Sunday, August 24
In The NEWS
Federal Reserve may soon cut interest rates.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled possible interest rate cuts in a speech yesterday at the central bank's annual meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Powell cited a recent slowdown in monthly job growth as a reason for potential rate cuts. The Federal Reserve will meet next in September; it has kept rates unchanged for five consecutive meetings since December. US stock markets closed higher (S&P 500 +1.5%, Dow +1.9%, Nasdaq +1.9%).
Intel to give US government nearly 10% stake.
Approximately $8.9B in federal grants awarded but not yet paid to Intel under the 2022 CHIPS Act and the Pentagons's Secure Enclave program will be converted to equity. Under the deal, the government will become Intel's largest shareholder but will not take a board seat or have decision-making rights. The government could get another 5% stake if Intel's ownership of its contract manufacturing business drops below 51%. The chipmaker's shares closed up 5.5% on the news.
DOJ releases recent Ghislaine Maxwell interviews.
The Justice Department yesterday released interviews conducted last month between Maxwell—convicted of aiding Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operation—and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Maxwell said she never saw President Donald Trump engage in inappropriate behavior, former President Bill Clinton never visited Epstein's private island, and she did not believe Epstein died by suicide, among other claims. See developing takeaways from the 329-page transcript here.
Little League World Series enters homestretch.
The final four teams compete in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, today for a spot in tomorrow's championship game (3 pm ET, ABC). Nevada and Connecticut face off in the US bracket final at 3:30 pm ET today after Chinese Taipei takes on Aruba in the international bracket final at 12:30 pm ET. All players are between the ages of 10 and 12, and the games typically have six innings, as opposed to Major League Baseball's nine. Learn more about the league's rules here.
Canada to drop retaliatory tariffs on many US goods.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced yesterday Canada will remove 25% counter-tariffs on US products covered under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement by Sept. 1. The move matches American policy, which exempts Canada's USMCA-compliant goods from US tariffs, and came after the nation's leaders spoke by phone Thursday. Canada's 25% levies on US autos, steel, and aluminum will hold.
UN-backed body confirms famine in Gaza.
After 22 months of war, over half a million people in the Gaza City region are experiencing famine, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. The global authority on hunger yesterday raised its food insecurity assessment in the area to its highest level. The initiative expects famine to hit the southern Gaza Strip within weeks if Israel does not end restrictions on humanitarian aid deliveries.
Judge orders wind-down of Alligator Alcatraz.
A US district judge ordered Florida and the federal government to stop sending immigrants to a detention center in the Everglades, known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” and to dismantle much of the center within 60 days (read previous write-up). The judge sided with environmentalists and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, who argued the facility was built without proper environmental reviews. Florida filed notice of its intent to appeal.
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Why Vote???
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Many of us don't think about politics until it is time to vote and then, we are influenced by what the media says because we have not been following what's been happening. We vote and believe that our vote was worthwhile.
Some of us don't vote at all because we perceive that our vote means nothing because the outcomes are fixed ahead of time and to a certain extent that is true with the ELECTORAL COLLEGE.
The dirty tricks of the Nixon administration (Republican) have been recently overshadowed by the outright lies, and law breaking of the Obama and Biden administrations (Democrat).
For almost a DECADE, the Democrats along with the Mainstream Media, District Attorneys, and Judges have tried to destroy Trump, his businesses, and his family. During Trump's second term as President, we are discovering how deceitful and what liars the Democrats really are, and most of the legal judgements against Trump during the Biden administration have been overturned by higher courts.
While the Democrat Party is in disarray and losing members by the hundreds each month, I am still unsure if there is any point of voting in the next election.
The Mainstream Media blames the President when things don't go as expected but the real change THAT IS NOT TAKING PLACE is because of our CONGRESS, comprised of both Democrats and Republicans. They have DONE NOTHING CONSTRUCTIVE since 1966 when I graduated from high school.
The same problems that we had in 1966, we still have today, such as:
- RACIAL ISSUES
- WEALTH-POVERTY ISSUES
- HEALTHCARE ISSUES
- EDUCATION ISSUES
- PORK BARREL ISSUES
- INEFFICIENCY-EFFECTIVENESS ISSUES
- DEBT ISSUES
- BALANCING THE BUDGET ISSUES
- INFRASTRUCTURE ISSUES
US nuclear waste could be recycled to create rare hydrogen fuel for reactors
Scientists in the United States are developing a method to recycle nuclear waste to make tritium – a rare version of hydrogen which serves as one of the main fuels in nuclear fusion.
Nuclear fusion is a process that fuses two atoms together to release heat which can turn generators. The generators will ensure a supply of large amounts of electricity that is almost emission-free. Therefore, in theory, it is thought to be one of the cleanest forms of energy.
Nuclear power plants operating today rely on nuclear fission, which results in energy generation, but there is also a lot of nuclear waste generated that remains radioactive for years. The nuclear fusion process, which provides power to the stars in the universe, on the other hand, would result in very little radioactive waste being produced at the end.
The process would require the fusion of deuterium and tritium. While the former is readily available, the US currently has a shortage of tritium.
Saturday, August 23
Headlines
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
The US now owns 10% of Intel. It’s official: The government has taken the highly unusual step of owning a piece of the beleaguered chipmaker. President Trump said the deal came out of his meeting with the company’s CEO, whom he’d previously called on to step down over his ties to China. “They’ve agreed to do it, and I think it’s a great deal for them,” Trump told reporters yesterday before Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced the deal was done. The move comes as the latest intervention by Trump’s government into the private sector, after taking a “golden share” in the US-Nippon Steel merger and taking a cut of sales to China by other semiconductor makers.
