This week in the news | 20 July 24
News from the past week, and a few other things.
👋 Hello Reader, I hope you had a great week.
Below you’ll find the “quick shot”—a supercharged summary of summaries, followed by the “slow brew”—longer summaries with select graphics, and comments from me.
THE QUICK SHOT 🚀
A supercharged summary of summaries
A lock icon (🔒) indicates articles behind a paywall, and a chart icon (📊) indicates an informative chart/graphic in “Slow Brew.”
World
Direct ties between senior U.S. and Chinese military leaders have been restored following heightened tensions (Task and Purpose). A study examining assassinations from 1875 to 2004 shows how random events can significantly alter history (NBER). Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was sentenced to 16 years in a Russian penal colony after being wrongfully convicted of espionage in a trial criticized by the U.S. government (WSJ 🔒).
North America
The gunman who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump, Thomas Matthew Crooks, managed to fly a drone over the rally site (WSJ 🔒). Authorities are piecing together the actions of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the shooter at Trump's rally, in the hours leading up to the attack (ABC News). Increased security at Trump's rally was prompted by threats from Iran, which has been seeking revenge for the killing of Qassem Soleimani (AP) 📊. Americans’ confidence in the police has risen by eight percentage points to 51%, according to Gallup’s annual update (Gallup) 📊. Although the number of farms in the U.S. has decreased over the past four decades, agricultural productivity has increased due to technological and management innovations (AEI).
Latin America
New images reveal members of the Mashco Piro tribe, one of the world's most isolated Indigenous communities, emerging from the Peruvian Amazon as loggers encroach on their territory (WP 🔒). Sebastián Marset, a prominent South American drug trafficker, used his wealth to buy and sponsor soccer teams to launder drug money while fulfilling his dream of playing professional soccer (WP 🔒).
Europe
Britain announced plans to strengthen its armed forces in response to threats from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia, appointing George Robertson to lead a defense review (Reuters). Venice's pilot program to charge day-trippers an entrance fee netted $2.2 million but was criticized for failing to deter visitors (AP).
Middle East
The Israeli military has made significant progress in dismantling Hamas's tunnel network in Gaza, which has been used for operations and hiding hostages (Bloomberg 🔒). The IMF has significantly downgraded Saudi Arabia’s growth projections due to the kingdom’s decision to reduce oil supplies, predicting a GDP rise of only 1.7% in 2024 (Bloomberg 🔒) 📊.
Africa
Gambia's parliament rejected a bill to end the ban on female genital mutilation, maintaining the country's stance against the practice (Reuters) 📊.
Central Asia
The Kremlin is creating RuWiki, a censored version of Wikipedia, aiming to present a government-approved historical narrative to Russians (Economist 🔒).
East Asia
China’s economic growth slowed to 4.7% in Q2 due to a property downturn and job insecurity, prompting calls for increased stimulus (Reuters). A high-ranking North Korean diplomat stationed in Cuba defected to South Korea, marking the highest-level defection since 2016 (BBC). Japan plans to let struggling companies fail to boost productivity, marking a significant shift in its economic strategy as government support diminishes (Reuters) 📊.
Space
Scientists have confirmed the existence of a sizable cave on the moon, potentially suitable for future astronauts, located near the Apollo 11 landing site (AP).
Government
Former President Trump selected Sen. J.D. Vance as his 2024 running mate, hoping to appeal to working-class voters in the Midwest (WSJ 🔒). A federal judge dismissed Trump’s classified documents case, ruling the indictment violated the appointments clause of the Constitution (Semafor). Young men are increasingly leaving the Democratic Party, with President Biden’s unpopularity cited as a significant factor (Liberal Patriot) 📊.
Defense
Retired Army Gen. Mark Milley predicts that up to one-third of the U.S. military could be robotic by 2039 due to advances in AI and unmanned technology (Military Times). The head of Air Combat Command emphasized the importance of enforcing military standards, including dress and personal appearance, to prepare for potential conflicts (Air and Space Forces).
Economy
Despite a deteriorating fiscal outlook, U.S. government bonds rallied, surprising analysts who expected market disruptions due to the growing debt pile (WSJ 🔒). The white-collar job market has cooled, particularly affecting college graduates, as hiring for roles requiring a bachelor's degree has dropped below 2019 rates (WSJ 🔒).
Business
Elon Musk announced the relocation of SpaceX and X headquarters from California to Texas, citing a new California law as the final straw (AP). Google is in advanced talks to acquire cybersecurity startup Wiz for approximately $23 billion, which would be its largest acquisition ever (WSJ 🔒). The Society for Human Resource Management is distancing itself from the "equity" aspect of DEI, focusing instead on inclusion and diversity to avoid preferential treatment of any worker group (NBER).
Auto
Drivers are increasingly shopping for new car insurance policies and altering their coverage to manage rising costs, with a 12% increase in the average annual cost of full-coverage insurance (WSJ 🔒).
Real Estate
Midwestern and Northeastern metros with moderate home price appreciation are now experiencing the fastest growth rates, while Southern and Western metros see low or negative growth (AEI) 📊. Evictions in major Sunbelt cities remain elevated, showing little sign of returning to pre-pandemic levels, with some areas experiencing significant increases in filings (WSJ 🔒). Foreclosure activity in the first half of 2024 is down 4.4% from the previous year but up 7.8% from two years ago (ATTOM) 📊.
Personal Finance
The S&P 500 Index has been remarkably stable, with only one move of more than 2% in either direction so far this year, as it approaches a 20% rise for 2024 (Sherwood).
Technology
South Korea is beginning mass production of a laser weapon capable of shooting down small drones at a cost of about $1.50 per shot (CNN). The AirJoule system, a new cooling technology, could drastically reduce energy consumption for air conditioning by up to 90% compared to traditional methods (Wired).
