July 5 edition:
One day you wash up on the beach, wet and naked. Another day you wash back out. In between, the scenery changes constantly.
Sunday, July 5, 2026
Saturday, July 4, 2026
Fireworks Cancelled!
Georgia and I spent a hot couple of hours cleaning the boat in anticipation of going out with the family to watch the local fireworks display. However, nature had other plans. A big thunderstorm, part of the system that hit DC this evening rolled through about 8:30, and has lasted all evening, with a short break. We had a bit of hail, 1.1 inches of rain of much needed rain, and winds with gusts up to 45 kts (at Cove Point) and a short power outage. It also abruptly dropped the temperatures from 93 to 70.
Hopefully, the fireworks will be used tomorrow evening. But just in case:
Flotsam and Jetsam - Happy 250th Birthday America!
![]() |
| Rep. Eric Davanzo |
Friday, July 3, 2026
Beach Report 7/3/26
I managed the full walk up the beach past Matoaka and back with the help of one bottle of water. You can't see in these pictures, but there are a few places along Matoaka where the cliffs provide some welcome shade.
I found 14 shark's teeth of which this was the best. It's a Snaggletooth, of course, but there appears to be some debate over position. I think it's an upper tooth close to the center, maybe next to the parasymphyseal because of the heavy serrations, others think it's a lower. Paul Murdoch was out walking a group, and I asked him, and he waffled.
The Sea Nettles are definitely here.
Flotsam and Jetsam - Hot Summer Day
At the Buckeye Firearms Assoc, Trump reiterates support for national right-to-carry reciprocity. As a fairly liberal New Yorker, I suspect Trump personally doesn't fell strongly pro-gun, but he knows his coalition. Mary Chastain is pleased to report the Energy Dept. is Moving to Drop ‘Green New Scam’ Appliance Mandates. "Thank you. THANK YOU. Make it happen!"
Hat Hair's Capt. Ed is worried that the US Adds Only 57,000 Jobs in June As Workforce Deflates. I gave up trying to make sense out of job numbers a while ago. The methodology is shitty, and manipulative. I also wonder how much of this is due to the ongoing self-deportation of illegals. The Wall Street Journal thinks it is.
Bonchie @bonchieredstate, "Every time. It’s never organic." Quote AG @AGHamilton29, "This is a major red flag. The CCP is funding/aiding left-wing groups and activism to try to push policies that discourage us developing energy independence."
From DataRepublican’s Substack, The 400,000 USAID Deaths That Nicholas Kristof Will Not Tell You About. "How USAID Built the South Sudan, Watched It Collapse, and Then Allowed China to Take Over."
Eric at Security and Cigars, explains Why Wolford Should Worry Big Gov Fans More Than Slaughter. "SCOTUS has now made clear that states and cities cannot simply designate broad categories of private property as “sensitive” and thereby ban the exercise of constitutional rights there. This has obvious and immediate implications for the Second Amendment, but it also reaches into First Amendment territory like speech, religion, and assembly. As well as many other rights protected by the Constitution." Charles C. W. Cooke @charlescwcooke, "Impressive ignorance. The unitary executive theory is about personnel; it confers no substantive powers on the executive branch that haven’t been delegated by Congress. The whole column is a bizarre non sequitur." Quote Dana Milbank @Milbank, "My latest column looks at how Democrats are drafting plans to to use the all-powerful, unitary executive that Trump has established (and the Roberts Court has blessed) to launch a new Progressive Era, in which a Democratic president imposes by executive fiat government-run health." At Da Caller, Clarence Thomas Laughs As MS NOW Reporter Barrages Him With Questions. Althouse says I don't believe Nina Totenberg's explanation for why she reported that Justice Alito was retiring. "I'm reading "'I am so, so sorry': NPR reporter explains SCOTUS retirement error" (CNN): "Say what really happened, " and "Democrats stopped talking about trans politics long before the court’s ruling this week." ""In June, which is L.G.B.T.Q. Pride month, no Democratic candidate mentioned the word 'transgender' in their TV ads, according to data from AdImpact, a media tracking firm. Their silence may be an attempt to deprive Republicans of campaign-trail ammunition.... A New York Times/Ipsos poll conducted in January 2025 showed that nearly 80 percent of Americans opposed allowing transgender athletes to participate in women’s sports...." At substact Insty recommends Ditching the Seventeenth. "Taking the Senate back to the Framers' Intent." Let State Legislators pick Senators? We could do worse, and have.
Gina Milan @ginamilan_ "Ruh Rho" Quote Paul Sperry @paulsperry_, "BREAKING: Here's the just-filed NLPC bar complaint against NY attorney Roberta Ann Kaplan. The basis for the complaint is that Kaplan failed to inform Trump’s lawyers + the court when she knew her client E. Jean Carroll provided false testimony by denying outside funding for her."Fish Pic Friday - Parker Outdoor Adventures
Thursday, July 2, 2026
Flotsam and Jetsam - The Heat is On
96 F in the shade. I saw 103 on the road this afternoon.
Don Surber is reveling in what he considers Trump’s Supreme victory, "Justices helped the president Slaughter the deep state's hold on the republic." And Girls sports for girls only. "5 middle school girls helped convince the Supreme Court to stop the transgender madness." Jonathan Turley at NYPo, Supreme Court allows Trump to say ‘You’re fired’ to meddling bureaucrats TownHall's Dmitri Bolt thinks Justice Kavanaugh May Have Handed the United States a Roadmap to Fix Birthright Citizenship. "Consistent with the Fourteenth Amendment, Congress could amend §1401(a) or otherwise enact new legislation establishing exceptions to birthright citizenship for children born to foreign citizens unlawfully or temporarily in the country," he added. "But Congress has not yet done so." At Da Signal, ‘MEDIEVAL’: Justices Thomas, Alito Argue ‘Birthright Citizenship’ Ruling Reverses the Declaration of Independence on Its 250th Anniversary. Da Wire, Trump Plans Assault On Birth Tourism After Letdown At SCOTUS. "Birth tourism schemes exploit our immigration system and violate criminal law." Matt Margolis at PJM sees The DOJ Goes to War on Birth Tourism After Losing at SCOTUS. Hat Hair's Beege Welborn wonders Will 'Pregnant' Become a Disqualifying Category for Foreign Entry? WSJ whines Supreme Court Gives Trump New Tools to Accelerate Deportations. Althouse reads the NYT, "The justices did find unanimity 45 percent of the time, up two points from last term. They joined together, for instance..." ""... to say a Texas man could not be prosecuted for violating a law banning drug users from gun possession merely because he frequently used marijuana, and they agreed that a New Jersey anti-abortion group could bring a challenge in federal court to government efforts to seek its donor list ... From "Despite Some Losses for Trump, Supreme Court Delivers Enduring Conservative Wins/The justices pushed back on some of President Trump’s signature moves, but they also expanded presidential power and supplied victories on long-sought conservative goals.""
NRO's Jim Geraghty notices Nina Totenberg and the Gerontocracy Strike Again. Mike Coté @ratlpolicy, "Nina Totenberg is a partisan hack masquerading as a neutral journalist. That she made such a profound error - targeting a conservative justice, no less - is entirely predictable. The media phalanx you folks have erected around her in response is similarly unsurprising." Quote Peter Baker @peterbakernyt, "No one is more mortified by a mistake than a journalist committed to factual reporting. The best own up to it, correct it and apologize for it, as @NinaTotenberg has done. It's worth remembering a long career dedicated to getting it right. x.com/brianstelter/s…" TownHall's Matt Vespa thinks NPR's Fiasco With Their Samuel Alito Story Just Got Worse. Matthew Keys @MatthewKeysLive, "So, to recap: NPR published an erroneous story about Samuel Alito retiring from the Supreme Court, then published an erroneous blog post about how the erroneous story was published in the first place. Can't make this up."
CBS is already whining about the next term, Supreme Court takes up challenges to AR-15 bans.
Sundance at CTH covers “New FBI Documents” in Russiagate Review? Several people have inquired about a Paul Sperry article [SEE HERE]...What Sperry’s sources seem to be outlining based on description, likely pertains to the FBI contractor issue from 2015 and 2016 where access to the NSA database was defensively investigated after the NSA compliance officer raised flags about unauthorized use." From News Wax, Trump: Acting DNI Can Declassify Records, Including on 2020 Election.
Andy Ngo at Ngo Comment BREAKING: North Texas Antifa Members Who Turned on Their Comrades Receive Years in Federal Prison, "Ahead of sentencing, one of the convicts tried to kill herself."News Max, Report: Iranian Clerics Urge Trump, Netanyahu Assassinations. Aren't they just reiterating their old urgings? Peel another 5 layers off their leadership.
Sundance follows up his Canada posts, USTR Jamieson Greer Makes It Official: “The USMCA is not renewed”. Hat Hair's Beege Welborn thinks Canada's Carney About to Find Out When You Play Chicken, It's Best to Be Foghorn Leghorn. At Am Con, The Trump–Meloni Dust-Up Was Pure ‘Euroslopulism’ "As the Ukraine war rages on, European elites look as unserious as ever."
Ace says We Need Proof of Life of Mitch McConnell, "This isn't Russia -- we are entitled to know which of our "representatives" are living and capable of working." But of course this nation increasingly resembles Russia. Two weeks after deliberately vague reports about McConnell being "rushed" to the hospital, it is only due to a leak of EMS radio traffic that we now find out he was discovered "unconscious" and in need of "advanced life support." So where is he now? Is he conscious? Our Soviet officials won't tell us."
