House Oversight GOP claims they don’t need to find direct payments to Joe Biden to prove corruption in Hunter Biden business dealings memo (CNN)

Biden Signs China Investment ‘Ban’ Republicans Call ‘Riddled With Loopholes’

Biden Gets Angry After Doocy Confronts Him on Devon Archer’s Testimony

Army Officer Court-Martialed After Refusing To Soften Findings Of Probe Of Suicides At Base

Biden Champions ‘Equal Pay’ While His Own White House Pays Women Less Than Men (The Foundry)

Networks Turn a Blind Eye to Newly Released Payment Records to Hunter  Except for Fox.

‘Egregiously Obvious’ That Biden Admin Violated First Amendment Rights, Tech Policy Expert Says

Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler ‘Updates’ — Not Corrects — FALSE Biden ‘Fact Check’

Oligarchs Paid Millions of Dollars to Biden Family  ‘Oligarch’ appears to be defined in the modern world as ‘Rich Russian We Don’t Like’.

Targeting of Catholics ‘More Widespread’ Within FBI Than Director Claimed, Republicans Say

$20 Million for the Big Guy? ABC, CBS, NBC Still Silent on MASSIVE New Biden Scandal

MSNBC Skimps on News of Alleged Mammoth Payouts to Biden Family From Shady Cats

Today in Kamala Komedy

Democrats Say It’ll Take A Lot More Than Eyewitness Testimony, Bank Records, Audio, Video, Complete Confessions For Them To Believe Biden Did Anything Wrong (Babylon Bee)

Conservatives Are Mad That Robert E. Lee’s Dead Horse Has Been Canceled (Daily Beast) Really? Really?

Exclusive: A veteran FBI agent told Congress that investigations into Giuliani and other Trump allies were suppressed (Business Insider)

De-Banked: It’s Only A Matter Of Time Before It Happens To You

Andy Ngo Denied Justice As Portland Jury Clears Alleged Antifas

The Montgomery Brawl Was, for Some, a Clarifying Moment (N.Y. Times) Cloud People just love to sneer at Dirt People.

‘Native American Guardians Association’ Petition To Restore Washington Redskins Name Goes Viral

DOJ: More Than 1,106 Charged for Jan. 6 ‘Siege’  Let’s see … BLM? Not a one. Antifa? Not a one.

Nets Ignore Jan 6 Committee Destroying Evidence Related to Capitol Riots

NPR Host, NYT Reporter Go Label-CRAZY on ‘Far Right,’ ‘Hard Right’ Republican Congress

Clarence Thomas’ 38 Vacations: The Other Billionaires Who Have Treated the Supreme Court Justice to Luxury Travel (Pro Publica)

PBS Doc Warns GOP Trying To ‘Reinstitute Many Of The Barriers’ To Voting In the Narrative media, ‘barriers to voting’ means ‘preventing Democrat vote fraud’.

CNN Pushes Anti-Thomas Hit Piece But Admits He Did Nothing Wrong

US Supreme Court’s Clarence Thomas enjoyed array of luxury perks, report says (Reuters) The ‘report’ in question is another ProPublica smear job.

Maryland School District Restricts Parents Direction Over Children’s Religion, Parents Sue

Mitchell Yawns As Cuban Diplomat Compares U.S. To Cuba

Dems revive calls for Clarence Thomas resignation after new report (Politico)

Kellogg’s ‘Woke’ DEI Programs Illegal, Group Claims

‘Trying to Chill Parents’: California Bill Would Criminalize Sparking of ‘Substantial Disorder’ at School Board Meetings  Let’s see … nope, no mention of BLM or Antifa.

RACE CARD: WIRED Smears Concerns of CCP-Tied TikTok Security Risks as Racist (NewsBusters)

Suspended Soros-linked central Florida prosecutor blasts DeSantis as a ‘dictator’ (Washington Examiner)

Top Dem’s Family Sold BlackRock Stock Weeks Before His Committee Announced Investigation

Read it.

So throughout the Oberlin/Gibson’s litigation I kept thinking: It looks like it wouldn’t take much effort by the college to restore the Gibsons’ satisfaction and to get them to drop the lawsuit. Make a perfunctory statement about the good faith of the Gibsons (especially since the shoplifters admitted guilt and said they didn’t believe race played any role in their apprehension). Agree for the college to continue buying products at about the rate the college bought them before the dispute. Agree to put Gibson’s on a “recommended vendor” list for outside organizations that meet on or use college facilities. Instead, the college dug in its heels, going full “scorched earth” in public relations and in litigation, cutting off business relations with Gibson’s, urging others in town to cut off business relations with Gibson’s, and making or encouraging others to make unfounded accusations against Gibson’s and the Gibson family.