Engineering
The Hadrian X, the world’s first mobile bricklayer robot, has arrived in the U.S., capable of building house walls in a single day (Interesting Engineering).
Cyber
A global technology outage disrupted flights, banks, and media outlets worldwide, due to an update issued by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike (AP).
AI
The expansion of AI in warfare has led to a multibillion-dollar arms race, with militaries worldwide embracing the technology despite ethical concerns (Guardian).
Life
Bob Newhart, the iconic comedian known for his deadpan delivery, died at 94, leaving behind a legacy of beloved TV shows and comedy albums (AP). The Newhart finale, featuring one of TV's boldest and most memorable moments, continues to be celebrated as one of the best TV endings of all time (NYT).
Entertainment
The gaming industry, exemplified by the viral trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI, has surpassed the box office in size, highlighting the massive appeal of video games (Sherwood). EA Sports College Football 25 will feature real-life players for the first time, with over 11,000 athletes participating in the game due to changes in compensation rules for college athletes (NYT).
Sports
Argentina won its record 16th Copa America title, defeating Colombia 1-0 despite Messi being sidelined by injury (AP). Spain secured its fourth European Championship title by beating England 2-1, with Mikel Oyarzabal scoring the decisive goal in the 86th minute (AP).
For Fun
Major League Baseball teams and their Minor Leaugue Baseball team affiliates (MiLB).
THE SLOW BREW ☕
A more relaxed approach to the summaries.
World
US and Chinese senior military leaders are talking again, Biden says (Task and Purpose)
Direct ties between senior U.S. and Chinese military leaders have been restored following a rough patch last year when a Chinese spy balloon overflew the United States, President Joe Biden told reporters on Thursday. In November, both Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to resume military-to-military communication, which Beijing had suspended after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s August 2022 visit to Taiwan. Tensions between both countries became higher after a U.S. Air Force F-22 shot down a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina in February 2023, causing a planned trip by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to China to be postponed. “We’ve reestablished direct contact with China,” Biden said during Thursday’s news conference. “We set up a new mechanism. There’s a direct line between Xi and me, and our military has direct access to one another, and they contact one another when we have problems.” Biden did not elaborate how top U.S. and Chinese leaders are communicating or at what level this “direct access” is taking place.
Hit or Miss? The Effect of Assassinations on Institutions and War (NBER)
Assassinations are a persistent feature of the political landscape. Using a new data set of assassination attempts on all world leaders from 1875 to 2004, we exploit inherent randomness in the success or failure of assassination attempts to identify assassination's effects. We find that, on average, successful assassinations of autocrats produce sustained moves toward democracy. We also find that assassinations affect the intensity of small-scale conflicts. The results document a contemporary source of institutional change, inform theories of conflict, and show that small sources of randomness can have a pronounced effect on history.
NOTE: Paper from 2007. Thought that it was interesting someone did a study on this type of thing.
How the attempt on Trump’s life could fundamentally alter the presidential race—or not (Liberal Patriot)
As the country reels from the near-assassination of former President Donald Trump over the weekend, discussion among pundits and analysts has invariably turned to the potential political effects of the attack—specifically, whether it will make Trump even stronger than before and all but assure his victory in November.
NOTE: Interesting factoid from the article: “In our country’s short history, there have been 20 assassination attempts against presidents or presidential aspirants, six of which succeeded (including four against sitting presidents).”
Evan Gershkovich sentenced to 16 years in Russian prison after wrongful conviction (WSJ🔒)
Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter falsely accused by Russian authorities of spying, was sentenced to 16 years in a high-security penal colony, after being wrongfully convicted in a hurried, secret trial that the U.S. government has condemned as a sham. The court’s Friday verdict—after three days of hearings—was widely viewed as a foregone conclusion, since acquittals in Russian espionage trials are exceedingly rare. Gershkovich was afforded few of the protections normally accorded to defendants in the U.S. and other Western countries.
North America
Trump gunman flew drone over rally site hours before attempted assassination (WSJ🔒)
The gunman who tried to kill Donald Trump was able to fly a drone and get aerial footage of the western Pennsylvania fairgrounds shortly before the former president was set to speak there, law-enforcement officials briefed on the matter said, further underscoring the stunning security lapses ahead of Trump’s near assassination. Thomas Matthew Crooks flew the drone on a programmed flight path earlier in the day on July 13 to scour the Butler Farm Show grounds ahead of Trump’s ill-fated rally, the officials said. The predetermined path, the officials added, suggests Crooks flew the drone more than once as he researched and scoped out the event site.
What Thomas Matthew Crooks did in hours leading up to attack on former President Trump (ABC News)
In the days since the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, the pieces have begun to come together about what the suspected shooter was doing in the lead-up to the attack.
Iran threat prompted more security at Trump rally as officials warn of potential for copycat attacks (AP)
A threat on Donald Trump’s life from Iran prompted additional security in the days before Saturday’s campaign rally, but it was unrelated to the assassination attempt on the Republican presidential nominee, two U.S. officials said Tuesday, as law enforcement warned of the potential for more violence inspired by the shooting. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said officials have been tracking Iranian threats against Trump administration officials for years, dating back to the last administration. Trump ordered the 2020 killing of Qassem Soleimani, who led the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force. “These threats arise from Iran’s desire to seek revenge for the killing of Qassem Soleimani. We consider this a national and homeland security matter of the highest priority,” Watson said.
U.S. confidence in institutions mostly flat, but police up (Gallup)📊
Americans’ confidence in the police increased eight percentage points over the past year to 51%, the largest year-over-year change in public perceptions of 17 major U.S. institutions measured in Gallup’s annual update. The slim majority of U.S. adults who express confidence in the police includes 25% who say they have “a great deal” and 26% “quite a lot.”
