HEH: Trump video mocks Clinton as short-circuiting robot.

WE ARE THE FORERUNNERS: Is Earth Life Premature from a Cosmic Perspective?

BILL WHITTLE: Jon Stewart, War Criminals, and the True Story of the Hiroshima Bomb.

LARRY KUDLOW: Donald Trump Is The Middle-Class Growth Candidate.

SMOKE, FIRE, AND HUMAN EVOLUTION: “When early humans discovered how to build fires, life became much easier in many regards. They huddled around fire for warmth, light and protection. They used it to cook, which afforded them more calories than eating raw foods that were hard to chew and digest. They could socialize into the night, which possibly gave rise to storytelling and other cultural traditions. But there were downsides, too. Occasionally, the smoke burned their eyes and seared their lungs. Their food was likely coated with char, which might have increased their risk for certain cancers. With everyone congregated in one place, diseases could have been transmitted more easily.”

RUN JILL, RUN! Jill Stein wins Green Party nomination.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Why You Should Always Dress Up When You Go Out to Eat. “I no longer dress to please my parents, but I understand now, more than ever, the importance of dressing up.”

ON THIS HIROSHIMA DAY, LET US REMEMBER A FEW CHOICE PASSAGES FROM “UNBROKEN.”

AS MARK STEYN SAYS, ‘WHY DO THEY HATE US?’ WAS NEVER THE RIGHT QUESTION. ‘WHY DO THEY DESPISE US?’ IS A BETTER ONE: “Terrorism: It’s all our fault, because we’re not welcoming enough, says [Der] Spiegel journalist.”

DISPATCHES FROM AIRSTRIP ONE: BBC will use surveillance powers to sniff Britons’ wi-fi and find license-cheats.

I’m not sure if will is the right verb for the headline, as the BBC has been threatening their viewers with such measures for nearly a decade. This Orwellian-sounding ad dates to at least 2008:

FIRE VS. ICE: Liquid Nitrogen Verses DIY Flamethrower: Place Your Bets.

CLAUDIA ROSETT: The Mendacity Behind Obama’s Mockery of the Cash-for-Iran Story.

Read the whole thing.

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ZIKA: FDA Approves Genetically Modified Mosquitoes For Release In Florida: The method would target the Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes that transmit Zika and other diseases.

US MARSHALS KILL SNIPER SUSPECT IN GEORGIA SHOOTOUT: Not quite a late 19th century headline from a western territory, but close. The federal officers were trying to arrest the man suspected of shooting at Atlanta police on July 28. The shootout occurred August 5. Note the suspect probably had mental problems. Was he influenced by the Dallas atrocity, the one in Baton Rouge? A fair question since he started shooting at police. But who knows? His grandmother said her grandson (the suspect) thought “something” was trying to kill him. Heart breaking. All Lives Matter.

NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL A 21ST CENTURY HEADLINE: Death Dive! Comet Plunges into the Sun at Mind-Blowing Speed.

Sadly, no lasers beams were involved.

NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: Atomically precise location of dopants a step toward quantum computers.

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MIDSIZE SEDAN DEATHWATCH: July Sales Tank.

Minivans crumbled as the three-row utility vehicle took over, leaving a handful of nameplates to each produce healthy volume. TTAC’s claim earlier this week? Midsize sedans are now following the same track, crumbling as the smaller two-row crossover takes over.

Already, America’s fleet of midsize sedans is decreasing in size. We expect to see a greater reduction in the number of midsize offerings soon.

I’m on my ninth car and not one of them has been a sedan of any size, but I have noticed fewer on the roads. People seem to like bigger vehicles with greater utility, and today’s powerful, fuel-sipping engines make them financially viable.

SCIENCE: N.I.H. May Fund Human-Animal Stem Cell Research. “The purpose is to try to grow human tissues or organs in animals to better understand human diseases and develop therapies to treat them. Researchers have long been putting human cells into animals — like pieces of human tumors in mice to test drugs that might destroy the tumors — but stem cell research is fundamentally different. The stem cells are put into developing embryos where they can become any cells, like those in organs, blood and bone.”

COOL: The Meteor Shower of the Decade Is Coming Next Week: Astronomers predict next week’s meteor shower will have twice as many meteors as normal.​

UNEXPECTEDLY: Merkel’s approval rating plunges following attacks in Germany.

She’s plunged Europe into years of violence and chaos, but she’s always have that Time magazine “Person of the Year” award for 2015. I’m sure she thinks that’s a fair trade.

AND AGAIN: Two Belgian police officers attacked and wounded by machete-wielding assailant shouting in Arabic, the BBC reports.

THE PROBLEM WITH Generals Backing Candidates At Conventions.

BUT OF COURSE:

The first Olympic gold went to an American for shooting a rifle. https://t.co/Quqw9jUcgy

— Philip Bump (@pbump) August 6, 2016