John Hinderaker at Power Line.

No former Democratic Party office-holder ever goes hungry. Democrats are great at finding jobs for politicians that don’t quite work out. A case in point is Minnesota’s Melisa López Franzen.

John Hinderaker at Power Line.

News reports indicate that a new variant of covid–now, basically the common cold–is in the air. Some people are alarmed. Driving to work this morning, I passed a young woman walking by herself, outdoors, no one within a block of her. She was wearing a mask.

Are we about to enter a new era of shutdowns, masks and general hysteria? If governments try to impose such neo-fascist measures, will citizens comply, or will they rebel? On that last point, neither polls nor election results offer much comfort. I believe that all of the governors who imposed the worst covid damages on their people were re-elected.

This mashup video is a good reminder of how covid hysteria took off the first time around. The World Health Organization was a prime source of misinformation, which our liberal media were happy to shove down our throats.

Read it.

“Focus on the signal, not the noise,” is a phrase that might as well have been coined by Steve Bannon given how frequently he and his acolytes make use of it. At this stage in the game, it should be the mantra of the MAGA movement writ large; for the hour is already late, there is a mountain of work left to do to haul President Trump over the finish line: navigating a corrupt, weaponized justice system; dealing with rigged election procedures; combatting both soft and overt censorship by mainstream networks and social media – and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Read it.

From the shit-covered streets of San Francisco to the crime-ridden boroughs of New York City and the migrant-packed neighborhoods of London and Paris, timepiece aficionados are hiding their expensive wristwatches.

Why? A tidal wave of Rolex theft is sweeping across the Western world. Those once flaunting their Rolex, Patek, and Audemars Piguet – the wrist trophies of ‘success’ – are leaving them at home. New data from Bloomberg, citing The Watch Register, revealed a staggering $1.3 billion in luxury watch thefts last year.

The Watch Register said on its website its “database currently lists over 80,000 lost and stolen watches, and is growing rapidly.” The database contains 850 different brands and watchmakers, including Rolex, Omega, Cartier, Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, Richard Mille, Breitling, TAG, Heuer, IWC, Jaeger LeCoultre, and others.

Every nation is becoming a Turd World nation.

Volcanoes and wildfires offset 20% of global heating over eight years (The Guardian)

Carbon-credit traders find their CO2 offsets may be worth nothing (L.A. Times)

G20 poured more than $1tn into fossil fuel subsidies despite Cop26 pledges – report (The Guardian)

Investor pressure group urges G20 to reform agricultural subsidies (Reuters)

G20 countries gave record $1.4 trillion to support fossil fuels in 2022: report (The Indian Express)

Top environmental fund chief calls on countries to defund activities ‘destroying’ nature (Politico)

In the face of sea level rise, can we reimagine California’s vanishing coastline? (L.A. Times) Which, last time I looked, is still there.

After 8 years, businesses’ Gold King claims denied

14 US Cities Initiate New Globalist Climate Plan In Partnership With Soros & The Clintons

China Retaliates Over Fukushima Water Dump: Blocks Seafood Imports As Nobody “Wants To Eat Radioactive Salmon”

Bernie Sanders: Confronting Chinese Tyranny is Undermining Climate Cooperation  Well, we can’t have that….

The Winds That Doomed Lahaina (Wired ‘Science’)

New Book—Green Breakdown: The Coming Renewable Energy Failure

In deadly Maui fires, many had no warning and no way out. Those who dodged barricades survived (Associated Press)

The Facebook settlement claim deadline is Friday. Here’s how to apply. (Washington Post)

Facebook users have until Friday to claim free money (KSAT San Antonio)

Time is running out to file claims for Facebook’s $725 million data privacy settlement (East Idaho News)

Facebook owes you $725 million – here’s how to get your share (The Shortcut)

A made-up pronoun is now a participation trophy for people who can’t participate in actual life (Greg Gutfeld)

NYT Columnist Proposes Banning Elections to Save Democracy! (NewsBusters)

Chicago Dem Predicts City’s Migrant Crisis Will Intensify Ahead of Democratic Convention (Washington Free Beacon)

Bud Light Backlash “Shows Little Signs Of Abating”, Citi Warns

204 Chicago Homicides In Mayor Johnson’s First 100 Days, Including Four Teenagers Killed Last Weekend

Australia’s Misinfo Bill Paves Way For Soviet-Style Censorship

How Inflation Destroys Civilization… And What You Can Do About It

Jacky Rosen Praised an LGBT Group That Teaches Children About Witchcraft and Masturbation (Washington Free Beacon)

Law School Administrators Huddle To Circumvent Affirmative Action Ban

3 red states will elect governors this fall. Could Democrats have a chance? (NPR)

Is Crime Still Illegal?

CNN Legal Analyst ‘Perplexed’ by DOJ’s Corruption

Outgoing Ivy League Presidents Get Sweetheart Home-Loan Deals  My, what a surprise.

Cash payments above €3000 to be outlawed in Netherlands

Man flees China by riding jet ski hundreds of miles to South Korea (NBC)

Rosen Thanks Group That Teaches Kids Masturbation

Va. Parents Petition High Court on School Admissions

11th Circuit Reinstates Alabama Law Protecting Minors From Gender-Transition Hormones

Sherrod Brown Demands Financial Transparency. For Years, He Failed to Disclose Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in Assets.