Is the US losing farms at an alarming rate? (AEI)📊
In the United States, the number of farms and the amount of land being farmed have steadily declined over the past four decades. However, at the same time, total agricultural output has steadily increased in response to the flow of science-based innovations in technology and management and economies of scale in farming that have substantially increased agricultural productivity. Thus, in terms of the viability of US food and other supply chains related to agricultural output, there is no reason to be concerned about the declines in the numbers of farms and land in farming that have occurred since 2017.
Jiaai Zeng died weeks after starting work at an Oklahoma marijuana farm. His family wants answers. (ProPublica)
Cannabis farms have boomed in states that have passed medical and recreational marijuana laws. But when voters in Oklahoma approved a law allowing the cultivation of medical marijuana in 2018, legislators didn’t develop corresponding regulations to protect employees. Oklahoma’s historically weak labor enforcement system leaves the protection of workers largely to the federal government. And the U.S. Department of Labor has limited oversight because marijuana is illegal at the national level. As a result, workers who are already isolated by language and culture have found themselves largely at the mercy of their employers, often criminals who rely on Chinese immigrant labor. As ProPublica and The Frontier have reported, Chinese mafias — some with suspected ties to the Chinese government — have taken advantage of state-level legalization to dominate a nationwide black market for marijuana.
Latin America
A rarely seen Amazon tribe emerges from rainforest as loggers move in (WP🔒)
Striking new images show members of one of the world’s most isolated Indigenous tribes emerging from the rainforest in a remote part of the Peruvian Amazon, close to where several logging companies have been granted concessions. The Mashco Piro tribe is believed to be the world’s largest Indigenous community living without outside contact. But in recent weeks, the tribe has been spotted on the banks of the Las Piedras River, just miles from logging activity.
A double life: The cocaine kingpin who hid as a professional soccer player (WP🔒)
Sebastián Marset, it turned out, was among the most important drug traffickers in South America, and one of the key figures behind a surge of cocaine arriving in Western Europe, according to Latin American, U.S. and European investigators. Instead of hiding from authorities, he had used his fortune to purchase and sponsor soccer teams across Latin America and in Europe. U.S. and South American investigators would learn that he was using those teams to help launder millions in drug proceeds. Along the way, Marset, now 33, deployed his power and wealth to fulfill a boyhood dream: He inserted himself into the starting lineups.
Europe
UK to boost armed forces given threat from 'deadly quartet' (Reuters)
Britain said it would boost its "hollowed out" armed forces to make sure the country was prepared to face what the head of a defence review called a "deadly quartet," comprising China, Iran, North Korea and Russia. The government named George Robertson, the former NATO secretary general, on Tuesday to lead a review of Britain's armed forces which will report back in the first half of 2025. Robertson, a former British defence minister in the late 1990s who ran NATO from 1999 to 2003, said the armed forces needed to be battle ready given the threat level.
Venice nets $2.2 million in day-tripper tax pilot. Opponents say it failed to deter visitors (AP)
Venice on Sunday wrapped up a pilot program charging day-trippers an entrance fee, more than 2 million euros ($2.2 million) richer and determined to extend the levy, but opponents in the fragile lagoon city called the experiment a failure. Over the first 11 days of the trial period, an average of 75,000 visitors were recorded in the city. Martini said that is 10,000 more each day than on three indicative holidays in 2023, citing figures provided by the city based on cell phone data that tracks arrivals in the city.
Middle East
Israel sees major progress in destroying Gaza’s tunnel network (Bloomberg🔒)
The Israeli military says that after nine months of fighting Hamas in Gaza, it’s fracturing the group’s tunnel network through mapping and destroying key underground command-and-control centers and arms factories. Much of the combat between Hamas and Israel, which has vastly superior weaponry, has taken place in the tunnels. The group, deemed a terrorist organization by the US and European Union, has also used its network to hide some of the 250 hostages it seized in its Oct. 7 raid on southern Israel that triggered the war, making it more difficult for the military to retrieve them. A tunnel warfare specialist from the army said his unit has learned how to render the tunnels inoperative and had made significant progress. Hamas built tunnels in tiers, with the upper ones used for activities such as prayer, a middle-level for operations, and control centers situated in the lowest levels, the officer, who couldn’t be identified in line with military protocol, told a briefing with foreign media.
Saudi Arabia gets largest IMF growth cut among big economies (Bloomberg🔒)📊
The International Monetary Fund has downgraded its growth projections for Saudi Arabia by more than any other major economy it tracks, reflecting the kingdom’s decision to reduce oil supplies. Saudi gross domestic product will rise by 1.7% in 2024, according to the fund, less than the Washington-based lender’s prediction of 2.6% in April. It also lowered the projection for 2025 to 4.7% from 6%. That compares to the IMF’s estimate that global GDP will climb 3.2% this year and the US’s by 2.6%.
Africa
Gambia parliament rejects bill to end ban on female genital mutilation (Reuters)📊
Gambia's parliament on Monday rejected a bill that would have ended a ban on female genital mutilation, after lawmakers voted down all the clauses in the proposed law. "The ban on FGM is still firmly maintained in the Gambia," the Ministry of Information said in a statement after the vote. "Government stands firm in its resolve to eliminate this harmful practice." The bill to overturn the ban sparked a public debate about female genital mutilation for the first time in the West African nation that divided villages, families and parliament.
Central Asia
The Kremlin is rewriting Wikipedia (Economist🔒)
Wikipedia had faced trouble from the Kremlin before, with Russian censors threatening it almost from the start of the Ukraine war in 2014. But it was only in late 2023, with the appearance of glitzy ads across Moscow, that a serious plan to replace it became clear. RuWiki, as the censors’ project is known, is mostly a straightforward copy of Wikipedia. But the most sensitive moments of history have been left out or rewritten. The Kremlin’s ideologues hope that millions of Russians will now embrace these new versions as the truth.
