In our modern outrage-obsessed society, it seems as if everything is an emergency. But if you take a look at the nation’s executive branch, you might realize that the trend started a lot longer ago than you realized.

Constitutional loopholes

Most of us would probably agree that when COVID-19 started spreading worldwide in early 2020, it constituted a legitimate national emergency. But did you know that when that declaration was made the nation already had 34 other national emergencies in effect?

And the number has only increased since then … as of this writing there are 42.

At the root of the issue appears to be the fact that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t specifically address what powers the president has in declaring a national emergency. And when lawmakers decided to address that omission in the ‘70s, it only deepened the confusion.

Here’s what happened after Congress sought to clarify the situation:

• Lawmakers determined that all emergencies would expire in a year unless they were renewed.
• Any new executive powers derived from those declarations must include a citation of existing law.
• There were a total of 148 different powers that presidents could exercise using this precedent.

Never-ending emergencies

Since the president was the one who could renew emergencies when they were set to expire, most of them just remained intact in perpetuity.

And while some of them (like those that impose prohibitions against hostile countries) might seem reasonable, others will likely come as a surprise to many Americans. A couple of examples include one that allows the president to limit the brands of cellphones available for sale in the U.S. and another that gives the commander in chief the power to hire a bunch of military generals — or even force officers out of retirement.

🏎️ F1 flubs: Las Vegas has been touting the return of Formula One racing, but the first practice run on Thursday had to be stopped just a few minutes after it started when driver Carlos Sainz Jr. hit a water valve cover, damaging his Ferrari. Officials had to inspect the track, which weaves throughout the famous Sin City strip, before the race could continue. A subsequent practice the same evening was also delayed and the Ferrari team was clearly upset by the rough start.

🍻 Bud backlash: It’s been nearly eight months since a marketing campaign with trans social media personality Dylan Mulvaney prompted a boycott of Bud Light that is still impacting sales of the iconic beer brand. After parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev placed a pair of executives on leave shortly after the incident, Chief Marketing Officer Benoit Garbe announced this week that he’ll be resigning at the end of the year “to embark on a new chapter in [his] career.”

🚂 Off the rails: The passengers and crew aboard an Amtrak train experienced an unexpected delay this week when it hit a vehicle on the tracks and derailed. Reports indicate that the vehicle was disabled and was in the process of being towed away when the train approached, hitting both the car and the tow truck. Fortunately, there were no life-threatening injuries reported, but about 10 passengers and the engineer did receive treatment by paramedics.

🫨 Major quake: A powerful rumble off the coast of the Philippines resulted in some property damage and panic across the southern region of the country on Friday. Experts say the underwater earthquake registered at a 6.7 magnitude, originating about 48 miles beneath the sea and roughly 15 miles away from the city of Burias. While footage shared on social media depict frantic shoppers ducking from falling ceiling tiles at a pair of local malls, there were no reported injuries.

🏦 Markets: With Thanksgiving less than a week away, investors might have plenty to be thankful for as November’s steady gains continued to end a third straight week of gains.

All three major indexes were up a fraction of a percent on Friday, and each notched week-over-week gains of somewhere around 2%.

Much of the stock market optimism in recent days has been tied to better-than-expected inflation reports.

War is hell, of course, but it’s also the source of some pretty unbelievable stories. One of the most intriguing involves a brave racehorse who helped shape the outcome of the Korean War.

Meet Sgt. Reckless

The mare was initially bought by a U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant from a boy in South Korea in 1952 and quickly went to work carrying ammunition for service members in the Anti-Tank Company later the same year.

She got her name — Reckless — from the recoilless rifles that used the ammunition she carried. These notoriously unsafe guns were commonly referred to as “reckless” rifles.

And while she served admirably as a pack animal, it wasn’t until the devastating Battle of Outpost Vegas in March 1953 that she truly earned her stripes. By this time Reckless had already accepted the marines as part of her “herd,” and as service members were being gunned down all around her she made tireless journeys to resupply them with ammo … including a staggering 51 trips in just one day.

“A critical lifeline”

Reckless herself was injured on two separate occasions but never stopped providing crucial assistance to the marines around her, including Sgt. Harold E. Wadley who later wrote: “She was a critical lifeline to the guns that were firing in support of us.”

The companionship she offered, not to mention the invaluable services she provided, prompted military brass to make her the only horse in American history to achieve the rank of sergeant.

After the war, Sgt. Reckless lived at Camp Pendleton until her death in 1968. She received a burial with full honors and in the decades since, her story has been memorialized in several books and with statues at the military base where she lived, a Virginia museum, and a Kentucky horse park.

As the world faces worsening environmental challenges, activists and politicians alike are pushing for much wider use of renewable energy sources. Critics say that it’s just not feasible to replace fossil fuels on a large scale, but Portugal’s recent accomplishment might make it harder to make that claim.

Six straight days

Between Oct. 31 and Nov. 6, the entire country — more than 10 million citizens in total — received all of their power via wind, solar, and water. Of course, there were traditional power plants available to kick in if the renewable energy ran out, but it didn’t come to that for nearly an entire week.

While this was an encouraging step toward replacing gas and coal with green energy, it’s worth noting that it falls far short of the goals put forward by the Paris Agreement. By mid-century, nations that have signed the accord are expected to produce entirely carbon-neutral energy.

Different strokes

Some nations have already made significantly greater strides toward meeting the Paris Agreement standards, but they’ve generally done so via different avenues than Portugal has taken. For example, some countries have invested heavily in nuclear power, which Portuguese officials have thus far eschewed.

Instead, the country has done some particularly hard work, such as storing rainwater for later use and building a host of modern generators that operate on renewable energy sources.

Future goals

In addition to meeting the Paris Agreement’s 2050 standard, Portugal has established a few of its own upcoming objectives.

By the end of this decade, the country wants 85% of its energy to be renewable. And by 2040, it hopes to eliminate all gas generation, which is a big deal since more than 20% of the nation’s energy between January and October came from this source.