OPEN THREAD: Ring out the weekend.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: ‘This goes beyond showcasing technological soft power’: China’s new moon map signals bold space ambitions.

IT’S NOT JUST CHOLESTEROL: US Cardiologists Issue New Guidelines For How to Manage Cholesterol. I question the benefit of screening 9 year olds for cholesterol, though. Starting a 9 year old on statins, for a disease that won’t affect them for probably 50 years?

IT’S A WONDER DRUG: “People who drank more coffee had less total body fat and visceral fat, along with greater skeletal muscle mass, even though their body mass index (BMI) was similar to that of participants who drank less coffee.”

RACISM IS SUCH A RARE COMMODITY DOMESTICALLY THAT WE HAVE TO IMPORT IT:

Why are we bringing foreigners to our country to break our civil rights laws? https://t.co/ksyDWujl3d

— Katya Sedgwick (@KatyaSedgwick) August 16, 2026

DSM-VI IS GOING TO INCLUDE A DIAGNOSIS FOR THIS: Nurse Fired for Calling Jews “Vermin” Claims To Have Been With Luigi Mangione on Night of Murder.

WELL, THAT’S NOT HARD SINCE BMI IS A LOUSY MEASURE: New Obesity Definitions Reveal Ill Health More Accurately Than Body Mass Index.

SCHRÖDINGER’S EMPATHY:

Schrödinger's Empathy pic.twitter.com/WeVKGALKIL

— Jonathan Wong (@WONGthink) August 15, 2026

WILL JASON ARDAY BE MEMORY HOLED OR DISMISSED AS A ONE-OFF BAD APPLE? They’re the Ones Who Told Us to Pay Attention to Jason Arday.

Yes, Arday is a symptom, and him getting away with his lies as long as he did indicates that Cambridge is in even worse shape than most of us thought. If universities don’t want the scrutiny that comes with being high-prestige institutions, they can no longer continue with the assumption that the rest of us should be deferring to them on intellectual, moral, or political issues. You’re the ones who told us that being the “youngest black professor in the history of Cambridge” was newsworthy.

“Crémieux” tweets, “The people trying to dismiss criticism of Arday by saying he’s irrelevant or small potatoes have to reckon with the fact that he was celebrated by the mainstream.”

That may be understating it:

HE’S JUST DOING THE HIT-AND-RUNS AMERICANS WON’T DO:

This story gets crazier. The Mayor of Lawrence, left court today in a Dodge Charger and rammed into another car and left the scene. Same Mayor that can't speak English, and stole $1.5M in covid money. https://t.co/kGWRp0O6o5 pic.twitter.com/JvoCF11yJo

— Lee Kuan Yimby (@LeeKuanYimby) August 15, 2026

Oh, and also the theft.

YES: Donald Trump Already Won the Iran War. Ending It Is Tehran’s Problem Now.

CHANGE:

Things that are now rightwing:

Investigative journalism
Academic rigour
Scientific dissent
Nature
Facts
Biology
Politeness
Punctuality
Normality
Free speech
Individual rights
Rationality
Objectivity
Self-reliance
Emotional restraint
Delayed gratification

— Alice Smith (@TheAliceSmith) August 15, 2026

UPDATE (From Ed): Did conservatives win the culture war?

And don’t forget physical fitness:

And eating healthy and reading epic poetry:

DISPATCHES FROM THE HOUSE OF STEPHANOPOULOS: Terry Moran Says ABC News Is ‘Liberal Institution’ That Lacks ‘Viewpoint Diversity’ — Well, Duh!

Terry Moran admits that ABC News is a "liberal institution."

"Like a lot of mainstream media, it's because of a lack of viewpoint diversity."