East Asia
China's economy falters, raises pressure for more stimulus (Reuters)📊
China's economy grew much slower than expected in the second quarter as a protracted property downturn and job insecurity knocked the wind out of a fragile recovery, keeping alive expectations Beijing will need to unleash even more stimulus. The world's second-largest economy grew 4.7% in April-June, official data showed, its slowest since the first quarter of 2023 and missing a 5.1% forecast in a Reuters poll. It also slowed from the previous quarter's 5.3% expansion.
Is it me or the economic system? Changing evaluations of inequality in China (CSIS)📊
Inequality is politically irrelevant. This may sound like a shocking statement, but on closer inspection, it’s not as crazy a claim as it seems. What matters is not whether objectively there is a larger or smaller distribution of income in a country, but rather how members of society perceive that distribution. It is inequity – a sense of injustice or unfairness about the differences – and not the existence of inequality itself, that has political consequences. This insight applies to China as much as it does to any other country. In the 1990s and 2000s, as China turned away from state socialism to market reforms, the country grew quickly, but inequality also expanded rapidly. However measured, whether across the population as a whole or regionally, inequality grew dramatically, making China far more unequal than its East Asian neighbors and more similar to the United States and countries in Latin America.
Bad and good arguments for industrial policy (Noahpinion)
Throughout the 2010s, a number of people argued that China had discovered a better way to run an economy. Obviously the country was still relatively poor at the time, and it’s easier to grow quickly from a lower base. But what was remarkable about China’s growth was that it was so consistent — China never officially experienced a recession in the 2000s or 2010s, despite the global financial crisis of 2008 and the Chinese stock market crash of 2015. It seemed to have found the secret sauce of macroeconomics. That secret sauce came with a cost. China avoided recessions by having its state-controlled banks lend lots and lots and lots of money to the real estate industry. That ended up reducing productivity growth, by channeling capital into less productive uses. It also exacerbated a gigantic real estate bubble that has now popped, leading to another growth slowdown that’s almost certainly worse than China’s official statistics say, and which has left large parts of the populace pessimistic and unhappy. So I’d say we still don’t know whether China managed to invent a better form of macroeconomic stabilization policy. At this point I’m kind of leaning toward “No.”
NOTE: Great read.
Senior North Korean diplomat defects to South (BBC)
A high-profile North Korean diplomat stationed in Cuba has defected to the South, Seoul's spy agency has confirmed to the BBC. The political counselor is believed to be the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to escape to South Korea since 2016. The diplomat defected in November, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) said. Details about North Koreans defections often take months to come to light as the defectors must take courses on South Korean society before they are formally integrated. South Korean media reports say the defector was a counsellor responsible for political affairs at the North Korean embassy in Cuba. The NIS has not confirmed this to the BBC.
Japan finds a 'stealth' cure for zombie businesses: Let them fail (Reuters)📊
Years of faltering growth and population decline left many of Japan's small and medium-sized firms squeaking by on state help and almost-free funding. These companies, which account for around seven out of 10 jobs, now face a shake-up as pandemic-era support dwindles and interest rates rise for the first time in 17 years. Japan's government is willing to let more underperforming companies fail, three senior government officials told Reuters, a previously unreported acknowledgment that they said reflects an urgent need to replace sclerotic businesses with those able to deliver growth. While the officials did not expect such change to occur quickly, they described the shift in thinking as a clear departure for a country that has typically sought to avoid bankruptcies and protect existing jobs at the cost of productivity. The move will help Japan channel workers and investment to its most productive companies in a tight labor market, boosting wages, said the officials, granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue.
Space
Scientists have confirmed a cave on the moon that could be used to shelter future explorers (AP)
Scientists have confirmed a cave on the moon, not far from where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed 55 years ago, and suspect there are hundreds more that could house future astronauts. An Italian-led team reported Monday that there’s evidence for a sizable cave accessible from the deepest known pit on the moon. It’s located at the Sea of Tranquility, just 250 miles (400 kilometers) from Apollo 11’s landing site. The pit, like the more than 200 others discovered up there, was created by the collapse of a lava tube.
Government
Trump picks J.D. Vance as 2024 running mate (WSJ🔒)
Former President Donald Trump named Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio as his running mate, ending months of theatrical buildup and settling on a much younger partner who could help appeal to working-class voters in critical Midwest battleground states. If Trump is elected, Vance, who turns 40 in August, would be one of the youngest vice presidents in history and one with just two years of elected experience. He is a figure closely associated with the style and views of Trump’s conservative, populist movement.
Trump federal classified documents case dismissed in blow to Jack Smith (Semafor)
A federal judge dismissed former US President Donald Trump’s classified documents case on Monday. Judge Aileen Cannon — who has overseen the case in which Trump was accused of mishandling sensitive documents at his Florida resort — ruled the indictment violated the appointments clause of the Constitution, according to a court filing. Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, had been weighing whether Jack Smith’s appointment as special counsel was invalid. In arguing that the case should be dismissed, Trump’s lawyers argued Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional because he has too much independence from Department of Justice leadership.
The GOP is poised to make gains with young voters (Liberal Patriot)📊
Since the 2016 presidential election, AEI’s Daniel Cox notes a significant trend: Young men are increasingly leaving the Democratic Party. Young men’s identification as Democrat declined from 51% in 2016 to 39% in 2023. Cox highlights President Joe Biden’s unpopularity as a key reason Democrats aren’t connecting with young voters. A New York Times/Siena poll shows only 23% of young registered voters view Biden favorably, with 84% believing he is too old to govern effectively.While Cox doesn’t foresee a long-term generational realignment, there are concerning signs for Democrats. A recent survey shows that 47% of Americans identify as Republican, and 46% identify as Democrat. Additionally, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found Americans increasingly say Democrats are out of touch.