Court Rules for Michigan Apple Orchard That Refused Same-Sex Weddings

The Washington Post Has Misgivings About Democracy When It Impedes the Left

Activist Behind SCOTUS Affirmative Action Case Sues Law Firms

To Combat Crime Surge In American Cities, Many Turn To Private Alternatives

At first Republican debate, watch for these 6 key things. They could make Biden a one-term president (Fox)

A Gen Z Marine Explores Solutions to the Military’s Recruiting Crisis in ‘We Don’t Want You, Uncle Sam’ (Military.com)

Army launches second phase of ad campaign amid recruiting slump (Defense One)

New Be All You Can Be ads arrive amid Army marketing leadership change (Army Times)

From Land Acknowledgements to Zombie Lies, Biden’s State Department Pushes Divisive Diplomacy (The Foundry)

Kamala Harris Is Rebooting Her Vice Presidency—No, Seriously This Time (Washington Free Beacon)

Biden’s Corvette, Spared in House Fire, Becomes Crucial Evidence Linking POTUS to Hunter’s Crimes (Washington Free Beacon)

Networks Ignore Biden Comparing Hawaii Fires to His Small Kitchen Fire (NewsBusters)

CNN Legal Analyst Elle Honig: DOJ Made ‘An Unholy Mess’ of the Hunter Biden Probe (NewsBusters)

Honolulu’s Democrat-Rag Newspaper Offers Absurdly Whitewashed Tale of Biden’s Maui Visit

PolitiFact Rushes To Biden’s Defense On The Chinese Spy Balloon

Biden Admin ‘Welds Open Floodgates’ At Arizona Border, Allowing Illegals To Pour Into US

Biden Rolls Out New Student Loan Repayment Plan After Supreme Court Struck Down First One  Buy those votes! Buy those votes!

Security ramps up around Fulton County Jail ahead of Trump’s surrender (CBS)

Former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis’ bond set for $100,000 in Georgia (MSNBC)

Prosecutors: Trump Mar-a-Lago security aide flipped after changing lawyers (Politico)

Jack Smith Reveals Trump Employee Flipped After Ditching MAGA Lawyer (Daily Beast) ‘MAGA’ is the New Nigger.

‘Trump Employee 4’ retracts testimony after changing lawyers, implicates former president, prosecutors say (Fox)

Key witness in Mar-a-Lago documents case retracts false testimony after switching lawyers (MSNBC) They have to put ‘false’ in the headline so you’ll know what the Narrative is.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy endorses Donald Trump (Politico)

A Sober Look At Four Indictments

Fake electors, Trump attorneys surrender in Trump Georgia case (The Hill) They needed to add ‘fake’ to the headline to make sure you know what the Narrative is.

Trump gravitates to fringe figures despite efforts to limit their influence (Washington Post)

Judge Allows Trump’s Georgia Arraignment to Be Televised  Show trial, here we come.

More developments on the anti-Trump lawfare front

Chicago Woman Charged for Threatening To Shoot Trump and His Teenage Son ‘In the Face’ In Emails To School  But of course we all know that only Republicans indulge in political violence.

How Fox News Plans to Have Trump ‘Appear’ at Its GOP Debate (Daily Beast)

How Much Of Today’s ‘Racism’ Is Manufactured?

Watch: ‘Good Guy’ With Gun (& Six-Pack Of Beer) Takes Down ‘Bad Guy’ With Knife

Joy Reid Falsely Claims DeSantis Fired Prosecutor Because She’s Black (NewsBusters)

England Lionesses Soccer Team “Too White”?

NYT: “In Alabama, White Tide Rushes On”

ABC Smears Oliver Anthony as Racist for Calling Out Their D.C. Allies

Sen. Warnock’s Church Salary Raises Ethics Concerns

MSNBC Claims ‘Woke’ Is GOP’s Way of Saying ‘Black’ Or ‘The N-Word’

Major Law Firms Sued for ‘Discriminatory’ DEI Programs Amid Affirmative Action Reckoning

Media Giant Gannett Sued for Allegedly Discriminating Against White Employees

Texas’ floating barrier to stop migrants draws recurring concerns from Mexico, US official says (Associated Press) Because it’s effective, and Mexico wants an open border.

Federal judge hears arguments over Texas’ floating barrier on Rio Grande (PBS)

Judge to consider if Texas can keep border buoys as migrant crisis continues (CBS)

If Biden can’t stop Gov. Abbott’s barbaric buoys on the Rio Grande, Mexico should (Arizona Central)

The abortion pill faces its most disturbing attack yet (L.A.Times)

Andy Ngo Awarded $300,000 In Antifa Attack Lawsuit

Crying Covenant School Parents Booted From Tennessee Special Session (Daily Beast)

Ramaswamy Took Soros Money Then Tried to Hide Truth (NewsMax)

Why does only right-wing funding count as “dark money”?

Liberal Projection: Historic USA Today Anti-Florida Hit: Dems Face ‘Ridicule, Discrimination,’ Maybe Violence  Which is precisely what they seek to inflict on others.

All male South Carolina Supreme Court upholds ‘fetal heartbeat’ abortion ban (The Hill) All male! (Bias? What bias?)

Why do Republicans disproportionately believe health misinformation? (Washington Post) Philip Bump can’t figure out why people don’t buy the Narrative lies.