The lawsuit verdict appears largely a consequence of the unreasonable behavior of the college. So I find it amusingly ironic that the college is now asserting that the insurance companies should have been more reasonable.

Read it.

We have the technology.

John Hinderaker at Power Line.

Under Ron DeSantis’s leadership, Florida has attained the enviable status of the state that liberals most like to hate, and to denigrate irrationally. Thus it is no surprise to see this headline: Pro-woke professors leave Florida universities in protest.

…

Job prospects in academia are, in general, brutal. There are many teachers hungry for tenure-track positions, and the Florida universities will have no trouble filling their ranks. And, of course, the professors who are attracted to Florida precisely because DEI has been dismantled will be vastly better than the ones who think they can’t survive without it.

Voters in Ohio reject GOP-backed proposal that would have made it tougher to protect abortion rights (Associated Press)

Dana Bash’s BIG LIE: Suggests No Dem Supports Abortion Until Birth

Air horns and moving trucks: How Oakland, California, residents are facing a surge in crime (CNN)

LGBTQ+ veterans file civil rights suit against Pentagon over discriminatory discharges (CBS)

How Feminist Movement Drew Ideology From the Occult

Porsche Goes Woke, Erases Jesus Statue From New Promo Video

DC’s City Council Slashed Police Funding. Now, Its Members Want More Cops as Shootings Plague City.

Barack Obama’s Self-Made Myths Still Stand

This family is moving to Italy because they’ve had enough of the US (CNN)

Target Sued Over LGBTQ Merchandise Backlash

DeSantis Suspends Prosecutor for ‘Dereliction of Duty’ on Crime

Win for reproductive rights as Ohio voters reject effort to make it harder to amend state constitution (The Guardian) Ponder the sort of world in which a newspaper reporter can call killing your child ‘reproductive rights’.

On-Campus DEI Bureaucrats Already Ditching New Loyalty Oaths

Maddow MELTDOWN: Falsely Claims AR-15 for ‘Babies’ Has Hit the Market

Arizona Universities Drop DEI Wording in Job Posts

NYT’s @paulkrugman – Mendacious, an idiot, or both?

They Just Keep Coming: German Asylum Applications Up 80%

Oakland Mayor Asks Residents To Blow Air Horn Once To Announce Stabbing, Twice For Shooting (Babylon Bee)

Turning California Purple

Gender Medicine’s ‘Dr. Frankenstein’ and His Nonsensical Surgical Option for Kids

Fighting Crime by Shooting Back

LA Times: Remote Work Helps Employees Avoid Racism at the Office

American Nurse, Young Daughter Freed After Abduction in Haiti

Oil-Friendly Climate Advocates Shocked to Learn Big Oil Is Bad (The New Republic)

Environmentalists raise concerns about booming wood pellet business (AL.com)

Why ‘Blood-Red’ Glacier Is an Ominous Sign (Newsweek)

New EPA Tailpipe Standards Call Electric Vehicle Promises Into Question

Climate Activists are Silent on Polar Bears Because their Doom-Mongering Blew Up in their Faces

How That ‘Scientific Consensus’ on Climate Change Was ‘Manufactured’

Today in Climate Parody

Judge in Trump election case sets hearing for arguments about what evidence can be publicly disclosed (NBC News)

DA probing efforts to overturn Georgia election results likely to present case to grand jury next week: Sources (ABC News)

Rep. Justin Amash Defends President Trump Over 2020 Election Indictment

Previously Secret Memo Laid Out Strategy for Trump to Overturn Biden’s Win (N.Y. Times)

Lindsey Graham: Democrats Break All Rules to Get President Trump (NewsMax)

Trump Derangement At The Washington Post

Trump’s criminal trials prompt GOP political doomsday alarms (The Hill)

The Churchillian Case Against a Trump Pardon (The Bulwark) The Kristol Krew continue to carry water for the Left.

Premise Poll: Trump Beats Biden But DeSantis Will Lose

No, fellow Republicans, the Justice Department is not biased against us (Washington Post) Another RINO fell0w-traveler does the Uniparty dance.

Atlanta-area prosecutor expected to seek more than a dozen indictments in Trump case (CNN)

White House cocaine belonged to ‘Biden family orbit’ member: report (N.Y. Post) Oh, ya think?

White House unveils wage rule for federal projects, in win for unions (Washington Post)

Biden Admin Is Hiding How Many Illegal Immigrants Are in Monitoring Programs

Admin Hasn’t Reported Numbers in Immigration Programs

GOP Rep Moves To Defund DHS Until Biden Secures the Border

Bank Records Show $20 Million to Biden-Tied Businesses

Biden says he has ‘practically’ declared a climate emergency (The Hill) Pursuing the effect without actually taking any action for which he might get sued.

