Cross-Examination

• Get Hunter on the phone: A baggie containing a white powdery substance discovered this past Sunday in the White House Library turned out to be cocaine. Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi explained that the cocaine found in a “work area of the West Wing” was determined to not present a threat, but that “an investigation into the cause and manner” of how it got there is underway. Paging Hunter Biden, since he was in the White House at the time. On second thought, maybe this is how the White House readies Joe Biden for his public appearances.

• Inflation and Independence Day cookouts: You and your family likely enjoyed the highest-priced 4th of July cookout on record yesterday, as the National Retail Federation (NRF) found that the average cost of food for this year’s Independence Day celebration rose to $93.34. That’s up $9.22 over last year, setting a new record for the highest annual increase since NRF first began its survey back in 2003. We’re old enough to remember when the White House touted a $0.16 decrease in the average cost of Independence Day cookouts in 2021.

• Second Amendment in the news: A federal district court judge in Texas shot down the Biden administration’s recent attempt to infringe on Americans’ Second Amendment rights with the ATF’s new regulation banning so-called “ghost guns.” Judge Reed O'Connor ruled that the new regulation effectively banning the manufacture of partially made guns is an unlawful overreach of the agency’s “statutory jurisdiction” under the Gun Control Act of 1968. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear United States v. Rahimi, a case with significant Second Amendment implications. The issue in the case is whether the Biden administration’s ban on firearm possession for individuals who have been subject to domestic violence-related restraining orders is constitutional. Earlier this year a federal court struck down the ban.

• UN wants shipping to be net-zero carbon by 2050: It has been observed that, based upon practical reality, “progressive” policies actually result in regression, not progress. Case in point, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday called on all maritime nations to come to an agreement on setting a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 for the global shipping industry. And the reason, of course, is the climate change boogeyman. Evidently, Guterres is pining for the days of wind-powered sailing ships, when folks waited for months if not years to send or receive goods.

• Israel takes action in the West Bank: Following several deadly terror attacks this year within Israel that claimed the lives of almost 30 people, the Israel Defense Forces launched a counterterrorism operation on Monday, crossing into the West Bank city of Jenin. According to a senior Israeli government official, the “goal of this extensive operation is to end Jenin’s role as a ‘city of refuge’ for terror, and it will last as long as it needs to.” Israel’s U.S. Ambassador Michael Herzog justified the action by noting, “Most of the terror attacks against Israelis originated from Jenin.” He added, “No nation would sit idly by as terrorists strike its citizens." At least eight people have been killed in the counterterrorism operation thus far.

• Google’s quantum computer: The future means quantum computers, and with that future comes significant concerns as well as opportunities. Quantum computers are able to process information using "qubits” as opposed to classical computers that use “bits.” Effectively, quantum computers go through reams of data in a fraction of the time of current computers. For example, quantum computing can perform a calculation in 200 seconds that would take a classic computer some 10,000 years to perform. That’s great, but this quantum leap in processing speed holds the possibility of making current encryption programs effectively useless.

Headlines

• July 4 injunction bars various federal departments from encouraging social media platforms to delete content (Reason)

• Biden administration released Afghanistan report day before holiday in attempt to bury it, Republicans say (Breitbart)

• Shooter arrested for Philadelphia mass shooting that left five dead is BLM activist who wore women’s clothes (NY Post)

• Hunter Biden driving 170 m.p.h. in Porsche among new laptop photos posted online (Fox News)

• California Reparations Task Force recommends over $225 billion payout for war-on-drugs compensation alone (National Review)

• Ben & Jerry’s posts anti-American message on July 4th (Daily Wire)

• U.S. manufacturing activity hits record low in June (UPI)

• French riots have cost $1.1 billion in damage to businesses and travelers are even canceling their vacation plans (Fortune)

• Russia has “lost nearly half” of its combat effectiveness since invading Ukraine, UK defense official says (Insider)

• Germany to lift defense budget to record €51.8 billion, meeting 2% NATO target (Bloomberg)

• U.S. recommends Americans reconsider traveling to China due to arbitrary law enforcement and exit bans (AP)

• China’s intentionally vague new espionage law is aimed at Western companies (Hot Air)

• China restricts export on two minerals that could damage economy (Daily Wire)

• Good news: Toyota claims battery breakthrough in potential boost for electric cars (The Guardian)

• FBI: Gun sales over one million 47 months straight (Washington Examiner)

• FTC looks to create rule banning fake online reviews (Investopedia)

• Monday was the world’s hottest ever day on record (Washington Examiner)

• Policy: Biden’s student loan forgiveness was always a sham (Newsweek)

• Policy: Marriage is the true civil rights issue of our time (Washington Examiner)

• Humor: Chaos in France as rival protesters keep trying to surrender to each other (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.