A third of adults believe COVID-19 vaccines caused thousands of sudden deaths: poll (The Hill)

Many Americans still struggle with health misinformation, new poll finds (CNN)

Poll Shows Who Americans Trust (and Don’t Trust) for Health News (US News & World Report)

In Wuhan, doctors knew the truth. They were told to keep quiet

Secret Letter To CDC: Top Epidemiologist Suggests Agency Misrepresented Scientific Data To Support Mask Narrative

CNN Considers Bringing Back Masks: ‘We’re At An Inflection Point’

New COVID Variant More Likely to Infect Vaccinated

It may be time to break out the masks against Covid, some experts say (CNN)

Atlanta College Bringing Back Mask Mandates, Canceling Parties, Despite Zero Covid Cases

Experts Concerned Biden Could Die From COVID-19 Before Election  That would be convenient.

DOJ Charges Hundreds for Alleged COVID-19 Fraud

Rand Paul On Return Of COVID Measures: “These People Have No Shame”

Zeihan.

Four big things have helped Texas climb to the top. Thanks to a low cost of living, Texans have been popping out babies left and right, contributing to strong demographic growth. Their proximity to Mexico has bolstered the Texan economy, trade, and manufacturing sector. Texas is a red state with blue cities, so residents can enjoy the perfect regulatory mix. And lastly, Texas has been able to attract businesses from other struggling states.

ZMan peers behind the curtain.

Whether anyone likes it or not, the 2024 election kicks off officially tonight with a debate in Tiny Town between eight midgets vying for the Republican nomination. According to the strict standards for selecting the performers for this show, the cast will be Doug Burgum, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Asa Hutchinson, Mike Pence, Vivek Ramaswamy and Tim Scott. These eight campaigns claim to have met the requirements set forth by the producers of the show.

This will be the first time anyone has seen Doug Burgum, whose name is often pronounced “bugman” by less scrupulous commentators. He is the current governor of North Dakota, a place few Americans can find on a map. Similarly, Asa Hutchinson will be introducing himself to the world, despite having spent the last half century in politics, mostly in Washington. He is the former governor of Arkansas and the man who championed the mutilation of children.

There used to be a time when the pundits would handicap these things in terms of what each candidate must do to help themselves in the debate. The game was to pretend all of them had an equal chance, so if they took the advice of the pundits, then they could become more equal than the others. For political people, this used to be a fun part of the process, but now that we know our elections are like professional wrestling, normal people have no interest in pretending otherwise.

Each run by Democrats.

The Antiplanner.

The news media is discovering something that the Antiplanner has been saying for years: so-called affordable housing isn’t affordable. The federal, state, and local governments spend tens of billions of dollars a year subsidizing supposedly affordable housing, yet few people who need such housing get into the projects and many of those who do can’t afford the rents that are charged.

As a recent article in the LAist points out, more than 450,000 households in Los Angeles have incomes low enough to qualify for affordable housing, yet fewer than 50,000 such units have been built. One project that opened in 2022 received 7,500 applications for just 65 apartments.

Moreover, developers that receive subsidies to build affordable housing are only required to provide that housing at affordable rates for 30 to 40 years, depending on the subsidy program. Since these programs began in the 1980s, many of the new housing projects that are built are simply replacing older projects that are now being rented for market rates, thus not increasing the supply.

The Spectator.

In April this year, a jogger in the Italian Alps was mauled to death by a brown bear. This was reported as the first bear killing in Italy in modern times. But it probably won’t be the last. Bears have been reappearing in northern Italy as part of a rewilding project in the last two decades, returning to regions they had been driven from hundreds of years ago. More encounters between bears and humans are inevitable.

In Eight Bears, Gloria Dickie explores how we can coexist with the remaining bear species on Earth, protecting those in danger as well as negotiating how to share space with those that are not. She takes us around the world to see how different bears are coping with environmental pressures, and how humans are coping with bears.

Gates of Vienna.

The one-year anniversary of the September 16, 2022 arrest and murder of Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini by Iran’s so-called ‘morality police’ is coming up. Her killing, supposedly for allowing her hijab to slip from completely covering her hair (while inside her family’s personal vehicle), set off months of street protests against the Iranian regime. These protests focus especially on the complete lack of women’s rights under the Islamic Republic of Iran’s draconian sharia regime. Despite a brutal crackdown by the regime against the protesters, those demonstrations continue today, often under the slogan “Woman, Life, Freedom”.

Major movie studio reinstates mask mandates ‘effective immediately’ (Fox)

Lionsgate Reinstates Mask Mandate In Parts Of Santa Monica Office Following Covid Outbreak (Deadline)

FDA Approves Maternal RSV Vaccine to Protect Babies

Many long-covid symptoms linger even after two years, new study shows (Washington Post)

New Novavax Vaccine Effective Against ‘Eris’ Variant

Why a highly mutated coronavirus variant has scientists on alert

It’s Really Happening: Mask Mandates, Contact-Tracing Re-Implemented At Colleges, Offices

Insurers must cover injectable HIV prevention drug — unless courts void mandate (NBC)

DISCUSS: Are they prepping for Plandemic 2.0?

US Awards $1.4B for New COVID Therapies, Vaccines

Covid 19: mRNA vs. modRNA — Does It Matter?

