July 6, 2026
ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND THAT AMERICA CAN ONLY DO WRONG, EVERYTHING ELSE MAKES SENSE:
Always has been, but it's a crime when it's us.
— Publius Enigma (@PubliusEnig) July 6, 2026
NOW THIS IS MORE LIKE THE 21ST CENTURY I WAS PROMISED: These light-weight power cells run on nuclear waste and could power next-gen drones. “That’s the future scientists are working toward in DARPA’s ‘Rads to Watts’ program, which aims to create lightweight batteries with a high energy density. And a recent $3.37 million contract award aims to fund a viable proof-of-concept device that can produce more than 10 watts per kilogram with a yearslong shelf life.”
THE SIMPLEST WAY TO EXPLAIN THE BEHAVIOR OF ANY BUREAUCRATIC ORGANIZATION IS TO ASSUME THAT IT IS CONTROLLED BY A CABAL OF ITS ENEMIES: Odyssey Star Goes Full Woke Promoting Film.
Nolan hasn’t been a woke director by any means. His 2012 movie “The Dark Knight Rises” skewered an Occupy Wall Street-type uprising.
Yet the label has stuck to “The Odyssey,” fairly or unfairly. Now, Nyong’o just poured fuel on the fire.
The following publicity snippet finds the actress answering what she might press Homer about regarding his epic yarn, a revered Greek literary classic.
Her answer is from Woke 101 School.
"What 1 thing would you say to Homer?"
Lupita Nyong'o (Helen Of Troy): "How do you feel about the screen time given to women?"
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) July 6, 2026
“So, Homer, how do you feel about this screen time being given to these women, considering how little time you spent with them?” the actress asked with a smile on her face. “Remember us?”
This is Peak Woke, demanding that one of the oldest examples of literature measure up to 2026 social mores. It’s likely tongue in cheek, but she knows how the comment will be received.
It’s not remotely helpful, funny or convincing.
The clip will likely go viral. And, ultimately, the brand Nolan has constructed will be able to withstand another woke-ian stain on the film’s publicity tour.
As Christian Toto concludes, “‘The Odyssey’ will likely shrug off these comments and crush the box office. [But] If the film under-performs at any level, some will point a large, heavy finger at moments like this.”
"Very little time in the Odyssey is spent in the perspective of a woman"
O illiterate founder of Greece, the goddess Athena (a female) drives the entire story from start to finish. Her fingerprints are on every page.
The entire point of the story is that mortals, in spite of… pic.twitter.com/U0A0cdRNn1
— George Alexopoulos (@GPrime85) July 6, 2026
Tweet concludes, “The entire point of the story is that mortals, in spite of all their pride and greed, are the playthings of the gods and therefore must be humble and behave honorably or they will be punished. The male god Poseidon is the antagonist, and the hero is Athena, who repeatedly leads the otherwise helpless characters to resolution and peace. This knowledge could be yours, if you read the book.”
(Classical reference in headline.)
HOPING FOR 250 MORE: For the past few years, I’ve been busy and missed decorating my house for the holidays too many times. But not this time: I got my flags, banners, bunting and Uncle Sam doll out in time for the 4th of July. It wasn’t the best job I’ve ever done, but it was pretty good. If I’m around for the 300th (an extremely unlikely proposition), I promise to do much better. For one thing, my long banners need to be anchored in some way so they don’t blow around and get caught in the awnings.
Over at City Journal, Joshua Katz remembers the Bicentennial and Tall Ships in 1976.
DISPATCHES FROM AL-BRIṬĀNIYĀ:
What on earth is going on here?
Parliament voted to abolish blasphemy laws back in 2008 — 18 years ago.
The Government’s decision to introduce a non-statutory official definition of Islamophobia — repackaged as “anti-Muslim hostility” — has effectively revived blasphemy laws… https://t.co/8e9M62TwWu
— The Free Speech Union (@SpeechUnion) July 5, 2026
OUT ON A LIMB: Hating Supergirl Doesn’t Make You a Misogynist.
