Episode 55: Cruel to Be Kind

America is the fattest country in the world. According to a 2018  study conducted by OECD , the obesity rate for American adults (aged 15 and older) is 40%. The following fattest country is Chile at 34%, followed by Mexico at 33%. The latest data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, published this year, puts the average male weight at 199.8 pounds and the average female weight at 170.8 pounds. And Americans are trending fatter. In 2005, the last time the FAA required airlines to update, the same survey found that people weighed, on average, about 5% less: Men averaged 190.4 pounds and women 163.3. Meanwhile, airline seats have remained the same width for the most part, but legroom has shrunk. 

Aside from more cramped flights, the problem is the higher average weights might add more than  3,000 pounds  to weight-and-balance calculations for a fully loaded 737 with 172 passengers. That’s significant. Close to what 500 gallons of jet fuel weighs. How weight is distributed on a plane affects safety and performance. Before takeoff, an airline dispatcher calculates the center of gravity for the airplane and makes sure it’s within the allowed envelope for that aircraft. When questioned about the expanding American waistline, Delta and United say they are developing plans to minimize impact and declined to comment further. (I hope their strategy goes beyond cutting out soda, peanuts, and pretzels.) Southwest and JetBlue declined to discuss passenger weight at all. But, why? 

This brings me to a coaching topic. Who is the most direct, honest person you know? Who will call you out when you are out of line? Who will be honest about your talents and abilities and point out when/where you need to grow? And, yes, who will tell you are fat when it’s time to put down the  Long Island Iced Teas  and Krispy Kreme doughnuts? Celebrate the person who will tell you like it is, not mince words, and be brutally honest. The reality is that person is probably your best support system, provided they care about you. Most people aren’t direct when they communicate, and too often, people get defensive when someone is being honest and offering (caring) feedback. Both are counterproductive behaviors. 

I understand it’s hard and awkward to be direct. And it can be painful to be on the receiving end of that type of communication. However, the alternative is Hans Christian Andersen’s parable:  The Emperor Has No Clothes. Too many people surround themselves with people who placate and tell them what they want to hear. When a leader surrounds himself with  “yes” men , it often leads to absurd and embarrassing results. It is far better to surround oneself with honest people who are unafraid to ask questions or to point out deficiencies as they see them. Don’t be the emperor with no clothes or the person who enables it. As the song goes, “ cruel to be kind  means that I love you.”

POLITICS

Progressives vs Moderates

There is a tug-of-war going on in the Democrat party between progressives, led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and “the squad” on one side, and moderates such as Senator Joe Manchin (D - WV) on the other side. This week Manchin angered Democrats by spelling out in a  newspaper column  that he would oppose his party’s broad voting rights bill, For The People Act, arguing that “the right to vote has itself become overtly politicized and more about seeking partisan advantage.”  Kyrsten Sinema  (D-Ariz.) also came out against the bill. These developments have thrown a dark cloud over Democrats’ hopes for voting legislation ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. 

Earlier this year, Manchin got a lot of attention for his opposition to the $15 per hour federal minimum wage in the COVID-19 relief bill. Sinema also rejected the wage hike. In addition to Manchin and Sinema, the $15 figure was opposed by Democratic Senators  Maggie Hassan  (NH),  Jeanne Shaheen  (NH),  Chris Coons  (Del.),  Tom Carper  (Del.),  Jon Tester  (Mont.), and independent Sen.  Angus King  (Maine).

Furthermore, Manchin and Sinema and 87-year-old Diane Feinstein (D-CA) have publicly stated that they will  never vote  to end the legislative filibuster, something progressive Democrats are championing. Manchin defended his position by saying that some Democrats have “attempted to demonize the filibuster and conveniently ignore how it has been critical to protecting the rights of Democrats in the past.” In the US Senate, a filibuster is a tactic employed by opponents of a proposed law to prolong debate and delay or prevent a vote on a bill, resolution, amendment, or other debatable question. Supporters of the filibuster suggest it is an effective check and balance to ensure one party doesn’t wield too much power. Before 1917, the Senate rules did not provide a way to end debate and force a vote on a measure. That year, the Senate adopted a law to allow a two-thirds majority to end a filibuster, a procedure known as “cloture.” In  1975 , the Senate reduced the number of votes required for cloture from two-thirds of senators voting to three-fifths of all senators duly chosen and sworn, or 60 of the 100-member Senate. With a 50-50 split in the Senate, progressives fear Republicans will use the filibuster to block meaningful legislation during President Biden’s first term. 