St. Louis University Pushes Trans Ideology on Med Students (NewsMax)

SUNY Buffalo State Expels Migrants From Dorms (NewsMax)

Speaker McCarthy: Trust in Public Schools Hits Record Low (NewsMax)

How Unions Have Betrayed America

Poles Overwhelmingly Oppose EU Migration Reforms

PBS Touts ‘Non-Binary Transmasculine’ Teen Against Montana GOP Opposing Trans Agenda

Bloomberg Finances and Coopts State Attorneys General

In California, We See Again How Easy It Is to Panic Americans

Homeless Project Roils Liberal Bay Area Town

Maui Wildfire Victims Fear Land Grab And the one they need to fear most is that of the State government taking over their land to ‘save’ it from ‘outsiders’.

PolitiFact Celebrates Birthday By Hyping Devotion To Left-Wing Causes

Over 1,000 School Districts Hide Students’ Gender Identities From Parents

Following Hurricane, California’s Homeless Begin The Hard Work Of Re-Pooping All The Sidewalks (Babylon Bee)

This town is relocating to higher ground due to sea-level rise. Here’s what that entails (CNBC) Call me when real estate prices in Malibu or Martha’s Vineyard start dropping.

California’s Heat-Pump Fantasy (City Journal)

Anger is most powerful emotion by far for spurring climate action, study finds (The Guardian)

Clean Energy Exploitations & The Death Spiral Of An Auto Industry

There’s More Coal Being Shipped By Sea Than Ever Before

Maui Fire Response Shows ‘Danger of Politically Driven Governance’

La Brea Megafaunal Extinctions Driven by Fires 13,000 Years Ago

Electrolyzer efficiently converts CO2 into renewable propane fuel

Clever coating turns lampshades into indoor air purifiers

A Return to the Age of Sailing Ships: Nostalgia or Nonsense?

Green Energy: Whitehouse Pushes Legislation that Helps Wife’s Climate Change Firm

TV News Spends Days Pushing Misinfo on Tropical Storms Battering SoCal

Activists try to reboot Pacific walrus as climate change icons just as numbers reach a new high

Trump Will Surrender At Georgia Jail Thursday — Here’s What To Expect As He May Get First Mug Shot (Forbes)

Trump says he will surrender Thursday on Georgia charges (MSNBC)

Trump plans to turn himself in Thursday at Fulton County jail (CNN)

The dog that didn’t bark: Trump’s calls for massive protests go unanswered (MSNBC) Dunh dunh DUNHHHHH….

Justice Dept. pushes back against Trump’s bid for a 2026 trial in D.C. (Washington Post)

Media organizations seek release of more court filings linked to special counsel Jack Smith’s search warrant for Trump’s Twitter account (CNN)

Fox News Bans Trump Surrogates From Debate Spin Room

Trump indictments boost MSNBC primetime ratings (Axios)

Incoming Ga. Commission Could Punish DA Willis

Majority of likely Iowa GOP caucusgoers believe Trump won the 2020 election

Trump attorneys guided false electors in Georgia, GOP chair says (Politico)

Biden uses minor fire at his house to claim he knows what it’s like to lose a home while visiting Maui (Fox)

Open floodgates at Arizona border allow thousands of migrants to walk into the country (N.Y. Post)

House Panels Subpoena IRS, FBI Officials Over Weiss Meeting (NewsMax)

House Republicans subpoena DHS Secretary Mayorkas (The Hill)

Bidens May Be Renting Steyer’s $18M Tahoe Home Illegally

More Than Half Of Small Businesses Believe The US Is Already In Recession

Has Biden Been ‘Told’ He’s Not Running in 2024?  Scott Adams thinks so.

CBS Declares Border Crisis ‘Out of Control,’ Hurting ‘Big Cities’ Now

Siena Poll: 46% of New Yorkers Say Migrants a Burden

Report: Biden Allies, Dem Donors Fill Weiss’ Office

‘Corrupt Ukrainian Prosecutor’ Biden Had Quid-Pro-Fired Was Praised By US Govt Months Before

Biden’s Hostage Deal Would Boost Iran’s Threats

Biden Tells Fire Victims He Sympathizes Because One Time He Walked On The Beach Without Sandals And The Sand Was Really Hot  (Babylon Bee)

REMINDER: Biden Still Hasn’t Visited GOP-Voting Ohio Town Ravaged by Toxic Spill  Blue Hawaii good, Red Ohio bad.

WATCH: ‘F— You!’ Biden’s Belated Maui Visit Goes Off the Rails

Biden Returns to Luxury Lake Tahoe Vacation After 6-Hour Jaunt to Devastated Maui

Biden Pushes These 4 Woke Military Officers for Promotion as Sen. Tuberville Holds Firm

‘Broken’ solar panels manufactured to deter criminals in South Africa The elephant in the room is the number of African countries that demonstrate beyond the shadow of a doubt what happens when you put Africans in charge of running a country.

With Church Salary, Raphael Warnock Blew Past Senate’s Outside Income Limit In 2022

Conservative activist sues law firms for ‘racially discriminating’ against fellowship candidates (Washington Examiner)

Grieving Governor’s Moderate Gun Proposal Is Spurned by G.O.P. Allies (N.Y. Times)

Inflation Labeled A “Right-Wing Talking Point” In Response To Hit Working-Class Song

Republican Jewish Group Pushes Back on Ramaswamy’s Stance Against Israel Aid

Maddow Spreads Fake News About Arkansas History Standards

Woke row erupts after ‘Fat Bottom Girls’ cut from Queen’s greatest hits  Unconscionable.

