Friend,
Here are five things that caught my attention:
Thank You, San Diego: As I hand the gavel over to a new chair next year, we are taking a moment to look back on some of our progress in my first term – one of the state’s most effective pandemic responses, remaking our approach mental health and substance abuse, promoting housing security, providing for our most vulnerable, meeting our climate goals, and so much more. We have a lot more to accomplish in 2023 and beyond, but as we wind down this first term I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your partnership in this effort to make a better, stronger, more equitable San Diego, and how integral you are to everything we’ve accomplished and will accomplish in the future. Thank you, and I wish you and your family a wonderful and joyous holiday season.
Holidays and Grief: The holidays can be a joyous time of family together and enjoying some down town. It can also be a difficult time. I know a lot of folks have suffered loss and the holidays can be a stark reminder of those we miss. This piece from David Brooks helps provide a good perspective on trying to confront suffering, provide context and appreciation, and hopefully a little peace.
“All so silly”: Titanic Director James Cameron says that a raging 25 year debate on if Jack and Rose could have both survived in the water after the Titanic sank is “silly”. But yet, he still commissioned a scientific study to prove his script was right:) I was excited to see a UC San Diego Professor of Oceanography weigh in with some expertise! This all seems to be in response to the popular show Myth Busters doing an analysis that shows they indeed could have survived. And just to be clear–the entire debate is about a made up scene for a movie! It never happened. And best I can tell, Leonardo DeCaprio is indeed alive.
Deeper Dive: There is a lot of drama around the election of the next Speaker with Republicans holding a razor thin margin in the House of Representatives. I tend to ignore most of the stories, but this in depth piece from the New Yorker caught my attention. It walks through the history of the leading candidate to become Speaker and the perilous history of GOP attempts to appease Trump. It is worth a read.
Simple Truth: Die Hard is a Christmas movie.
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Have a great weekend!
Best,
Nathan
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