FBI Director Lied Under Oath on Memo Targeting ‘Radical Traditional Catholics,’ New Memo Suggests

House Republicans Release Bank Records Showing Over $20 Million In Payments To Biden Family, Associates

WH Denies Bank Records Show Payments to Joe Biden

NCLA Files Legal Brief Against Biden’s Anti-Free Speech Scheme

Who is sneaking fentanyl across the southern border? Hint: it’s not the migrants

Surprise! The FBI Lied About ‘White Supremacist’ Memo Targeting Catholics, New Document Reveals

Poll: Most Voters Support Texas’ Floating Barriers

FLASHBACK: Why Gold Star Parents Are Furious at Biden for Afghanistan

Newsom Funded Chinese COVID Lab Known To Biden’s FDA

What to know about the EG.5 coronavirus subvariant, now dominant in the U.S.

COVID Uptick Sends New York Times and PBS Clutching Their Masks Again

Rand Paul Slaps Fauci With DC Criminal Referral Over Perjury Allegations  Whenever I see Fauci, I see him in a Mussolini uniform.

Biden Admin Concedes No Evidence Behind Recommendation for 6 Annual COVID Booster Shots

Ruling Against Middle Schooler Punished for Wearing ‘There Are Only 2 Genders’ T-Shirt to Be Appealed

Taxpayer-Funded Research Seeks To Devise New Stealth Censorship Technology

States Stop Credit Card Companies From Tracking Gun Purchases, Though It May Not Last

J6 Committee failed to preserve records, has no data on Capitol Hill security failures, GOP charges (Fox)

Finland Christian Faces Second ‘Hate Speech’ Trial for Bible Verse Tweet

Catholic Couple Banned in Mass. from Fostering Children Over Religious Beliefs

Not just Trump: The Ohio abortion vote exposes the bitterness fueling the GOP war on democracy (Salon) In the Narrative media, ‘democracy’ means ‘rule by Democrats’.

Those truncated DeSantis quotes

CNN Labels Biden ‘Kind of a Centrist’ On Environmental Policy

ABC, NBC Bask in DeSantis Shakeup, Gleefully Hope He Goes Down to Trump

Most Alabama voters want Tuberville to drop military hold: poll (The Hill)

Civil rights groups challenge Tennessee GOP-led redistricting maps (The Hill)

Smash the patriarchy! Oh, wait….

G.O.P. Contenders Feed Voter Distrust in Courts, Schools and Military (N.Y. Times)

CNN Decries GOP Criticizing Kamala While White House Promotes Her Work

Newsmax Ropes Matt Gaetz Into Battle to Become GOP’s Comms Shop (Daily Beast)

Once Rare, Impeachments and Censures Have Become the Norm in Congress (N.Y. Times)

Musk Offers to Fund Lawsuits Against Woke Companies Targeting Employees for Posting on Twitter

WATCH: Bystander Cop Sentenced to Nearly 5 Years in Prison Over George Floyd’s Death  Unfortunately he was of the wrong minority.

Legal Fund for Marine Vet Daniel Penny Nears $3M

NBC’s Dasha Burns Returns for MORE Embarrassing Hackery Against Ron DeSantis

Continued Major Errors and Misinformation in Seattle Times Climate Stories: Damaging and Unnecessary

Senate Democrat: Tuberville ‘prepared to burn the military down’ with promotions blockade (The Hill) More accurately, the Biden administration is prepared to burn the military down in their promotion of abortion. Which won’t surprise anybody.

Riley Gaines, activists say they were spat on, attacked by protesters at ceremonial bill signing in Texas (Fox) But of course only Republicans indulge in political violence.

Andrew Cuomo’s Sister Orchestrated Sexist Attacks on His Accusers

Why not tax private jets out of business? (Portland Press-Herald) Progressive totalitarianism, fresh from the Left Coast.

This is TERRORISM! MSNBC Lashes Out at Tuberville Fighting Military Wokeness No, terrorism is when you kill people; just interrupting their career path is not enough.

CDC says COVID variant EG.5 is now dominant, including strain some call “Eris” (CBS New)

New COVID-19 variant ‘Eris’: How bad is the new EG.5.1 variant? (DownToEarth)

MedWatch Daily Digest: A new COVID variant has emerged (WGN)

SBA Contractors Profiteered During Pandemic

Heart-Scarring Observed In Children Months After COVID-19 Vaccination: Study

Study Suggests COVID Vaccine Heart Damage Much More Common Than Previously Thought

The Impact of Vaccines and Behavior on U.S. Cumulative Deaths from COVID-19

Kids Almost Never Transmitted COVID In Schools; Major New Study Finds

Sharpton: Trump on the Side of King George III, Confederates

Biden Discovers Most Black People Aren’t Really Black

Who Is ‘Negasi Zuberi’?

