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The uncomfortable fact about the stock market’s historic run is that no one is sure why it’s happening

The uncomfortable fact about the stock market’s historic run is that no one is sure why it’s happening

Rogé Karma writes: Can anything stop the stock market? The U.S. economy recently weathered the worst pandemic in 100 years, the worst inflation in 40 years, and the highest interest rates in 20 years. Yet from 2019 through 2024, the S&P 500 grew by an average of nearly 20 percent a year, about double its historical average rate. Despite President Donald Trump’s erratic economic policies, which include the highest tariffs since the 19th century, the market is already up by…

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Hegseth promotes abolition of women’s voting rights

Hegseth promotes abolition of women’s voting rights

The Associated Press reports: The man who oversees the nation’s military reposted a video about a Christian nationalist church that included various pastors saying women should no longer be allowed to vote. The extraordinary repost on X from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, made Thursday night, illustrates his deep and personal connection to a Christian nationalist pastor with extreme views on the role of religion and women. In the post, Hegseth commented on an almost seven-minute-long report by CNN examining Doug…

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Crypto’s richest man, Changpeng Zhao, campaigns for a pardon

Crypto’s richest man, Changpeng Zhao, campaigns for a pardon

The New York Times reports: In 2023, as Changpeng Zhao, the founder of the giant cryptocurrency exchange Binance, prepared to plead guilty to U.S. money-laundering violations, he fashioned a crash course for himself on clemency politics, reading books about business tycoons who had received pardons, including Marc Rich and Michael Milken. Two years later, Mr. Zhao, a Chinese-born billionaire, is out of prison and mounting a pardon campaign of his own, backed by a sophisticated influence operation worthy of those…

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As electric bills rise, evidence mounts that data centers share blame

As electric bills rise, evidence mounts that data centers share blame

The Associated Press reports: Amid rising electric bills, states are under pressure to insulate regular household and business ratepayers from the costs of feeding Big Tech’s energy-hungry data centers. It’s not clear that any state has a solution and the actual effect of data centers on electricity bills is difficult to pin down. Some critics question whether states have the spine to take a hard line against tech behemoths like Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta. But more than a dozen…

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On controlling fire, new lessons from a deep indigenous past

On controlling fire, new lessons from a deep indigenous past

Yale Environment 360 reports: Climate change is extending the season during which hot and dry weather encourages fire across North America. At the same time, a long post-settlement history of stamping out wildfires has changed much of the continent’s landscape: Forests are thicker, which allows fires to spread up into the canopy, and more uniform, with fewer bare patches that might otherwise slow a fire’s progress. As a result, wildfires now tend to grow hotter and bigger: Some say we…

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How animals heal themselves

How animals heal themselves

Emory University: In 2010, Emory biologist Jaap de Roode published the discovery that monarch butterflies use medicine to cure their offspring of disease. His lab revealed how, if infected with a parasite, the female butterflies prefer to lay their eggs on a species of milkweed containing higher levels of a toxic chemical. The caterpillars eat the milkweed, ingest the toxin, and reduce the parasite load in their bodies. With that finding, de Roode joined the vanguard of scientists uncovering how…

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Will the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, Norway’s, divest from Israel?

Will the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, Norway’s, divest from Israel?

+972 reports: In 1990, Norway established the Oil Fund, a long-term investment vehicle to manage the country’s growing oil and gas revenues. Formally known as the Government Pension Fund Global, its primary aims were to safeguard these revenues for future generations and to protect the Norwegian economy, increasingly reliant on oil, from global market volatility. Managed by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) with operational independence under the central bank, the Oil Fund invests globally in equities, real estate, government bonds,…

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Germany halts export to Israel of arms that could be used in Gaza as global outcry grows

Germany halts export to Israel of arms that could be used in Gaza as global outcry grows

The Guardian reports: The German chancellor has indicated a significant shift in Berlin’s staunch support for Israel by stopping the export of military equipment that could be used in Gaza, as international partners condemned Israeli plans to take control of Gaza City. Friedrich Merz issued a sharply worded statement signalling the reversal after several weeks of openly criticising Israel’s “unclear” policy goals in Gaza and the unfolding humanitarian disaster there but stopping short of concrete consequences in policy. The German…

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New wave of Palestinian popular struggle takes root

New wave of Palestinian popular struggle takes root

+972 reports: In recent weeks, Palestinian grassroots mobilization has gathered remarkable momentum, particularly within the 1948 territories and the occupied West Bank. This surge reflects a growing effort to reconnect with a reinvigorated wave of global solidarity that has persisted, and even expanded, despite severe crackdowns on pro-Palestinian movements across the United States and much of Europe. All signs suggest that this momentum will continue to grow, potentially building toward a broader popular uprising, one capable of pushing back against…

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A legal standoff in Texas

A legal standoff in Texas

Anna Bower writes: A bitter political and legal battle is unfolding in Texas. On Sunday, more than 51 Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives fled the state in an effort to block Republican attempts to re-draw the state’s congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Hours later, Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to remove the absent lawmakers from office if they didn’t return for a scheduled floor debate by 3 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 4. In response, the Democrats invoked a…

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The Trump regime wants to go ‘all in’ on AI. There are big risks

The Trump regime wants to go ‘all in’ on AI. There are big risks

Science News reports: Under a newly released action plan for artificial intelligence, the technology will be integrated into U.S. government functions. The plan, announced July 23, is another step in the Trump administration’s push for an “AI-first strategy.” In July, for instance, the U.S. Department of Defense handed out $200 million contracts to Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and xAI. Elon Musk’s xAI announced “Grok for Government,” where federal agencies can purchase AI products through the General Services Administration. And all that…

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‘He’s the best thing that’s happened to us’: How neo-Nazis and other white extremists have been empowered by Trump

‘He’s the best thing that’s happened to us’: How neo-Nazis and other white extremists have been empowered by Trump

Reuters reports: Wearing cargo shorts, flip-flops and a baseball cap shading his eyes from the sun, Dalton Henry Stout blends in easily in rural America. Except for the insignia on his hat. It bears the skull and crossbones of the infamous “Death’s Head” SS units that oversaw Nazi Germany’s concentration camps – and the initials “AFN,” short for Aryan Freedom Network, the neo-Nazi group Stout leads with his partner. From a modest ranch house in Texas, the couple oversee a…

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Ultra-processed foods, source of a chronic disease epidemic, make up the majority of children’s diets

Ultra-processed foods, source of a chronic disease epidemic, make up the majority of children’s diets

NBC News reports: Ultra-processed foods make up the bulk of what kids eat — and adults aren’t far behind, a report published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds. About 62% of kids’ and teens’ daily calories came from ultra-processed foods, the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics found, compared with 53% for adults. The report marks the first time CDC has provided estimates about how much ultra-processed foods make up Americans’ diets. Health and Human Services…

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Netanyahu aims to fully control Gaza despite warnings of mass death

Netanyahu aims to fully control Gaza despite warnings of mass death

The Guardian reports: Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel intends to take military control of all of Gaza in defiance of warnings that such a move would lead to countless more Palestinian deaths, further mass displacement and endanger Israeli hostages still held in the territory. Before a security cabinet meeting to discuss Gaza’s future, the Israeli prime minister insisted that Israel does not want to ultimately govern the territory and would hand over that responsibility to friendly Arab nations….

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