US businessman is wannabe ‘warlord’ of secretive far-right men’s network (The Guardian) I can’t say that I would blame him.

Madness! American Satirist C.J.Hopkins Sentenced In German Speech Case

Vivek Ramaswamy condemned for 9/11 and Jan 6 conspiracy theory remarks (The Guardian) Which he didn’t actually make … but, like other far-left propaganda mills, the Guardian never hesitates just to make stuff up.

DNC to troll GOP debate by flying anti-MAGA banner (The Hill) Arrested adolescents on parade. (Climate Crisis Watch: Here’s How Much Carbon the DNC Is Emitting To Troll Republicans at GOP Debate)

“Too Many Old, White Male” College Presidents, American Council On Education Says

Ramaswamy faces scrutiny over suggesting government involvement in 9/11 (Politico) Which he never did. They’re just making shit up in order to have a rhetorical stick to beat him with.

Read it.

My selections are doing worse than usual in Biden Bingo.  How are yours doing?

Read it.

When Wu began his surgical career in the late 1990s, most of his patients were in their sixties or seventies. But in the mid-2000s, he started to notice a troubling change. The people on his operating table kept getting younger. In 2016, Wu performed a scleral buckle surgery—fastening a belt around the eye to fix the retina into place—on a 14-year-old girl, a student at an elite high school in Kaohsiung. Another patient, a prominent programmer who had worked for Yahoo, suffered two severe retinal detachments and was blind in both eyes by age 29. Both of these cases are part of a wider problem that’s been growing across Asia for decades and is rapidly becoming an issue in the West too: an explosion of myopia.

I spent most of my life with myopia–I cannot remember a time when I didn’t wear glasses. When RK became available, I jumped on it (although I now wish I’d waited; Lasik doesn’t leave the same scars in its wake). That gave me about ten years of glorious life without glasses, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

For economies to continuously expand, education had to become central, and as this happened, the rates of myopia started to climb.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that education and myopia have a causal relationship, but it certainly seems suspicious. Of the three of us children to survived to adulthood, the two who were compulsive readers and eventually college graduates were extremely myopic, and the other–first born, in 1944–was never a heavy reader and never went to college.

HERE IS A non-exhaustive list of things that have been blamed for nearsightedness: pregnancy, pipe smoking, brown hair, long heads, bulging eyes, too much fluid in the eyes, not enough fluid in the eyes, muscle spasms, social class. “Any ophthalmologist who experienced a night of insomnia arose in the morning with a new and usually more bizarre theory,” wrote Brian Curtin in an influential 1985 book about myopia.

…

Morgan and his team also surveyed the participants about their daily routines and hobbies and discovered a surprising relationship. The more time kids spent outside, the less likely they were to have myopia.

Read it.

I spend a lot of time in prayer, both alone and in a quorum (a minyan) of men. Prayer is a form of quasi-meditation, once likened by Rabbi Sachs to focusing on micro-adjusting a shortwave radio dial to tune into a very faint and elusive signal. The “still small voice” might be our souls, or it might be the voice of the divine, or it might just be our imagination. I think it might, at times, be none of them, or all three together.

The point of prayer, like that of almost every religious practice, is to focus the mind of the participant on what is important from the aspect of that particular religion.

The American Mind.

In any event, and for the purposes of what is relevant in Jack Smith’s two indictments, the factual grounds on which President Trump allegedly committed crime(s) within his official duties as president have already been twice considered by the House of Representatives, for which the president—in conformance with Article II, Sec. 4—was acquitted both times by the Senate. Because the Senate voted not to convict President Trump of his alleged crimes, any and every remedial measure afforded by the constitutional process has already been exhausted. Therefore, to continue to bring charges against the president for the asserted crimes on which he has already been prosecuted is by definition an abuse of the judicial power and an expressed violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment: “…nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb…”

Democrats: “Constitution? We don’t need no stinkin’ Constitution!”

Steven Hayward at Power Line.

It has been observed that the demand for racism outstrips the supply, and hence the need for defining racism down to sweep up any observable disparity between racial groups or “microaggression,” or the proliferation of outright race hoaxes, such as racist graffiti on college campuses, etc. Academia and the media are driving this trend. Zach Goldberg a while ago charted out the rise in mentions of race and racism in the major media, but worth repeating here.

The American Mind.

In August 1966, communist leader Mao Zedong commenced “Red August,” a campaign amidst the wider Cultural Revolution to wipe away the “Four Olds” of Chinese society: old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits. He infamously used university students, and other younger children, as foot soldiers to carry out mass beatings and destroy important cultural and historical institutions.

The outsized rule of juveniles and young adults in the subsequent massacres perpetrated by the Red Guards was not at all unique. In Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge, children were also enlisted as foot soldiers, prison guards, and executors of public shaming of non-compliant adults. The weaponization of children and adolescents is a marked feature of left-wing movements across the globe.

