Fruit and links for your stockings

I don't know a lot and I'm cool with that. But I enjoy  learning new things, even if they're ultimately inconsequential things like what people get in their stockings at Christmas.

It's fair to say I've never thought about what other people got in their stockings, but as it got to December 24th and I hadn't figured out what to get my wife, I turned to twitter to get some help. One friend responded that she got fruit from her husband every year, which was something I'd never heard of. For me it was always a toothbrush and a deck of cards, some candy and as I got older, deodorant.

So a few days after Christmas, I turned to my facebook friends to find out how common this practice was. It turns out, it's quite common as the overwhelming majority of the 40 or so people who responded said they got fruit, most commonly an orange, in their stocking yearly.

There's a decent chance this is a "duh" moment that I'm writing about, but to me it was a fascinating bit of new information that expands, ever so slightly,

And since it's been a while since I wrote one of these, I've got several links that I've found interesting over the past 10 days or so.

Over the Line - an in-depth look at police shootings in Georgia since 2010. Nearly half of the 184 people shot by police during that time were either shot in the back or unarmed.

Church on Christmas Eve -  Former Sports Illustrated writer Jeff Pearlman, probably best described as an agnostic raised Jewish, experiences his first Christmas Eve service.

The Tax Sleuth Who Took Down a Drug Lord - Google searches of old chat rooms and blog posts brought down the proprietor of The Silk Road.

Jerry Tarkanian and Walter Byers: Adversaries Who Left Their Mark on NCAA - The architect of the modern NCAA and a coach who challenged it both died in 2015.

As Graduation Rates Rise, Experts Fear Diplomas Come Up Short - Earning a high school degree means little if it doesn't prepare you for what's next.

A Life Unraveling - The Boston Globe spent a year with a woman trying to recover from heroin addiction. The story is raw but important.

Middy and Me - A writer tells the story of the issues his friend faces from concussions after playing Division III football.

Players Prefer Presentation - Meg Rowley examines the effect of off-field altercations like domestic violence has on opportunity costs that we all pay.

Life Under Siege: Inside Taiz, the Yemeni City Slowly Being Strangled - While ISIS gets the attention, there are other groups doing terrible things that we should be aware of, including what's happening in Yemen.

How ISIS Replaced Ebola - We're in a constant state of fear. Why is that? Charlie Pierce explores why.

That's enough for now. I've got about 10 more links that I'll save for next time.