John Hinderaker at Power Line.

On Meet the Press this morning, Kamala Harris said that if the Democrats pick up two Senate seats in the midterms, they will abolish the filibuster, at least selectively. The two additional seats, plus Harris’s own tie-breaker, will be needed to offset the votes of Senators Manchin and Sinema so as to create a majority in favor of altering Senate rules.

Read it.

On Friday the White House released “the Biden-Harris economic blueprint” a/k/a “the President’s Economic Blueprint” (press release here, 58-page document here). It’s a “blueprint” with “five pillars” that have done so much for us already and promise to do more and worse in the future.

Performing the work that our native media fact-check workers refuse to do, James Bovard assesses the veracity of claims made in the “blueprint.”

Read it.

A pilot and two passengers are okay after the Cirrus Vision Jet went down after deploying the CAPS (Cirrus Airframe Parachute System), apparently while on approach to Kissimmee Gateway Airport (KISM) in Florida on Friday.

The scene following the deployment was reported by a local news affiliate as a marshy area in the “area of Lake Tohopekaliga,” where the pilot and a boy walked away and a second passenger, a woman, sustained “no life-threatening injuries.”

Read it.

In September 2018, the linguist Ellen Jovin set up a table near an exit to the 72nd Street and Broadway subway station in New York City and invited passersby to ask her questions about grammar. Her first query, she writes in Rebel with a Clause, was a nasty “spousal apostrophe dispute.” Most people would have folded up their table and headed indoors after that, but Jovin and her husband Brandt took the show on the road. By now, they may have sparked spousal apostrophe disputes in Hawaii, Alaska, and Connecticut, too.

Rebel with a Clause is a useful primer in the parameters of correct usage, but it is also a state-of-the-nation report on the use of American English. Jovin noticed that, despite the divisions of politics, questions of language bring people together in civil and enjoyable exchanges. She also noticed that they have an awful lot of questions. Never mind heavy-duty stuff like direct objects, appositives, and the best way to use a semicolon. Most of her clients struggle with the basic stuff and are often embarrassed by their uncertainty.

Read it.

9/13 is all about forgetting.

9/13 means we’ve done it. We fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. It’s time to move on now. Maybe take a day to remember the people who died in the towers, in a field, bow our heads and go on with what really matters today.

What’s the alternative? Fighting a forever war?

After WWI, most people were done with world wars. But world wars weren’t done with them. That’s a poor analogy because the Jihad isn’t some nationalistic European grudge match. It’s a thousand-year assault on the rest of the world that will not stop just because we’ve decided to move on.

Early on WW2, wags joked that it was the Bore War because nothing seemed to be happening on the western front. The jokes made sense at the time. But they stopped being funny really fast.

We’re in the Bore War now. But thousand-year-old wars don’t remain boring.

…

Islamic terrorism is not the only thing that matters. It’s not the only thing that will determine our survival. But it is one of those things. And it’s the one that we’ve forgotten.

Wherever you go,
Whatever you do,
A Muslim waits there
To try to kill you.

Read it.

A split-second glance at two candidates’ faces is often enough to determine which one will win an election, according to a Princeton University study.

Princeton psychologist Alexander Todorov has demonstrated that quick facial judgments can accurately predict real-world election returns. Todorov has taken some of his previous research that showed that people unconsciously judge the competence of an unfamiliar face within a tenth of a second, and he has moved it to the political arena. His lab tests show that a rapid appraisal of the relative competence of two candidates’ faces was sufficient to predict the winner in about 70 percent of the races for U.S. senator and state governor in the 2006 elections.

The View’s Hostin claims Queen Elizabeth wore ‘crown with pillaged stones,’ Britain a ‘genocidal’ empire

‘The View’s Sonny Hostin defends professor who wished Queen ‘excruciating’ pain

Leonard Leo: the secretive rightwinger using billions to reshape America (The Guardian) Dunh dunh DUNHHHHH….

Bannon is not finished: his ‘precinct strategy’ could alter US elections for years (The Guardian)

Two Top Trump Political Aides Among Those Subpoenaed in Jan. 6 Case (N.Y. Times)

It’s official: Sarah Palin cost the GOP a House seat (Washington Post) According to the Narrative.

Michigan Republicans Stumble in Dress Rehearsal for Overturning Future Elections (Bolts)

NYT: U.S. Found Yielding to ‘Hate’ Hysteria

Wells Fargo Screws Sex Workers, Cancels Accounts Over ‘Risks’

35 Trump Allies Served With Warrants, Subpoenas According To Steve Bannon  The witch-hunt continues.

Stephen Miller, Brian Jack Subpoenaed in Trump Electors Case  The witch-hunt continues.

Proud Boys Hawaii Leader, Friend Plead Guilty in Jan. 6 Riot  A stark chice: Take the plea deal or the government comes down on you with both boots.

