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South Korea fact of the day

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South Korea in 2024 saw 242,334 babies born, marking the first increase in the annual figure since 2015, as the country struggles to improve its plummeting birth rate that is among the worst in the world.

The official figure for childbirths rose by 7,295 from 235,039 in 2023, a 3.1 percent increase, according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

And yet, it is not so easy to win this one:

The country also saw 360,757 deaths in the year, resulting in the overall population shrinking for a fifth straight year since 2020…

While the rebound in childbirths offers a glimpse of hope in terms of the population decline, the country continued to get older. The average age for Koreans in 2024 was 45.3 years old, up from average age of 44.8 the previous year.

Here is the full story.

The post South Korea fact of the day appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

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freeAgent
5 hours ago
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Los Angeles, CA
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France fact of the day

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Consumption of red wine in France has fallen by about 90 per cent since the 1970s, according to Conseil Interprofessionnel du vin de Bordeaux (CIVB), an industry association. Total wine consumption, spanning reds, whites and rosés, is down more than 80 per cent in France since 1945, according to survey data from Nielsen, and the decline is accelerating, with Generation Z purchasing half the volume bought by older millennials.

Here is more from Adrienne Klasa at the FT.  You will note these are declines from large numbers:

“With every generation in France we see the change. If the grandfather drank 300 litres of red wine per year, the father drinks 180 litres and the son, 30 litres,” said CIVB board member Jean-Pierre Durand.

In the USA, the Surgeon General is calling for cancer warnings on alcohol (NYT).

The post France fact of the day appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

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freeAgent
5 hours ago
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That is a pretty wild fact of the day. I had no idea.
Los Angeles, CA
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How to Visit India for Normies

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In the comments to my post, India has Too Few Tourists, many people worried about the food, the touts and the poverty. Many of these comments are mistaken or apply only if you are traveling to India on the cheap as an adolescent backpacker (nothing wrong with that but I suspect the MR audience is different.) I have spent some time traveling in India including at times with my wife, who puts up with my wanderlust but appreciates a fine hotel, with my teenage children, and once with my elderly mother. So how should normies travel in India?

  1. Don’t be afraid or ashamed to do the tourist stuff first. The golden triangle, Delhi-Agra-Jaipur is great! There is no shame in following the beaten path.
  2. For the slightly more adventurous, branch out to Udaipur, my favorite city in India, where you can easily spend a week walking around and doing day trips. Add in Jodphur, stay at the Raas hotel and see the magnificent Mehrangarh fort and stepwell. Try out a tiger safari.
  3. India has the best hotels in the world. Depending on the season, you can stay in literal palaces for about the same as a good American or European hotel, say $250 a night.
  4. The food in the hotels is excellent and perfectly safe. The food in high-quality restaurants is perfectly safe. If you want, get some Dukoral in advance and carry some loperamide for extra protection.
  5. You can rent a comfortable, air-conditioned car with a driver (tell them Alex sent you) for less than it costs to rent a car in the United States. Your driver will pick you up in the morning, take you where you want to go, drop you off in the evening and disappear when not needed.
  6. The poverty and the dirt and the cows blocking traffic are not a reason to say away but a reason to go to India (drag me in the comments all you like, it is true). In Mumbai, I have seen seen a Ferrari followed by a bullock cart. Where else but in India? It’s important to see real poverty if only because you will appreciate your world all the more and wonder how to keep it. India is rapidly becoming richer. See living history while you still can.
  7. South India is much richer than North India and much less polluted. My Indian friend from Kerala had never seen a slum before he visited Mumbai.
  8. India is relatively safe. Of course with 1.4 billion people, bad things happen. Don’t let anecdotes deter you. Overall, it’s safer than the US or say Mexico. Tourists following the above won’t have any problems at all.
  9. Touts can be a hassle but are not a problem in the tourist sites. In other place, like walking old Delhi, either ignore them completely or hire a guide who will bat the others away.

Here is Tyler’s post on how to travel to India. Slightly more adventurous than what I have outlined but entirely consistent.

Here is a picture of Udaipur.

The post How to Visit India for Normies appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

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freeAgent
6 hours ago
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Los Angeles, CA
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Why I'm quitting the Washington Post - by Ann Telnaes

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I’ve worked for the Washington Post since 2008 as an editorial cartoonist. I have had editorial feedback and productive conversations—and some differences—about cartoons I have submitted for publication, but in all that time I’ve never had a cartoon killed because of who or what I chose to aim my pen at. Until now.

