🐤 Planet of the apes

🛰 Space Force shifting resources. The U.S. Space Operations Command is assigning cybersecurity and intelligence specialists to work alongside satellite operators to be better prepared to protect U.S. systems from electronic and physical threats, according to U.S. Space Force Major General Douglas Schiess. The directive came from Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, who says his priorities are, "...China, China, and China."

📈 More bad news from the Fed. Experts expect the Federal Reserve to keep raising interest rates until March 2023, when they expect rates to peak at 4.26%. Some feel the Fed is overcorrecting and may drive the United States economy into a severe recession. John Ryding, Chief Economic Advisor at Brea Capital, sees potential for the Fed to raise rates as high as 5%.

😕 At least 8 were injured in an explosion at a Chicago apartment. An explosion at 9 a.m. local time in Chicago led to at least 8 people being injured at a residential building. The 'mass casualty' incident occurred at Central and West End avenues in the South Austin neighborhood. The source of the explosion is not yet known.

🌯 Gez Z prefers fast casual dining. In a recent study, over half of Generation Z respondents said higher menu prices impacted their restaurant visits, and value price points have grown exceedingly important in what items they choose. Over 18% look for organic options and 16% prefer sustainably sourced foods -- compared to 11% in older groups.

A new study in the Journal of Human Evolution discusses an interesting discovery. According to the research team behind The earliest hylobatid from the Late Miocene of China, they found the oldest fossilized gibbon specimens at a site in southwestern China. The fossils are anywhere between 7-to-8 million years old.

The study explains the gibbon fossil as 'Yuanmoupithecus xiaoyuan, a small catarrhine from the Late Miocene of Yunnan in southern China, was initially suggested to be related to Miocene proconsuloids or dendropithecoids from East Africa, but subsequent reports indicated that it might be more closely related to hylobatids.'

Hylobatids are a family of apes, including approximately 20 species of gibbons and a black-furred gibbon called the siamang. In a press release regarding the discovery, Terry Harrison, Professor of Anthropology and New York University and one of the paper's authors, gave the following statement:

Hylobatids fossil remains are very rare, and most specimens are isolated teeth and fragmentary jaw bones found in cave sites in southern China and Southeast Asia dating back no more than 2 million years ago. This new find extends the fossil record of hylobatids back to 7 to 8 million years ago and, more specifically, enhances our understanding of the evolution of this family of apes.

The fossil was excavated from the Yuanmou area of Yunnan Province in China and is said to be a close relative to living hylobatids: according to Harrison. While a great discovery, Harrison detailed how the new fossil won't completely clarify the evolutionary history of primates. 'Genetic studies indicate that the hylobatids diverged from the lineage leading to the great apes and humans about 17 to 22 million years ago, so there is still a 10-million-year gap in the fossil record that needs to be filled.'

The thrashings were thorough and without mercy.

Monday Night Football featured a double header this week, except the games, were going on simultaneously. This is a bit of a weird concept for Monday Night Football; luckily, football fans didn't miss anything dramatic if they decided to watch one game over the other.

The Minnesota Vikings traveled to play the Philadelphia Eagles and were rightfully trashed (24-7) after displaying a horrible performance on both sides of the ball. The defense was so bad, that NFL commentators went as far as saying Jalen Hurts has arrived as a top-tier NFL Quarterback (receivers were running 20 yards open).

Kirk Cousins put up a 17.5 QBR against the Eagles, which is...really bad. While the defense looked as if they were prepared for the wrong scheme. To the Eagles' credit (Go Cowboys), they took advantage of poor Vikings' play and delivered the beatdown.

The Tennessee Titans traveled to play the Buffalo Bills and delivered an even worse effort than the Vikings. Bills Quarterback Josh Allen had an outstanding 87.7 QBR (100 is perfect), while Titans Quarterback Ryan Tannehill had a 16.3 QBR. That sums up the 41-7 Bills victory. The Bills didn't have a stout running game but didn't need one.

The Bills' defense also held vaunted Runningback, Derrick Henry, to 13 carries for 25 yards, holding the Titans to 187 total yards of offense on Monday.

Hopefully, this isn't a sign for NFL's national games for the rest of the season. However, the Bills look like legit Superbowl contenders, while the Eagles may have more to give than their roster shows on paper.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis charted two planes carrying migrants to Martha's Vineyard last week. DeSantis's office confirmed that Florida chartered two planes last week to transport migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. The migrants were from Venezuela and Columbia.

A spokesperson for DeSantis said the planes were part of 'Florida's' "relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations."

The people of Martha's Vineyard welcomed the migrants with open arms. Several legal scholars believe DeSantis using state funds to enforce federal laws in a bit of political theater may have been illegal.

The same plane DeSantis chartered last week looked to be flying to an airport near United States President Joe Biden's home on Tuesday. The information available on FlightRadar24 led observers to believe undocumented migrants were on board, but that has yet to be confirmed at the writing of this article.

The following information was relevant for Tuesday morning:

FlightRadar 24 shows the plane, given the designation J328, is set to leave San Antonio, Texas, at 8 a.m. Central time (9 a.m ET) and arrive in Crestview, Florida, at 10:03 a.m. CT (11:03 a.m. ET) for a brief layover, before departing for Delaware Coastal Airport in Sussex County, Delaware, at 10:17 a.m. CT (11:17 a.m. ET).

The airport is a 40-minute drive from the President's home, but the plane never arrived in Delaware; instead, it departed for Nashville, Tennessee at 2:30 p.m., later arriving without a migrant (or anyone) on board.

Was this a failed political stunt? We'll likely never receive a confirmation of that.