The culture wars have suddenly shifted. Democrats need to respond. (Washington Post)

‘The environment is upside down’: Why Dems are winning the culture wars (Politico)

Democracy’s ‘derangement’: The people, not the politicians, need to change the system (The Hill)

Obama warns of ‘malevolence’ aimed at democracy in Democratic fundraiser speech (CNN)

Democrat Elissa Slotkin moved into home of lobbyist, campaign donor to run in new district

Fetterman To Hold Pro-Abortion Rally on 9/11 With Anti-Cop Activist

California OKs Bill That Would Strip Custody From Parents of Out-of-State Minors Seeking Trans Surgeries

‘The Clinton Standard’: How Hillary Clinton’s False Victimization Claims Reveal A Core Truth

“End Of Days” Near As Illinois Set To Eliminate Cash Bail For Violent Offenders

Australia’s Left-Wing Greens Party Calls For Republic Hours After Queen’s Passing

New York 2022: Hochul Maintains Double-Digit Lead Over Zeldin; Biden’s Approval Increases 10 Points Among Young Voters Push-polling the Narrative in the run-up to the mid-term elections.

No One’s Allowed a ‘Gutsy’ Interview with Hillary

A legal fund to sue SF over housing deadlock

Jorge Ramos Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop Bending The Knee To AOC

Two internal polls from Lee and McMullin camps tell different stories about Utah’s senate race  Push-polling the Narrative in the run-up to the mid-term elections.

What will be the next character added to LGBTQIA2SI+?

Law-Abiding Gun Owners Ignored By Media, Maligned By Politicians

Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series is brimming with ponderous aphorisms

Hochul gave COVID test contract to campaign donor that charged taxpayers double

George Gascón’s Journey From Good Cop to Bad Prosecutor

Ben & Jerry’s Slammed For Woke Activism After Posting “To-Do List” For New UK Home Secretary Including “Scrap The Rwanda Plan”

‘I Need You To Stop’! Velshi Gets Mad When Historian Debunks Him

US Economic Freedom Index Collapses To Carter Admin Levels

Ex-White House economic advisor claims Biden admin ‘oversold how fiscally responsible they are’  ‘Oversold’ is the Narrative Media term for ‘lie like a rug’.

Karine Jean-Pierre’s ‘Election Denier’ Double Standard

The “Scariest Paper Of 2022” Reveals The Terrifying Fate Of Biden’s Economy: Millions Are About To Lose Their Job

Watch: President Biden Calls Half Of All Americans A “Violent Threat To Democracy…Again!

VP Harris attacks ‘activist court,’ says the loss of rights post-Roe has led to ‘suffering’ (NBC) No thought for the ‘activist court’ that delivered Roe, no thought for the millions of children who died because of it. (Not a evil person, because that would require a degree of intellect that she does not have; but a very bad one.)

The 5 Most Unserious Things Biden Said in His Gun Control Speech

Expert Warns US Descending Into ‘Anarchy’ Amid Heightened Distrust Of DOJ, Law Enforcement  I thank God every day that Merrick Garland is not on the Supreme Court.

NPR Slams Biden For Meeting With Historians Because They Were All “White”

Food Banks All Over The US Are “Overwhelmed” As Cost Of Living Pushes More Into Poverty

Do ‘Trump judges’ exist? We’re about to find out (Seattle Times)

U.S. reveals more classified records may be missing in Trump probe (Reuters)

Fox Host: Poll Showing Dislike for MAGA Is ‘Fake’ (Daily Beast)

Ex-Special Master Kenneth Feinberg Foresees Problem With Trump’s Case (Newsweek)

Trump’s DOJ pushed for legal action against John Kerry, says ex-US attorney (The Hill)

It’s Dumb and Dangerous for Liberals to Conflate All Conservatives With MAGA (Daily Beast) So let’s watch them do it anyway.

Trump and the Nuclear Documents  John C. Wright is, in addition to being an ace science fiction writer, a Real Lawyer.

Trump backed failed campaign coup against Kushner, Navarro book says (The Guardian) Does anybody (other than RINO Navarro) think that, if Trump wanted somebody gone, that person wouldn’t be gone? The question answers itself.

So Many Trump Scandals, So Little Time (The New Yorker) Not to mention so little proof.

DOJ Gives Trump Judge an Opening to Take Back Her Absurd Special Master Ruling (Vanity Fair) I guess writing about fashion gives you automatic expertise in the law.

The Biden administration’s lawfare against Trump alllies continues

A Paxlovid fall primer: Who should take the COVID antiviral and when? (Boston Globe)

All SARS-CoV-2 variants neutralized by a potent new antibody (News Medical)

New York declares state of emergency over polio to boost low vaccination rates (CNBC)

COVID in California: Marin County weighs shorter isolation period for schools (S.F. Chronicle)

Lawsuit seeks to block enforcement of vaccine mandate bans on tribal land in Montana

You Can Still Get Long COVID If You’re Vaccinated and Boosted (TIME) So what’s the point?

