Thursday, JUNE 22, 2023

Good morning! On this day in 1942, Congress adopted the Pledge of Allegiance — 50 years after Francis Bellamy first wrote most of the words. The phrase “Under God” was added by Congress in 1954.

In today’s Flyover, we discuss the biggest decline in math scores ever recorded, a green light given for the sale of chicken grown in a vat, and the most expensive rare fruit in the world.

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Math, Reading Scores Plunge

Test scores for American 13-year-olds fell to their lowest level in decades, with math scores plunging by the largest margin ever recorded in a national standardized test.

Covid lockdowns get much of the blame, but experts had expected a robust academic recovery by this time and not a continuing decline.

The problem has become a political hot potato, with many Republicans blaming Democrats and teachers’ unions for closing schools during the pandemic and Democrats blaming racism and inequality.

FTC Sues Amazon Over Prime Trickery

The Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon for enrolling customers in its premium service, Prime, without their consent and making it difficult for them to cancel subscriptions without multiple “unnecessary” clicks.

The FTC suit claims Amazon built its web pages to trick customers into thinking they were clicking on a purchase or a free offer when actually they were subscribing to Prime.

Amazon Prime costs $139 a year and has more than 200 million members worldwide. “The truth is that customers love Prime,” the company said in response to the suit, claiming it makes sign-up “clear and simple.”

U.S. to Allow Sale of Lab-Grown Chicken

The U.S. has approved for the first time the sale of chicken grown in a lab from animal cells, with no actual chickens involved.

Because the cost of growing the meat is so high, it won’t appear in supermarkets any time soon. Instead, the companies have partnered with high-end restaurants to serve and demonstrate the product.

The product will be labeled as “cell-cultivated chicken.” The companies are touting it as a more environmentally safe way to produce meat, though at much higher prices.

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➤ President Biden called China’s President Xi Jinping a “dictator” at a fund-raiser in California, just a few days after the U.S. and China agreed to stabilize their relationship. The remark drew an angry rebuke from China. (More)

➤ Special Counsel John Durham told the House Judiciary Committee that the FBI treated Donald Trump differently than his rival Hillary Clinton in 2016, leading to the false Russian-collusion conspiracy theory. (More)

➤ The House voted to censure Rep. Adam Schiff for pushing claims that President Trump colluded with Russia in 2016. Every Democrat voted against the measure, which became only the third censure of a congressman this century. (More)

➤ A federal judge ordered Rep. George Santos to reveal who put up the $500,000 in bail freeing him from jail on charges of defrauding his supporters. Santos has argued that his benefactors’ identities should be kept private. (More)

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➤ The San Antonio Spurs will use their No. 1 pick in today’s 2023 NBA draft to select 7’4″ French teenager Victor Wembanyama. He’s the most anticipated NBA draft prospect since LeBron James in 2003. (More)

➤ Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill is under investigation for allegedly punching a man at a Miami marina on Father’s Day. Police have released few details and filed no charges yet. (More)

➤ Venus Williams, 43, was given wild card status allowing her to play in her 24th Wimbledon tennis tournament. The five-time Wimbledon singles champion is currently ranked 697th among tennis players. (More)

Market Report 6/21/23

▼	Nasdaq Natl. Assoc. of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations	13,502.20	–1.21%
▼	SPX S&P 500	4,365.69	–0.52%
▼	DJI Dow Jones Industrial Average	33,951.45	–0.30%
▲	BTC Bitcoin	30,366.0	+1.18%
▲	PDCO Patterson Companies Inc	$32.41	+14.69%

➤ Big Stock Move: Patterson Companies’ stock rose nearly 15 percent Wednesday on higher-than-expected quarterly results. The pet-oriented dental and animal healthcare supplier projected robust income for the next quarter. (More)

➤ Fed Chairman Michael Powell said Wednesday that more interest rate increases were likely this year. He blamed inflation, which “remains well above” the Fed’s 2% target. (More)

➤ Tesla’s charging network is slowly becoming the industry standard, with electric car maker Rivian joining Ford and GM in adopting Tesla’s charging port. Texas says it will require all state charging stations to include a Tesla connector. (More)

➤ Two satellites flying within 150 miles of Mercury’s surface sent back new photos showing multiple “tectonic and volcanic curiosities.” The European Space Agency says the satellites were on the third of six scheduled fly-bys of the planet. (See Images)

➤ Researchers are developing a new type of rice that’s resistant to many crop-destroying diseases. An international team says they’ve found a new gene variant that can protect the crop without losing yield. (More)

➤ Aaron Rodgers, a devotee of psychedelic drugs, spoke in Denver at a “Psychedelic Science” conference that drew thousands of attendees. Other celebrity speakers include former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and writer Michael Pollan. (More)

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➤ One of the world’s rarest and most expensive mangos, the Miyazaki, was showcased at India’s 7th annual Mango Festival. The mangos are priced at $550 per pound. (See Video)

➤ A sanctuary believed to be 4,000 years old has been discovered in the Netherlands. The sanctuary is made up of ditches and burial mounds and is believed to have served as a solstice calendar, similar to Stonehenge. (More)

➤ Speaking of Stonehenge, the Summer Solstice drew an estimated 10,000 visitors to the iconic site, including druids and pagans. On the solstice, the sun rises so that it precisely channels rays of light into the center of the monument. (More)