Since hitting the 77 mark this month, I have cut myself considerable slack. Things like “pressure” to keep UrbanSurvival going, publish still more books, and doing more research. I mean, eventually time runs out and what we leave with is all between-our ears, anyway.
Still, mornings like this? Good to sit in the recliner over at the house, swing a monitor around. And ask questions that “the news” never seems to get around to. Those are what give up the real gold in life.
But today, we will drop back into old-school “news” mode. Because it’s hard to garden in the dark. And three of the shop lights were killed by the super-cold winter with sub-10-degree temps.
With such limits, a few minutes trading – maybe. But to do that? We gotta look at numbers…
The Data Roll #1
First out is the National Federation of Independent Business. Maybe not as widely followed as the BLS job and inflation numbers. But hey! More dependable, right?
“The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index fell 0.2 points in January to 99.3 and remained above its 52-year average of 98. Of the 10 Optimism Index components, three increased and seven decreased. Expected real sales volume was the only component with substantial change, increasing by 6 points. The Uncertainty Index rose 7 points from December to 91. A rise in owners reporting uncertainty about whether it is a good time to expand their business was the primary driver of the rise in the Uncertainty Index. “
Data Roll #2 Retail
Second agenda item is the health of Retail. Economic theory holds that if the consumer is still going deep into the wallet (and usually debt) then it’s good for the country. OK, so it keeps going deeper in debt, too. But too early to quibble.
Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for December 2025, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $735.0 billion, virtually unchanged (±0.4 percent)* from the previous month, and up 2.4 percent (±0.5 percent) from December 2024. Total sales for the 12 months of 2025 were up 3.7 percent (±0.4 percent) from 2024. Total sales for the October 2025 through December 2025 period were up 3.0 percent (±0.4 percent) from the same period a year ago. The October 2025 to November 2025 percent change was unrevised from up 0.6 (±0.3
percent).
Layer #3 Employment Costs
There’s a kind of brutality in this next number. Because in the economics domain if the cost of labor is going up – more money for the workers! BUT, less to spread around to the greedy shareholders (like us, but that varies minute-to-minute).
Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.7 percent, seasonally adjusted, for the 3-month period ending in December 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries increased 0.7 percent and benefit costs increased 0.7 percent from September 2025.
Compensation costs for state and local government workers increased 0.8 percent, seasonally adjusted, for the 3-month period ending in December 2025. Wages and salaries increased 0.8 percent and benefit costs increased 0.8 percent from September 2025.
Clearly, we should all be in government…
Maraschino #4
Import and Export prices are another one of those “mixed blessings.” Higher import prices improve the pro formas when looking at reshoring some of that American Greatness the free trade raiders conned us on. But – since self-control went missing in 1967, or so – higher import prices drive inflation. And those figures – which will be along tomorrow – are a likely “fear factor” in how markets price today.
U.S. import prices increased 0.1 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Prices for U.S. exports advanced 0.3 percent in December. Over the past year, import prices were unchanged and export prices increased 3.1 percent.
(So! How about that Fed “2 percent inflation target” bullshit, huh?
We continue suffering through out here. Our year-to-date market gains are running 8.8 percent at their 1.1-month point. Which compounds to well over 100 percent per year. But who needs that kind of know-how? Well, except Peoplenomics subscribers. Also a shout-out to subscriber Mary and thanks for the kind words.
On tap tomorrow? “Beyond the Kidnapping Replay: How Cyclical Events from the Depression Era Could Arrive in the Modern World. ” I mentioned some time back that the Guthrie case is filling in the same kind of media frenzy as the Lindbergh baby kidnapping of 1932. Interesting to notice how it’s at the other end of the familial temporal dynamic. (Time studies doesn’t come with much documentation, so it’s a grand locale for self-learners.
Plus, there will be more notes on my recent study of state-variance extremes trading. So a fine time will be had by all, we assume.
The Flow to Go
Since we will be doing “barking mad” in Around the Ranch today, let’s (for the halibut) blow the liberal dog whistle a few times.
A Campaign to Revoke the Endangerment Finding Appears Near ‘Total Victory’ – The New York Times Which doesn’t seem to be that upset when China brought more than 50 NEW coal-fired power plants online in 2025. (Factually sourced, of course.) But hey! Who needs balance when you have a liberal agenda, right…I mean left! (Or an auto pen…)
Almost as upset as they seem to be about people who cost more than they benefit the country. Appeals Court Lets Trump Revoke Deportation Protections for 60,000 More Migrants – The New York Times. Guess the appeals court reads law, not TDS diagnoses?
Dumb and dumber plays San Francrisco: Live updates: SFUSD teachers strike, bargaining back on, schools closed Tuesday. SFUSD teacher jobs posted for 2026–2027 show salary ranges around $69,525 – $131,654 per year depending on placement and certification. But they have to make that much to afford living in Gruesome’s worker’s paradise where freedom is a rallying cry while accounting is a pseudo-science.
(Shall I continue? I’m trying to be an equal-opportunity realist here.)
“Don’t ask” meets “Don’t tell” – Ghislaine Maxwell appeals for clemency from Trump as she declines to answer questions : NPR. And we’ll be looking for an update of The King and I as Buckingham Palace says King Charles will aid police probe into former Prince Andrew’s Epstein links | AP News. But you know what they say in monarchies, right? Everything is relative.
The President of Borders and Real Estate: Trump threatens to block opening of Ontario-Michigan bridge financed by Canada – France 24. Meanwhile, we weren’t joking a while back when we said the Gaza carnage was a real estate eminent domain kind of deal. And see here: another fearless in-our-endo appears as Israel lays the ground for West Bank annexation, prompts world denunciations – AW.
