Planning for America’s 250th Birthday Kicks Off

The commission planning America’s 250th anniversary celebration in 2026 formally kicks off its campaign today in Milwaukee at a Brewers-Cubs baseball game, where fans can record a video telling their own American story.

The challenge of the “America 250” commission will be designing a celebration that brings a divided country together. The bicentennial faced similar issues in 1976 in the aftermath of Watergate, yet it became a national success.

The 250th anniversary does have one unique challenge: Technically, it’s the semiquincentennial celebration. It’s not clear if Americans will ever want to say that out loud.

Economy’s Center of Gravity Shifts South

The six fastest-growing states in the South now contribute more to the national GDP than the Northeast Washington-New York-Boston corridor.

According to Bloomberg, the movement of people and corporations south since the Pandemic has steered $100 billion in new income to states such as Florida, Texas, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Tennessee. The Northeast, by contrast, lost about $60 billion.

The economic shift southward follows an ongoing migration of people moving out of high-tax blue states into low-cost red states. Companies say they’re saving millions by relocating to the Sun Belt.

Electric Flying Car Ready for Pre-Orders 

A California company building an electric flying car is now taking pre-orders. Alef Aeronautics received FAA approval to road/air test its “Model A” car.

Alef said the car drives on roads and parks like a standard car but also has vertical takeoff and landing capability. It can carry one or two passengers and has a road range of 200 miles and a flying range of 110 miles.

The company expects to sell the car for $300,000 each, with the first delivery by the end of 2025 — assuming the prototype tests are successful.

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➤ The National Archives says it has now posted 99% of the documents relating to the assassination of President John Kennedy. (Archives Here). The release was delayed multiple times, and there’s no detail on the 1% that’s still classified. (More)

➤ Moms for Liberty, a parental rights group, says it will expand its efforts in 2024 to engage in school board elections across the country. The effort will set up a battle with teachers’ unions over parents’ input into children’s education. (More)

➤ A civil rights group has filed an equal-rights complaint against Harvard over its use of legacy admissions. The complaint, filed with the Department of Education, claims legacy admissions are the equivalent of “white affirmative action.” (More)

➤ Widespread rioting in France eased after five days of violent protest in response to the police shooting of a Muslim teenager. There was less violence and fewer arrests Sunday night, though curfews remain in force. (More)

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➤ Shane van Gisbergen was the surprise winner of the NASCAR Cup race in Chicago this weekend, the first driver in 60 years to win in his Cup debut. Heavy rain delayed the race, which ran only 75 laps instead of 100. (More)

➤ Rickie Fowler won his first golf tournament in four years Sunday, taking first place at the Rocket Mortgage Classic by making a clutch 12-foot putt on the final playoff hole. (More)

➤ Extra security at Wimbledon had angry fans waiting up to 10 hours in line on the first day. The tournament is checking bags for paint, powder, and glue in fear of an attack by the activist group Just Stop Oil. (More)

Market Report   7/3/23

➤ Big Stock Move: Rivian Automotive stock shot up 17 percent today after beating expectations on deliveries of its electric vehicles. Similarly, Tesla jumped nearly 7 percent on its record-high deliveries for the 2nd quarter. (More)

➤ Over 1,700 flights were delayed or canceled Monday due to severe weather across much of the country. It’s one of the busiest travel weekends on record — Sunday saw the highest number of passengers ever screened at U.S. airports. (More)

➤ Pepsi introduced a new “Colachup” sauce today: Its ketchup infused with Pepsi to create a new condiment. It’s available only in four Major League Baseball parks for now, but if successful could come to grocery stores. (More)

➤ Space X launched a European space telescope into deep space this weekend, aiming for a destination 1 million miles away. It will take a month to get there and then begin a six-year survey of distant galaxies. (More)

➤ Meanwhile, the James Webb Space Telescope has sent back a new infrared image of Saturn with the planet appearing dark and the rings glowing. The imaging was a test of the telescope’s capacity. (See Image) 

➤ Japanese researchers say octopuses have an “active” sleep phase corresponding to humans’ REM sleep. That indicates that octopuses dream, and their skin changes colors and patterns while they do. (More)

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➤The Blackfeet Nation celebrated the release of a herd of two dozen bison back into the wild in Montana, marking the first the bison have roamed the area in 150 years. (See Video)

➤ New research indicates that reading articles about acts of kindness can counteract the negative effects of consuming bad news. Funny stories helped too, but people got the most boost from news of people practicing “moral beauty.” (More)

➤ In that spirit, we close with this story: A teenager who trudged six miles to make it to his 8th-grade graduation at Harris-Stowe State University so impressed the university’s president that she offered him a full scholarship on the spot. (More)

Today’s Trivia

Which two former U.S. Presidents died on the same day, July 4, 1826?