DR. EVIL FORESEES ALL: Shark lasers could help save vulnerable species. “Sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads!”
I would have thought an ill-tempered mutated sea bass would have been more useful in this application.
May 5, 2026
AND ANOTHER ONE: Dell Technologies latest to redomesticate to Texas.
In response, Gov. Greg Abbott said, “Welcome home, Dell. For over 40 years, Texas has been where Michael Dell built and innovated. Now, Dell Technologies is bringing its legal home to Texas. This is what happens when job creators and innovators are welcomed, not punished. More businesses are sure to follow.”
Dell is the latest company to announce its redomiciling its legal headquarters to Texas.
ExxonMobil Corporation announced its Board of Directors unanimously recommended its shareholders approve changing its legal domicile from New Jersey to Texas in March, The Center Square reported.
The main reason companies are citing is Texas’ new business court and regulatory framework.
Previously: Elon Musk Didn’t Just Leave Delaware — He Started a Stampede.
WE COULD HAVE HAD ENERGY INDEPENDENCE DECADES AGO IF OUR LEADERS HAD ACTUALLY WANTED IT: Operation Epic Fury is highlighting the utter brilliance of ‘Drill, baby, drill.’
VARAD MEHTA IN 2015: Homage and Imitation in Star Wars – Then and Now.
As I’ve detailed, the mythology [George Lucas] drew on was Westerns, chivalric romance, 1930s sci-fi serials, pulp science fiction, Kurosawa films, and so on. The mythology J. J. Abrams drew on was . . . Star Wars. And this, more than anything, explains the problems with the storytelling in The Force Awakens.
Star Wars’ antecedents harkened back to an entire cultural history. It distilled centuries (millennia, even) of the evolution of the Western psyche (with borrowings from other cultures for good measure). The Force Awakens’ antecedents are, essentially, itself. The mythology it borrows is the mythology of Star Wars. I won’t describe specific plot points to avoid spoilers, but anyone who has seen it and is familiar with its predecessors knows how heavily it recapitulates thematic and narrative elements from Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. The Force Awakens is synthetic, but whereas Star Wars synthesized an entire culture, The Force Awakens synthesizes three movies released in a six-year period which ended just more than thirty years ago.
Star Wars was a pastiche of old things. The Force Awakens is a pastiche of Star Wars. Consequently, The Force Awakens is something Star Wars never was – derivative. And it is derivative not of sources outside itself. It is derivative of itself, of the narrative universe in which it exists. It is not telling an old story in a new way; it tells an old story in an old way. Abrams wants to pay homage, but he lacks the gifts to do more than imitate. The result is a kind of mimicry, the shell of a Star Wars movie without the spirit.
It was obvious watching The Force Awakens in 2015 that it was a near beat-for-beat reboot of the original Star Wars….
If you have four minutes to spare, this video comparing The Force Awakens to Star Wars explains better than a million words ever could why the sequel trilogy was doomed to fail, and from the start. If you've never seen it, it's an absolute must. https://t.co/kZIErDv1uZ
— Varad Mehta (@varadmehta) May 5, 2026
…But much like the somewhat under-cooked Star Trek: The Motion Picture, I remember leaving the theater thinking, well, they got the franchise off the ground again; let’s see what the filmmakers do next with it. And in regards to Star Wars, we all know how that turned out: Iconic Star Wars Author Alan Dean Foster Hated The Last Jedi, Calls It a Terrible Film.
ANALYSIS: MOSTLY TRUE.
the purpose of a city run grocery store isn't to serve the public, its to drive out private industry so that the public will be dependent on the government – for food. https://t.co/ccL6J5WV6R
— varifrank (@varifrank) May 5, 2026
City-owned grocery stores are also about graft.
HEATHER MAC DONALD: The New York Times’s Latte Logic of Social Collapse.
Three days before a 31-year-old male stormed the White House Correspondents Dinner, hoping to assassinate President Donald Trump and members of his cabinet, the New York Times published a 35-minute video titled: “‘The Rich Don’t Play by the Rules. So Why Should I?’ Why petty theft might be the new political protest.” In it, a Times editor interviewed two other members of the media aristocracy about the moral code shared by a large swathe of young Americans.