Zero percent mortgages hitting Main Street

Legacy Home Loans launches SPCP for Black borrowers (Housing Wire)

Harry and Meghan’s children become Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet

North Birmingham gets $3M to redevelop, clean up ‘environmental injustice’

Oberlin College to pay $36.59M to bakery owners who claim they were falsely accused of racism (CNN) A ‘claim’ that was PROVED IN COURT.

Inexperienced Showrunners Figure They’d Better Hire A Few Black Actors So They Can Cry ‘Racism’ If The Show Sucks (Babylon Bee)

Multi-Millionaire Co-Host of ‘The View’ Demands ‘Reparations’ from US/UK

The ignorance of Queen Elizabeth’s ‘anti-colonialist’ critics

NY Times Now Says Racial Diversity Not Enough: UK Conservatives Still ‘Retrograde’

NYT Has to Report Collapse of BYU-Duke Volleyball Hate Hallucination

Race Realism—A New Interglacial? the Truth Is Great, and Must Prevail (A Bit)

CNN Demands New King Address BLM, Reparations

Remember That Coal Surge Last Year? Yeah, It’s Over (Inside Climate News)

Boost for clean energy investment due to Russia’s war (Bloomberg)

How rising sea levels could create zombie towns around U.S. (CBS)

Rising seas could swallow millions of U.S. acres within decades (Washington Post) Betcha they don’t.

As our state melts and burns, Murkowski is gung-ho on fossil fuels (Anchorage Daily News)

Climate tipping points of coral die-off, ice sheet collapse closer than thought (Reuters) Betcha it doesn’t.

Study: World at risk of triggering multiple climate “tipping points” (Axios)

The word ‘greenwashing’ is now in the dictionary (Boston Globe) Well, A dictionary….

California goes lights-out thanks to green energy

Policies Pushing Electric Vehicles Show Why Few People Want One

Germany’s Energy Suicide – An Autopsy

As the Planet Warms, Canada Faces an Influx of Climate Refugees

Environmentalists Petition EPA to Ban Natural Gas Use in Buildings

A List Of 33 Things We Know About The Coming Food Shortages

California Dream Could Become a Nightmare

“Nothing To Do With Man” – Astrophysicist Says Climate-Cultists “Are On A Gravy Train” To Make Money

Climate scientists & politics: Simpleton versus Wicked scientists

Read it.

Shortly after Indiana passed a new law restricting abortion, Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly condemned the law and announced that it would seek to expand outside the state.

It’s widely argued that social conservative policy is bad for business. Is that actually true, as the Lilly statement would seem to suggest? At some level, yes. But the impact is less than some claim. Today, social policy is a relatively marginal factor in business location decisions.

Read it.

Wherever you go,
Whatever you do,
A Muslim waits there
To try to kill you.

Scott Johnson at Power Line.

We have followed the fate of law enforcement in Minneapolis since the death of Saint George Floyd on Memorial Day 2020. We have also followed the related media coverage, which has amplified and confused the multifarious racial issues. As the Minneapolis Police Department has contracted to the size of a shrunken head — a shrunken head capable of scaring no one — we have repeatedly asked who in his right mind would go to work for it. Among the inhibitions is the relentlessly stupid coverage afforded by the Star Tribune.

Departmental manpower is so inadequate at present that the department limited its response to nonemergency calls at one point this week. I know because the heroic reporter behind CrimeWatchMpls covered it. I’m not sure the news made it into the Star Tribune.

Read it.

The sound of Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson on Friday’s PBS NewsHour underlined how there is no debate and no democracy on PBS. They put on a RINO who says the GOP is simply awful, and the liberal on the panel says “Oh, I agree!” Republicans pay taxes to be painted as awful for opposing the murder of unborn babies.

Gerson was the chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush, a moderate Christian conservative. Bush nominated Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the majority opinion overturning Roe vs. Wade. He also nominated Chief Justice John Roberts, who joined that majority. But now, Gerson rails against Republicans as unfit for governing.

Read it.

Just when it seems like we can’t possibly go any lower, we always manage to top ourselves. In the old days, every once in a while I would come across a story that would make me shake my head in disbelief because it was just so absurd. Now it is happening on a daily basis. In this article I am going to share some examples with you. I realize that some of these things are difficult to believe, but all of them are true. Our country really is coming apart at the seams right in front of our eyes, and the pace of our national decline only seems to be accelerating. If we are not able to turn our cultural decay around, eventually we will not have a country at all.s

Read it.

Pandemic travel has been chaotic and frustrating. But for the most part, it has been relatively clean, with many airlines committing to robust sanitation practices early in the pandemic, and numerous virus-wary travelers additionally wiping down their areas.

Over the past week, two widely shared videos of particularly filthy planes have raised concerns that the days of clean flights may be going the way of mask wear. They also sparked a debate about whether flight crew or passengers carry the responsibility for messes.

Read it.

This is really quite a remarkable video wherein Joe Scarborough says the Gospel of Jesus Christ is pro-abortion. How did we ever become this stupid? Mika looks on in awe thinking that Joe just destroyed the pro-life movement. It boggles the mind.

Read it.

Apparently God hates California.