The American Left has ensured that children occupy an increasingly active role in our country’s political and culture wars. Childhood no longer exists outside the realm of conflicts between adults. If anything, children are now being told that they must take center stage as the voice of moral righteousness on the most controversial issues of the day. Look no further than Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan remarking that “when our children tell us who they are, it is our job as grown-ups to listen and to believe them.” In Flanagan’s reality, the immature should lead adults in determining cures to societal ills.

The Spectator.

It’s the same story every year. Along with notices advertising the local high school drama department’s production of Grease come headlines announcing the school district is in dire straits and schools will literally fall to pieces if they aren’t pumped full of life-saving funding, stat. Year after year, it’s the same old song and dance: school funding increases, and the next year they need even more. Why is it never enough, though, and where does all the money go?

At the beginning of August here in Pennsylvania, for instance, House Democrats embarked on an SOS — Save Our Schools — tour, alleging the state’s public schools are “unfairly funded.”

Dr. Scott Gottlieb says he’s “pretty concerned” about new COVID variant (CBS)

FDA ‘Clarifies’ That Ivermectin Remains Unapproved For COVID-19 But Docs Can Prescribe

Biden administration to urge Americans get new COVID-19 boosters (Reuters)

How Bad Was Your Batch?

UK Scientists Say COVID Vaccines Should Be Available for Private Purchase

The case for optimism about the Supreme Court (Vox)

A teen student delivered a masterclass on the true history of the Confederate flag (Upworthy) Yeah, teens are the people we look to for accurate history.

How conservatives use ‘verbal jiu-jitsu’ to turn liberals’ language against them (CNN)

Jon Meacham: ‘The Only Way to Fix the Republican Party Is to Have It Continue to Lose’

NYC Wants To Shove Migrants In Shuttered Jeffrey Epstein Jail

Curtis Sliwa Among Arrests at Migrant Shelter Protest

Vivek Ramaswamy’s Truth (The Atlantic)

‘Sex and the City’ Reboot ‘And Just Like That’ Character Chastises Boss Over Pronouns

‘Wanting to be famous’: How Vivek Ramaswamy sought podcast stardom prior to White House run (ABC)

Elon Musk’s Shadow Rule (The New Yorker) Would anybody care what Ronan Farrow has to say if he weren’t related to famous people?

Female Athlete Silenced at Library Event Space For Affirming Science

A right-wing sheriffs group that challenges federal law is gaining acceptance around the country (ABC) Dunh dunh DUNHHHHH….  (Any relation to the Sanctuary Cities that challenge federal law?)

SHOCK: MSNBC Grills Liberal Never Trump Republican Asa Hutchinson

California Library Silences Speaker for Saying Men Shouldn’t Be Allowed in Women’s Sports

Biden’s key immigration policy allowing hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter US faces trial this week (Fox)

Biden quietly sells off border wall parts to thwart GOP push to use them (N.Y. Post)

‘Punch in the Gut,’ Afghanistan Veteran Says About Seeing Taliban Takeover

Biden’s Maui Trip Is ‘Damage Control’ to Seem ‘More Engaged’

The Cost Of Soup Is About To Soar Even Higher; Thank President Biden

Joe and Hunter Biden Vacation at Billionaire Climate Activist’s Lake Tahoe Mansion

Playbook: Harris fights her biggest foe: Washington’s view of her (Politico) Not to mention the rest of the country.

Report: Gun Safety Groups Reluctantly Endorse Biden

Report: Hunter Biden Prosecutor Was Ready To Drop Investigation Before Whistleblowers Came Forward

WATCH: Biden FEMA Chief Can’t Explain 1,000 Missing People After Maui Wildfires

Biden’s infrastructure building boom is missing one thing: Workers (NBC)

‘I can’t get into people’s heads’: Kamala Harris tries to reshape her public image ahead of 2024 (Politico)

WATCH: Biden DHS Chief Brags Maui Wildfires Response Involves Cultural Sensitivity Experts

Actually, Joe, All Your “Objectives” Were Failures

A Brief History of China’s Global Warming Hoax, From 1863 to Right Now (The Intercept)

China Must Pay a Price for Climate Inaction (Foreign Policy)

The US and China must unite to fight the climate crisis, not each other (The Guardian) Talk to the Chinese, Bernie.

Fixing our failing electric grid … on a budget (NPR)

Pioneering wind-powered cargo ship sets sail (BBC)

Cargill chartered ship sets sail to test wind power at sea (Reuters)

Cargill and BAR Technologies’ Ground-Breaking Wind Technology Sets Sail, Chartering a New Lower-Carbon Path for the Maritime Industry (Business Wire)

Cargill’s trailblazing wind sail bulker starts maiden voyage (Lloyd’s List)

Maine supporters of a right to a clean environment encouraged by Montana ruling (Portland Press Herald)

Montana’s landmark climate ruling: three key takeaways (The Guardian)

Montana youth climate lawsuit could benefit federal case in Oregon, though not directly (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

Climate victory in Montana a lesson for Florida (Ft Myers News Press)

Cenla farmer: Drought ‘worst that I have ever seen’ (KALB NBC)

Cattle farmers and their animals experiencing troubles due to extreme heat (KPLC Lake Charls LA)

2 warnings and 3 advisories in effect for 33 regions in the area (KSAT San Antonio)

UK Population Collapse “Good For The Planet”, WEF Adviser Prof Sarah Harper Explains

Ireland’s mad plan: kill cows to save the planet

Confirmed: Tenerife Wildfire Was Started Deliberately

Frying the Knot? NYT Proclaims Misery for Summer Weddings Because ‘Climate Change’

Soaring Number Of Americans Want Nuclear Power

California Drought Undeniable Evidence Of Climate Change – UPDATE: California Rain Undeniable Evidence Of Climate Change (Babylon Bee)

‘He is scared’: Psaki on unusual signs of fear from Trump after new indictment (MSNBC) I think not.