Foreign Affairs & Diplomacy

President Biden took his first international trip since taking office. He attended a three-day G7 summit in Cornwall, England, with Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK. Australia, South Korea, and India were invited to attend as guests. Queen Elizabeth II even made an appearance, her first public meeting with a foreign leader since the pandemic started. Biden met the queen in 1982, but that was when he was a US senator. Queen Elizabeth II has now met with  13 of the last 14 US Presidents. Lyndon Johnson is the only president who failed to sip tea with the 95-year-old monarch. 

Biden suggested the trip objective was to rebuild the relationship with allies and unravel Trump’s “America first” agenda. Topics for the G7 meeting were as follows: 

Vice President Kamala Harris took her first trip abroad while in office, visiting Guatemala and Mexico. By all accounts, the trip was an unmitigated disaster. Biden allies and even some people close to Harris said they were left wondering why she seemed so ill-prepared to handle basic questions like “Why haven’t you been to the border?” Republicans and conservative media have telegraphed this question, and  she fumbled the answer  in a friendly-format interview with Lester Holt. And her “do not come” statement became an instant internet meme, mocking the Vice President. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Harris’ immigration comments’  disappointing.’ One Harris ally, when asked about her trip,  put it bluntly : “It was terrible. I don’t know how else to say it.” 

Meanwhile, the immigration crisis continues at our border. Approximately 180,000 immigrants were intercepted in April trying to cross the border, the highest number in 20 years. It is estimated that 44% of the immigrants are from northern triangle countries Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. In addition, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, more than 17,000 unaccompanied children are in US Custody at the border. President Biden announced that he would invest $4 billion in countries sending the most significant number of immigrants to improve the quality of life in their home country. However, the US has  invested $1.6 billion  in aid to Guatemala over the last decade only to see social conditions deteriorate and the pace of migration quicken. Therefore, it’s unclear how sending more money will address the issue.

COVID

President Biden has a goal of 70% of Americans vaccinated for coronavirus by July 4th. At this point, 13 states reached the benchmark of at least 70% vaccination: Washington, California, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and Hawaii. Conversely, six states have less than 50% vaccination (Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Mississippi), with Mississippi trailing all states at just 44% vaccination rate. 

The FDA ruled that Johnson & Johnson must discard 60 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine over possible contamination. The defective vaccines come from a Baltimore manufacturing facility that has been the subject of a sanitation investigation. The factory has been closed for two months over possible contamination concerns. Despite being the only single-shot vaccine approved for use in the US, the rollout of the J&J shot has been slower than that of two-shot vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer. The FDA also paused the J&J shot in April over  concerns of rare blood clots  in a small number of individuals who received the vaccine. 

The Delta variant that was first identified in India and now is the dominant strain of coronavirus in the UK is present in the US. The variant has been reported in 29 states and represents 6% of cases in the US, double from last week. One-shot from the Pfizer vaccine is 33% effective against the Delta variant, and a second shot increases effectiveness to 88%. However, one-third of US adults and 50% of all Americans are not vaccinated. Meanwhile, the COVID death toll is approaching 600,000. 

CYBERCRIME

Cybercrime appears to be everywhere these days. Colonial Pipeline, which brings gasoline to parts of the East Coast, fell to hackers. And then cybercriminals brought JBS to a halt. JBS is the world’s largest meat company which processes 23% of the country’s beef production and 18% of all pork. First gas and then hot dogs? Shit just got real! You have my attention, hackers.  Fujifilm ,  Boston Ferry , and  Electronic Arts  were all hit with cybercrime this week. The attacks show how hackers have shifted from targeting data-rich companies such as retailers, banks, and insurers to essential service providers such as hospitals, transport operators, and food companies. 

This new form of cyber-terrorism is profitable. It is estimated that over $350 million in ransomware payments have been paid this year and cost the world economy over $1 trillion. Colonial Pipeline paid about $4.4 million to regain control of its operations and restore service. Joseph Blount, CEO of Colonial Pipeline, defended his decision to pay a ransom to hackers during congressional testimony. He told lawmakers he was unsure whether the hack, which impacted the company’s business network, would spread to the operational network that controlled the pipeline. “The FBI never recommended that we not pay,” Mr. Blount said, describing conversations that took place after the hack was discovered but while the pipeline was still offline. “Think about what we would look like if we didn’t bring the pipeline back on until the following week,” he said.