Uvalde Shooter’s Cousin Arrested for Similar Threat

US Shutters Haiti Embassy Amid “Rapid Gunfire” As Armed Gangs Have Run Of The Capital

Emory Researchers Blame “Structural Racism” For Type 2 Diabetes Prevalance Among Black People  Not to mention rampant gun violence in black slums.

D.C. on Track for Most Homicides in Two Decades

‘Extortion’: Attorney flames report Jack Smith deputy tried to ‘flip’ Trump valet (Fox)

Judge Cannon adds new wrinkle to Trump’s classified docs case (MSNBC)

There is more than one conflict in Trump’s classified documents case (The Hill)

Judge asks prosecutors to justify use of 2 grand juries in Trump documents case (Washington Post)

Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan subpoenaed in Fulton’s Trump probe (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Security increases for judge assigned to Donald Trump’s January 6 criminal case (CNN)

Ex-Pence Adviser Trashes Former Boss, Backs Trump Instead (Daily Beast

The Prosecution of Trump May Have Terrible Consequences (N.Y. Times)

Emerson College Poll: Trump Leads Biden in Arizona

Nancy Pelosi Declares America Will Cease To Exist If Trump Becomes President Again

Robert Barnes on the Jack Smith indictment of Trump

Did Jack Smith Open The Door On The 2020 Vote?

Scientists ‘shocked’ by extreme events in Antarctica as Earth heats up (New Scientist)

Even frozen Antarctica is being walloped by climate extremes, scientists find (Associated Press)

‘Virtually certain’ extreme Antarctic events will get worse without drastic action, scientists warn (The Guardian)

No quick fix to reverse Antarctic sea ice loss as warming intensifies, scientists say (Reuters)

It’s official: Scientists confirm July was the hottest month ever recorded (CNBC)

July hit a crucial warming threshold that scientists have warned the world should stay under (CNN)

July breaks record for Earth’s hottest-ever month (Euronews)

Hotter than July? Climate change causing higher temperatures and endangers future generations (Savannah Morning News)

EPA is ignoring the glaring problem with dirty electric vehicles (The Hill)

China Abandons Paris Agreement and Makes Others’ Efforts Even More Futile

Climate Change-Obsessed AP Blames Humanity for ‘Hellish’ ‘Summer of Earth’s Discontent’

Tax-Funded PBS/NPR Polling Push: The World Is Melting, Anti-Science Republicans to Blame

Biden Said EV Maker Proterra Was ‘Getting Us in the Game.’ It Just Declared Bankruptcy.

John Stossel Interviews Judith Curry: How Climate “Science” Got Hijacked by Alarmists

Biden on Weather Channel to Discuss Climate Change

Another New Nuclear Reactor Energizes U.S. Clean Energy Hopes

Mitchell Mourns High Gas Prices Won’t Allow Biden To Cut Fossil Fuels

The American Mind.

A feeling of triumph has flushed through the conservative ranks this summer with the Supreme Court’s blockbuster decision in Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard College and SFFA v. University of North Carolina to invalidate Harvard’s and UNC’s affirmative action programs. And it’s true that there is much in the SFFA opinion to celebrate. But the decision will not end, or even do much to threaten, affirmative action programs. As I have explained elsewhere, unless we get a legal and cultural paradigm shift in how we think about diversity and the civil rights regime, affirmative action is here to stay.

Three Generations of Affirmative Action, Two Generations of Erroneous Predictions

There is a kind of affirmative action amnesia that sets in at such moments, causing us to forget how long the practice has been in place and how many times we have erroneously predicted the program’s demise. In a 2021 law review article, I demonstrated how, although affirmative action in higher education can be traced to the beginning of the civil rights revolution in the late 1940s, scholars have been consistently and erroneously predicting the demise of affirmative action for nearly 50 years. To illustrate how often scholars have erred on this point, I began the article by collecting a sample of publications, dating all the way back to 1978, predicting the end of affirmative action. This sample constituted over 50 citations and took up several pages of law journal space.

Washington Free Beacon.

The Taliban has deployed hundreds of suicide bombers to Afghanistan’s border with Iran amid an intensifying dispute over water access, Bloomberg reported.

Thousands of Taliban troops, including hundreds trained to blow themselves up, were sent to the border since May, a source told the outlet. Iran and the Taliban have moved toward a conflict over water from Afghanistan’s Helmand River, which Iran relies on.