Rep. Gaetz Introduces Bill To Censure, Investigate Judge In Trump 2020 Election Case Politics is a game that two can play.

Trump confirms he will skip the first GOP debate — and maybe future ones, as well (NBC)

MSNBC Pundit Revels In Trump Seeing a ‘Really Dirty, Dangerous’ Jail, Hopes He’s ‘Freaked Out’  As the Mafia have demonstrated, jails can be a cushy place … if you’ve got the money.

TV’s Distorted GOP Primary Race: Three-Fourths Trump, 90% Negative

How the DOJ Outsourced Trump’s Indictment to House Dems

If Republicans Narrow the Field, We Will Beat Trump (N.Y. Times) Look for a prominent op-ed by a prominent Democrat tendering advice on how Democrats can beat Biden. You won’t find one. (RINOs gotta RINO)

Pence Undercuts Trump’s Defense in Classified Documents Case (N.Y. Times)

The Disqualification Of Donald Trump And Other Legal Urban Legends

Scoop: Inside Trump’s new plan to limit immigration (Axios) The notion that anyone writing for Axios has any kind of ‘scoop’ about Trump’s plan for anything is risible.

Trump’s legal woes are part of his quasi-religious mythology of martyrdom (The Guardian) Sidney Blumenthal, Hillary’s sock-puppet, looks in the mirror and calls it MAGAroni.

Trump and his allies double down on election lies after indictments for trying to undo 2020 results (Associated Press) Bias? What bias?

Watch: MSNBC Talking Head Delights At Thought Of Trump In A “Really Dirty, Dangerous, Scary” Jail  Except that the vast majority of those who wind up in a ‘really dirty, dangerous scary jail’ vote Democrat.

Ankle Biter: CNN Cheers Trump Hurting Fox News By Skipping GOP Debate

Storeowner shot to death right in front of her shop after dispute over LGBTQ+ pride flag, authorities say (CBS) I love that phrase: ‘a blended family’

This quirky Portland hardware store says its 48th year could be its last (Oregon Live)

Court Docs Suggests Reason for Kansas Paper Raid (NewsMax)

If Trump, Biden Nominees, No Labels Will Launch Bid (NewsMax)

County Attorney in Texas Switches to GOP (NewsMax)

These Are The Dirtiest Cities In America  All run by Democrats.

Uniparty’s Plan To Save “Our Democracy” Unfolds

US ‘Rent-A-Womb’ Industry Thrives Due To Demand From Parents In China: Researcher  And thus are birth-right citizens.

Portland School District Workshops ‘Equitable Grading Practices’ That Outlaw Zeros for Cheating, Missing Work

Feminist UCSF School Of Medicine Professor Says Children Can Be “Gender Minotaurs”

Districts Quietly Putting Police Back in Schools

‘Luxury’ Migrant Smugglers Arrested in Italy

From Press Room Raids to Indictments, Anything Goes When the Government Piles On

Sen. Ted Cruz Demands Anheuser-Busch Hand Over Dylan Mulvaney Information  Ted Cruz is starting to make my ass tired.

Paid to Strike: California Dems Push Unemployment Benefits for Striking Workers

EXCLUSIVE: St. Louis University Pushes Ideological Transgender ‘Toolkit’ on Med Students (The Foundry)

Struggling Police Forces Look to Hire Noncitizens (NewsMax)

New York and California Each Lost $1T When Financial Firms Moved South

St. Louis University Pushes Trans Ideology on Med Students

When Trans Activism Becomes Government Policy

Progressive Insurance Sued Over ‘Patently Unlawful’ Racism For $25K Black-Only Business Grants

Freeform’s Racist Comedy ‘grown-ish’ Vilifies Black Conservatives Candace Owens and Herschel Walker

British Media: English Women’s Soccer Team is Too White

Freethink.

Fortunately, a recent study in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces reports a new nanoparticles treatment that whitens teeth without damaging them, and also protects them by removing cavity-forming bacteria.

By the time you can buy it without a prescription and doctor supervision, you won’t have any teeth left. Enjoy.

Read it.

After 9/11, the US built a network of military outposts across the northern tier of Africa to fight a shadow war against Islamist groups. Niger became central to the effort. From Base Airienne 201, known to locals as “Base Americaine,” US drones were sent across the region to track down Islamist terrorists. The coup against President Bazoum marks another disruption in this long-running, mostly secret, war on terror. American troops in Niger are currently confined to their bases. The future of America’s two-decade counterterrorism campaign there is in doubt.

In 2008, about 2,600 US military personnel were deployed in Africa, but today, there are around 6,500 troops and civilian contractors. The US government couldn’t identify even one transnational terror group in sub-Saharan Africa after the Twin Towers attacks but embarked nonetheless on wide-ranging counterterrorism efforts there. Over the years, America has conducted drone strikes in countries like Libya and Somalia, and its commandos have fought in countries including Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Somalia and Tunisia. Just over half of the US forces are stationed at Camp Lemonnier, a sprawling base in the tiny nation of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. More than 1,000 are still deployed in Niger. Personnel rotate in and out of that country like they would in any other war zone.