Ex-CIA official doubled as secret South Korea agent in exchange for designer handbags, high-end sushi dinners: feds (NY Post)
A former CIA analyst with expensive taste spent more than a decade working as a secret South Korean agent in exchange for luxury handbags, designer duds and meals at Michelin-starred restaurants, among other splurges, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Defense
One-third of US military could be robotic by 2039: Milley (Military Times)
The 20th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff believes growing artificial intelligence and unmanned technology could lead to robotic military forces in the future. “Ten to fifteen years from now, my guess is a third, maybe 25% to a third of the U.S. military will be robotic,” said retired Army Gen. Mark Milley at an Axios event Thursday launching the publication’s Future of Defense newsletter. He noted these robots could be commanded and controlled by AI systems. Advancements in technology and changes in the nature of war will enable militaries worldwide to make smarter and faster decisions, Milley said. He was careful to clarify the difference between the nature and character of war. The former, he said, involves human activity and acts of politics. “One side is trying to impose its political will on the other by the use of organized violence,” said Milley. He noted this aspect of war rarely changes. The character of war, however, involves tactics, technologies, weapons systems and leader training. Milley said that while these dynamics often change, the world is currently experiencing the biggest fundamental shift in human history with the rise of AI and robotics.
ACC Boss on inspections: ‘Pay attention to the details’ (Air & Space Forces)
The head of Air Combat Command was not exempt from the order he issued last month directing inspections for tens of thousands of ACC Airmen to ensure they’re dress and personal appearance meets Air Force standards. On July 9, he said, he endured his first “open ranks” inspection since college. “The headquarters at Air Combat Command lined up in the parking lot, I was leading the formation, and I got inspected myself,” Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach said July 10, during a visit to AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “It was the first inspection I’ve had since I was in ROTC. That was a long time ago.” Wilsbach’s order called out “a discernable decline in the commitment to, and enforcement of, military standards,” generating consternation and pushback from some Airmen. But the ACC commander said standards are essential, and enforcement is necessary to prepare the force for potential peer conflict with the likes of China. While some Airmen argue that open-ranks inspections are “wasting time,” Wilsbach countered that doing little things well is preparation for doing bigger, harder things well.
NOTE: Well done, sir.
Economy
How Wall Street keeps absorbing America’s borrowing binge (WSJ🔒)📊
The U.S. fiscal outlook is deteriorating. Wall Street doesn’t seem bothered. U.S. government bonds rallied this past month on the same day that the Congressional Budget Office said that it expects the fiscal 2024 budget deficit to reach $1.9 trillion—up from $1.7 trillion last year and its previous estimate of $1.5 trillion. A broader rally has pulled Treasury yields well off their highs from 2023, despite a series of jumbo-sized debt sales needed to fill the gap between the government’s spending and revenue. That is surprising some analysts, who thought the growing debt pile might spark more market disruptions. Here is a look at the challenges facing the Treasury market, and how it has (so far) managed to meet them.
The white-collar hiring rut is here. That’s bad news for young college grads. (WSJ🔒)📊
The great white-collar job market chill is now targeting one group of applicants with particular force: college educated workers, especially new grads starting out in the job market. The white-collar labor market is entering a more uncertain phase after cooling for more than a year. Job insecurity is climbing and fewer professionals feel emboldened to change their employment. The lack of turnover is stalling hiring even more as companies rethink their talent needs after pandemic-hiring sprees. Hiring for roles that usually require a bachelor’s degree has dropped below 2019 rates in recent months, new data from payroll provider ADP show. The drop has been steeper for 20-somethings, who are running into a bottleneck of entry-level openings as more established professionals stay put in the jobs they have, according to payroll information on more than 16 million people across 31,000 U.S. employers.
Business
Elon Musk says he’s moving SpaceX, X headquarters from California to Texas (AP)
Billionaire Elon Musk says he’s moving the headquarters of SpaceX and social media company X to Texas from California. Musk posted on X Tuesday that he plans on moving SpaceX from Hawthorne, California to the company’s rocket launch site dubbed Starbase in Texas. X will move to Austin from San Francisco. He called a new law signed Monday by California Gov. Gavin Newsom that bars school districts from requiring staff to notify parents of their child’s gender identification change the “final straw.” “I did make it clear to Governor Newsom about a year ago that laws of this nature would force families and companies to leave California to protect their children,” Musk wrote. Tesla, where Musk is CEO, moved its corporate headquarters to Austin from Palo Alto, California in 2021.
Google near $23 billion deal for cybersecurity startup Wiz (WSJ🔒)
Google parent Alphabet is in advanced talks to acquire cybersecurity startup Wiz for roughly $23 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, in what would be its largest acquisition ever. A deal could come together soon, assuming the talks don’t fall apart, the people said. Alphabet is eyeing the deal at a time of intense antitrust scrutiny of the search company and other tech giants. The acquisition could also help boost Alphabet’s efforts in cloud computing, an important and growing business but one where it has lagged behind peers. Wiz’s valuation has soared since it was founded in 2020 by Chief Executive Assaf Rappaport and several colleagues. The company, which offers cybersecurity software for cloud computing, raised $1 billion earlier this year at a valuation of $12 billion. It is one of only a few startups outside the artificial-intelligence industry to raise money at a higher valuation in 2024.
America’s HR lobby scraps the ‘E’ from DEI (NBER)
The country’s top organization for human-resources professionals is distancing itself from the “equity” plank of diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. SHRM, a lobbying and advocacy group with 340,000 members, announced this week that it wants employers to focus on inclusion and diversity efforts—in that order. The group, a powerful lobby in Washington, said that it’s moving away from equity language to ensure no group of workers appears to get preferential treatment. Equity, in HR parlance, is the notion that companies should take steps to level the playing field for workers. “By emphasizing inclusion-first, we aim to address the current shortcomings of DE&I programs, which have led to societal backlash,” the group said in a statement posted on LinkedIn.