Afghanistan in 1973 agreed to provide a certain amount of water from the river to Iran, but since the Taliban took over Afghanistan after the Biden administration withdrew in 2021, Iran claims the new regime has reduced the water supply.

Wherever you go,
Whatever you do,
A Muslim waits there
To try to kill you.
And they don’t much care
If you’re Muslim too.

ZMan says the quiet part out loud.

Every human civilization has some mechanism to find talented people who can be of service to the ruling class of the society. The system can be formal, like the Chinese exam system or graduate school in modern America. It can also be informal, as it was in the Middle Ages when a talented young man could be noticed by his lord and given a chance to raise his own status. The Hundred Years War created fortunes for many common men who fought on behalf of their king.

This search for talent is not only internal. Jews in Europe found that there was always a noble in need of smart and literate men. The Hoffaktor in Germany was almost always a Jewish banker who not only kept the finances of the house he served, but he also maintained connections with other court factors. In return for these services, these Jewish men were often awarded lands and titles. The endless search for talent by the ruling elites is why we have Ashkenazi Jews.

This is important to keep in mind when members of the chattering class talk about the meritocracy and the role it plays in the current crisis. This column by David Brooks titled, “What if We’re the Bad Guys Here?” is a good example. Brooks speaks as a member of the meritocracy, which he defines as the highly educated and highly connected urban class that runs the institutions. His column is mostly a self-congratulatory call to action to address the growing unrest.

SciTechDaily.

A joint research team from the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and collaborators recently developed a stable artificial photocatalytic system that is more efficient than natural photosynthesis. The newly developed system, which replicates a natural chloroplast, is capable of transforming carbon dioxide in water into methane, a useful fuel, very efficiently using light. This represents a significant breakthrough with potential contributions toward achieving carbon neutrality.

 

Psaki calls out one big problem with MAGA world’s ‘unhinged reaction’ to Trump indictment (MSNBC) Only one? She’s not trying.

Trump Calls for Judge’s Recusal as His Lawyer Deems Effort to Overturn Election ‘Aspirational’ (N.Y. Times)

Playbook: Welcome to the courtroom campaign (Politico)

There’s a Good Reason Trump Aides Don’t Think the New Indictment Is a Joke (Daily Beast)

Will Trump’s Social Media Behavior Cost Him in Court? (The Bulwark) They hope, they hope, they hope….

DOJ Slapped By Judge In Trump Documents Case

Court Bans Religious Vaccine Exemptions For Connecticut Children

Developed Nations With Packed Infant Vax Schedule Linked To Higher Childhood Mortality Rates: Study

Racism at heart of US failure to tackle deadly heatwaves, expert warns (The Guardian) Tagging somebody as a ‘climate justice reporter’ rather says the quiet part out loud, doesn’t it?

You Won’t Believe the NY Times Double Standard on Jason Aldean and ‘Racist Vigilantism’

Does IQ by Ethnicity Correlate with College Admissions Test Scores?

Ancient DNA reveals the living descendants of enslaved people through 23andMe

8-Year-Old Killed in Chicago, Dozens Shot in Weekend Violence

Former Kamala Harris staffer says VP is unpopular in polls because she’s a ‘Black woman’ and a ‘history maker’ (Fox) She’s not ‘Black’, she’s Barely Brown. (Hitler was a ‘history maker’ too.)

“Banana Republic”: Dershowitz Says Biden ‘Urged’ Garland To Indict Trump, Jack Smith ‘Could’ Be Indicted Under KKK Statute

Kamala Harris Takes on a Forceful New Role in the 2024 Campaign (N.Y. Times) Harris? Forceful? (*snort*)

Super PAC Ad Targets Bidens’ Ties to China, Ukraine

The White House plays it cool as ‘Bidenomics’ struggles to catch on (Politico)

Joe Biden Enjoys His 1967 Corvette While Forcing You to Go Electric

Report: Quincy Institute Contributor’s Racist Rantings Unmasked

Kevin McCarthyism: Why the GOP’s culture war on the troops will end badly (Public Notice)

Police Investigating Shop Owner Who Took Down Armed Thief With A Stick

Record glacial flooding damages homes in Alaska (The Hill)

Drone video captures moment house collapses into water in Juneau, Alaska (CBS Philadelphia)

Glacier basin flooding destroys two structures in Alaskan capital of Juneau and prompts local emergency declaration (CNN)

House collapses into river as floods rage from Alaskan glacier (MSNBC)

Progress on slowing deforestation could boost climate efforts, say experts (The Guardian)