I wonder why?

Read it.

or the first time in Britain’s history, there are no white men in the three Great Offices of State. Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is the son of Ghanaian immigrants, Suella Braverman follows Priti Patel as another home secretary of South Asian origin, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly was born in Lewisham to a midwife called Evelyn from Sierra Leone.

The rest of the Truss ministry also boasts senior politicians such as the Baghdad-born two-month chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, the daughter of Nigerian immigrants Kemi Badenoch, another minister with South Asian heritage in Ranil Jayawardena, and Alok Sharma, who was born in the Uttar Pradesh state of northern India and has remained in government because the “COP26 President” role still exists, for reasons that escape me and everyone I’ve asked.

I can imagine the email fired out of Labour HQ when the late-night ministerial announcements came trickling onto Twitter: “please, for the love of God, criticise the new appointments all you want, but do NOT mention race.” Additional warnings would have added that anyone using the term “coconut” or “oreo” would be swiftly defenestrated from Parliament and into the Thames.

When Teens Find Misinformation, These Teachers Are Ready (N.Y. Times) Ready to push the Narrative.

BlackRock strikes back at ESG critics (Axios)

Chicago Suburb Says It Didn’t Know Dozens of Migrants Were Being Sent From Chicago as More Buses Arrived in City (NBC)

Senators preview details of religious rights amendment to gay marriage bill  I’d love to know what provision of the Constitution givers the Federal government the power to legislate on this subject.

Same-sex marriage bill teeters on verge of GOP filibuster (Politico)

China’s “ESG” Funds Include Coal Companies And Firms Tied To Alleged Human Rights Violations In Xinjiang

Morning Joe Suppresses That Suspect In Journalist Murder a Democrat

Young Democrats are flocking to register to vote in Texas after abortion ruling, data shows (Houston Chronicle) Pushing the Narrative in the run-up to the mid-term elections.

Student Loan Forgiveness As Class Warfare

Mom Accuses Educators, Therapist of Driving Her Autistic, Gender-Confused Child to ‘Catastrophic Ruin’

The Right to Free Speech Is Not the Right to Monologue (The Atlantic) ‘Shut up!” he explained.

Employees Shocked as Lesbian Vegan Doughnut Shop Goes Out of Business

What I Noticed Was Missing at James Madison’s Montpelier Home

California Man Takes Fiancée Out Of State For A Romantic Lightbulb-Lit Dinner

Republicans Aren’t the Only Ones Who Can Play Culture Warrior (Politico) Rich Lowry, National Review RINO.

How Democrats gained the upper hand on God, guns and gays (Politico) Pushing the Narrative in the run-up to the mid-term elections.

Dan Patrick Demanded That Texas Retirement Funds Divest From BlackRock. But He Kept His Shares in the Firm. (Texas Monthly)

Republicans winning the House could plunge US and world into ‘chaos,’ warns New York Times

The hidden danger posed by a MAGA takeover of the House (Washington Post)

The problem with GOP extremists isn’t what they thought in college (Washington Post)

How reactionary is MAGA? Try the first century B.C. (Washington Post) Dana Milbank loses his shit.

U.S. cited ‘domestic terrorism’ in search tied to Oath Keepers’ lawyer (Washington Post) The witch-hunt continues.

Oath Keepers: Leaked membership list includes police and politicians (BBC) So does the Democrat Party.

An ex-professor spreads election myths across the U.S., one town at a time (Washington Post)

Hillary Clinton to Melania Trump: ‘How’s Your Summer Going?’ (Daily Beast)

12 Brilliant Ways Republicans Are Planning To Screw Up The Midterms (Babylon Bee)

Rubio walks the Mar-a-Lago line (Politico)

Chelsea Clinton says she used to be friends with Ivanka Trump until ‘she went to the dark side’

It Didn’t Start with Trump: The Decades-Long Saga of How the GOP Went Crazy (Mother Jones)

William Barr: The New Alyssa Farah

Steve Bannon’s indictment reveals the truth about Trumpism (The Guardian) The witch-hunt continues.

GHOULISH Politico Whines: Why Isn’t 2020 Objections Top of Mind in GOP Obits?

Revealed: Ginni Thomas’s links to anti-abortion groups who lobbied to overturn Roe (The Guardian) Dunh dunh DUNHHHHH….