The opening weekend audience for Supergirl was, in fact, more male than female. It was also just very, very small—and for this, I suspect that the fault lies not with the audience but with the movie itself. The action scenes are a mash-up of the same computer-generated effects we’ve seen a million times; the depiction of Supergirl as a reluctant hero, emotionally guarded and frequently inebriated, is territory that was trod first and better by Guardians of the Galaxy and Jessica Jones. The exposition is clunky; the world-building is half-hearted; the characters are paper-thin; and the side plot where Supergirl intercedes to save a bunch of girls from an intergalactic sex-trafficking operation is truly ham-handed pandering—and also, Mad Max: Fury Road did it better. It’s not just that this is weak storytelling, but that it is trite, old, and boring.
And if moviegoers predicted it would be, and decided to stay home—well, blame the cultural apparatus that foisted this movie on us, by deciding 10 years ago that the greatest measure of our moral and political progress was the genital configuration of the person wearing spandex and punching bad guys on a giant screen. It was an ideologically captured cohort of critics, and the film industry that cared about their opinions, who decided that buying tickets to female-led superhero films was the entertainment version of eating your vegetables. Were these movies any good? Who cared, when they were good for you—and more importantly, good for women?
The earliest rumblings of this phenomenon were observable in 2016, in the cult of astroturfed pseudo-fandom that sprang up around the all-female reboot of Ghostbusters. Whatever excitement surrounded that movie had very little to do with the movie itself; instead, it was fueled by the identitarian glee of taking something beloved by Gen X men and putting a “The Future Is Female” T-shirt on it.
Ten years on, it’s very funny to realize how much of the conversation about this allegedly feminist movie failed the Bechdel test, insofar as critics talked less about the movie itself than about how great it was that it made certain men so angry. It also required a certain amount of amnesia as to the prior existence of female-driven franchises that nobody had to be blackmailed into seeing: Aliens, Twilight, The Hunger Games. And yet, this notion of fandom as political obligation did catch on—not necessarily with moviegoers themselves, but definitely among the people who either made the movies or made a living by talking about them. Within these populations, it was an article of faith that you could basically guilt-trip people into liking the “right” movies by strongly implying that failing to like these films made you a Republican.
Alison Bechdel, the author of the aforementioned “test” eventually admitted, “The Bechdel test was a joke… I didn’t intend for it to become a real gauge.”
So, if Supergirl bombed, what is making money? Creepy Pasta, Toxic Masculinity and a Full Theater: My Take on Backrooms.
Since COVID, my in-theater habit mostly died. Patterns were disrupted and I never quite got back to my prior habits. But I still love the idea of seeing a film in the theater. That shared experience with strangers — and movie theater popcorn — beats at home viewing every time, in my opinion. So last night, at my 11-year-old son’s behest, we went to see Backrooms. He knew all about it — something about a video game or viral internet thing pulled him in. I have no idea about this world.
I texted my 25-year-old son that I was going to see this viral hit.
His response: “lol what?”
Then: “oh with O, makes sense now.”
He explained it’s based on an internet “creepy pasta” that went viral on 4chan and spawned a short video series on YouTube. I mean, is this even English?
I replied, “What is creepy pasta?” thinking it was a typo. It wasn’t.
He broke it down: “Creepy pastas are repostable stories, images, memes or text chains that become viral through people reinventing and sharing them across platforms. They’re like internet ‘commodities’ designed to freak you out.”
I still don’t really get it.
He explained further: “It comes from copypasta — those copied text blocks like the shrug emoji ¯_(ツ)_/¯— but these are ghost stories for the online age.”
Still lost. But I did the equivalent of nodding via text.
I figured I wouldn’t fall asleep, but I also wouldn’t get it. Some meme-based, aesthetics-driven thing with no real storyline — a self-referential, internet-culture rabbit hole “vibe” that I’d never fully understand as a Gen Xer. I still don’t get memes, for the most part.
