AND IT’S GLORIOUS:  U.K. Reform earthquake.

WRITING IS A WICKED ENVIRONMENT:  A Hungarian psychologist raised three daughters to prove that any child could become a chess grandmaster through early specialization. He succeeded. Two of them became grandmasters. One became the greatest female chess player who ever lived. Then a sports scientist looked at the data and found something nobody wanted to hear.

X-cancel.

ALL MEDICAL SCHOOLS DID. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM:  DOJ Concludes UCLA Med School Racially Discriminated In Admissions Process.

OF COURSE HE DOESN’T:  Hasan Piker Invokes JFK Quote About ‘Violent Revolution’ Following Court’s Ruling on VA Gerrymander.

ALL OF US WHO KNEW STUDENTS AT ALL LEVELS KNOW THIS:  Instructure Confirms Major Hack Affecting Canvas Users Across Thousands of Schools.

SOMETIMES THE PURPOSE OF A BILL IS TO FAIL:  The Deprecated Filters. Washington’s legislative feedback system still works. The people running it stopped wanting to be filtered.

SHOCKED, SHOCKED, SHOCKED, THIS IS MY SHOCKED FACE:  Argentina not in the news.

PAY ATTENTION:

One Chinese shipbuilder produced more ships by tonnage in a single year than America did in the entire time since WWII. https://t.co/GHaY16elmd pic.twitter.com/tsGYSUpalE

— Crémieux (@cremieuxrecueil) May 9, 2026

OPEN THREAD: Party on, dudes and dudettes.

ALIENS: NASA’s Artemis 2 astronauts saw flashes on the far side of the moon that cameras struggle to capture. Here’s why scientists are excited.

WHY A DUCK?

The term “late stage capitalism” was first used in a 1925 publication by the German social scientist Werner Sombart, according to Wikipedia. So clearly it’s just not an accurate term. You wouldn’t have late stage cancer then live another 101 years.

— Ian Howlett (@ianhowlett) May 9, 2026

It’s just a thing they say to gain power from people who don’t understand it themselves. pic.twitter.com/Q6cNVxJQ91

— Evil13rt🐧 (@Evil13rt) May 9, 2026

Classical reference in headline:

WELL, GOOD: Scientists Engineer Blood Clots That Stop Severe Bleeding in Seconds.

MY LATEST SUBSTACK: The Gathering Storm.

TRICAPRIN: Scientists Say This Simple Supplement May Actually Reverse Heart Disease.

METFORMIN UPDATE: Metformin’s real power may be in the gut.

THE HOPE GOES ON FOREVER AND THE VIBES WILL NEVER DIE:

Few things were more inevitable than an Obama musical. What better way to commemorate the Hamilton presidency than with a vibes-drenched, profanity-laced sing-along for liberals who stopped being proud of their country on Nov. 8, 2016? That was the day Eli Bauman resolved to start writing what would become 44: The Musical, which began a limited run in Washington, D.C., last month after stints in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York.

You might be surprised to learn that 44 was created by a white male Millennial nepo baby. Bauman is the son of Jon “Bowzer” Bauman—best known as the greaser frontman for doo-wop revival group Sha Na Na. His cousin, Eric Bauman, chaired the California Democratic Party until his resignation in 2018 due to sexual misconduct allegations.

* * * * * * * * *

Bauman, who worked on the 2008 Obama campaign before going to journalism school, has described 44 as his “best answer” to an “inexplicable” question: How did we get from Obama—hope and change, soaring rhetoric, epic vibes—to Donald Trump?

There have been many attempts to answer this question. Very few have incorporated a live R&B band, a slutty Sarah Palin telling Katie Couric to “suck my d—,” and a racy scene in which Barack and Michelle Obama croon about being one another’s “freak dot gov” while making “White House love.”

In other words, 44 is a relatively good answer to the question of how we got from Obama to Trump. Certainly not in the way it was intended, but that’s how it goes sometimes. Obama and his swooning fans presumably envisioned a Lincolnesque figure who could inspire a nation with words. Now he’s just another celebrity we hear about every now and then. But nostalgia is a powerful drug. To revel in what could have been, irrespective of what actually was.