That code justifies theft—and even violence—when harnessed to a fashionably left-wing cause. None of the participants—podcasting celebrity Hasan Piker, New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino, and Times opinion editor Nadja Spiegelman—expressed alarm at the glorification of crime. They smirked and giggled through the discussion, betraying a breezy indifference to lawbreaking.
It was striking enough that the Times published the video after reviewing the final cut. The paper was not embarrassed by the participants’ ignorance and entitlement. Nor was it troubled, apparently, by their debate over whether the December 2024 murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was “actually effective political action” or merely—and disappointingly—effective “political consciousness-raising.”
But after the assassination attempt on Trump on April 25 by yet another young megalomaniac, one might have thought that the Times would want to distance itself from its hipster commentators and their ends-justify-the-means morality.
It apparently feels no such discomfort, however, and thus has left the video online. That is fortunate. The exchange offers a more revealing window into left-wing political violence than the latest would-be assassin’s predictably disjointed manifesto. When future archeologists seek to date the moment that the demise of the West became inevitable, this artefact of peak decadence will be a strong contender.
Speaking of which:
— Armond Boudreaux (@armondboudreaux) May 5, 2026
We’re getting a taste of that new reality now, as a the guardrails become increasingly loosened.
SARAH ANDERSON: Nick Shirley Went to Cuba. He Almost Didn’t Make It Home.
BE PREPARED: Airmoto Tire Inflator Portable Air Compressor. #CommissionEarned
GAY MEN? What is the P-Shot? Learn the risks and rewards of the ED treatment popular with gay men. A doc friend of mine used to run a clinic that did these, and his clientele was decidedly straight. (They also did the “O Shot” for women.) He claimed great results, but I have no first, er, hand experience.
Plus: “Some people also get the injections in the hopes of enhancing the size of their penis, but Goel says that while it can help with girth, if you’re looking for dramatic results, you’re better off getting penis filler.” Penis filler.
There’s also a procedure called the “Jennifer Aniston,” where they inject filler into a woman’s nipples to give them that perky, Rachel-from-Friends look.
What a time to be alive, eh?
I LOVE A HAPPY ENDING: North Philly Homeowner Responds to Home Invader Who Ignored Orders to Leave. “One of the residents fired multiple rounds at the home invader who won’t be invading any more homes again. Ever.”
THIS IS THE WAY:
India is throwing out Communists from power as America is electing them to govern their cities, states — and as members of Congress.
Yes, we’re that stupid. https://t.co/gMWlSIbheF
— Mark Dubowitz (@mdubowitz) May 4, 2026
K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE:
The public school system is a jobs program for unemployable adults. https://t.co/DwNpy1waNn
— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) May 5, 2026
ONLY THE POLICE SHOULD HAVE GUNS, THEY TOLD ME:
NEW: Classes are canceled at an Arlington Heights school after a POLICE OFFICER LOST HIS GUN.
The School Resource Officer at the Forest View Educational Center says he removed his gun from its holster while using the bathroom. Shortly after school was out, he realized the gun… pic.twitter.com/dOchmHcrvl
— Marcus Leshock (@marcusleshock) May 5, 2026
WHENEVER WAR LOOMS THEY START SLAPPING MORE GUNS ON THE SHIPS: Yes, Reality Demands More Guns, Larger Guns, Everywhere.
LESS THAN THEY’LL INSIST ON: How Much Oversight of AI Does the Government Need to Ensure Our Safety?
T. BECKET ADAMS: Just How Badly Does the Left Hate the Right Anyway?
Nearly as great a problem as left-wing violence is the left’s refusal to admit it has a problem.
You’ve likely encountered this brand of ideological intransigence over the past decade. You’ve probably heard some variation of it from a co-worker, a friend, or even a family member.
When a Republican or conservative is shot, stabbed, or beaten by a left-wing assailant, the activist left adopts one of three standard responses:
The first: The violence is deserved. He had it coming! The second: It didn’t happen. It’s a hoax! The third, and by far the most common, is: Right-wing violence is still worse.
Of the three, the third is the most annoying, not just because it’s raw whataboutism, but because the counterexamples offered are often mischaracterizations or outright falsehoods.