The movie wasn’t awful, just kind of dumb. And not scary.
And if you don’t fancy that, how about some good old-fashioned revenge and mayhem? Citizen Vigilante Strikes Journalism, Too.
Citizen Vigilante provokes discussion that leftist Hollywood media suppress. Sanders victimizes a family harboring the rape gang, telling them, “I think you brought with you your archaic value system and your commitment to religion over democracy and over anything else, including the rule of law.” Harsh words for a cheap film that nonetheless champions free speech — as indicated by Elon Musk when he posted free viewings of Citizen Vigilante for 48 hours to counter the rampant film-festival-circuit programming for open-border globalist propaganda. Despite the movie’s popularity on social media, the media blackout of Citizen Vigilante (the New York Times has not reviewed it) ignores, as always, the populism that Boll has ignited but that Hollywood no longer acknowledges. Citizen Vigilante proves this truth simply by putting up a fight.
Or, why not go fully digital?
Hollywood is swinging the doors wide open and inviting AI filmmakers in by intentionally not giving their customers what they want. So obvious. Their myopia is destroying their industry in real time, for all to see.
— kurtostergaard (@kurtostergaard) July 6, 2026
2026 at the movies is feeling very much like the late 1960s, as described in Peter Biskind’s Easy Riders, Raging Bulls. Back then, desperately hoping to make bank one last time, Hollywood studios cranked out musical after musical, trying to replicate the blowout success of 1965’s The Sound of Music. Virtually all of its recombinant clones were rejected by moviegoers for much pulpier stuff, such as Bonnie & Clyde, Easy Rider, and Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H, particularly after Hollywood considered itself no longer bound by the Hays Code.
This is an excellent point. I think we’re coming to the end of a period you could describe as the secular version of the Hays Code (the Hollywood moral-code regime that ran from the mid‑1930s to the late 1960s). There's hundreds of stories that couldn't be told in the last… https://t.co/1TqkkeAyj0
— Graham Linehan (@Glinner) July 5, 2026
UPDATE: Ride the Mobius Movie Doom Loop!
The core failure loop of the Hollywood activist era:https://t.co/9J9hNm19KV like comic book movies. (59% of even the Supergirl audience was male.)
2.The gender studies critics call those movies problematic for appealing to men.
3.Studios reengineer the next one to appeal to an… https://t.co/djni5a1s8o— Hollywood Gadfly (@Filmgadfly) July 6, 2026
DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONES: A Mass Shooting and More July 4 Violence in Chicago.
CLEARING THE DECKS FOR ABDUL EL-SAYED, OR CONSOLIDATING THE OPPOSITION? Mallory McMorrow drops out of Michigan’s crucial Democratic Senate primary.
ONE HANDY CHART: Matthew Dickerson over at Baseline Policyput together a fascinating chart showing all revenues and expenditures by the federal government since 1776.
WELL PUT: Hey Tech Bros, the Model for Surviving on the AI Frontier is Guns. “People often think of tech freedom through a First Amendment lens, because that’s the only mainstream framework to articulate a technical legal argument for ‘The government is required to leave me alone.’ But as tech becomes more dangerous — AI! drones! humanoid robots! biochemical research! — the Second Amendment is the better fit.”
HOW THE SAUSAGE GETS MADE: So, That Black Woman on the Metro Surrounded by Patriot Front Being Compared to Rosa Parks? About Her…:
They probably paid her a few dollars to stage a picture with those SPLC's funded scums.
— Informerhub (@Informerhub) July 6, 2026
Related: Hundreds of Patriot Front Demonstrators Hit DC’s July 4 Celebration and Minds Are Blown. “How many of these guys are inked? Compare and contrast with the Proud Boys and other known and acknowledged right-wing groups. These guys aren’t ‘street fighting men.’ They aren’t manual laborers or in the building trades. They aren’t ex-combat arms. They are office workers. What office? I don’t know, but they aren’t right-wing shock troops…More to the point, let’s compare and contrast the Patriot Front with Antifa, the George Floyd Memorial Protesters, or any anti-ICE group. The bottom line on this protest is that a few hundred alleged White supremacists and fascists openly protested in one of the most pathetically progressive cities in America, and nothing happened. There were no attacks. There was no need for police escorts. There were no riots or shoplifting rampages.”
