海角大神

Today鈥檚 stories look at the just-released House impeachment report, the end of Sen. Kamala Harris鈥� campaign, the potential impact of more women in EU leadership, the choices individuals make around confronting climate change, and efforts to make Canada鈥檚 youth hockey more inclusive. But first, some thoughts about reimagining gifts in the holiday season.

Maybe the headline caught my eye because we鈥檙e in the year鈥檚 most prominent season of giving: 鈥淪tuff nobody wants is costing us more. Just ask Milton.鈥� The Massachusetts town just held an emergency meeting because its trash bill came in聽 鈥� evidence of the waning options for cheap overseas disposal of all that rejected 鈥� stuff.

And I thought: Do some of the ways we give聽exacerbate the problem?

As The Atlantic put it in May: 鈥�.鈥� Tally up Amazon鈥檚 options for pretty much any item, as it did, and you鈥檒l get the idea. Or ponder the consumption arms race driven by big outlets. Add the pressure many people feel to buy more or at the holidays, and more towns are likely to join Milton.

Yet many people raise their voices annually in support of the . That kind of gift is on display more readily this time of year, probably because the holidays-inspired extension of the helping hand, the friendly conversation, or simply the benefit of the doubt has a knock-on effect. There鈥檚 even new academic attention to the phenomenon. At the just-established , which is tasked with 鈥渨orld class research,鈥� the director has focused on 鈥渆xploring how witnessing acts of remarkable kindness can cause an uplifting emotional experience that in turn motivates the observer to be kind.鈥