Auto
Fed up with their car-insurance bills, drivers shift gears (WSJ🔒)
Drivers are no longer simply accepting the fact that they have to pay more for car insurance. Half of U.S. auto-insurance customers have actively shopped for a new policy in the past year, up from 41% in 2021, according to research firm J.D. Power. In addition to calling around and potentially switching their insurers, more drivers are also changing the policies themselves. Among many moves they are making, drivers are increasing their deductibles to lower their regular payments. They are also examining pay-per-mile insurance plans, where drivers pay based in part on how many miles they drive. More insurance companies are offering these types of plans now than before the pandemic, said Bankrate analyst Shannon Martin. The national rethink over car insurance is driven almost entirely by price. In the past year, the average annual cost of full-coverage car insurance was up 12% to $2,278, according to Bankrate. This was in addition to a 7% increase a year before.
Real Estate
AEI housing market indicators, June 2024 (AEI)📊
AEI’s Edward Pinto and Tobias Peter find that Midwestern and Northeastern metros with historically moderate home price appreciation (HPA) growth are now experiencing the fastest appreciation rates. By comparison, many Southern and Western metros are now seeing low or negative year-over-year HPA growth since their 2022 peak levels. Despite these regional differences, the housing market remains hot, with the 60 largest US metros still experiencing a seller’s market.
Evictions surge in major cities in the American Sunbelt (WSJ🔒)📊
Tenant evictions look stuck at elevated levels in several corners of the U.S., showing little sign of returning to what was typical before the pandemic. Eviction filings over the past year in a half-dozen cities and surrounding metropolitan areas are up 35% or more compared with pre-2020 norms, according to the Eviction Lab, a research unit at Princeton University. This includes Las Vegas, Houston, and in Phoenix, where landlords filed more than 8,000 eviction notices in January. That was the most ever in a single month for the county that includes the Arizona capital. Phoenix eviction-court hearings often run for less than a minute. One judge signed off on an eviction after the tenant admitted to missing two rent payments.
Foreclosure activity in first half of 2024 down from previous year (ATTOM)📊
ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property and real estate data, [10 Jul 24] released its Midyear 2024 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows there were a total of 177,431 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions — in the first six months of 2024. That figure is down 4.4 percent from the same time period a year ago but up 7.8 percent from the same time period two years ago.
Personal Finance
The last time the S&P 500 dropped more than 2% was 512 days ago (Sherwood News)📊
The American stock market continues to climb higher, with the S&P 500 Index now just one more little uptick away from a 20% rise for 2024 — a surge that’s been about as smooth as it can be. The chart below shows every individual day on the US stock market since 2020: so far this year, the flagship American index has only moved more than 2% in either direction once, when it gained 2.1% back in February.
Technology
South Korea to mass produce lasers that can take out drones at $1.50 a hit (CNN)
South Korea is beginning the mass production of a low-cost laser weapon that has successfully shot down small drones during testing, the country’s key arms agency said Thursday. The laser weapon, called Block-I, “can precisely strike small unmanned aerial vehicles and multicopters at close range,” a news release from South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said. The release did not give a cost for the weapon, but said each shot fired would only cost about $1.50.
Cutting-edge technology could massively reduce the amount of energy used for air conditioning (Wired)📊
Cooling devours one-tenth of the world’s energy, or 20 percent of all energy used in buildings. The International Energy Agency expects demand for cooling to skyrocket in the next 25 years—with two-thirds of the world’s households expected to have an air conditioner of some kind by 2050. As the climate crisis deepens, judicious use of cooling will only be more important. For one thing, it has the potential to save many lives. But air conditioners, for all their usefulness, are far from sustainable. Cooling tech could, in principle, be far more efficient. The AirJoule system consists of two chambers, each one containing surfaces coated with this special material. They take turns at dehumidifying a flow of air. One chamber is always drying air that is pushed through the system while the other gradually releases the moisture it previously collected. A little heat from the drying chamber gets applied to the moisture-saturated coating in the other, since that helps to encourage the water to drip away for removal. These two cavities swap roles every 10 minutes or so, says Jore. This process doesn’t cool the air, but it does make it possible to feed dry air to a more traditional air conditioning device, drastically cutting how much energy that secondary device will use. And Jore claims that AirJoule consumes less than 100 watt-hours per liter of water vapor removed—potentially cutting the energy required for dehumidification by as much as 90 percent compared to a traditional dehumidifier.
What is old is new again (Pragmatic Engineer)
The past 18 months have seen major change reshape the tech industry. What does this mean for businesses, dev teams, and what will pragmatic software engineering approaches look like, in the future?
NOTE: VC funding is less, IPOs are fewer, big tech is making record profits but still engaging in layoffs, and the job market is tougher. Much of this is due to increased interest rates, which constrains margins.
Are three thumbs better than two? (WSJ🔒)
Scientists have asked a gripping question: Are three thumbs better than two? To find out, researchers at the University of Cambridge fabricated an artificial thumb using a 3-D printer and strapped it to the hands of more than 500 volunteers. The robotic appendage, attached to the pinky-side of participants’ hands, was controlled with pressure sensors placed under each big toe. Squeezing the right toe pulled the thumb across the hand, toward the biological thumb. Squeezing the left toe pulled the thumb up, toward the fingers. Ability levels varied for the participants, who ranged in age from 3 to 96, but nearly all could successfully manipulate objects using the third thumb, according to the researchers.