Related: Voters Blame Media for Inspiring Assassination Attempt, Dividing Nation.
Six in ten voters think it’s likely that negative news media coverage of President Donald Trump inspired the assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents Dinner on April 25, a new national Rasmussen survey finds.
Of U.S. likely voters polled April 27-29 following the attack, 60% think it’s at least “somewhat likely” that hostile media inspired the armed shooter’s attack – including 41% who call it “very likely.” In contrast, just 13% consider it “not at all likely.”
“How likely is it that negative news media coverage of Trump inspired this assassination attempt?”
- Very Likely: 41%
- Somewhat Likely: 19%
- Not Very Likely: 16%
- Not at All Likely: 13%
- Not Sure: 11%
Fully 55% of Democrat voters say it’s likely that hostile media inspired the attack, with far more saying it’s “very likely” (28%) than calling it “somewhat” (17%) so.
More than three-fourths (79%) of Republican voters say media instigated the assassination attempt, including 58% who think it’s very likely media are to blame. Meanwhile, 59% of “other” voters attribute the attack to the influence of the media.
The penultimate scene in Paddy Chayefsky and Sidney Lumet’s 1976 film Network is (spoiler alert) television executives plotting the assassination of one of their on-air hosts in order to improve the channel’s ratings. When Chayefsky wrote the scene, I’m sure he envisioned some completely over-the-top Strangelove-esque satire. Today, a late night host can deliver a throwaway gag (that has very likely been approved by his network’s standards and practices division) envisioning the death of the president, and network execs pray that their cameras are in position when it happens.
NO SURPRISE HERE: Ability grouping helps top students, and doesn’t hurt weak students.
Strong students learn less math in mixed classes, concludes a new Education Endowment Foundation study of English middle schools, reports Richard Adams in The Guardian. Weaker students, as judged by prior math achievement, do about the same whether they’re in mixed classes or lower-track classes, University College London (UCL) researchers found. Furthermore, students placed in lower-track classes were more confident of their math abilities than those in mixed classes.
The “big and important” results “support achievement grouping in maths,” said John Jerrim, a UCL professor who has studied mixed-ability classes but wasn’t part of the study, Adams reports. Jerrim added, “It wasn’t long ago that some educational researchers in the UK and Ireland were calling ability grouping ‘symbolic violence’.”
High achievers grouped by prior achievement made two months more progress on average than similar students in mixed classes, the study found.
Not that long ago, this was common knowledge and common practice.
WHEN “GENOCIDE” LOSES ITS MEANING: Me methodically debunking the Gaza genocide hoax in Skeptic Magazine:
Establishing a claim of genocide against Israel would require more than pointing to the scale of suffering in Gaza or to deeply felt moral condemnation. It would require setting aside established precedent, blurring the distinction between intent and consequence, and relying heavily on tendentious, nay dishonest, interpretations of rhetoric by Israeli leaders. In effect, concluding that Israel has engaged in genocide requires not just expanding the definition of genocide beyond its accepted legal contours but well beyond reasonable interpretation of the concept.
REMARKABLE, ISN’T IT?
About five thousand years have unfolded in the decade since this tweet – and despite the impeachments, indictments, and assassination attempts, “Happy Trump” still shows up. https://t.co/SoFDrdLfna
— Spencer Brown (@SpencerBrown) May 5, 2026
CALIFORNIA WANTS TO EXPORT CAMPUS SPEECH CODES TO THE WORKPLACE. Mandatory “anti-hate speech training” sounds harmless until you remember that “hate speech” has no clear legal meaning, and much of what activists call hate speech is protected by the First Amendment.
TRIM YOUR NAILS: Ergonomic Long Handle Toenail Clippers with Catcher. #CommissionEarned
THAT SEEMS LIKE A ROOKIE NUMBER: Nancy Mace Names 6 House Lawmakers Allegedly Involved In Sex Scandal Cover Up. “Mace’s post names six lawmakers including former Republican Louisiana Rep. Rodney Alexander, former Republican Texas Rep. Blake Farenthold, former Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Patrick Meehan, former Democratic New York Rep. Eric Massa, former Democratic Michigan Rep. John Conyers, and the office of former Democratic New York Rep. Carolyn McCarthy.”