Confirming what everyone already knows here now that there is zero downside to him for doing it. pic.twitter.com/zdEp0E1aGF

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) August 15, 2026

Much like Hollywood, the on-air talent is uniformly to the left, but the behind the cameras crew are not. No wonder in 2000, Leonardo DiCaprio could seamlessly switch over from acting to interviewing “Bill Clinton about the environment for Earth Day. The staff, including Sam Donaldson, and outside critics erupted in a barrage of outrage. How dare ABC suggest that a dim-bulb movie star can do the same job as a seasoned journalist? The defensiveness was telling. Because the truth is that most news readers are little more than actors. That’s one reason so many attractive young women want to be an actress/model/news anchor when they grow up.”

While Leslie Stahl couldn’t name any conservatives at CBS 23 years ago when asked by Cal Thomas on a Fox News show, thanks to radical right wing zealot Bari Weiss, Stahl can now actually name, err, two: 

● Lefties Freak Out Over ‘Right-Wing Religious Zealot’ Ross Douthat Joining 60 Minutes.

● “[I]n recent years, as a columnist for The [London] Times and on Sky News, [Trevor] Phillips has moved further towards a small-c conservative liberalism, with tough love for some long-standing fixations of the Left.”

LIMITED TIME DEAL: Kismile Nugget Ice Maker Countertop, 35 lbs/Day, Stainless Steel. #CommissionEarned

DISHWASHER SAFE: imarku 15-Piece Knife Block Set Built-in Sharpener. #CommissionEarned

BRING BACK DDT: Bedbugs can cause people to lose sleep — and blood. Here’s what to do about them.

CANADA, FRANCE, AND BRAZIL ARE SHOWING HOW QUICKLY SPEECH RESTRICTIONS CAN GO TOO FAR. This week’s stories include a Canadian social-media bill, France shutting a mosque over religious texts, and a Brazilian influencer convicted after misgendering a politician.

THINK OF IT AS EVOLUTION IN ACTION: The influencers getting bitten while chasing the perfect shark shot.

IT MAKES YOU STRONGER: Strength training is replacing weight loss as the top gym goal — here’s why.

DISHWASHER SAFE: imarku 15-Piece Knife Block Set Built-in Sharpener. #CommissionEarned

I DON’T THINK THIS IS SUFFICIENT TO “DEBUNK” ANYTHING: “There is a massive caveat in this study that we need to address before moving forward: the volume was not equated between groups.”

WE’VE DESCENDED INTO SOME SORT OF BIZARRE HELL-WORLD IN WHICH BILL MAHER IS A VOICE OF SANITY: Bill Maher thinks immigrants must assimilate, accept American values and principles to be in US: ‘Not negotiable.’

Exit quote:

Well that should just about cement Bill Maher’s excommunication from the Democratic Party https://t.co/JxLCnw0MeR

— Ian Miller (@ianmSC) August 16, 2026

UPDATE: Great moments in intersectionality:

Bill Maher: “A few weeks ago, a liberal Democrat named Melissa Chaudhry running for Congress in Seattle was asked, ‘Why, among the many liberal causes listed on her website, LGBT rights was conspicuously absent?’ Because she said, ‘a lot of Muslims do not feel that way,… pic.twitter.com/E00WpglSWl

— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) August 15, 2026

Flashback to Daniel Greenfield in 2023: The Left Can Have Islam or LGBTQA+. Not Both. The Democrat coalition is falling apart.

KEEP YOUR HOUSE CLEAN FROM PETS: Shark Navigator Lift-Away Vacuum. #CommissionEarned

IT’S NOT BY ACCIDENT:

How a civilization ends.

There’s the uncontrolled mass migration of third-world peasants and violent religious ideologues bent on domination.

There is the subversion and destruction of once protective, nurturing, instructing and enlightening institutions.

There is the gradual… https://t.co/ztKoBY1rak

— Northern Barbarian (@xnoesbueno) August 16, 2026

ESCHEW ALL MODALITIES OF COCKSUREDNESS: If What Happened to Mark Kelly at This Conference Is Indicative of Dem Popularity They’re in Trouble.

This is why Democrats have to cheat in every election. https://t.co/bPp2IByHWS

— Catturd ™ (@catturd2) August 16, 2026