Behar Calls DeSantis ‘Cowardly’ for Refusing Invite to ‘The View’

CA High School: ‘Whites,’ ‘Heterosexuals’ And ‘Christians’ Are Fascists

Eliza Fletcher murder: Chicago-area mayor rips Democrat bail reform to let kidnapping suspects out on $0 bail

Suspect in Memphis teacher’s killing goes back to court while the city grapples with a wave of tragedy (CNN)

Elijah Wood and original ‘Lord of the Rings’ cast shut down racist critics of ‘Rings of Power’ (CNN)

‘Lord of the Rings’ Original Hobbits Support ‘Rings of Power’ Cast Amid Racist Backlash (CNET)

U.S. Soccer Star Alleges Racism When Bartender Asks him To Pay For A Drink

Some Networks Ignoring Police Claim That BYU Fan Didn’t Use Racial Slurs

Twitter pulls vile tweet by Carnegie Mellon’s critical race theory professor who said she hoped Queen died ‘an excruciating death’ – after Jeff Bezos led avalanche of condemnation (Daily Mail)

College condemns professor who celebrated Queen Elizabeth’s death

Nets Skip News Leftist DAs Let Memphis Shooter Off Easy

SC Democrats call on their party’s US Senate nominee to quit (Associated Press)

NYT: Are the Stabby Sanderson Brothers Indians? Don’t Ask Us!,

NYT Opinion: the Queen Didn’t Apologize for Being White Enough

BBC Whines Monarchy “At Odds With Diversity” Hours After Queen’s Death

Government Funded Paper Claims Science Is Racist

BYU: No Evidence of Racist Slurs Against Duke Player

NFL Hoping 3rd Year Of ‘End Racism’ Painted In End Zone Will Do The Trick (Babylon Bee)

World on brink of five ‘disastrous’ climate tipping points, study finds (The Guardian)  A study! That proves it!

Earth Is Teetering on The Edge of Five Disastrous Climate Tipping Points, Study Finds (Science Alert)

How many people can Earth handle? (BBC)

U.S. evaluating need for further SPR oil releases after October -Granholm (Reuters)

White House is not considering further releases of emergency oil at this time, official says (CNN)

The Middle East is warming up twice as fast as the rest of the world (Washington Post)

‘This is the future’: rural Virginia pivots from coal to green jobs (The Guardian)

Physicists Struggle to Unite Around Future Plans (‘Scientific’ American)

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss ends national ban on fracking amid energy crisis

Greenland Is Still Melting, and It’s September (‘Scientific’ American)

Special Report: How U.S. ethanol plants are allowed to pollute more than oil refineries (Reuters)

Why Ethanol Plants Pollute More Than Oil Refineries (Newsmax)

Jason Momoa So Furious About Environment That He Shaved His Head (Futurism.com)

Actor Jason Momoa Chops Off His Trademark Long Hair In Protest Against Single-Use Plastic (The Weather Channel)

Farewell, octopus; hello, lionfish: Lebanon’s warming seas change fishing (Washington Post)

The clean hydrogen energy economy was a dream. The climate bill could make it a reality this decade (CNBC) Pushing the Narrative in the run-up to the mid-term elections.

Energy Transition A “Dangerous Delusion”: Report

California’s Power Grid Turmoil Spurs Diesel Demand For Generators

Rand Paul: “America Should Be Appalled” At Fauci Covering His Tracks

Greenpeace Co-Founder Patrick Moore Says Climate Change Based On False Narratives

“Really A Desperate Time”: Summer Drought Wreaks Havoc Across Northeast Farmland

“The Weaponization of Science: Politics, Vilification, and the Climate Debate” – Dr. Willie Soon

Exceeding 1.5°C global warming could trigger multiple climate tipping points

Wall Street Journal Exposes Gov. Newsom & California’s High-Cost Energy and Reliability Debacle

The Greens’ New Target Will Cause Global Hunger

A Much Larger Greenhouse Effect – But Temperatures Dominated by Cooling

Why Are Environmental Activists Trying to Stop Green Energy?

Who should get the updated coronavirus vaccine booster now—and who should wait? (CNN) No matter what, we all need to PANIC!

New Omicron offshoot BA.4.6 evades protection of Evusheld’s antibodies, study finds (CNN)

Giant viruses are infecting algae in a floating lake in the Arctic (LiveScience)

Giant Viruses Are Infecting Algae in a Rare, Floating Lake in The Arctic (Science Alert)

What scientists have learnt from COVID lockdowns (Nature) Very little, it seems.

Science Confirms: Lockdowns Don’t Stop The Spread (The Federalist)

When the masks come off in blue states

Second Person in US Dies After Monkeypox Diagnosis

Meet Joe Biden’s Monkeypox Czar — A Gay Doctor In Drag Who Wants To ‘Dismantle Stigma’

DOJ appeals special master ruling in Trump Mar-a-Lago probe (Politico)

‘This cannot continue’: MAGA influencers are creating hell for California elections offices (S.F. Gate)

William Cohen labels Trump a ‘clear and present danger to democracy’ (The Hill)

Michael Cohen claims DOJ is ‘tip-toeing’ around Trump as if he were ‘the supreme leader’

Five things to know about Aileen M. Cannon, the judge who granted Trump a special master (The Hill) According to the Narrative.

In ruling for Trump, low-profile judge Aileen Cannon invites scrutiny (Washington Post) And a witch-hunt.

Grand jury issues subpoenas seeking information on Trump-aligned PAC (Politico)

U.S. reveals more classified records may be missing in Trump probe (Reuters) Pushing the Narrative in the run-up to the mid-term elections.