On a ‘Toxic Tour’ of Curtis Bay in South Baltimore, Visiting Academics and Activists See a Hidden Part of the City (Inside Climate Narrative News)

Biden Admin Reduces Savings Estimate For Americans Switching Away From Gas Stoves: Industry Group

Scottish Govt Axes 16 Million Trees To Clear Way For ‘Greener’ Solutions

NYT: “When the Novelty of Skiing in California in August Wears Off, the Terror Sinks In”,

EVs On a Collision Course With Reality

Think Megawatt Hours of Gasoline

Costs Beginning to Change the Net Zero Debate in the UK

Our planet is swimming in plastic. Here’s how we fix that

Scottish Government Felling Almost 2,000 Trees per Day To Save the Environment

Scotland Admits Chopping Down 16M Trees to Make Way for Wind Energy Farms

ZMan dives under the hood.

The people in charge seem like they are not just speaking a different language but doing so from a different reality. That is because for the most part, they are using a different language and they do operate in a different world from the bulk of the people. The managerial class is defined by the managerial elite and therefore operates by a different cooperative principle.

Take the word “democracy” which is used all the time by the regime. To normal people, this means majority rule. In a democracy, the government does what the majority of the people want, with some exceptions. Normal people accept that some things like slavery are not up for debate. Even if the majority wants to bring back slavery, it is an immoral practice, so it is not permitted. Otherwise, normal people assume democracy is the will of the people expressed in the laws.

To the managerial elite, democracy means the process by which the majority or an assumed majority is convinced to support elite opinion. This is why they are inspired to redouble their efforts whenever they lose at the ballot box. Democracy requires them to work harder to get their desired result. Expediency may require them to go around this process using the courts or administrative fiat. The assumption is that enough people already agree so it is close enough to justify action.

This one word shows how the elite and the commoners do not share the same basis of understanding when it comes to politics. The elites see democracy as the process of working toward their desired end. The people assume it is the process by which elites discover the common will. These are two entirely different and incompatible views of the democratic process. Inevitably this leads to a large number of words and concepts lacking a shared understanding.

Read it.

One of the oddest things that has been accepted with little real challenge is the notion that there is such a thing as a ‘hate crime’. Throughout the western world we have seen legislative changes and judicial advice that embeds the new notion that a crime is particularly heinous if it is motivated by an entirely subjective interpretation of whether it was motivated by ‘hate’ and whether that hate was directed at particular groups. We now have ‘hate crime laws’ on the statute books, in one form or another, of every western nation.

Logically the notion of a thing called a hate crime is a peculiar one. It is one which immediately moves the matter of law from the punishment of actions to the interpretation of thoughts. That in itself subjectifies what is going on in the judicial process and makes it inherently more prone to error.

We no longer have to prove simply that a harmful action took place, we now also scale and grade those actions by mind reading the thoughts that lay behind them, and by deciding that some thoughts are more wicked than others and some groups more deserving of protection than others.

It’s all part of easing ‘CrimeThink’ into the legal system. Orwell was a better forecaster than he knew.

Steve Hayward at Power Line.

A properly Biden-hating but Trump-critical friend remarked to me lately that “I just don’t know any intelligent, educated people who want to vote for Trump next year.” Well maybe so, but I am reminded of the revealing line from Adlai Stevenson in the 1956 presidential campaign, when an enthusiastic supporter ran up to him and breathlessly exclaimed, “Oh, Governor Stevenson! All educated people are for you!” To which Stevenson responded, “Yes, ma’am, but I need a majority.”

That’s a perfect expression of liberal elitism and disdain toward the broad spectrum of Americans who don’t attend elite universities or live in the trendiest neighborhoods or hold the “correct” views.

Which brings me to David Brooks’s mid-week column in the New York Times that people are still talking about days later, which is a much longer half-life for a column than is typical these days. His column is “What If We’re the Bad Guys Here?“, and the “bad guys” here are not the Deplorables that Times readers and other “enlightened” people blame for blocking all desirable progress, but the Times readership itself. Brooks doesn’t put it that directly, but that’s the clear subtext.

Gates of Vienna.

A Tunisian culture-enricher in the German city of Halle experienced a sexual emergency, and then found a 15-year-old girl to help him alleviate his distress. Now he’s in custody, and the target of his affections is in the hospital, but the authorities seem to want to keep a lid on the affair.

