Cross-Examination

• Salt water ignites EVs: Most folks wouldn’t be too comfortable driving around in a potential firebomb, but that effectively is what electric vehicles can become given certain conditions. After Hurricane Idalia hit Florida last week, some resident EV owners experienced something unexpected — their EVs suddenly burst into flames. The reason this occurred has to do with the nature of EV batteries and salt water. Any EVs that may have experienced any coastal flooding from Idalia were prime fireball candidates. Indeed, The Weather Channel issued a warning: “Anyone whose EV came into contact with salt water during Idalia should move their vehicle out of the garage immediately.” Clearly, EVs have their drawbacks, which is why the free market and not the Biden administration should be dictating their sales.

• Raining Man: Unexpected and unusual summer rain served to douse the annual weeklong counterculture festival known as Burning Man, stranding some 70,000 attendees for days. The rain turned the dry lakebed near Black Rock City, Nevada, into a nearly impassible quagmire. It took a train of vehicles at least 10 lanes wide five and a half hours to travel five miles to escape the scene to get to paved roads. So, not only were Burning Man attendees slowed in their attempt to get to the festival by climate activists blocking a thoroughfare, but they were slowed by the poor climate conditions as they sought to leave.

• Transing the kids: A recent study conducted by researchers at Columbia University found that from 2016 to 2020, more than 3,600 minors ages 12 to 18 underwent some form of gender-bending surgery, more than 400 of whom had their genitals removed. The researchers noted that 3,125 received “breast/chest surgery.” During that same time span, overall an estimated 48,019 Americans received “gender-affirming surgeries.” Meanwhile, north of the border, Canada issued a travel advisory to its citizens visiting the U.S. Global Affairs Canada warned last week: “Some states have enacted laws and policies that may affect 2SLGBTQI+ persons. Check relevant state and local laws.” The concern for the leftist Canadian government is that some states not only don’t actively and aggressively celebrate the Rainbow Mafia but want to stop the aforementioned child abuse in their borders.

• Regretting journalism: A recent study from ZipRecruiter found that the college major with the highest rate of regret is journalism. The survey noted that 87% of journalism graduates regretted their choice of major. This was followed by sociology, liberal arts, communications, and education. Some 44% of those with college degrees seeking jobs expressed regret in the major they had chosen. Coinciding with these journalism graduates’ regret is the degree to which trust in media has sunk to all-time lows. Just 34% of Americans say they trusted the media a “great deal/ fair amount.” Back in the 1970s, 72% of Americans said they trusted media.

• PA governor nixes pro-life funding: For today’s Democrats, abortion extremism is a sacrament that must be promoted and protected at almost any cost. Following the ending of Roe v. Wade, Democrats have increasingly sought to use the Supreme Court ruling to push a platform of abortion absolutism, crying foul over any law that would limit abortion even a little. It’s not merely abortion-limiting laws that Democrats are targeting but also pro-life centers. Case in point is the recent action by Pennsylvania Democrat Governor Josh Shapiro to end the state’s nearly 30-year bipartisan contract with a pro-life nonprofit called Real Alternatives. The nonprofit provides federal funds to pro-life centers. It came about in the 1990s as a counterbalance to the Keystone State’s decision to give state funding to abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. Real Alternatives gives an annual average of $7 million to 70 pro-life centers. Following his decision, Shapiro argued that he is a defender of abortion access and is acting to “ensure women in this Commonwealth receive the reproductive health care they deserve.”

Headlines

• U.S. providing up to $12 billion to retrofit auto plants for EVs (Bloomberg)

• Biden admin quietly reverses Trump-era rule, bans transporting fossil fuels by train (Fox News)

• Philadelphia police commissioner resigns amid crime wave (Fox News)

• Texas attorney general’s impeachment trial begins (Breitbart)

• Jill Biden tests positive for COVID-19 for second time (Fox News)

• Fauci says he worries Americans won’t listen to future mask recommendations from CDC (National Review)

• Zero bodies have been recovered from Canada’s “unmarked mass graves” (Daily Wire)

• North Korea’s Kim Jong Un to meet Putin in Russia for arms talks (NBC News)

• Roughly 100 incidents where Chinese nationals tried to access U.S. military, sensitive sites (Daily Wire)

• Judge rules Texas pornography age verification law unconstitutional (Daily Wire)

• NASCAR takes down racial requirement for internship (Daily Wire)

• “Satire”: People at Burning Man punished by being at Burning Man (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.