 decades and now there are only ~115,000 (MarketWatch)

I hope you found some of these intriguing!

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Thanks and all the best,

~Jessica

Thanks and have a great weekend,
~Jessica