Former U.S. attorney dishes on how he held line against Trump White House (Washington Post)

An ugly GOP election scam in Michigan unmasks a big right-wing lie (Washington Post) Greg Sargent loses his shit.

Former Trump White House lawyer Ty Cobb calls him ‘deeply wounded narcissist’ who acted in ‘criminal’ way to overturn Biden win (CNBC) The small fry try to monetize their status by biting the hand that fed them. The witch-hunt continues.

‘You have to run’: Romney urged Biden to take down Trump, book says (The Guardian) Somebody needs to primary Romney.

Read it. And certainly watch the video.

The idea is that an owner will be able to store the vehicle in their garage and then drive to a local airport. With the push of a button, the car’s wings will swing out from under its cabin, while a tail unfolds from the rear — a process that takes just three minutes.

The owner will then be able to fly the hybrid gas/electric vehicle to another airport, transition it back into car mode, and drive right off the runway to their final destination.

Freeberg nails it.

It’s a one-party state, but it’s their party and they see nothing wrong with it. So their bosses can tell them…the wildfires are climate change…the power outages are climate change…the budget shortfalls are due to climate change…crime is out of control because of climate change…we’re just forcing you to suck up smaller sodas through these paper straws, and use these grocery bags, and buy an electric car you can’t charge, because of climate change. And they’ll buy all of it. There are no signs of possibly incompetent management. None are needed. It’s their guys running things.

Scott Johnson at Power Line.

Yesterday we noted how West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin has played the fool for the Democrats’ tax, climate, and spending bonanza in the absurdly named Inflation Reduction Act. You can’t help but get the feeling that the Democrats are conducting a social science experiment. They are testing voters to ascertain if they’re paying attention.

West Virginia voters appear to be paying attention. Drawing on a recent Triton poll, RedState’s Mr. Bonchie declares “Manchin’s political career appears to be over.” The poll shows Manchin losing to any of three possible opponents. Unfortunately, Manchin’s Senate seat isn’t up until 2024.

Read it.

Social media deplatforming and algorithmic manipulation remain huge problems demanding clear, forthright public policy responses, but the same underlying sentiment—the arrogant and malicious impulse to subjugate and “other”-ize the “deplorable” half of American society, humiliating them into second-class subjection—is already playing out in other industries as well.

De-banking—the politicization of lines of credit and the severing of basic financial services to “controversial” conservatives—is already very much here to stay. Just ask (recent congressional candidate) Laura Loomer about PayPal, or ask the spirited Canadian truckers (remember them?) about GoFundMe. In recent years, moreover, conglomerates such as Bank of America have stopped lending to certain firearms manufacturers—the very defenders, in this case, of the Second Amendment. Other examples abound.

Read it.

Rumor has it that taxation in the U.S. is soft: this is not the case with income tax, the main source of government levies. The top federal marginal rate of 37%, above $523,000 of income, is misleading. In New York, you have to add the state tax (10.9% maximum), the city tax (3.876% marginal rate), and the tax to fund Social Security, the pay-as-you-go pension plan, at 6.2% (up to $147,000 of income).

In total, the marginal tax rate exceeds 53% in New York.

…

In short, leaving New York, where the cost of living is exorbitant, means getting back about two months of the net salary.

Read it.

People who follow politics are familiar with the scenario. When a Republican “wave” appears likely, or a Republican presidential candidate develops a significant lead over the Democrat candidate, the media begin reporting “stories” that the wave is receding, and the Democrat is gaining ground.

Television networks prefer close races because it adds to ratings. For once influential newspapers, it used to help sales.

Are these claims true? It doesn’t matter to the media. A majority of journalists identify as liberals/Democrats. Neither does it matter how often polls are wrong. Like people who rely on psychics to tell them what they want to hear (“you will meet a tall, dark stranger”), accurate polls depend on the way the questions are asked, and the understanding people have about candidates and issues. They also depend on the size and political balance of the sample.

The most recent inaccurate polls occurred in the 2020 race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Pollsters had the largest margin of error in 40 years. In 1980, polls showed Jimmy Carter beating Ronald Reagan by six percentage points, according to a study by Vanderbilt University.

Now, the usual pro-Democrat newspapers, cable and broadcast networks are “reporting” on polls (in some cases commissioned by themselves) that show a red wave may not happen and Democrats might even produce a “miracle,” holding on to their slim congressional majority. Such polls also can have the effect of depressing Republican voter turnout. Why vote, goes the thinking, when it appears the result is already determined.

Read it.

The global economy is a biological system, and money is its nervous system. This is more than a mere analogy. Money is not just important; it is a system that conveys complex information that enables billions of actors to do what the world needs them to do in order to get what they want from the world.

As I wrote in Visible Capital, “At their core, economics and biology are the same science. And the actions observed by economists are, in essence, biological processes — organisms interacting selfishly with their environment in order to survive.” Money helps coordinate the actions of these organisms. It has always done so, but more forcefully and efficiently over the past few hundred years.

