Good morning! If a new study is correct, there’s a good chance you can sing. Researchers in California found that up to 70% of people have an “automatic, hidden ‘perfect pitch’ ability.” We’re not saying we don’t believe them, but these guys have clearly never stood outside the karaoke bar at the state fair on a Saturday night.

PARTIES

🤔 Tim Walz is not technically a Democrat

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida — don’t worry, we’ll get to Walz — will step down later this year after three years in power as Japan's economy struggles to maintain its growth.

Kishida will be replaced as primo leader of Japan’s government by, well, whoever his party wants. In parliamentary systems like Japan (and Canada, and Italy, and the U.K., and…) voters often don’t get a say.

• The prime minister is typically just the leader of the biggest party in Congress Parliament. In Japan’s case, that’s called the National Diet.

Kishida’s party will choose its new leader next month and get right back to the job they’ve done since forever.

The party: Since it was founded in 1955, Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party has held power for a total of 63 of 69 years. Imagine if Barack Obama had been the only Democratic president since 1955. That’s the level of success Kishida’s party has seen.

What’s in a name? The kicker about the Liberal Democratic Party? It’s what Americans might refer to as… Conservative Republican. It’s Japan’s right-wing party. And Japan isn’t the only place with a confusing-for-Americans political party.

• The Liberal Party of Australia? Right-wing.

• The Liberal Party of Canada? Lefties.

• Democrats in Sweden? Far-right.

Denmark has a conservative party literally called The Left. Much of this can be chalked up to slow ideological changes over time and the fact that “liberal” shares the same root as the ever-popular “liberty.”

Combo nachos: Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party formed from the merger of the Liberal and Democratic parties. Hence the name.

Back in the United States, the Democratic Party of North Dakota ceased to exist in 1956 when it merged with a competitor to form the mouthful North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party.

DFL: Finally, like their neighbors to the west, Democrats in Minnesota — including Gov. Tim Walz — are only sort-of-Democrats. They’re really DFLers. That is, they’re members of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party.

HEALTH

🤒 WHO calls mpox a global health emergency

Don't panic or anything. But the World Health Organization (WHO) hit the alarm bells and declared a new "public health emergency of international concern" as a deadly strain of mpox spreads in Africa.

• The WHO is the public health wing of the United Nations.

• This type of declaration requires that member states (basically the whole world) respond ASAP to help contain the breakout.

The disease: You might recall the global spread of mpox, formerly monkeypox, back in 2022. The WHO declared a similar emergency then after the disease had spread to over 70 countries. It later rescinded the status when cases fell.

• That strain of mpox, clade II, was less severe. It has a 99.9% survival rate according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It's endemic to West Africa.

• The strain currently causing problems is a type of clade I from Central Africa. It can kill up to 10% of those infected, though recent outbreaks were far less deadly.

The spread: Mpox typically spreads via close contact with an infected person or animal.

• The current outbreak spread from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to 13 neighboring countries.

• Africa has seen 17,000 cases this year with over 500 deaths.

Sweden announced the first confirmed case of the new strain outside of Africa from a patient who had recently traveled there.

USA: In 2022, cases of clade II in the U.S. peaked at more than 3,000 per week. But so far zero cases of the new strain have hit our shores. The CDC wants doctors to keep an eye out but says the risk to Americans remains low.

• Last week, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) gave $424 million to help with the "ongoing catastrophe" in Africa.

The primary goal right now? Produce millions of vaccines to ship to Africa.

UNITED STATES

🚜 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will launch a new nationwide emergency alert code for “missing indigenous persons” who may not fit the criteria for an AMBER alert.

🏛️ House Speaker Mike Johnson (R) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D) are hitting the road during Congress's August recess. Johnson is meeting with top donors and Republican leaders at a retreat in Jackson Hole while Jeffries flies around the country raising money alongside Democratic representatives. Congress returns to D.C. on September 9.

🛡️ The U.S. Secret Service will surround Donald Trump's podium with thick, bulletproof glass as he resumes outdoor rallies for the first time since the July 13 attempt on his life. The agency wants several sets stationed around the country to avoid shipping the heavy panels via plane.

POLITICS

Inflation is the issue of the day for Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Harris, who’s distancing herself from Biden (and her own 2020 campaign promises), says she’s got a plan to tackle it on “Day One” of her presidency. But Trump hit back, saying “Day One” for her was three-and-a-half years ago.

The growing Latino vote could be crucial in swing states like Nevada in November. Democrats typically win Latino voters and a new poll has Harris doing just that. But the margin matters. Harris is running ahead of where Biden was before he got booted dropped out but not quite as well as he did in 2020.

• 🔴 Donald Trump's lawyers want New York judge Juan Merchan to delay Trump’s felony sentencing from September 18 until after the election to avoid political interference.

• 🔵 Activists expect "tens of thousands" of pro-Palestinian protestors at next week's Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

🗯️ Debate: The two campaigns settled on an October 1 vice presidential debate between Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) and Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) hosted by CBS. Vance also accepted an invite from CNN for a September 18 debate but the Harris/Walz campaign rejected it.

• The first of two Trump-Harris presidential debates is on September 10.

⚪ RFK, Jr. sought a meeting with Kamala Harris to discuss dropping out and endorsing her in exchange for a possible Cabinet gig if she wins. Harris rebuffed the meeting. Trump last month took a similar meeting with Kennedy but that also bore no fruit.

😬 Two British reporters tricked former Trump White House aide Russ Vought into believing they were potential donors to his think tank. Vought, who helped write Project 2025, claimed the Trump campaign's repudiation of the controversial plan was just about “politics.”

TRIVIA

Despite a 2023 attempt by Sen. JD Vance, English is still not the official language of the United States. We don’t actually have one at all. While the vast majority of Americans speak English as their first language, that’s not true for everyone — not even our Supreme Court justices. Which current U.S. Supreme Court justice did not grow up speaking English at home?

Hint: This is the justice who’s been on the court the longest.

BRIEFS

• Disney claims the Disney+ terms of service free the company from liability for allergy-induced death at Disney World restaurant

• Russian-American woman sentenced to 12 years in Russian prison for donating $50 to Ukraine charity

• Federal prosecutors charged five people in connection with Matthew Perry's 2023 death

• Renewed Israel-Hamas peace talks in Qatar off to "promising start," say U.S. diplomats

• Venezuela’s opposition isn’t happy after the U.S., others back plan for new elections after dictator Maduro rigged first vote

• Minors in Montana don't need parental permission to get abortions, per unanimous state Supreme Court ruling

• Columbia University president Minouche Shafik out amid continued claims of campus antisemitism

QUOTE

SNACKS

🦣 Woah: Next time you go for a walk down by the creek in Mississippi, keep your eyes peeled for 600-pound, 7-foot-long, ancient mammoth tusks.

💣 Read: From the Wall Street Journal, the wild story of how Ukraine used a rented yacht, alcohol, and some explosives to take out the undersea Nord Stream Russian gas pipeline.

ANSWER

Growing up in coastal Georgia, Justice Clarence Thomas spoke a creole language called Gullah. Gullah is spoken by (of course) the Gullah — an isolated African American subethnic group living in coastal South Carolina and Georgia.