Sunday, August 17
Tourism
Halbergman/Getty Images
Fewer people are putting themselves at risk of losing their home playing roulette or misplacing the groom after a debaucherous bachelor party. Las Vegas is experiencing a tourism slump, which experts attribute to larger American trends of a slowing economy and a decline in foreign travelers:
- Visitor numbers overall were 11% lower in June compared to the year before, after declining for six months straight on a year-to-year basis, per the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
- There were also 11% fewer networkers expensing $18 cocktails convention-goers visiting the city, compared to June 2024.
What happens in Vegas…has roots outside of Vegas
The vacant slot machines at Caesars Palace could be indicative of how Americans feel about their wallets, since it takes financial chutzpah to gamble. Experts say that economic anxieties are making Americans more guarded in their leisure spending, as evidenced by how they scaled back on their vacation budgets this spring, according to a recent Deloitte survey.
Rising labor costs and fewer gambling enticements like bargain steak tips may have diminished the bang for the buck of the entertainment mecca, prompting some to consider destinations without daily $50 resort fees and more hiking instead.
Plus, foreigners foregoing stateside travel is hitting Las Vegas harder than other places as it is the fifth most popular destination for foreign visitors to the US:
The vacant slot machines at Caesars Palace could be indicative of how Americans feel about their wallets, since it takes financial chutzpah to gamble. Experts say that economic anxieties are making Americans more guarded in their leisure spending, as evidenced by how they scaled back on their vacation budgets this spring, according to a recent Deloitte survey.
Rising labor costs and fewer gambling enticements like bargain steak tips may have diminished the bang for the buck of the entertainment mecca, prompting some to consider destinations without daily $50 resort fees and more hiking instead.
Plus, foreigners foregoing stateside travel is hitting Las Vegas harder than other places as it is the fifth most popular destination for foreign visitors to the US:
- The number of international tourists visiting Sin City declined 13% in June from a year ago—part of a nationwide trend that industry experts attribute to tightening border control and frustration with American politics.
- Canadians, who make up the largest group of foreign visitors to Vegas, have cooled on trips south of the border after President Trump imposed steep tariffs on the nation and referred to it as the 51st US state. Some of the dropoff might also be due to cost of living challenges within Canada, University of Ottawa economist Isabelle Salle recently told the Guardian.
But…Vegas isn’t ready to fold. Some Americans might just be postponing their Vegas vacations in anticipation of major events soon to be hosted by the city, including the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix in November, the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and concerts by Paul McCartney and the Backstreet Boys, casino industry consultant Oliver Lovat told NPR.—SK
Robert Reich
Friends,
People ask me almost daily: “Can he really do this?”
My answer: He’ll do anything he can get away with.
He believes he can get away with anything as long as his Republican lapdogs remain in control of Congress, as long as congressional Democrats remain wimpy and disunited, as long as the Supreme Court immunizes him from prosecution, and as long as he feels he can disregard lower-court rulings with impunity.
This is why it’s so urgent that We the People are rising up — making a ruckus at Republican town halls, phoning our senators and representatives so often we’re jamming congressional switchboards, joining our local Indivisible resistance groups, demonstrating, forming sanctuary communities, and boycotting corporations (such as Tesla and Target) that are caving to Trump.
At A Glance
Why gas station pizza is the most popular pizza in the US.
How hotels are shrinking room size to grow profits.
What it's like to have ADHD.
How "Keep Calm and Carry On" was forgotten for 60 years.
See the difference location makes in Google results.
Virtually walk over 200 major cities from Paris to Shanghai.
The inside story of NASA's sprawling space shuttle program.
Charting runner Adrien Friggeri's daily runs over a decade.
What would happen if everyone turned the lights on at once?
A gallery of close-ups on snowflakes.
Why Hitchcock struggled to make films at his peak in the 1960s.
There's a name for the bouncy texture of noodles and gummy candy: Q.
One feather bed required 1,700 passenger pigeons to make.
Seven decades of late-night TV's biggest moments.
The story of the "Atomic Bowl" played in Nagasaki in January 1946.
In The NEWS
Justice Department removes newly named DC emergency police chief.
The move came after Washington, DC, sought an emergency restraining order against President Donald Trump's effort to federalize the city's police force (see previous write-up). The lawsuit followed Attorney General Pam Bondi's decision to name Drug Enforcement Administration head Terry Cole as Washington's emergency police commissioner. DC's police chief will remain in charge but will be expected to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
Trump and Putin meet at a US military base in Alaska.
President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and their top advisors met privately for over 2.5 hours Friday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine (see previous write-up). The leaders shook hands on the tarmac of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson before the meeting and later held a joint press conference, during which they signaled they had made progress but offered no details. Trump said he intended to have further conversations with Putin and NATO leaders. See takeaways here.
University of Michigan football fined for sign-stealing.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association hit the University of Michigan with fines potentially topping $30M for a sign-stealing operation during the 2023-24 season. The penalties include a $50K payment, plus 10% of the school's football budget, 10% of the cost of all football scholarships awarded this season, and all anticipated 2025 and 2026 postseason revenue. Head coach Sherrone Moore also faces a three-game suspension.
Strange rock on Mars may reveal ancient life.
A Martian rock named Sapphire Canyon and a powerful laser technique could aid scientists searching for life on Mars. Collected by NASA's Perseverance rover, the rock features white, leopard-like spots that point to organic origins. When Sapphire Canyon eventually arrives on Earth, NASA researchers plan to analyze it with a novel imaging method that efficiently identified the composition of a visually similar rock found in Arizona. Separately, Perseverance found a helmet-shaped rock this month.
Rapper Sean Kingston sentenced to prison for $1M fraud scheme.
Kingston, whose legal name is Kisean Paul Anderson, will serve 3.5 years in federal prison for persuading sellers to give him luxury goods and forging payment records. The 35-year-old "Beautiful Girls" singer conspired with his mother, Janice Eleanor Turner, who was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud earlier this year. Turner was sentenced last month to five years in prison.
UnitedHealth Group shares jump following Buffett's investment.
The healthcare company's shares jumped 12% Friday after a federal filing showed billionaire investor Warren Buffett's holding company Berkshire Hathaway bought 5 million shares, worth about $1.6B. UnitedHealth's shares had been down nearly 50% for 2025 before the news broke. The largest private health insurer faces a federal probe into its Medicare billing practices.
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
It's Just Sunday
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Sundays have traditionally been a day for relaxation from six days of work, while others work only five days and have both Saturday and Sunday off. Sundays have also been the day where those who are religious attend a church of their choice, and still others who give the entire day to their religious beliefs and practices.
This was true for me while I was growing up with my parents but we attended Sunday School and the Church Service and put everything else religious behind us for the rest of the day. Two hours and that was it. Sundays always started off with waffles for breakfast and after church, we would drive down to the shopping center, one half mile away and have ice cream during the summer. One scoop cone for everyone.
What brother me with that routine was the fact that religious feelings and expressions were no longer required or sought from Monday through Saturday, even though at night, when we were very young, prayers before bedtime were required, and grace was also given only at dinner. What about the other two meals?
Other issues were the inconsistencies that I learned from Sunday School and Church Services that were never fully explained to my satisfaction like:
- where is heaven and hell?
- my kingdom is not of this world... so, where is it?
- why did Jesus have long hair?
- why is Jesus portrayed as Caucasian when he is not?
- giving birth without insemination.
- how could Jesus be God's son when Jesus is referred to as God incarnate or God as a human?
- Adam and Eve committed incest in order to create the human race.
- why does the Bible indicate the universe is only 6000 years old when science has proven that is not accurate.
- why hasn't God/Bible anticipated computers, cell phones, and the internet?
