1. Covid. A yet to be released study out of Japan shows vaccine efficacy, as measured by the body's own antibodies, mostly disappears by six months. Of note, many studies are not measuring that information, and instead focusing on covid infectiousness, which piggybacks off of the general trend with covid, rather than whether the vaccine is the source of any covid protection. https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/its-a-good-day-for-vietnam-analogies

2. Legal. Texas Supreme Court overrules Austin court's attempt to overturn the Governor in favor of Austin's mask mandate. https://www.txcourts.gov/supreme/orders-opinions/2021/august/august-15-2021/

3. Economic. New York manufacturing index falls way short of expectations. https://seekingalpha.com/news/3730710-empire-state-manufacturing-index

4. Political. Newsom recall is still tight, tight, tight. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I50LLKPg-nOZdhn8Qa7zziU3i1MZl3SD/view

5. Cultural. The only big budget movie on pace to make a definite profit since the pandemic is Godzilla vs. Kong. https://ombreviews.com/box-office-tracking/

• bonus: Court says you can't sue if you can't prove the ashes the funeral home gave you were not the ashes of your loved one, while another suit in Baltimore for another empty urn when two women showed up, both saying they were the wife of the deceased. https://www.courthousenews.com/court-tosses-cremation-suit-for-lack-of-evidence/ https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-prem-md-ci-wylie-funeral-home-lawsuit-20210812-b3oebwfm5zafnb3njv4barvjxm-story.html