United States

In response to the overnight news that North Korea had conducted its first ever ICBM test - despite both the US and Russia saying the Hwaswong 14 missile launched was at beast an intermediate-range rocket...

... moments ago Sec. State Rex Tillerson issued a statement, in which he said that "testing an ICBM represents a new escalation of the threat to the United States, our allies and partners, the region, and the world." 

Two days ago when we reported that the Illinois House had voted 72-45 to pass a 32% income tax hike (and a $36 billion spending plan), in an last ditch scramble to provide the state with its first budget in three years (or else suffer the first ever US downgrade to "Junk"), we said that "ultimately, the fate of Illinois' credit rating is now in the hands of Rauner, and whether and how fast his imminent veto is overriden."

As American's rush out to buy $7 billion dollars worth of Coors Light, hamburgers and hot dogs to celebrate the Fourth of July, it seems that roughly one-quarter of them should probably do a quick google search to figure out what exactly they're celebrating.  According to a new Marist Poll released yesterday, nearly 25% of Americans can't identify which country the U.S. declared its independence from in 1776.  Moreover, a shocking number of those surveyed attributed the holiday to a split with Mexico.  Per the Marist Poll:

Authored by Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute,

It's difficult to say what most Americans commemorate or celebrate on Independence Day nowadays. Many appear to focus on some vague notion of "America." Others even take to jingoism equating the United States government with the very notion of "freedom." 

Lost in all of this is the fact that the Declaration of Independence - the document we're supposed to remember today - is a document that promotes secession, rebellion, and what the British at the time regarded as treason. 

Amazon’s impending takeover of Whole Foods Market isn’t the only thing weighing on grocers' spirits this Fourth of July holiday. As Bloomberg reports, booming meat supplies have sent ground-beef prices to three-year lows, squeezing food sellers’ margins ahead of the top grilling day of the year, when 87% of US consumers are expected to barbecue.

What’s worse, the surge in production has kept in-store prices low, while wholesale costs have risen.

Here’s Bloomberg with more: