Flotsam and Jetsam - Like A Summer Thursday

I'm really struggling with a decent title for this one.  

Rick Moran at PJM says Reports of Trump's Waning Influence Have Been Greatly Exaggerated, after he got Lindsey Graham's sister over the goal in Georgia. From News Wax, Trump Admin Floats Razing Kennedy Center, since he's not being allowed to fix it. Trump Mulls Renaming Lake Ontario as 'Lake America.' Canadians Balk at the Idea, which is exactly the point.

Hat Hair's Beege Welborn sees PA Measles Outbreak Sparking Predictable Virulent Outbreak of TDS MORE. Two elderlies died of measles. Probably Mennonites, maybe Hispanic Immigrants, who went through the Biden era unvaccinated too, but it's RFK Jr.'s fault, of course. Polimath at Marginally compelling notes Canada Is Losing The War On Measles, "Canada losing their elimination status for measles is a nerve-wracking reminder of the fragility of modern civilization." Mennonites. "If we charted Canada’s measles rate against the US, the US would look like a flat line." I had the measles back in the 50s. Back then it was just assumed that you would get them as a child.

Matt Vespa at TownHall sees James O'Keefe Just Put Lisa Murkowski's Anti-SAVE America Act Stance Through the Shredder. So she wants to put him in jail.

News Wax reports  Trump claims the US Navy Cleared All Mines From Hormuz, in a effort to supply Europe and China with oil. C14 News | EN @c14english, "Mojtaba Khamenei Clinically Dead Internal Iranian sources tell The Atlantic that Mojtaba Khamenei, designated successor to his father, is either dead or in a vegetative state - raising questions about who's actually running Iran." We need to let the Israelies peel off a few more layers to find out. Hat Hair's Duane Patterson is Watching the Iranian Regime Literally and Figuratively Run Out of Gas. VodkaPundit at PJM, Yeah, About That 'Famine' in Gaza…, it's a work of fiction. From Ace, Marco Rubio Sanctions Italy-Based Tech "Collective" Making Tools for Hamas; Also Reveals Portland Antifa Shops There Too, "Dude's balls are so big he could play for the WNBA." Ward Clark at RedState says The Trump Admin Just Found a Pressure Point That Could Disrupt Antifa's Entire Network.

Hat Hair's John Sexton observes Russia's 4th Largest Refinery Is Burning (it's probably not an accident), and wonders Why Are the Germans Being Such Wimps About the Drone Attack in Leipzig?

At Mil.com, Navy Notice Officially Warns Personnel, Families to Scrub Social Media of Military Ties, "Hung Cao's notice puts 340,000 active-duty, 58,000 reserve, and 210,000 civilian Navy workers on alert after recent service controversies."

At his occasional NYPo gig, Insty warns Tech bros must channel the moguls of old to get back in America’s good graces. The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee, "New Data Center Built To Handle Influx Of Online Rants Against Data Centers.

Clay Travis @ClayTravis, "This is awesome." Quote The Royal Family @RoyalFamily, "Remembering the late, great Dolly, who brought joy, comfort and inspiration to so many - including the millions of children given free books through her Imagination Library. We will always love you." OTH, Greta Van Susteren @greta, "This is the WORST INTERVIEW EVER! I don’t know where Barbara Walters was working in 1977 - NBC or ABC - but no network should have broadcast this trash interview." Nick Arama at RedState finds El-Sayed's Post on Dolly Parton's Death Has People Up in Arms. He tried to make her a poster child for socialism. At the JPo, Antisemitic vandals target Dolly Parton's Wikipedia page just hours after her death.

At Da Signal, Deroy Murdock hears from the DSA: ‘Our Goal Is Communism,’ and the Great Victor Davis Hanson writes The Radical Left Wants to Destroy America and Rebuild It. Charlton Allen at Am Think notices When Lenin Lost An Election, He Abolished Democracy, "When revolutionary socialists tell us who they are, perhaps we should take them at their word." Dave Strom at Hat Hair observes Mehdi Hasan Proves That Reparations Are a Stupid Idea. Where do they stop? Ace, Abdulrahman Hussein El-Sayed Hoovers Up Donations from Members of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Hamas-Supporting Donors to Nazi Troll Dan Blizerian (While Claiming Jewish Safety Will be a Priority for Him). "Weird that his donors don't believe him. What do they know that we don't? Abdulrahman Hussein El-Sayed collects donations from a terrorist member of the Muslim Brotherhood, a man so extreme Egypt sentenced him to life in prison:" Mike LaChance at LI hears Hillary Clinton Suggest Rise of Socialism in the Democratic Party is ‘Healthy’ “The Democratic Party right now is, I think, going through a kind of experiment.” From WaT, Democrat Debbie Dingell: Don’t ask me about Hasan Piker. John Sexton hears Nervous Dems: If We Keep Talking About Hasan Piker, We'll Lose. From The Scuttlebutt, Target Rich Environment volume five. And another thing ... “Woke One” Was Crazyyyy Violent and Evil, "Don’t let people with aspirations for higher office fool you into thinking otherwise."

Jesse Kelly @JesseKellyDC, "People wonder why Democrats take unpopular positions on things like voter ID and the deportation of foreigners. To put it simply: Popularity is not nearly as important for their survival as cheating is. Without the cheating, the Democrat Party is a 20% party." Quote Wall Street Apes @WallStreetApes, "WOAH, Michigan Democrats are putting dead voters BACK ON the voter rolls after they are removed After the dead people are added back, THEY ARE MAILED BALLOTS." Mia Cathell at WaEx reports the Judge in Feeding Our Future case found Ilhan Omar’s relaxed provisions made food program ‘vulnerable to fraud’. Doug Powers @ThePowersThatBe, "Warren said 9 million people are in default on their student loans and Dances With Identity Theft wants everybody to believe that Trump officials are the problem with the system?" From Da Wire, Josh Shapiro Eyes New Powers That Make COVID Restrictions Look Like A Warning Shot. "We’ve already seen how this kind of authority can be abused, and we cannot allow the mistakes of the past to be repeated." New York Post @nypost, "California city goes rogue, plots 1,200 new homes at high-speed rail site." Why not? The rail will never get built, even though the money will be spent. 

Also at NYPo a reminder, True horrors of Biden’s Afghan pullout emerge on 5th anniversary of suicide bomb: ‘Witness to atrocities, war crimes.’

From the Peacock, Military trial date set for alleged mastermind of Sept. 11 attacks, "Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been held at Guantánamo Bay since 2006." It would be a shame if something happened to him first. At Twitchy, Toronto Sun Columnist: New Memo Tells CBC Journalists Not to Refer to 9/11 As a Terrorist Attack. From Campus Reform, DOJ charges 17 Iranians in alleged IRGC university hacking campaign "DOJ: Iranian hackers targeted hundreds of universities in cyber theft campaign. Eight additional defendants were charged in an alleged years-long campaign that targeted universities worldwide."

Two from Shipwreckedcrew, The Lawfare Over New Postal Rules For Mail-In Ballots Is More Complicated That Most Understand -- You Need A Scorecard To Keep Up, "There are three other cases with District Judges trying to block the Administration but one has gone to the D.C. Circuit where the Administration received a favorable decision," and SCOTUS Kicks The Can Down The Road On Changing Postal Regulations For Mail-In Ballots, "As a purely legal matter, the Court’s decision is correct. While GOP voters may be critical, this process needs to check all the boxes in order for it to stick in 2028 when it will matter the most." Fusilli Spock @awstar11 "Why haven't the House GOP even tried to impeach her?" Quote Gunther Eagleman™ @GuntherEagleman, "SCOTUS just cleared the path for Trump’s mail ballot security rules. Less than 24 hours later, Obama-appointed Judge Indira Talwani is back at it. She just ruled that the U.S. Postal Service “feigned complete compliance”  and violated her injunction by finalizing the new rules. Same judge. Same playbook. Different day. The Supreme Court speaks. A district judge digs in harder. This is exactly why Americans have lost trust in the system. Secure elections shouldn’t be this hard. Time to start naming names and holding these activist judges." accountable. Ooana Trien ~ Eric Arthur Blaire’s Mistress @ooana, "I always understood why the Second Amendment was constitutionally protected. What I never really understood was why people called it a natural right. Then I moved from New York to Florida..."

Paul Sperry at RCI looks at American Medinas: Turning US Cities Into ‘Beachheads’ for Islam.

From Althouse, "Meta on Wednesday reached a landmark settlement with 47 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, agreeing to pay up to $17.1 billion in penalties..." "I'm reading "Meta to Pay Up to $17.1 Billion in Landmark Settlement Over Social Media Addiction Claims/The social media giant settled with 47 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, and agreed to make major changes to its products over claims its platforms endangered children" (NYT gift link)."

At Twitchy, Taylor Lorenz: Queen of Cancel Culture & Leopards Eating Faces Party Founder Discovers Free Thought.

Herr Professor Jacobson at LI, hears El-Sayed’s Sister Say The Quiet Part Out Loud About Activist Profs Politically Proselytizing Students, “We have to realize that there are people who do not view teaching as their calling. They are not in academia to teach. They’re in academia to politicize.” Like it's a good thing. At Complete Colorado, State spins shockingly bad Colorado education testing data. "Any of the following would be perfectly accurate and appropriate headlines for testing data released August 19 from the Colorado Measures of Academic Success: “Most students grades 3–8 behind in all subjects according to state testing.” “State testing shows overall low student scores increase in just over half of categories by grade and subject.” “Nearly two-thirds of Colorado students struggle in math despite small testing gains.” “Large majority of Black and Hispanic students continue to struggle in language and math.” Here is an actual headline from the Denver Post that’s reasonable: “2026 CMAS results show Colorado students making gains in math, falling behind in reading.”"

Greg Lukianoff and Andrea Honeycutt at the Eternally Radical Idea, The mental health consequences of social justice fundamentalism, "Data shows that the farther left you lean, the more anxious, depressed, and unhappy you are." I see a problem separating cause and effect here. Helen Smith @HelenSmithPhD, "This looks about right. Since women are now the majority of psychologists, the field has totally changed, and not for the better."  Quote Gad Saad @GadSaad, "Epistemology of truth vs epistemology of care. Read this book:"

At Althouse, "Women in rural Devon are being coached on how to give birth in the back of a car after their local hospital shut its maternity service." There's your socialized medicine.

Capt. Ed at Hat Hair, YGBKM: WNBA Team Bans Freedom As 'Threat'.