Senior Investigator for Jan. 6 Cmte reacts to ‘incredibly damning’ new indictment details (MSNBC)

Trump’s January 6 indictment ‘looks like pressure’ (Fox)

Analyst: Third indictment different in that ‘everyone saw Jan. 6’ (WMUR)

The Orchestrated Cases Against Trump Explained

MSNBC Spin Ruined? Ex-Garland Aide LOVES Rough-on-Rioters Judge in Trump’s Jan. 6 Case

Pence Does Not Rule Out Being Witness for Trump’s Prosecution

Trump’s Threat Toward Georgia Secretary Of State Was An ‘Aspirational Ask,’ Lawyer Says (NBC News)

Rep. Donalds: Biden’s DOJ Trying to ‘Bleed Donald Trump Dry’

‘Flu shot cheerleader’ speaks out on being used by anti-vaxxer movement (The Guardian)

“Your Injections Are Killing Our Young People” – Pfizer, Moderna Reps Slammed During Heated Aussie Senate Hearing

Iowa Governor Deploys Troops To Mexico Border Using COVID-19 Funds

Biden Energy Secretary Secretly Consulted Top Chinese Energy Official Before SPR Release, Sales To Hunter Biden-Linked Chinese Energy Giant

Conservative Groups Sue to Block Biden Plan Canceling $39 Billion in Student Loans

Newsom spokesperson slams DeSantis debate counteroffer as a ‘joke’ (The Hill)

‘What a joke’: Gavin Newsom’s team slams Ron DeSantis’ debate proposal (NBC News)

Playbook: How DeSantis wants to debate Newsom (Politico)

Democrats demand 1,000% excise tax on ‘assault weapons,’ high-capacity magazines (Fox)

The Two Minutes Hate (New Normal Edition)

Anguish in Camelot: Kennedy Campaign Roils Storied Political Family (N.Y. Times)

German Cardinal Gets Slammed for Criticising Priest Giving Gay Blessings 

Burgum Angers Stephanopoulos by Refusing to Discuss Trump, Brings Up Hunter Instead

Phangs Out! MSNBC Host Says ‘Let’s Hasten’ That ‘Dead’ GOP ‘Rotting in the Field!’

Refugee-Rescuer Suing CNN For Libel Wins Right To Seek Punitive Damages

Ukraine live briefing: Zelensky condemns deadly Russian strike on blood transfusion center (Washington Post)

Russian bomb hits Ukrainian blood transfusion centre, says Zelensky (BBC)

Blood bank, university hit as Russia, Ukraine intensify attacks (Al Jezeera)

Russian attack on blood transfusion centre in Ukraine constitutes a ‘war crime’ (France 24)

China, Russia send naval warships near Alaska, triggering forceful US response (Fox)

US Suspends Foreign Aid To Niger As West Africa Bloc Prepares Military Intervention

UK Fears China Will Use EVs to Spy on Citizens

Russia’s Economy Projected To Grow Despite Western Sanctions

Niger coup: Junta shuts airspace citing military intervention threat (BBC)

Are G.O.P. Voters Tiring of the War on ‘Wokeness’? (N.Y. Times) Not that I’ve seen.

Pope Francis Labels Transsexuals “Daughters of God” Following Meeting

Spain’s Supreme Court Upholds “Gender Theory” in Schools

UK Tories Introduce New Initiatives on Illegal Migration

Cultural Globalism: USAID Engages in Ideological Imperialism With LGBTI Inclusive Development Policy

NY Times Writer Mocks ‘Wave of Whataboutism From Trump World’ on Biden Money Scandals

OOPS: ‘Fact Checker’ Accidentally Admits Leftists Want Porn In Schools

‘Despair is a luxury we can’t afford’: David Suzuki on fighting for action on the climate crisis (The Guardian)

EPA approved fuel ingredient with sky-high lifetime cancer risk, document reveals (The Guardian)

Report: EPA approved a fuel component almost guaranteed to cause cancer (NewsNation)

EPA Approved a Fuel Ingredient Even Though It Could Cause Cancer in Virtually Every Person Exposed Over a Lifetime (ProPublica)

Consumers may soon get up to $14,000 or more in rebates for making energy-efficient home upgrades — if states sign on (CNBC)

Our Oil Predicament Explained: Heavy Oil And The Diesel Fuel It Provides Are Key

The Evil of Climate Alarmism: Dissecting Michael Walsh’s: Hoax of the Millennium

Fire Tornadoes!

German DWD National Weather Service Declares Near Normal July As “Too Warm, Wet And Sunny”

English Villagers Fight Solar Farm Developer

Despite Alarmists Denials Statue of Liberty Photos Expose Sea Level Rise Acceleration Failed Projections

Climate Experts Criticize Alarmist Rhetoric Over Summer Temperatures

Teen Charged With Hate-Motivated Murder in Killing of Gay Dancer (NewsMax)

Study Shows Gun Laws Don’t Matter, Race Does

Bantu über alles: three millennia of unstoppable African farmers repeopling the vast continent

Disturbing audio captures anti-racism instructor attacking principal’s ‘white supremacy’ before he killed himself (N.Y. Post)

Shocking Video: Gun-Strapping Kids Roam ‘Grand Theft Auto’-Style Around St.Louis Suburb The way to prevent gun violence is to prohibit young black males from possessing guns.