John A. Mapp, Jr. @mapp_john14664, "Recognize the motte and bailey tactic, and who is running cover for the “DSA” communists. Capt. Ed at Hat Hair, DemSoc Goes National: Socialists Boot Progressive Dem in Colorado. At Althouse, "Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old democratic socialist... unseats a 15-term incumbent and further propels the insurgent coalition..." "... that swept a series of congressional contests last week in New York." Ace, Democrat Socialists Take Another Scalp As a Gen Z Ethiopian Immigrant Defeats a 15-Term Congresswoman. "I'm glad, at least, to see Democrats suffering from their own DEI agenda themselves for once." Fusilli Spock @awstar11, "Never forget that even before this wave of DSA, communists were elected, 48 Democrat Senators voted to nuke the filibuster and promised to expand the Supreme Court. The difference between radical communist Democrats and mainstream Democrats is mostly tone." Quote RNC Research @RNCResearch, "MS NOW: If Democrats regain the majority, do you think that expanding the court or setting term limits for the court should be on the table? SHAPIRO: I think everything needs to be on the table. I think we need radical reform…" Jonah Goldberg @JonahDispatch, "I get what you mean here, but saying "the socialists" will have the "new ideas" is like saying "the Shakers have all the fresh thinking." Socialism is not new. The label is about 2 centuries old, give or take. The idea is thousands of years old. There's not a single major idea proposed by the DSA crowd that wasn't an old idea before I was born. From price controls and rent-freezes, to wealth taxes, or shunning Jews. It's all old, old hat. You can agree with it. Or admire it's newfound energy or something. But the ideas are old, tried, and failed." Quote Jim VandeHei @JimVandeHei "If you had to bet who’ll have the energy, organization, new ideas and star power for 28 Dems, it’s not close: socialists. The Sanders-Mamdani-AOC wing is swarming the Dem party, and Dem leaders will gradually than quickly do what establishment Rs did w Trump: acquiesce." RNC Research @RNCResearc, "Democrats can gaslight Americans all they want, but history is a great teacher. How to Spot a Communist, 2026..." Ace, People Are Starting to Notice That the Alleged "Working Class Populist Socialist" Uprising on the Left Is Made Up Exclusively of College-Educted Rich Leisure-Class Nepo Babies and NGO Sucklers. "The Claim: Democrats are electing "working class populists" who just happen to be socialists. The Reality: Democrats are electing rich-bitch children of privilege who are socialists because they've never done a day of work in their lives." Abe Greenwald at Commentary, Respectability for Radicals. At Hat Hair, John Sexton sees Ro Khanna Making a Play for the Socialist Revolutionaries and Trans March Organizers Defend Treatment of Scott Wiener, Capt. Ed reads Axios: House Dems Shocked, Shocked to Find DemSoc In Their Casino and Dave Strom thinks Even Degenerate Child Predators Deserve Representation Too, You Know. C3 @C_3C_3, "Photo 1: A man claiming he’s fighting the Oligarchy. Photo 2: The Oligarchy." Joel Pollak @joelpollak, "I’m going to add one qualification to Hen’s grim observation here. All these targets are Democratic Jews. Republican Jews are no less hated, but are inclined to stand up for themselves, and are led and surrounded by colleagues who unite to reject antisemitism and Israel-haters." Quote Hen Mazzig @HenMazzig, "Governor Josh Shapiro’s house was burnt down. Congressional candidate Scott Weiner was harassed until he left a Pride March." Joel Pollak @joelpollak, "It’s only the most prosperous society that has ever existed in the history of human civilization, built by the sacrifices of our parents and grandparents, but let’s find a reason to be resentful." Quote Acyn @Acyn, "AOC: I think young people overall feel a tremendous amount of betrayal about the world that we’ve been left with." Matt Margolis at PJM, Jesse Watters Just Predicted Exactly How the Democrat Party Tears Itself Apart. Dan McCarthy at RCP on Why Bill Maher Finds Himself Siding With the Right.Mike LaChance @MikeLaChance33, "Isn't this the goal of the villain in almost every Batman movie?" Quote Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @NYCMayor, "We just took another major step toward finally closing Rikers Island. By permanently closing a jail and transferring three properties to DCAS, we're moving closer to closing Rikers for good." From Twitchy, Zohran Mamdani's Air Conditioning Guidance Officially Ushers in NYC's 'Warmth of Collectivism' Era. Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @NYCMayor, "New York: it's hot out there, and the power grid is working overtime to keep us cool. Set your AC to 78 degrees, turn off lights/electronics you're not using, and unplug what you can. Our City is doing its part too: maintaining the 78 degrees rule in our buildings, dimming/turning off our lights during peak electricity demand, asking private partners to do the same, and powering down non-essential equipment. A stable grid means the AC stays on, and lives are saved. Let's ease demand — and get through the heat — together." Driscoll at Insty says MAMDANI WASN’T KIDDING ABOUT HIS “WARMTH OF COLLECTIVISM” SHTICK: Enguerrand VII de Coucy @ingelramdecoucy, "Reminder that the reason that New York City is struggling to power its air conditioners is a Democratic Party crusade against the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant that finally led to its shutdown in 2020, which led to a massive rise in fossil fuel usage to power the city." Insty, GET THE FEELING THIS MIGHT BE THE START OF A PERMANENT TEMPORARY SUSPENSION?
