Location, location, location. That adage is usually applied to real estate. But it also has a big impact on job, jobs, jobs. There are a few reasons why many Americans see a weak economy when most of the numbers are quite good. And those reasons can have a lot to do with where they live. "The U.S. economy has added some 19 million jobs in the past four years — all the jobs lost in the pandemic plus millions more. The comeback has been faster and more complete than any in recent decades, or maybe ever. But it has also been uneven." NYT (Gift Article): The Geography of Unequal Recovery. "The patterns could have electoral implications: The battleground states that will help decide November’s presidential election include some of the biggest winners in the recovery — but also several of the losers." 2School's Out For ... Ever"There is a pathos to a closed school that doesn’t apply to a shuttered courthouse or post office. The abandonment of a building once full of young voices is an indelible sign of the action having moved elsewhere. There is a tangible cost, too. Researchers have found that students whose schools have been closed often experience declines in attendance and achievement, and that they tend to be less likely to graduate from college or find employment. Closures tend to fall disproportionately on majority-Black schools." Alec MacGillis on The Unequal Effects of School Closings. "Since the pandemic began, public school enrollment has declined by a million students nationwide, as many have switched to private schools and homeschooling." 3Anchors AwayIn Venezuela, where Nicolás Maduro has refused to accept election results and insists that he won (sound familiar?), journalists are increasingly concerned about the risks of reporting the facts about the election. In some cases, they've opted to use AI avatars to do the talking. ‘Being on camera is no longer sensible’: persecuted Venezuelan journalists turn to AI. "The need for virtual-reality newscasters is easy to understand given the political chill that has descended on Venezuela since Maduro was first elected in 2013, and has worsened in recent days." (Imagine reporting on a US president with total immunity who has called the press the enemy of the people and promised to punish his political enemies.) 4What the ShuckWhat is corn sweat? It seems like a question Tim Walz could answer. But he's busy campaigning, so we'll ask Claire Reid of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "No, the over 90 million acres of corn grown in the U.S. each year doesn't actually sweat. However, the crops' natural evaporation processes can crank up the humidity ― especially in states like Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota, which produce the highest quantities and concentrations of the nation's corn." What is 'corn sweat,' and how is it making the Midwest's heat wave this week worse? 5Extra, ExtraShooting Down Theories: Since the Trump assassination attempt, there have been many efforts to politicize the motives of the shooter or to use the incident as a representation of something broader. Maybe the only broader thing it represents is the easy access to guns and gun violence in America. "The gunman in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump searched online for events of both Trump and President Joe Biden, repeatedly looked up information about explosives and saw the Pennsylvania campaign rally where he opened fire last month as a 'target of opportunity,' a senior FBI official said Wednesday." 6Bottom of the News"The Hecht Museum in Haifa told the BBC the crockery dated back to the Bronze Age between 2200 and 1500BC - and was a rare artefact because it was so intact." Boy accidentally smashes 3,500-year-old jar on museum visit.
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