JBS  paid $11 million  in bitcoin to resolve their ransomware attack and shield the meat plants from further disruption. The CEO of JBS said, “it was very painful to pay the criminals, but we did the right thing for our customers.” JBS’s outside advisers negotiated the payment amount with the attackers, and that the company kept federal law-enforcement officials informed throughout the process. The FBI officially discourages companies hit by ransomware attacks from paying hackers, arguing that doing so supports a booming criminal industry. Often, the decryption tools given in exchange for a ransom don’t work. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that she would support legislation banning companies from paying such ransom.

ECONOMY

A trio of indicators this week showed that the US economy is racing with adrenaline. Consumer prices jumped 0.6% from April to May and up 5% from last year, the fastest annual increase since 2008. Driving the price increases were airfare, food, household furnishings, and used vehicles. Jobless  claims , which tracks the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits, dropped for the sixth straight week to 376,000. That’s the lowest number since last March. US employers are struggling to fill vacancies and complain of a labor shortage, with a  recent NFIB survey  suggesting nearly half of small businesses cannot fill job openings. According to the  Bureau of Labor Statistics , the US employers had 3.9 million job openings at the end of April, the highest recorded number since the government started collecting data. At the same time, the rate of workers quitting jobs reached the highest level on record in April, while layoffs reached a series low. US household wealth climbed to a record  $136.9 trillion  in Q1, thanks to the rising value of stocks and homes. For perspective, that’s a 3.8% increase from the previous quarter and almost double Americans’ wealth from 10 years ago. 

The  Federal Reserve announced  that it would begin winding down a program that purchased tens of billions of dollars of corporate assets to shore up the economy during the pandemic. The Fed currently holds $13.7 billion worth of corporate assets, including more than $5 billion of corporate bonds and another $8.5 billion worth of exchange-traded funds. That’s a massive amount of money to unwind, so the Fed said it would slowly sell off those assets to keep markets functioning property and reduce any shock to the system. 

President Biden indicated that the US wouldn’t extend federal unemployment benefits beyond September’s expiration date. The federal government has been providing additional unemployment insurance as part of three COVID relief packages approved by Congress since March 2020. Four million people are on track to lose all or some of their unemployment benefits. So far, 25 states have announced they’ll end the federal benefits before September’s deadline. 

HEALTH

The FDA approved a new Alzheimer’s drug by Biogen, the first medical treatment approved for the disease in 18 years. The approval comes despite an independent advisor panel suggesting more clinical trials are necessary, and there is uncertainty in findings. Harvard Medical School professor  Aaron Kesselheim resigned  from the advisory panel after the FDA ignored a “do not approve” recommendation and approved the drug. Three members of the advisory panel have now quit following the decision. The cost of the new drug will be about $56,000 per year. 

Good news in the fight against cancer! A  new blood test  offers a game-changer in cancer management. Signatera, a “tumor-informed” blood test developed by Natera, can detect circulating tumor DNA in the bloodstream for certain types of cancers up to two years before scans. The blood test works by looking at over 20,000 genes from the patient’s tumor and comparing them to normal genes. Once a unique fingerprint of that tumor is identified, a personalized blood test is created unique to that person’s cancer. The test only works for solid cancers—lung, colon, bladder, and breast. A positive test result means the chance of cancer recurring is 97%, giving doctors and patients advance notice to develop a treatment plan.

OTHER

There is a megadrought in the southwest. Nearly all of California, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and North Dakota  are in a drought , and in large areas of those states, conditions are “severe” or “exceptional.” Reservoirs in California hold about half as much water as usual for this time of year. Lake Mead which is part of the Colorado River system and provides water to 40 million people across seven states, is at 37% capacity and dipped to its lowest level on record. In the last two decades, the water level decreased by 130 feet or about 13 stories. This iconic water source makes agriculture in the southwest possible. Given the lack of rain, experts are concerned that this summer’s wildfires will be severe and widespread. 