Engineering
World’s first mobile bricklayer robot that boosts construction speed enters US (Interesting Engineering)
The world’s first bricklayer robot that’s capable of safely working outdoors in uncontrolled environments has arrived in the United States. Hadrian X can build the walls of a house in situ in as little as a day. The giant machine is in the U.S. and once unloaded from the ship and cleared of customs, the next-generation Hadrian X will be transported to a facility in Fort Myers, Florida, according to reports. The company claims that the next-generation Hadrian X is designed with distributed control architecture, leading to a highly reliable system which allows for individual modules to be customised, repaired and swapped efficiently.
Cyber
Widespread technology outage disrupts flights, banks, media outlets and companies around the world (AP)
A global technology outage grounded flights, knocked banks offline and media outlets off air on Friday in a massive disruption that affected companies and services around the world and highlighted dependence on software from a handful of providers. Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said that the issue believed to be behind the outage was not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue affected Microsoft 365 apps and services, and escalating disruptions continued hours after the technology company said it was gradually fixing it. The website DownDectector, which tracks user-reported internet outages, recorded growing outages in services at Visa, ADT security and Amazon, and airlines including American Airlines and Delta. News outlets in Australia reported that airlines, telecommunications providers and banks, and media broadcasters were disrupted as they lost access to computer systems. Airlines in the U.K., Europe and India reported problems and some New Zealand banks said they were offline. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz posted on social media platform X that the company “is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.” He said: “This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.”
Nobody wants to BeReal (The Free Press)
At 9:01 p.m. on Monday, my phone buzzed with a notification: “⚠️Time to BeReal.⚠️ 2 min left to capture a BeReal and see what your friends are up to!” I clicked the notification and snapped a photo, which captured images with my front and back iPhone camera. I was on a street corner, on my way to the grocery store. It was pretty dull. But BeReal’s premise is to capture “real” moments like this one. The promise of BeReal is for users to escape the artificiality of other social media platforms and instead share uncurated moments in real time. Once a day, at a random time, the app prompts you to post a picture of whatever you’re doing. You are able to see other users’ photos only after you post your own. Since its inception in December 2019, the photo-sharing app’s popularity has rocketed from nonexistent to viral, before dropping off a cliff. And it’s unlikely to make a comeback. BeReal was acquired in mid-June for €500 million, or about $535 million, by Voodoo, a French video game developer.
Artificial Intelligence
AI’s ‘Oppenheimer moment’: autonomous weapons enter the battlefield (The Guardian)📊
Growing conflicts around the world have acted as both accelerant and testing ground for AI warfare, experts say, while making it even more evident how unregulated the nascent field is. The expansion of AI in conflict has shown that national militaries have an immense appetite for the technology, despite how unpredictable and ethically fraught it can be. The result is a multibillion-dollar AI arms race that is drawing in Silicon Valley giants and states around the world. The refrain among diplomats and weapons manufacturers is that AI-enabled warfare and autonomous weapons systems have reached their “Oppenheimer moment”, a reference to J Robert Oppenheimer’s development of the atomic bomb during the second world war. Depending on who is invoking the physicist, the phrase is either a triumphant prediction of a new, peaceful era of American hegemony or a grim warning of a horrifically destructive power.
Life
Comedian Bob Newhart, deadpan master of sitcoms and telephone monologues, dies at 94 (AP)
Bob Newhart, the deadpan accountant-turned-comedian who became one of the most popular TV stars of his time after striking gold with a classic comedy album, has died at 94. Jerry Digney, Newhart’s publicist, says the actor died Thursday in Los Angeles after a series of short illnesses. Newhart, best remembered now as the star of two hit television shows of the 1970s and 1980s that bore his name, launched his career as a standup comic in the late 1950s.
The ‘Newhart’ finale was one of Bob Newhart’s boldest TV moments (NYT🔒)📊
Open any search engine you like and type in these words: “best TV finales.” Scroll through the dozens — heck, hundreds — of articles written about which shows really “stuck the landing,” delivering the kind finish that fans still talk about. The “Newhart” finale should be on nearly all of those lists. For its last few minutes alone, “Newhart” deserves emeritus status on every roundup of best TV endings, best TV moments, funniest pranks, you name it. In perpetuity.
NOTE: A fun standup bit he did on Smothers Brothers:
Education
Schools in rich countries are making poor progress (Economist🔒)📊
Exams organised every few years by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, an outfit with its headquarters in the Netherlands, sometimes produce more positive results. Pupils and their families are rarely organised; this makes it easier for teachers’ unions to resist changes to, say, teacher training and evaluation that could push up results. A mass of research shows that developing brainiacs is the most reliable and lasting way to stoke economic growth.
Health
California becomes the first state to ban student gender notification policies (NYT🔒)
A year after school boards in California emerged as unlikely culture war battlegrounds, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed the nation’s first law prohibiting policies that force educators to tell parents if their children ask to use a different name or pronouns. The new law was applauded by L.G.B.T.Q. organizations who said it would protect the privacy and safety of transgender students, especially those who might fear their parents would not support their identity. But conservatives vowed to challenge the law in court, and Elon Musk, the Tesla chief executive, called it the “final straw” in a post on X, vowing to move the headquarters of X and Space X to Texas as a result of the bill signing.
Food & Drink
Bud Light slips to No. 3 after boycott reshaped beer industry (WSJ🔒)📊
Bud Light’s star is still falling more than a year after a boycott turned the U.S. beer industry upside down. The former favorite has tumbled to the No. 3 spot behind Modelo Especial and Michelob Ultra, recent sales data show. Bud Light represented 6.5% of beer dollar sales in U.S. stores in the four weeks ended July 6, compared with 7.3% for Michelob Ultra and 9.7% for Modelo, according to an analysis of NielsenIQ data by the consulting firm Bump Williams. Modelo Especial, a Mexican import sold by Constellation Brands, has outsold Bud Light by dollar sales since last year. In the four weeks that included this year’s July Fourth weekend, Modelo overtook Bud Light by sales volume, too, according to Bump Williams. The stretch between Memorial Day and July Fourth is crucial for the beer industry and can make or break a brewer’s year. The new rankings show the fallout from a Bud Light boycott that began in April 2023, when a transgender influencer posted an Instagram video about a personalized beer can that the brand had sent her as a gift. The following month Bud Light lost its spot as the top-selling beer in America and continued to be a target of the political right for much of the year. Though Donald Trump in February gave the beer a surprise endorsement, Bud Light’s sales have continued to fall, in part because U.S. retailers have reduced the amount of shelf space allocated to the brand.