I have no problems with those who believe, my concern is that while I believe there is a creator, I don't much faith in the Bible and its contents, especially since a group of humans decided what books would be included in the Bible and what books would not.
IBM and Moderna have simulated the longest mRNA pattern without AI
Researchers at IBM and Moderna have successfully used a quantum simulation algorithm to predict the complex secondary protein structure of a 60-nucleotide-long mRNA sequence, the longest ever simulated on a quantum computer.
Messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a molecule that carries genetic information from DNA to ribosomes. It directs protein synthesis in cells and is used to create effective vaccines capable of instigating specific immune responses.
It’s widely believed that all the information required for a protein to adopt the correct three-dimensional conformation is provided by its amino acid sequence or "folding."
Saturday, August 16
Headlines
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Getty Images
Trump says meeting with Putin in Alaska “productive,” but provided no specifics. The meeting between the US and Russian presidents lasted about three hours and ended abruptly, with both leaders making statements to the press but taking no questions. In Russian, Putin said, “I would like to hope that the understanding we have reached will allow us to get closer to that goal and open the way to peace in Ukraine.” Trump said, “We had an extremely productive meeting and many points were agreed to, there are just a very few that are left. We didn’t get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there.” Afterward, Trump gave an exclusive interview to Sean Hannity on Fox News, where he said, “Now, it’s really up to President Zelensky to get it done.” Zelensky was not invited to this meeting, but Trump said he would be briefing the Ukrainian president and NATO leaders on what transpired.—HVL
Americans shopped hard in July, but it may not last. US retail sales gained more than expected last month (+0.5%) and June’s figures were revised higher, showing that Americans were feeling plenty flush to spend on a broad range of goods this summer. Amazon’s four-day Prime Day sale surely helped, too. But other data released yesterday suggested more penny-pinching ahead: US consumer sentiment fell in August after climbing every month since May, and expectations for inflation jumped. Nearly 60% of Americans plan on curbing spending this year, the most recent University of Michigan survey found.—NF
DC’s police chief is back in charge. Less than a day after US Attorney General Pam Bondi issued an order that stripped the Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith of her authority in Washington, DC, the Trump administration rescinded it. The reversal followed an emergency hearing yesterday in federal court for a lawsuit filed by DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb, which challenged Bondi’s appointment of Drug Enforcement Administration Chief Terry Cole as the city’s emergency police chief. After the hearing, the Department of Justice filed a new order making Cole Bondi’s “designee.” While Smith can resume control of the day-to-day operations of the department, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser still must fulfill policing requests from the Trump administration.—HVL
Bookkeeping
> $2B: Largest single donation to a US university, college, or academic health center; made by Nike's cofounder to an Oregon cancer research center.
> 82 mph: Speed of a pitch thrown by a 12-year-old boy in the Little League World Series; equivalent to a major league pitcher throwing 107 mph.
> $300K-500K: Anticipated hammer price for a bundle including the handwritten code to an unsolved secret message in the CIA headquarters.
Browse
> The great debate over who invented the bratwurst.
> A mathematical algorithm to win Guess Who.
> Don't throw away those fruit scraps—use them in a cocktail.
> Why more men than ever are getting plastic surgery.
> Gen Z enjoys living in these global cities.
Listen
> He was a politician, con man ... and murderer?
> "Why don't we sell our house, build a boat, and go?"
Watch
> Think twice before using "buy now, pay later."
> A ride in New York City's disappearing horse elevators.
> Crows are smarter than you might think.
Long Read
> Would you eat this bug to save the world?
> Instagrammers cannot escape the 9-to-5 lifestyle.
> Precarious livelihood of southern Ontario's worm hunters.
Best of the Week: Petunia is crowned world's ugliest dog.
Historybook: Gold is discovered in Canada’s Yukon Territory, sparks Klondike gold rush (1896); Babe Ruth dies (1948); Sports Illustrated is first published (1954); Madonna is born (1958); Elvis Presley dies (1977); Aretha Franklin dies (2018).
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