Black mayor of tiny Alabama town says he was ousted by his White predecessor (CNN)

Read it.

A 100-year history in college sports is ending. Barring some sort of miracle, or a negotiated deal there will only be four schools left in the Pac-12.

USC and UCLA were the first to leave to join the Big-10. The University of Oregon and the University of Washington have announced their decisions to join the Big-10. Utah, Arizona State, and Arizona are headed to the Big-12. There will be four members left in the Pac-12. Stanford, Oregon State, Washington State, and Cal.

Football programs are the biggest money makers in college sports and the most expensive sport to maintain. Televison money and viewing ratings are the key to survival. There are rumors that some current conferences will cut teams that are not generating TV ratings and will be shown the door as new teams join super conferences.

CNN.

“I told them I could see it at Terminal 1 baggage reclaim in Chicago, and they said ‘We have no record of it.’ I asked them to call Chicago, and they said ‘No, we’re not allowed.’ They said they’d put notes in the system and the baggage team would take care of it.”

When the bag still didn’t arrive, and Shuster called a third time, she was told “We have no idea where it is.”

They also told Shuster that she had the wrong claim number – impossible, she thought, because she still had the sticker that had been attached to her boarding pass. The other half was on the bag.

In fact, they were right – sort of. The claim number was indeed the same as the tag that had been attached to her bag – but the check-in agent had attached the wrong tag. This one was for another passenger, who was traveling from Baltimore to Chicago only. That meant the bag had been taken off the plane at O’Hare and sent straight to the reclaim belt, instead of being loaded onto the Denver flight.

The significant aspect of this is that the incompetent airline is United. In fact, in every single such case that I have read, the incompetent airline is United.

Anybody who ‘flies United’ these days is an idiot.

Steve Sailer.

A recent trend has been Middle Eastern immigrants, mostly Muslims but also Armenians, objecting to the Establishment pushing the gay and trans agenda. Sometimes they do it admirably through the parents rights movements, sometimes despicably through street violence.

For mainstream newspapers pushing the Democratic Party line, this immigrant vs. LGBT stuff is tricky because it raises questions about inherent tensions in the Democrats’ Coalition of the Fringes grand strategy. On the other hand, a gay was murdered in a hate crime, a black gay! So the story is too On-Narrative to not push heavily.

But the stabber is a Muslim teen whose friends objected to the gay display as offensive to Islam. So that’s Off-Narrative.

The usual solution is to hope that readers assume, out of racist bigotry, that the Brooklyn stabber must have been Archie Bunker IV, and hope the public doesn’t pry too much into the facts.

NewAtlas.

LiquidPiston says its new XTS-210 solves the efficiency, lubrication and fuel type issues of Wankel rotary engines. This supercharged, liquid-cooled two-stroke claims 5X the power of an equivalent size or weight diesel engine, and 3X the torque.

Targeted at military, commercial and aerospace applications, the XTS-210 is about the size of a basketball, weighs in at 19 kg (42 lb), and displaces 210 cc. It’ll run on multiple fuels, including diesel and kerosene/jet fuel. The company is shooting for about 20 kW (26.8 hp) and 29.4 Nm (21.7 lb-ft) of torque, both at 6,500 rpm.

Quillette.

I’ve worked as a professor in an English department for the last 15 years, and I spent the 10 years prior to that as a student in English. Over the course of that time there was never a period when the English major wasn’t in decline. For the first half of the 20th century, English departments occupied a critical and celebrated position in the American university. But by the time of Sputnik and the beginning of the space race, the field had begun a long slide into obscurity.

Today, most people who take English departments seriously are English professors and the handful of students who still choose the major. Current university administrators see the English department as serving a gatekeeping role: the required freshman-level courses generate massive enrollment, mostly from students who are not prepared for the demands of college writing. Thus, in the eyes of the administration, the job of the English department is remedial—getting those students “up to speed” so that they can do the writing required by their majors (which are overwhelmingly housed in other departments). Liberally educated professors in other disciplines often have a nostalgic reverence for the humanities and humanistic knowledge, but they know that English professors no longer serve as guardians of that tradition. In fact, it’s common knowledge that the vast majority of English faculty are resolutely opposed to traditional notions of humanistic inquiry. For that reason, they have become a parody of the erudition that used to be synonymous with literary study.