“I check the Washington Post every day for work purposes (though I do so through a website that bypasses their paywall because screw the left-wing media) because, while the paper is marinated in left-wing bias, they generally get the basic facts correct as far as the ‘who, what, where and when’ of a story. And while they cover the unintentionally absurd more often than is likely healthy, sometimes they have stories that make you wonder what the hell is happening with our own side. One great example of a ‘what the hell is happening here’ story run just the other day that opened with, ‘Orange juice, known for its tangy, sweet taste, could be made with slightly less sugary oranges under a regulation proposed Tuesday by the Trump administration.’ Orange juice is an issue now?” (08/07/25)
“It’s not every day a state manages to burn through billions and still ask for more. But California’s high-speed rail project has always been exceptional in that way. Last month, the federal government finally said enough, scrapping $4 billion in funding after years of missed deadlines, ballooning budgets and political theatrics. You’d think that would halt the train. Instead, the state celebrated by tweeting about construction jobs and posting photos of rebar. Ten years ago, I did the math and showed that for the price of California’s high-speed rail project, we could fly every Californian roundtrip to Tokyo, buy them a bullet train ticket to Kyoto and put them up for two nights at the Ritz-Carlton. And we’d still have money left over for sushi. A decade later, the bullet train still hasn’t arrived. But the fantasy rolls on, powered by taxpayer dollars and bureaucratic inertia.” (08/07/25)
“The Zambian government has dismissed claims of dangerous pollution in the Copperbelt mining region, following safety concerns raised by the US embassy. On Wednesday, the US embassy issued a health alert, ordering the immediate withdrawal of its personnel in Kitwe town and nearby areas due to concerns of ‘widespread contamination of water and soil’ linked to a February spill at the Sino-Metals mine. … Zambia’s government spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa hit back, saying the ‘laboratory results show that PH levels have returned to normal’ in the area and the water was safe to drink.” (08/07/25)
“Mexico is reportedly on the cusp of signing a new security agreement with the United States. This comes in the wake of a near stop in illegal border crossings and a temporary reprieve on higher trade tariffs. According to President Claudia Sheinbaum, the pact would address intelligence sharing, the outflow of fentanyl from Mexico, and the inflow of smuggled guns from the U.S. The tariff pause and security deal highlight Mexico’s measurable, if incremental, progress in tackling organized crime and violence. These efforts don’t just placate the country’s largest trading partner; they respond to citizen demands. Mexicans want the economic progress fostered by safety and rule of law. Last month, Mexico announced a new strategy to combat extortion, which cost the economy an estimated $1.3 billion a year in 2023. The plan includes a reporting hotline and better investigations of suspicious cash flows.” (08/06/25)
“Harvard University professor Alberto Ascherio’s research is literally frozen. Collected from millions of U.S. soldiers over two decades using millions of dollars from taxpayers, the epidemiology and nutrition scientist has blood samples stored in liquid nitrogen freezers within the university’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The samples are key to his award-winning research, which seeks a cure to multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases. But for months, Ascherio has been unable to work with the samples because he lost $7 million in federal research funding, a casualty of Harvard’s fight with the Trump administration. ‘It’s like we have been creating a state-of-the-art telescope to explore the universe, and now we don’t have money to launch it,’ said Ascherio. ‘We built everything and now we are ready to use it to make a new discovery that could impact millions of people in the world and then ‘Poof. You’re being cut off!”” (08/07/25)
“Economists across the political spectrum predicted that President Trump’s trade negotiations would end in disaster. Now that his Aug. 1 deadline has passed without the sky falling — and with multiple advantageous deals completed — it’s time to seriously re-evaluate the flawed arguments the experts made against his strategy. Many, it turns out, made basic errors in economic reasoning. On the left, Nobel laureate and Columbia professor Joseph Stiglitz declared in January that Trump’s policy was ‘very bad for America and for the world,’ while University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers called it ‘impressively destructive.’ On the right, prominent free-market advocates like George Mason’s Donald Boudreaux also voiced strong opposition. Yet their arguments against tariffs revealed a fundamental misunderstanding: They decried tariffs as uniquely harmful, while ignoring that the same logic applies to all taxes.” (08/06/25)
“New evidence suggests people returned to live among the ruins of Pompeii after the ancient Roman city was devastated by a volcanic eruption. Archaeologists believe some survivors who could not afford to start a new life elsewhere returned to the site and may have been joined by others looking for a place to settle. Pompeii was home to more than 20,000 people before Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD79, burying – and preserving – much of the city, before its rediscovery in the 16th century. There had been previous speculation that survivors had returned to the ruins, and archaeologists at the site said in a statement on Wednesday that the theory appears to have been confirmed by new research.” (08/07/25)
“On the last day of June, the Healey-Driscoll administration shocked community leaders, stakeholders, and residents across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with their announcement of their $360 million proposal to build upon the MCI-Framingham prison site. This came as a surprise to many politicians and constituents alike, as the administration had been nearly radio silent about any developments concerning the MCI-Framingham project since November 2024. The Healey-Driscoll administration has failed to be transparent with Massachusetts constituents regarding this plan. Information requests made by constituents and organizations about the status of this plan were ignored. This is especially concerning given the fact that many of these inquirers have been deeply involved in the Free Her Campaign — a movement and policy platform focused on criminal justice reform in the state.” (08/07/25)
“Almost a million more deaths than births were recorded in Japan last year, representing the steepest annual population decline since government surveys began in 1968. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has described the demographic crisis of Japan’s ageing population as a ‘quiet emergency,’ pledging family-friendly policies such as free childcare and more flexible work hours. But efforts to reverse the perennially low birth rates among Japanese women have so far made little impact. New data released on Wednesday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed the number of Japanese nationals fell by 908,574 in 2024. Japan recorded 686,061 births — the lowest number since records began in 1899 — while nearly 1.6 million people died, meaning for every baby born, more than two people died. It marks the 16th consecutive year of population decline with the squeeze being felt by the nation’s pension and healthcare systems.” (08/07/25)
“In the wake of bombshell declassified documents showing the Obama White House and deep state players manufacturing the intelligence report that jump-started the Russia collusion hoax, a new poll finds a majority of Americans believe President Barack Obama’s national security team ‘committed crimes.’ More than two-thirds (69%) of likely voters in a Rasmussen Report telephone and online survey said there must be consequences for crimes committed in the Russiagate scandal. The poll of 1,172 likely voters asked respondents, ‘Do you agree or disagree with this statement about the manipulation of intelligence in the Obama administration: “Accountability has to take place. … It is critical for the survival of our country that people who perpetrate such crimes are held accountable?”‘ And 54 percent believe it’s likely that members of former President Barack Obama’s national security team ‘committed crimes’ when they ‘manipulated and manufactured intelligence to promote a false narrative about Russia and President Donald Trump.'” (08/06/25)