The cartoon that was killed criticizes the billionaire tech and media chief executives who have been doing their best to curry favor with incoming President-elect Trump. There have been multiple articles recently about these men with lucrative government contracts and an interest in eliminating regulations making their way to Mar-a-lago. The group in the cartoon included Mark Zuckerberg/Facebook & Meta founder and CEO, Sam Altman/AI CEO, Patrick Soon-Shiong/LA Times publisher, the Walt Disney Company/ABC News, and Jeff Bezos/Washington Post owner.

While it isn’t uncommon for editorial page editors to object to visual metaphors within a cartoon if it strikes that editor as unclear or isn’t correctly conveying the message intended by the cartoonist, such editorial criticism was not the case regarding this cartoon. To be clear, there have been instances where sketches have been rejected or revisions requested, but never because of the point of view inherent in the cartoon’s commentary. That’s a game changer…and dangerous for a free press.

(rough of cartoon killed)

Over the years I have watched my overseas colleagues risk their livelihoods and sometimes even their lives to expose injustices and hold their countries’ leaders accountable. As a member of the Advisory board for the Geneva based Freedom Cartoonists Foundation and a former board member of Cartoonists Rights, I believe that editorial cartoonists are vital for civic debate and have an essential role in journalism.

There will be people who say, “Hey, you work for a company and that company has the right to expect employees to adhere to what’s good for the company”. That’s true except we’re talking about news organizations that have public obligations and who are obliged to nurture a free press in a democracy. Owners of such press organizations are responsible for safeguarding that free press— and trying to get in the good graces of an autocrat-in-waiting will only result in undermining that free press.

As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that critical job. So I have decided to leave the Post. I doubt my decision will cause much of a stir and that it will be dismissed because I’m just a cartoonist. But I will not stop holding truth to power through my cartooning, because as they say, “Democracy dies in darkness”.

Thank you for reading this.

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freeAgent
19 hours ago
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I applaud Ms. Telnaes for standing up for what's right. It's unfortunate that she doesn't have billions of dollars to fall back on like her spineless boss.
Los Angeles, CA
mareino
20 hours ago
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Washington, District of Columbia
acdha
23 hours ago
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Washington, DC
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We Know Where You Parked: Massive Data Breach at VW Raises Questions about Vehicle Privacy

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Already facing significant headwinds, VW has now been hit by a data protection nightmare. Location data from 800,000 electric vehicles and contact info from owners was accessible unprotected on the internet. And the company didn't even know about it.

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freeAgent
19 hours ago
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Let me get this straight. If you believe VW/Cariad, there's really nothing to worry about from their collection of all this location data because:

1. It's all "anonymized!"
2. Researchers who showed how easy it is to de-anonymize the data didn't follow the rules and since everyone follows the rules, this is a non-issue
3. Location data is not sensitive, so what are you worried about anyway?

Automakers need to minimize collection of this data in the first place and stop storing it when they do receive it for some reason. Maybe the impacted German politicians can kick off the legislative process to start enforcing common sense here.
Los Angeles, CA
acdha
11 hours ago
I love the idea that location data can be anonymized in a world where so many people have been included in data breaches. “It could have been anyone’s VW going between your home and workplace every day!” I’m curious when the first divorce lawyer will use that trove to prove that their client’s spouse was s seeing someone.
acdha
23 hours ago
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Washington, DC
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The Great American Tradition

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Kelly Hooper, reporting for Politico on 9 January 2021:

The Biden Inaugural Committee on Saturday released its list of donors, which included Google, Microsoft, Boeing and several other major corporations. The list contains all contributors who donated more than $200 to President-elect Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration ceremony and related activities.

That website is now defunct, and the “bideninaugural.org” domain redirects (for the next 17 days) to “www.whitehouse.gov”, but Internet Archive has a capture from Inauguration Day, 20 January 2021.

Apple is not listed, and while there is a “Tim Cook” on the list, he’s listed as residing in Michigan.

All “great American traditions” have to start somewhere, and perhaps Tim Cook — the one from California, by way of Alabama — believes the great American tradition of donating money to presidential inaugural committees is only beginning now. Or, giving him the benefit of the doubt, perhaps he only saw fit to contribute $199 to Biden’s inauguration and thus wasn’t listed, and bumped his donation by $999,801 this time. You know, for “unity”.

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freeAgent
20 hours ago
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Again...*why* do these supposedly wealthy billionaires (I assume Cook is one) with more money than they could possibly ever spend feel obligated to give it to Donald Trump? Just say no! Have a spine.
Los Angeles, CA
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