The  Turkish coast is covered  in what is being dubbed as “sea snot.” A thick, brown, slimy sludge that is the result of pollution and global warming. The naturally occurring mucilage was first documented in Turkey in 2007, but this outbreak in the Sea of Marmara along Turkey’s southern coastline is the largest on record. 

I. Below are the articles I found interesting the past week:

Women now drink as much as men

Mike Tyson says psychedelics saved his life, now he hopes they can change the world

The Western drought is bad. Here is what you should know about it.

It’s time to disrupt the toxic animal agriculture industry with bioreactor-brewed meat

Cryptocurrency comes to retirements plans as coinable teams up with 401(k) provider

From Tesla to GE, see how much CEOs made in 2020

II. Stats that made me go WOW!

- According to a  story on Axios , foreign crime syndicates in China, Russia, and Nigeria, may have stolen as much as half of the US unemployment benefits over the past year, totaling $400 billion. Scammers often steal personal information and use it to impersonate claimants. Other groups trick individuals into handing over personal information voluntarily. Low-level criminals, or “mules,” are given debit cards and asked to withdraw money from ATMs and transfer the assets abroad, often via bitcoin. Unemployment fraud is now offered on the dark web on a software-as-a-service basis, much like ransomware.

- US  cybersecurity insurance premiums  rose 18% in Q1, compared to the norm of 1–2%, per the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers via the Financial Times. 

- According to  Nature , China has been vaccinating an average of 20 million people a day! At this rate, it would vaccinate the entire population of the US in around two weeks. China now accounts for nearly 60% of all vaccine doses given globally. 

- Ford received 100,000 preorders for its electric vehicle, the  F-150 lightning , in just three weeks. By comparison, Tesla’s Cybertruck netted around 250,000 preorders in five days. Ford’s F-Series, the #1 selling vehicle in the US for  42 straight years , sold more than 787,000 trucks last year and had 16.1 million trucks on the road in the US. 

III. Name that Tune! 

I am listening to “Cruel to Be Kind” by Nick Lowe as I write this newsletter. 

Nicholas Drain Lowe is a British singer-songwriter, musician, and producer. Lowe was born in 1949 in Surrey, England, and grew up on military bases in Jordan and Cyprus. (In a  Rolling Stone interview , Lowe remembers pushing toy cars around Amman, Jordan, with a young King Hussein, who had taken a liking to Lowe’s father.) Lowe had a ukulele as a kid, and his mother taught him a few chords and turned him onto her record collection: Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Lowe’s favorite, Tennessee Ernie Ford. 

Around 1971, Lowe suffered something close to a nervous breakdown after years of taking too much acid. As he told journalist Will Birch, “I had to be led around for nine months. I was covered in lice and had gonorrhea. I was a horrible hippie case.” Lowe cleaned up, cut his hair, shifted from LSD to alcohol (which is what passed for detox in the early 1970s.), and began his music career by playing pubs. His band introduced new material every week, mixing covers of whatever was topping the charts with their songs. A kid in Liverpool, Declan MacManus (the future Elvis Costello), became a fan of the group, and the relationship with Lowe started. Lowe produced the first five albums for Elvis Costello and penned the song for one of Costello’s most indelible songs, “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout)  Peace, Love and Understanding.” Curtis Stagers  covered the song  on the 1992 soundtrack to The Bodyguard, which, thanks to Whitney Houston, sold roughly 40 million copies and handed Lowe a windfall of songwriting royalties just as his career started moving in a less-commercial direction. 

In 1979, Lowe married country singer Carlene Carter, daughter of fellow country singers Carl Smith and June Carter Cash and stepdaughter of Johnny Cash. The wedding was filmed, and the footage became the basis for the promotional clip for “Cruel to Be Kind.” The song was more successful than the marriage. The pair split in 1990, but they remained friends, and Lowe remained close to the Carter/Cash family. He recorded with Johnny Cash, and Cash recorded several of Lowe’s songs. 

MTV debuted on August 1, 1981, and was rebroadcast on VH1 Classic in 2006 and again in 2011 (the latter celebrating the channel’s 30th anniversary). The first video to air on MTV was emblematic of MTV’s concept, The Buggle’s “Video Killed the Radio Star,” which was immediately followed by a brief message about music and television coming together. The video for “Cruel to Be Kind” aired that day as #69 on the list. For a complete list of songs that aired on MTV day one, click  here. 

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