But money’s role is under question from several directions. Some question money’s ability to serve its original function. And some question the social cost of allowing money to continue to serve that same function — to serve as the preeminent driver of human action.

The price system is the information network that allows a complex economy to function. The first sin of socialism and other totalitarian systems is that, under such systems, prices (when they exist at all) are set artificially and so don’t reflect real-world conditions and preferences, hence such economies sooner or later (usually sooner) crash and burn. Semi-totalitarian wage and price ‘controls’ have the same flaw and suffer the same degenerative effect.

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If California, our most populous state, were its own nation, it would rank as the world’s fifth largest economy and boast the highest average household income (outside a handful of “countries” like Monaco or Luxemburg).

And, yet, the governor is begging its citizens to stop using their appliances, turn off their lights and keep their thermostats at a stifling 78, lest they suffer more rolling blackouts, like some junior mandarin in a Third World country.

Of course, I kid when I say that California is already experiencing the effects of the Green New Deal. A state that still derives more than 66% of its energy from non-renewable sources, has tens of trillions of dollars to go before it meets President Joe Biden’s promise of a 65% reduction in emissions by 2030. The flooding of an already rickety grid with undependable renewables offers only a small taste of the “transition” to “clean energy.”

Because you can scaremonger about climate change all day long and ratchet it up to insane levels, but no one escapes the laws of physics or economics. California has been forced to extend the life of its last nuclear power plant at Diablo Canyon and gas-fired power plants to save the state from being plunged into darkness rather than the occasional blackout.

As it turns out, most people are only theoretically fans of deindustrialization.

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Researchers from MIT and China have developed a solar desalination device that could provide a family of four with all the drinking water it needs — and it can be made from just $4 worth of materials.

So obviously companies are rushing to implement this tremendous idea! Right?

Uh, no.

Scariest part of the NorCal heat wave could be yet to come (S.F. Gate)

The heat wave scorching California may be the worst in its history and now an approaching hurricane threatens to fan already raging wildfires (CNN)

Climate gains are ‘inconvenient truth’ — it’s not all bad news about the environment

Yes, climate-related weather deaths are decreasing worldwide (WQAD)

Yellen will vow to ‘rid’ US from ‘dependence on fossil fuels’ in Detroit speech (The Hill) The Dr. Fauci of finance.

US farmers face plague of pests as global heating raises soil temperatures (The Guardian)

Biden admin settles with eco groups to block massive oil drilling leases

Environmental activist warns of ‘dire’ electricity crisis in California: ‘Incompetence piled on ideology’

I’ve had a long battle with climate despair. Now I’m leaving the ‘denial machine’ to their demons (The Guardian) Poor baby.

Interfaith work is moving beyond dialogue and entering … the climate scene? (Deseret News)

California scrambles to avoid blackouts as it pursues a green energy future (Washington Post) Connecting the dots is apparently not in their skill set.

New UK PM Truss To Lift Fracking Ban, Climate Activists Crushed

Special Report: How U.S. ethanol plants are allowed to pollute more than oil refineries (Reuters)

Vancouver’s New Virtue Signaling Fire Engine–Useless, But At Least It Won’t Wake the Neighbours Up!

As Biden’s Climate Czar, John Kerry Has Flown More Than 180,000 Miles, Emitting 9.5 Million Pounds of Carbon

Are Hawaii’s beach showers in violation of the Clean Water Act?

Wind Turbines Are Destroying the Planet

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On the menu today: You may have heard about that Democratic county official in Nevada whom police have arrested on suspicion of murdering a reporter. But you probably didn’t hear about the Democratic campaign consultant in New Jersey who pled guilty to conspiracy and murder-for-hire earlier this year. And only those who closely follow politics are likely to have heard about the Democratic mega-donor from California who lured men into his apartment and injected them with methamphetamine in exchange for sex, leading to two fatal overdoses. I think we’re starting to see why some in that party were so enthusiastic about the notion of abolishing the police.

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It immediately comes to life and goes on a hunt for Alec Baldwin. (Just kidding….)

Construction workers employed in road building near the Onon River in the Khentii province of Mongolia, have discovered a mass ???v? containing the remains of many ?oz??s of human co??s?s lying upon a large rudimentary stone structure.

Forensic experts and archaeologists were called to the site, which was revealed to be a Mongolian royal tomb from the 13th century that the scientists believe to be Genghis Khan’s.

The team of scientists affiliated with the University of Beijing has concluded that the numerous skeletons buried on top of the structure were most likely the slaves who built it and who were then massacred to keep the secret of the location.

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WGN Investigates has learned several dozen of the migrants Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent to Chicago have now been relocated to a hotel in the suburbs without advance warning to the local mayor.

“I am concerned neither the village administrator nor I were told about this,” Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso told WGN. “We want to know: Why Burr Ridge?”

Just days ago, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot blasted Abbott for treating the migrants like “cargo” and not providing her with advance notice they were arriving.