FBI raids home and office of former National Security Advisor John Bolton. The search of the Maryland home and Washington office of the former Trump administration national security advisor, who is an outspoken critic of the president, reportedly came as part of an investigation into whether he broke the law by mishandling classified documents. It’s one of several investigations into people who have spoken out against President Trump during his current term, but the pair also clashed during his first term. Trump fired Bolton in 2019, and he subsequently published a scathing book about Trump, which the president claimed at the time included classified information. Trump said yesterday he did not have prior knowledge of the FBI’s search.
Canada drops retaliatory tariffs on billions’ worth of US products. It’s August, so there’s finally something thawing in Canada: Prime Minister Mark Carney said the country would drop its recently imposed 25% tariffs on goods covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada trade pact as of Sept. 1, bringing them more in line with what the US has put on Canadian goods. The move to drop import duties on ~$21 billion worth of American goods came a day after Carney spoke to President Trump and was widely interpreted as a gesture of goodwill to try to lay the groundwork for future trade talks. But it’s not all as friendly as Canada is reputed to be—Carney noted that high tariffs would remain for now on US steel, aluminum, and automobiles.—AR
At A Glance
Bookkeeping
> 55: Most rollercoasters ridden in one week, achieved by this adrenaline junkie.
> 29 minutes, 3 seconds: How long a Croatian freediver held his breath underwater, beating the last world record by nearly five minutes and about doubling the time managed by bottlenose dolphins.
Browse
> Twin giant panda cubs, Leni and Lotti, celebrate their first birthday.
> Photos show 2,000-year-old artifacts from sunken Egyptian city.
> Ketchup was once prescribed as a remedy for diarrhea.
> The cost of five years of daycare today.
> The rise of the "coolcation."
> ... and destinations where tourists outnumber locals.
Listen
> Why parents are opting out of public schools.
> Australia has its own Area 51.
Watch
> Can saunas make you live longer?
> Professional chefs blind taste test 27 salsas.
> ... and why seedless fruits are a disaster in the making.
Long Read
> How everything we do is authenticated, stored, and scored.
> America is setting its mouth on fire.
> These 14 empty nesters are reimagining their lives.
Most Clicked This Week: The controversial rise of grandma showers.
Historybook: Actor River Phoenix born (1970); Salad Bowl strike begins; largest farmworker strike in US history (1970); Kobe Bryant born (1978); 12-time Olympic swimming medalist Natalie Coughlin born (1982); India becomes fourth country to successfully land on the moon (2023).
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> The 2025 college football season kicks off tomorrow with a limited slate of Week 0 games, including No. 17 Kansas State taking on No. 22 Iowa State (12 pm ET, ESPN) from Dublin, Ireland (More)
> Rapper Lil Nas X is arrested and hospitalized after walking in Los Angeles in only underwear, allegedly punching an officer twice in the face (More)
> The 2025 US Open tennis championships begin this weekend in New York City (More) | See complete women's bracket (More) | ... and men's bracket (More)
Science & Technology
> CT scans and 3D mapping of an ancient child's bones discovered in modern-day Israel suggest humans and Neanderthals interacted 100,000 years earlier than previously believed (More)
> Giraffe genetic data reveals Africa is home to four distinct species, not just one as long assumed; new taxonomy will enable more nuanced understandings of population threats and targeted conservation efforts (More)
> Light pollution is interfering with songbirds' biological clocks, causing them to chirp an average of 50 minutes longer per day—18 minutes earlier in the morning and 32 minutes later in the evening (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close down (S&P 500 -0.4%, Dow -0.3%, Nasdaq -0.3%) ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's annual policy speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, today (More) | Why do stock markets matter? (More)
> US existing home sales rise 2% month over month in July; median home price of $422,400 is up 0.2% from a year ago, representing smallest annual increase since June 2023 but still the highest median home price for any July on record (More) | How do mortgages work? (1440 Topics)
> Cracker Barrel shares close down 7% following pushback on its new simplified logo—part of a larger brand refresh (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Supreme Court clears the Trump administration to cut $783M in National Institutes of Health grants linked to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives while a lawsuit over the cuts continues (More) | California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signs legislation sending redrawn congressional map to voters for approval (More)
> Erik Menendez is denied parole 36 years after murdering his parents in Los Angeles, will next be eligible in three years; brother Lyle goes before the parole board today (More) | See previous write-up (More)
> Influential evangelical leader James Dobson dies at age 89; the conservative activist served as an adviser to President Donald Trump and former presidents including Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Our Old House
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It is no secret that living in the SOUTH is way cheaper than living in the NORTH... not to mention the people living in the south are way more friendly that the people living in the north.
However, that is about to change as more and more northerners are moving down into the south to live because of the lower cost of living but they are also bring their negative personalities and behaviors.
For my family, we benefited from this relocation by selling our house for more than $12,000 over asking price because a northern family had money to burn after selling their house.
As far as the new owners of our house are concerned, it the over two years that they have owned it, they have let the house and yard deteriorate to the point that it looks like several illegal immigrant families are living there now.
We notice this because we just moved around the corner to a smaller house, but we are angled in such a way that we can still see our old house and in order to get to our new house, you must pass by our old house first, depending upon the direction from which you are driving.
Personally, I don't care how the new owners treat my old house because it is no longer my house, but my wife gets upset because of all the time she spent trying to make it have curbside appeal.
The profit we made on selling our old house not only paid for the renovations to our new house but provided us with enough cash to buy a new car, after selling our old car of ten years without having to borrow any money.
What I have learned from my almost 8 decades of life is NEVER LOOK BACK... life moves forward only briefly resting in the present.
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