“The typical time that broadcast networks report on the advertising world is just before Super Bowl Sunday, to give viewers an advance peek at what companies will be shelling out millions to display. The clothing company American Eagle just scored a marketing coup with ad with White actress Sydney Sweeney making a sly joke about her ‘genes’ and her jeans. ‘Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color,’ cooed the actress. ‘My jeans are blue.’ This quickly spurred outrage from purple-haired TikTokers and leftist websites complaining about ‘centering Whiteness’ and ‘fascist propaganda.’ On Tuesday, July 29, ABC’s ‘Good Morning America First Look’ was already employing the word ‘backlash.'” (08/02/25)
“A household sweetener could hold the potential to create an anti-cancer treatment. New research from Hiroshima University in Japan revealed that stevia leaf extract could help fight pancreatic cancer cells. The leaves of the stevia plant (Stevia rebaudiana) are used to make stevia extract, a naturally sweet substance commonly used as a sugar substitute. The study, published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, investigated the anti-cancer properties of stevia leaf extract when it is fermented with a certain strain of bacteria. In laboratory research, the fermented extract exhibited ‘significantly enhanced antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity’ against pancreatic cancer cells, the researchers revealed. This led them to believe that this substance could serve as a ‘promising candidate for pancreatic cancer treatment.'” (08/03/25)
“Dahud Ortiz is a post-traumatic Marine Corps veteran who traveled to Madrid to kill an attorney who’d been chatting with his wife and ended up killing an associate and two clients instead, setting fire to the office to cover his tracks. Vladimir Antonio Arevalo Chavez is a high-ranking MS-13 official who allegedly forged alliances with major Mexican drug organizations that ultimately cartelized the theretofore fragmented ‘coyote’ business of migrating to the United States, putting poor border-crossers in debt to organized crime figures. … Eric Adams allegedly took millions of dollars in direct bribes and illegal campaign contributions and is accused by a former police chief of transforming the New York Police Department into a ‘criminal enterprise’ for enriching allies and illegally arresting and launching tabloid smear campaigns against political enemies.” (08/01/25)
“Federal authorities have arrested a man on charges he took part in a string of ATM robberies that nabbed more than $4 million in a monthslong spree that targeted dozens of institutions along the West Coast, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California. Authorities arrested Diego Ananias Arellano Diaz, who also allegedly used the alias Fabio Cristian Hernandez, in Newport Beach on July 29 on charges of bank robbery and conspiracy to commit bank robbery. Officials from the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleged Diaz is part of an 11-person robbery crew that targeted at least 29 vulnerable banks and credit unions in California, Oregon and Washington since October 2024.” (08/01/25)
“Many of my friends and former neighbors in New York — where I lived for 27 years — are anxious about the city’s future if it elects as mayor a self-proclaimed Muslim socialist. Another great world capital already offers a glimpse of what might lie ahead: London, under its far-left mayor, Sadiq Khan. I recently returned to my native London for the first time in more than two decades. What I found wasn’t the inclusive, cosmopolitan capital I had known and loved but a city so altered in tone and appearance that I scarcely recognized it. Over the course of a fortnight in June, neighborhood after neighborhood left me feeling not just like a visitor, but like a stranger in my own birthplace.” (08/02/25)
“The National Science Foundation can continue to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars from researchers in several states until litigation aimed at restoring it plays out, a federal court ruled Friday. U.S. District Judge John Cronan in New York declined to force the NSF to restart payments immediately, while the case is still being decided, as requested by the sixteen Democrat-led states who brought the suit …. Cronan said he would not grant the preliminary injunction in part because it may be that another court, the Court of Federal Claims, has jurisdiction over what is essentially a case about money. He also said the states failed to show that NSF’s actions were counter to the agency’s mandate. The lawsuit filed in May alleges that the National Science Foundation’s new grant-funding priorities as well as a cap on what’s known as indirect research expenses ‘violate the law and jeopardize America’s longstanding global leadership in STEM.'” (08/01/25)
“Over the past week, as multiple international bodies, human rights organizations and health workers warn that Gaza’s starvation crisis has reached a tipping point, and Palestinians there are facing ‘the worst-case scenario of famine,’ politicians and pundits across the political spectrum have discovered a new sense of urgency. On July 24, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), speaking on the Senate floor, decried mass starvation and pleaded with Israel to change course. Two days later, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) posted on X about Gaza’s ’humanitarian crisis’ and the need to ’flood the zone’ with aid, noting that ’the strategy of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’ has failed. The day after that, former President Barack Obama denounced ‘the travesty of innocent people dying of preventable starvation.’ But it wasn’t just centrist Democrats. Within the last week, there have been abrupt shifts in many corners of the Right as well.” (08/01/25)
“Former President Barack Obama will not face charges for treason, sedition or any other crime in the wake of newly disclosed intel. Whether Obama’s actions, if true, meet the elements of a crime is, of course, one thing. But this is not the primary reason Obama has little to worry about. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard claims newly uncovered documents show how Obama and intelligence officials worked during the 2016 presidential campaign to help elect former Secretary of State and Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton. Gabbard contends that Obama’s director of national intelligence, FBI head and CIA knowingly used false and sketchy evidence and sources to help Clinton distract from the growing controversy over her unsecured basement server, a likely violation of the Espionage Act. They did so by concocting a fake attention-drawing scandal: Candidate Donald Trump colluded with Russia to win the election.” (07/31/25)
“Auction house Sotheby’s has returned a set of sacred jewels believed to be linked to the Buddha’s remains to India, after facing mounting pressure from the Indian government and global Buddhist leaders. The Piprahwa Gems — described by archaeologists as one of the most astonishing finds of the modern era — were due to be auctioned in Hong Kong in May. But the sale was called off following diplomatic intervention and threats of legal action from Delhi. The Mumbai-based conglomerate Godrej Industries Group has acquired the jewels, Sotheby’s said. Sotheby’s said it was ‘delighted’ to facilitate the return, following two months of negotiations involving the owner, the new buyer and the Indian government. The relics will now go on permanent public display in India, the auction house said.” (07/31/25)
“U.S. President Donald Trump is not a fan of sharks or the ocean. From gutting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, to seeking the expansion of offshore oil drilling and deep-sea mining while attacking wind energy, his view of our public seas is that they’ll make a good gas station and garbage dump. And, this view is reflected in his major legacy bill recently passed into law by the MAGA majority in Congress. But there’s been little discussion about how this bill will impact our public seas. So, we (Vicki Nichols Goldman and myself) spoke with George Leonard, former chief scientist with the Ocean Conservancy and an ocean policy consultant about what’s going on.” (07/31/25)