I’M OK WITH TOTAL DEFEAT:
Even the so-called moderate Democrat who says he wants to challenge the America-hating communists in his party is in favor of packing the court, a change that would end our constitutional republic. The Democrats have gone stark raving mad, and there is no cure but total defeat. https://t.co/BlTrq72TJ7
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) July 6, 2026
DON SURBER: Why They Try Communism. “Communism is not about economics. It is about power.”
LEFTIES POSING AS WHITE NATIONALISTS ARE THE LEAST OF HER TROUBLES:
OK, weirdo in company of weirdos. The whole thing is kinda weird.
Still waiting on the media takedown of who these guys are, who's paying for all this. Add to that, what's her deal?
In the end, a weird non-eventful demonstration. Who cares? Wake me up when they start attacking… https://t.co/sDFUVPR3I9
— Northern Barbarian (@xnoesbueno) July 6, 2026
I’VE SEEN THIS MOVIE. IT DOESN’T GO WELL: Scientists Have Created a Cell from Scratch and Researchers Say ‘We Can Engineer It.’ “The cell, called SpudCell, was developed by researchers at the University of Minnesota, according to the scientific paper made public on Thursday, July 2. Unlike previous synthetic cells, which were created by modifying living cells, SpudCell was assembled entirely with nonliving chemicals.”
SpudCell?
DISPATCHES FROM THE WORKERS’ PARADISE: New York Bodega Owners to City: Drop Dead!
SLEEP BETTER: C CUSHION LAB Deep Sleep Pillow. #CommissionEarned
CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Lawsuit challenges Denver, state over gun & magazine bans.
A Colorado gun rights groups and three Denver-area gun owners on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit challenging Denver’s decades-old ban on so-called “assault weapons,” as well as Colorado’s statewide prohibition on standard-capacity ammunition magazines, arguing both laws violate the Second Amendment.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court by the Colorado State Shooting Association (CSSA), the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), and individual plaintiffs Ray Elliott, Trevor Alley and Michael Vitco, all Denver residents.
CSSA is the Colorado state affiliate of the National Rifle Association (NRA).
At issue is Denver’s 1989 ordinance banning the sale, manufacture and possession of firearms the city labels “assault weapons,” and Colorado’s 2013 law banning magazines that hold more than 15 rounds. The complaint argues both laws are, in practice, magazine restrictions as Denver’s ordinance defines a banned “assault weapon” chiefly by whether it accepts a magazine over 15 rounds.
The 2013 law drove Magpul to pull up stakes and relocate to Texas — foreshadowing what the next dozen years of single-party Democrat rule would bring.
INDEED:
Not only did the Left ignore Iryna Zarutska’s murder they then tore down murals that commemorated her life.
So they can fck right off about a woman sitting safely on public transportation.
Sick people.
— C3 (@C_3C_3) July 6, 2026
Lefties will gin up a photo up to push a false narrative, and ignore an actual murder that contradicts it.
“MILTON FRIEDMAN ISN’T RUNNING THE SHOW ANYMORE:”
Biden's illegal immigration surge triggered 30% rise in home prices, $ 20% in rents, Fed paper finds https://t.co/c6gi29C736 pic.twitter.com/1CBPobjXir
— New York Post (@nypost) July 5, 2026
30% bump in house prices and 29% in rents?
This hands a lot of ammunition to people who complain that native-born Americans are being priced out of middle-class prosperity by immigrant inflows.
I didn't expect the numbers to be this high.
— Eric S. Raymond (@esrtweet) July 5, 2026