Washington Examiner @dcexaminer, "New York City to suspend evictions for two days due to heat dome." Da Caller sees David Axelrod Gets Brutal Lesson In Blue City Governance After Finding Man Passed Out In Chicago Heat.
Megan McArdle @asymmetricinfo, "Air conditioning has reduced heat deaths in the US by three quarters since the 1970s. https://x.com/sdkassis/statu." Leslie Eastman at LI sees the European Commission Adopts Feudal Approach to Air Conditioning Distribution, "LET THEM EAT ICE: The elite bureaucrats on the upper floors allowed to enjoy cool air, while staff on lower floors are encouraged to enjoy more traditional options." Campus Reform opines Campus climate activism is the gateway drug to the radical left.
Still more at the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 07.01.26 (Afternoon Edition).Amy Wax got in trouble for remarking that she'd not seen a Black student in the top quarter of a Penn Law class.
— Crémieux (@cremieuxrecueil) June 30, 2026
Thanks to hacked Columbia data, we can see that she was...
Probably right!
In the decade before her statement, there were just two top-25% Black students. pic.twitter.com/3fbCrKQTH2
Thursday Tanlines
The big picture: Melanotan II — nicknamed the "Barbie drug" because it can also suppress appetite — mimics a hormone that tells the body to make more melanin. It can be found as a nasal spray or shot, but it's not approved by the FDA or any other major regulator. Case studies suggest it could lead to the development of skin cancer. What we're hearing: "People who inject melanotan, their moles start to change," says Anthony Rossi, a dermatologic surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He's removed atypical moles from a patient who used it.But he's seeing it taken at the gym as part of a "beautification stack" — and he's worried. "I don't really see a medical benefit of it at all," Rossi says.
Wednesday, July 1, 2026
Maryland to Keep Oyster Limits
This week, Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) shared there will be ‘no change’ to current oyster harvest limits for the upcoming 2026-2027 season. The Statewide Oyster Industry Committee, which includes representatives from 11 county watermen’s associations, voted in support of maintaining bushel limits. This decision reflects current market struggles that have plagued Maryland watermen in recent years.
Despite a growing oyster population in the Bay, watermen have faced numerous economic challenges—from weather to changing markets. The committee supported conservative bushel limits that would prevent more inventory from flooding the market and further depressing prices.
Thanks to significant large-scale restoration efforts, oyster abundance has more than tripled since 2005. A key driver of this success has been Maryland’s oyster sanctuary network. Oyster sanctuaries are areas of the Bay where harvesting oysters is prohibited. These reefs remain protected so they can filter Maryland’s waterways, provide habitat for fish and crabs, and support recreational and commercial fishing. Oysters on sanctuaries also reproduce and repopulate nearby reefs that are open to harvest.
Sanctuaries have helped watermen recover from devastating harvest lows in the early 2000s, with harvest having increased more than 300 percent since the establishment of the sanctuary areas. Today, only 24 percent of Maryland’s oyster reefs are protected as sanctuaries. The other 76 percent remain open to harvest.
Despite more oysters in the Bay, Maryland’s oyster fishery has faced significant economic pressures, including shifting consumer demand, competition from out-of-state fisheries, poaching, and extreme winter weather last season.
This uncharacteristically conservative of MDDNR. Ordinarily, if they found oyster population higher, they would allow more fishing.
Beach Report 07/01/26
I got started a little after low tide, but although there was ample shell and gravel to search through, I didn't find many sharks teeth.
However, one of the few I found was this 1 7/16 inch White Shark (Carcharodon hastalis) upper, with a little wear on the root, but then, I think the warranty expired a few million years ago.. It was 1/8 inch longer than the current best on the kitchen window sill, and thus earns the place of honor.
Flotsam and Jetsam - Apparently the Constitution IS a Suicide Pact Afterall
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) June 29, 2026At WaEx, Selena Zito feels better now that The spirit of ’76 lives on as Pennsylvania rallies for America’s birthday. AJ Christopher, The Left Asked for This, It Got It, and I Can't Stop Gloating, as foreign visitors for the world cup find out what they're missing at home.
From the College Fix, North Carolina lawmakers override governor’s vetoes to pass sweeping DEI bans. At Campus Reform, Johns Hopkins layoffs, financial problems come as university is mired in Title VI controversy.
