We will skip the conspiracy theories linking Epstein to Israel and future events. Instead, we are patiently waiting for Iran talks (they’re playing for time) to end badly. Baked-in with Netanyahu wants Trump to demand more from Iran. The leaders will meet this week. Is the carrier Bush in the Med now?
Around the Ranch: Barking Mad Valentine’s
There are probably four reasons why Elaine and I both look at least 20 years younger than most people our ages.
First is good dental care. File this as “Don’t kiss what don’t floss.”
Second is a heavy-duty long-term anti-aging regimen which not only includes NMN, but also an OTC analog to TRIIM-X research, red light therapy which we have been using since 2016 when we laid the Light Crown Project out on Peoplenomics.
Virtually no sugar and now into gluten-free, too. Because too many “oldsters” will tell you that when bromine went into wheat processing, life downshifted. All those glysophate genetic critters – we like heritage seed-based foods.
Fourth is the one I don’t write about often. In fact, I last wrote about this in 2009, or so, and it’s no longer on the web. So I will give it to you straight.
This is going to sound nuts from here in — but stick with me, because the neuroscience is better than the optics
Barking and Meowing May Extend Life
No, I haven’t lost my mind. But yes it’s a hell of a tale.
See back in 2000, or so, Elaine and I were working on ways to communicate raw emotion without attachment (and all that spiraling into fights that comes glued-on to linguistics). We agreed to communicate in animal sounds.
“All men are dogs!” was Elaine’s view. So I have been using an assortment of high-emotional content barks (growls, baring of teeth) and such for 25+ years.
Elaine’s role is the pussy(cat) around here. She has an assortment of cat-sounds that would impress any clowder of ferals out there. If I do something she doesn’t like? Those long fingernails make a “coming to scratch you” gesture with accompanying effects.
“That just means Ure Crazy!”
No, hold up there Bubba. Let me go to the data.
First off, let’s dive into the science backing up why messing with language—like going bilingual or beyond—might just be a secret weapon against the brain’s aging pitfalls, including Alzheimer’s. This matters “bigly and hugely” to us. Because with both lost at the APOE-4 casino and carry one marker each.
We each had some “second language” skills. Elaine’s got some Spanish, (*right, punta?) I have three years of German and 60-some years of Morse Code in my head at high speeds. Which matters? (Don’t go getting lost on us…)
Numerous studies have shown that bilingual individuals experience a delayed onset of Alzheimer’s symptoms by an average of 4-5 years compared to monolinguals. This isn’t just anecdotal; research from institutions like the University of Edinburgh and York University in Toronto points to the “cognitive reserve” built by constantly switching between languages.
It’s like mental CrossFit: juggling vocabulary, grammar, and cultural nuances keeps neural pathways flexible and resilient. Beyond bilingualism, multilingual folks (those fluent in three or more languages) show even stronger effects, with enhanced executive function, better problem-solving, and reduced risk of cognitive decline overall.
A 2013 study in the journal Neurology found that lifelong bilingualism correlates with denser gray matter in brain regions tied to memory and attention, essentially buffering against dementia’s creep. So, if barking and meowing count as a “second language” in our household, who’s to say it isn’t rewiring our brains for the long haul?
There’s also the domain detachment angle that frees people up to do more relational thinking. See the detailed discussion in my book Mind Amplifiers. But the idea is having another language gives you a (very real) other way of thinking about things.
Cue the Pitchman
But wait, there’s more to this linguistic workout than just dodging Alzheimer’s. The benefits spill over into general aging markers, like maintaining sharper focus and emotional regulation well into later years.
For instance, a meta-analysis in Psychological Science reviewed over 60 studies and concluded that bilingualism boosts metacognition—the ability to monitor and control one’s own thinking—which helps in everything from decision-making to stress management.
This could explain why Elaine and I, with our animal-sound lexicon, look and feel decades younger: it’s not just about words, but the emotional agility it fosters. No spiraling arguments means lower chronic stress, which is a known accelerator of cellular aging (think telomeres shortening faster). Best of all? You don’t carry the same emotional response (hence body chemistry responses) to simple animal sounds.
Words spoken have secondary, tertiary, and even beyond levels of “carry” and now we’re bumping over to the Ebbinghaus forgetfulness curve. That’s how long your body can be impacted by an emotionally rough patch.
While most research focuses on traditional languages, the principle holds—any form of linguistic complexity that challenges the brain might contribute to that youthful vibe, even if it’s unconventional. Barks and meows are less “hooked” by recall.
Now, on the flip side, when it comes to emotion-loaded language specifically—like our raw, attachment-free barks and meows—and its direct link to slowing aging, the data cupboard is pretty bare.
There are zero peer-reviewed studies (that I could find) exploring how using highly emotional, non-verbal or pseudo-verbal communication impacts biological aging markers, such as inflammation, hormone levels, or epigenetic changes. Sure, there’s plenty on how positive emotions and reduced conflict extend lifespan (hello, Blue Zones research), but nothing ties it explicitly to “emotion-loaded language” as a variable.
This gap might be because science tends to stick to measurable, traditional linguistics, overlooking quirky personal adaptations like ours. Until researchers catch up, we’re left with observational perks: less emotional baggage means less cortisol-fueled wear and tear, potentially keeping us spry. Who knows—maybe our method is the next big anti-aging hack waiting for its study.
Meanwhile, my Scooby Doo “rut-roh” has become masterful. And neither one of us ever goes to bed angry. If you try it, you’ll be shocked by how some human emotions can be packaged as animal sounds and drop a lot of their temporal carry-value along the way.
The science-based summary? Use if animal noises/personas very likely contributes to:
- Long-term conflict minimization
- Low cortisol levels in the household
- No unresolved emotional loops overnight – you may sleep better.
Rarff!
Write when you get Friskies,
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