What We’re Reading
Delivery trucks operated by UPS and FedEx double-park on streets and block bus and bike lanes. They racked up more than 471,000 parking violations last year, a 34 percent increase from 2013.
The main entryway for packages into New York City, leading to the George Washington Bridge from New Jersey, has become the most congested interchange in the country. Trucks heading toward the bridge travel at 23 miles per hour, down from 30 m.p.h. five years ago.
A crippling strain of polio virus is no more. Officials confirmed Thursday that global health efforts have wiped it out, moving humanity one step closer to completely eradicating the highly infectious virus from the planet.
The obliterated strain—wild poliovirus type 3 (WPV3)—is one of only three wild strains of polio. It is the second to be globally eradicated. Health officials declared WPV2 eradicated in 2015. That leaves only one wild strain remaining: WPV1.
Shattered mountain climbing records:
On October 29, Nepalese climber Nirmal Purja reached the summit of 26,335-foot Shishapangma in Tibet, finishing a season that saw him summit all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks in just six months and seven days.
With the summit, the 35-year-old handily broke the previous fastest time of just under eight years, set by South Korean Kim Chang-Ho in 2013, and became the 43rd person in history to climb all 14 8,000-meter peaks.
Loop holes in tariffs on bottled wine:
Florida Caribbean Distillers has begun importing truckloads of bulk wine from France and bottling the product at its plant between Tampa and Orlando. That conveniently sidesteps the 25% levy imposed last week.
As the world has warmed, melting ice in mountain regions of Norway, Mongolia, and other sub-Arctic nations, as well as Alaska, the Alps, the Rocky Mountains, and the Canadian Yukon, has yielded a growing bounty of exceptionally well-preserved items left behind by Viking hunters, ancient warriors, and long-forgotten travelers — scattered fragments that reveal the technological prowess of departed civilizations.
When you support your family by managing your own capital it’s a different mental game. If you take a big loss managing other people’s money it hurts your bonus. If you take a big loss when you’re a private investor you hurt your family.
Have a good weekend.