“My frustration comes from the actions of the governor of Texas,” Lightfoot said Sunday, when the first bus load of 50 migrants arrived. “There could be a level of coordination and cooperation, but he chooses to do none of those things and instead tries to send human beings — not cargo, not freight — human beings across the country to an uncertain destination.”

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I expect reliable and cheap energy.  I expect that every time I flip on a switch, the lights will come on, and the heat will come up.  I expect that I will be able to fill my car with gas pretty much whenever I want at any gas station that is open and that I can hit the open road for a road trip without breaking the bank.

I expect abundant, varied, and cheap food.  I want to see the grocery stores stocked with fresh food and sundry items.  I expect that when I go to the store to get broccoli that I will find it, as will millions of other Americans.  I expect high-quality toilet paper on the shelves and that I can buy as many packages as I want.

I expect reliable services.  I expect that when I need a plumber, or my carpets cleaned, or my roof repaired, I can find someone to come in a reasonable amount of time and that they will either have or will be able to easily obtain the parts they need.

I expect to be able to my own home, to feel the pride and joy of ownership, to decorate it and landscape it and modify it as I wish, without asking for permission, and to be able to use it as collateral to build a business or whatever other needs I may have.

I expect that through hard work, I will pay for all these things to ensure they are available to all.

I expect to be able to speak my mind in public without fear of who is listening.  I expect to be able to declare my political ideology through tee shirts, hats, or bumper stickers without reprisals, whether on the street or a college campus.

I expect the schools to teach children the basic knowledge they need to be good citizens and to appreciate the country they have.  I expect that when they graduate they are literate, understand math and science and know how our system of government works.

I expect to be able to walk within our cities and parks without stepping over homeless people, garbage,  drug paraphernalia, and human waste.  I expect to walk without fear in our cities and neighborhoods, and not to be assaulted on the streets or on public transportation.

I expect civil order, and that wholesale vandalism, property theft, and destruction will not be tolerated.

I expect to see statues of our Founding Fathers and other historical figures throughout America. These works were created to honor them and inspire us, and they do.

I expect that through responsible and moral conduct, I will contribute to a peaceful and prosperous society for all.

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All these things I expect not out of a sense of entitlement, but because the majority of Americans had them in my lifetime.  We know how to do this.  I never took  these things for granted.  I was always filled with wondrous gratitude and admiration for the freedom, hard work, and ingenuity that led to our prosperity and all the men and women who worked every day to keep society running smoothly.  Some of that hard work was my own, and I always tried to be a productive and responsible citizen by making the most of the opportunities afforded to me.

To our so-called elite: I am unapologetically grateful for my standard of living and under no circumstances do I want you to ruin it for me and millions of other Americans who either have or aspire to a similar standard. You may be bored with your lavish lifestyles, you may be suffering from fear, guilt, self-hatred, or confusion about what is a man and what is a woman, you may be living a life devoid of meaning,  but I am not.  You have not convinced me that destruction of our way of life is necessary for some greater goal.  You have no right to lower my standard of living to make you feel good about yourselves.  Lower your own.  I love living in the middle class, I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity, and I will fight to keep it alive for me and future generations.

Concur.

Steven Hayward at Power Line.

Citizens who were shocked at the bitter partisanship and presumption of Joe Biden’s Philadelphia speech should recognize that such rhetoric has a long pedigree in the Democratic Party, stretching all the way back to before the Civil War.

In the runup to the Civil War in the 1850s, Democrats liked to call Lincoln’s new anti-slavery party “the Black Republicans,” a transparent appeal to latent racial bigotry. Likewise, Stephen Douglas and other leading Democrats liked to refer to their party as “the Democracy,” implying a monopoly on democratic rectitude the prefigures today’s liberal slogan, “Our DemocracyTM.” Biden’s press spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre offered a perfect recitation of Douglas’s principle of absolute popular sovereignty with her pre-speech comment: “When you are not with what a majority of Americans are, then you know, that is extreme. That is an extreme way of thinking.”

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Electronic tax filing could soon be as simple as a few clicks on a government website — free of charge.

The Internal Revenue Service will spend $15 million studying a free, government-backed tax filing system under a provision in the sweeping climate and health-care law Congress passed this summer. It’s a landmark step toward overhauling the way most Americans file their taxes and ending years of domination of tax prep by private corporations.

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Welcome to our world.

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Bees have managed to survive some 100 million years without the help of venture capitalists.

In recent years, however, with many populations of crucial species threatened, we’re increasingly recognizing how much ecosystems and agriculture rely on these extraordinary creatures. Investors, meanwhile, are finding that bee-related businesses can offer both environmental benefits and some potentially good returns.

The Beewise product line is truly amazing.

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What was the most important thing for you to know early on Saturday evening? What was the key thing which had happened in the world? America’s failure, once more, to launch its new rocket perhaps? The ongoing humanitarian catastrophe caused by the floods in Pakistan maybe? The fact that we were inching ever closer to Larry the Cat finally getting a new house-mate? No, according to those in charge of the running order of the BBC early evening news, the one thing you absolutely had to know was that Serena Williams had retired.