After two decades of failing to crush terrorism in Africa, the US has quietly admitted that things are going wrong. An assessment last year by one of the Pentagon’s own research institutions couldn’t be grimmer. The number of Islamist terror attacks in the western Sahel (the strip of Africa between the Sahara Desert in the north and the tropical savannas to the south) has quadrupled since 2019, it said, and the violence had “expanded in intensity and geographic reach.” The researchers found fatalities linked to militant Islamist groups in the Sahel jumped from 218 in 2016 to 7,889 in 2022: an increase of more than 3,000 percent in six years.

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

Read it.

I recently had occasion to take the “White Privilege Test” endorsed by the black Lives Matter movement, and was thunderstruck, but not surprised, to find that none of the questions, not a single one, had anything to do with anything that could honestly be called a privilege.

This leads to a serious conundrum. What is White Privilege?

An even more serious question is this: How can anyone take such a silly question seriously?

Washington Free Beacon.

An Israeli woman was killed in a suspected Palestinian shooting attack near the West Bank city of Hebron on Monday, the Israeli military said.
Israel’s ambulance service said an Israeli man who was also seriously wounded in the incident was transferred to hospital and that a six-year-old who was in the car was “miraculously unharmed.”
The military said in a statement it had set up roadblocks and was searching for the suspects, who it said fired from a passing vehicle.
A spokesperson for the Islamist Hamas group that governs blockaded Gaza, Hazem Qassem, praised the attack and said it was a response to Israel’s ongoing assaults on Palestinians.
Israeli forces were already hunting for a Palestinian suspected of shooting and killing two Israelis on Saturday.

Wherever you go,
Whatever you do,
A Muslim waits there
To try to kill you.
Especially when
You might be a Jew.

Read it.

Low-level clashes occurred in Wallonia following the shooting death of a man by police in the French-speaking town of Liège over the past weekend. The unrest spread to the nearby city of Herstal Saturday and Sunday night.

The shooting occurred in the migrant suburb of Oupeye near Liège city centre late Friday afternoon, August 18th, when a man on a quad bike failed to comply with an order to stop and instead proceeded to run a police officer over. The officer, who was subsequently hospitalised, opened fire on the man who was pronounced dead at the scene.

ZMan peers behind the curtain.

Over the last several years, a group of academics and intellectuals have formed what is now called post-liberalism. The members of this group do not agree on many things, but they agree on one important thing and that is what they call liberalism has run its course and it is time for something new. Patrick Deneen, one of the key members of the post-liberals, has a new book out called Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future, in which he sets out to describe what should replace liberalism.

This is the third book from Deneen on the subject. In 2016, Deneen published Conserving America?, which was a collection of essays on the current social and moral troubles of this age. After that he published Why Liberalism Failed, which was a book length analysis of what he calls liberalism. This latest book is supposed to build on that second book and lay out a vision for how to put an end to the liberal order and provide a sketch for what should replace it.

Regime Change has been met with mostly negative reviews. A good example is from Charles Haywood at Worthy House, who was enthusiastically positive about Deneen’s prior book on the subject. It is also fair to say that Haywood is positively disposed to the broad concept of post-liberalism. He makes the point that despite the title, Deneen is not actually suggesting we change the regime. Instead, he offers up the usual list of reforms that have no chance of being considered.

The Investigative Project on Terrorism.

German an Dutch security officers arrested nine Islamic State members on July 7 in a major sweep operation in both countries. Seven of the arrested were allegedly in Germany planning a new wave of terrorist attacks in the country. The German federal prosecutors charged the group with forming a “domestic terrorist group” and with supporting the Islamic State.

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

Zimbabwe to take 30% of carbon credit revenue (Reuters)

Ecuador prepares for ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ vote to stop oil drilling (The Guardian)

Will Ecuador voters set a precedent on oil drilling in the Amazon? (Al Jezeera)

Just stop oil? In Ecuador we have the opportunity to do just that (The Guardian)

How to maximize energy efficiency when using a mini-split heat pump (Washington Post)

Farmer shows path forward as California composting law goes into effect (CBS Bay Area)

Peninsula farmer works to prop up agriculture in San Mateo County (KPIX)

US Southwest on High Alert as Hurricane Hilary Climbs Mexico Coast

Sweden Goes Nuclear

No, THE WEEK, Antarctica is Not a ‘Bellwether’ for Climate Change

Cows for the Climate? Canada Breeds ‘Emission-Friendly’ Bovines

Amazon lists book on Maui wildfires that was published days after fires started

Ukraine running out of options to retake significant territory (Washington Post)

China Stages War Games in ‘Stern Warning’ to Taiwan (NewsMax)

US urges China to cease military pressure against Taiwan (Reauters) “They may have won all the battles …but we had all the good songs!”

Rare Earth Elements And National Security: Reclaiming US Control Amid China’s Monopoly

North Korean Hackers Target US-South Korea Military Drills, Police Say  My, what a surprise.

Scholz Says Germany Will ‘Never’ Send Troops To Ukraine As Public Turns Against Escalation

US Intelligence Deems Ukraine’s Counteroffensive A Failure