How much alcohol can you drink a week and still be healthy? (WSJ🔒)📊
How much drinking is bad for you? Though more people are calling themselves sober-curious or are trying zero-proof replacements for alcohol, drinking is a regular part of social life for most of us. A coupe of champagne can add fun to a celebration. A cocktail can take the edge off a tough day. And a cold beer can liven up a sports game. Yet scientists’ warnings about the potential health problems of even small amounts of alcohol are growing more dire. For moderate drinkers, it can be hard to know what’s actually OK to consume: Is two a day that much worse than one? Are two drinks over a week the same as two in a day? Averaging no more than about one drink a day is relatively low risk, according to scientists who study alcohol. They warn the risk of cancer rises significantly when you exceed that. Studies have suggested that alcohol contributes to about half a dozen types of cancers, including breast and colorectal, as well as heart and liver disease, among other conditions.
Entertainment
The video game industry is much bigger than the box office (Sherwood News)📊
The trailer for a video game just hit 200 million views on YouTube. The 90-second clip of Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6) — packed with footage from the long-awaited next installment of the iconic game franchise — broke the milestone some 7 months after it was released, as fans continue to scrutinize the teaser for clues about the game that won’t be released until fall 2025. For context, the most popular trailer for last summer’s blockbuster hit Barbie has 85 million views on YouTube, while Oppenheimer racked up 71 million views. The excitement surrounding GTA 6 is a good reminder of just how colossal the gaming industry is. Indeed, the Entertainment Software Association and Circana reported that last year US consumers spent more than $57 billion on video games… roughly equivalent to the total US box office revenue for the last seven years combined.
To bring back a college football video game, it took 11,000 paydays (NYT🔒)
A primary reason many fans buy a new version of the same sports video game every year is to play with updated team rosters, ones filled with offseason acquisitions and unbridled optimism. But to comply with amateurism rules, college sports titles like the popular N.C.A.A. Football franchise long had to fill those rosters with thinly veiled stand-ins. That practice came under fire as the push to pay college athletes gained steam, drawing lawsuits that shelved the series after N.C.A.A. Football 14. But the landscape has undergone seismic shifts, and players can now be paid for the use of their name, image and likeness. When the rebranded EA Sports College Football 25 is released this week, it will contain more than 11,000 real-life players. Building the rosters for every Division I team from scratch was a technical challenge for EA Sports, a studio at Electronic Arts that created a machine learning tool to build player likenesses and spent more than $6 million to secure athlete participation. Each player who opted in and was ultimately included — whether Heisman Trophy favorite or third-string guard — is receiving $600 and a deluxe edition of the game (retail value $100).
Sports
Argentina wins record 16th Copa America title, beats Colombia 1-0 after Messi gets hurt (AP)
Lionel Messi pumped his arms. The trophy bounced up and down in his grasp. Tears of frustration from an hour or so earlier had turned to laughs and hugs for the two-time Copa America champion and World Cup winner. Messi was forced to watch much of the second half and extra time because of a leg injury. Still, Argentina won its second straight Copa America championship, beating Colombia 1-0 Sunday night on Lautaro Martínez’s 112th-minute goal.
Spain wins record fourth European Championship title by inflicting another painful loss on England (AP)
Spain is the king of European soccer for a record fourth time. For England, it’s another agonizing near-miss in the team’s decades-long tale of underachievement. Completing a tournament the team dominated from start to finish, Spain beat England 2-1 in the European Championship final on Sunday with Mikel Oyarzabal the unlikely match-winner in the 86th minute. Oyarzabal, a backup striker who came on as a substitute for captain Alvaro Morata, slid in to poke home a left-wing cross by Marc Cucurella, just when the game at Berlin’s Olympiastadion seemed destined for extra time.
Major League Baseball affiliate teams (MiLB)
NOTE: This is a chart of Minor League Baseball (MiLB) teams aligned to their Major League Baseball (MLB) team. It’s fun to see the names and logos of the 30 MLB teams and 120 MiLB teams (not including the 85 MiLB Rookie League Teams). This also doesn’t include 50 teams that are in the MLB Partner League with no direct affiliation to an MLB team, or the 24 teams in non-partner independent leagues. For those of you counting along, that’s 309 teams. Oh, and don’t forget MiLB’s newest team, The Malmö Oat Milkers. From the MiLB:
“…the introduction of The Malmö Oat Milkers to the league is part of Oatly’s ongoing multi-year partnership with MiLB as the first-ever national plant-based, non-dairy sponsor, and pays homage to Oatly’s home city of Malmö, Sweden. All of MiLB’s already existing 120 teams are each playing one game this season as the Oat Milkers,…making the Oat Milkers more than just the 121st team of MiLB, but also an occasion for our local players to wear non-generic, but also non-outlandish pink accented jerseys for nine entire innings. Fans are under no obligation to wear Oat Milkers’ gear, but we’re told Oatly – the corporate sponsors – would love that.”
Have a great weekend!
The Curator
Two resources to help you be a more discerning reader:
AllSides - https://www.allsides.com/unbiased-balanced-news
Media Bias Chart - https://www.adfontesmedia.com/
Caveat: Even these resources/charts are biased. Who says that the system they use to describe news sources is accurate? Still, hopefully you find them useful as a basic guide or for comparison.