Incidentally, a subtext of the Spencer Pratt campaign is reminding Los Angelinos of their craziest voting choices over the past decade, even beyond the disastrous Karen Bass. The AI video of “Pratt Summer” is a sendup of one of Kamp Kamala’s stranger messaging choices in 2024, and he isn’t afraid to reference someone who benefited from 2008’s mass formation psychosis on the left:

Spencer Pratt just reminded everyone during a CBS interview that Barack Obama was a community organizer before becoming president 😭

“Why can Obama become a senator and then the president? He had no experience running the whole entire country, which is way bigger than L.A.”… pic.twitter.com/qAgiGWBrHQ

— Gina Milan (@ginamilan_) May 8, 2026

Which was one of the mile markers on the road to Trump:

ZOOM: 2027 Lexus TZ First Look: Diving Into the 3-Row Electric SUV Segment.

GET RID OF PESTS: GOOTOP Bug Zapper Outdoor, Mosquito Zapper. #CommissionEarned

BHO, THE ANTI-WASHINGTON:

Weird. Weirder every time I look at it.

He knows he's not president, right?

It's interesting. You look at everything Washington did. Knowing he was setting precedents as a general and then as president.

He demanded respect for the office, but was self-effacing. He put the… https://t.co/icQPpoKOJ6

— Northern Barbarian (@xnoesbueno) May 9, 2026

UPDATE:

Barack Hussein Obama is the first President in over 100 years to stay in Washington, DC after his term was up.

Malia graduated high school in 2016.

Sasha graduated high school in 2019.

He’s still there.

Now why do you think that was?

— C3 (@C_3C_3) May 9, 2026

MORE:

Yes, Team Obama is out in force to save Iran from Trump. Remember: Iran deal echo chamber (2011-16)-> Russiagate (2016-20) -> save Iran echo chamber (June '25 – present). Same people and institutions, charged since Russiagate to fight Trump policy. https://t.co/JbIEMKSZWO

— Lee Smith (@LeeSmithDC) May 9, 2026

YOU DON’T HAVE TO LIVE LIKE THIS, L.A.:

The progressive project is probably terrified of the prospect of someone like Pratt getting elected.

It would quickly be obvious so many problems could be solved by enforcing existing laws — and voters would realize what was done to them was intentional. https://t.co/3pCYptag1n

— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) May 9, 2026

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Three-Dot Sights Suck and This is Why . . .

WHEN THEY TELL YOU WHO THEY ARE, BELIEVE THEM:

Doing things illegally and against the Constitution is the only chance Democrats have. https://t.co/7In0oLHlrB

— Nick Searcy, Actor/Director/Producer/Author (@yesnicksearcy) May 9, 2026

GET ENOUGH MAGNESIUM: BIOptimizers Magnesium Breakthrough Supplement with 500mg. #CommissionEarned

CHANGE:

Leftists feel despair because their patronage networks are being dismembered piece by piece. Trump supporters feel despair because they were locked out of career development by DEI racial discrimination and suffered 18 years of decline since 2008. That's what's driving this. https://t.co/7glEYUZ6JW pic.twitter.com/n7D6s5nGWY

— Fugitive Caesar (@ThomBrady5) May 8, 2026

Peaceful change, too, unlike what we’ve seen from some lefty groups.

OUT ON A LIMB: “An enlightened society would not say that your skin color is an immutable characteristic as an indicator of your political persuasion.”

Donna Brazile on Redistricting: “Texas 25 Republicans, 13 [Democrats] in a state that is majority minority.”

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX): “Why does skin color automatically impose political beliefs?”

Donna Brazile: “Because race has always been identified as a political… pic.twitter.com/b70Wlhjhpn

— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) May 9, 2026

Related:

My father, Jim Brown, helped broker the 1992 Watts Truce between leaders of the Los Angeles Crips & Bloods — a meeting that took place at our home. So when people say he couldn’t represent Black people at the highest level with the @POTUS that’s laughable. pic.twitter.com/wcQEt8gHdk

— Kimberly Brown (@kimbrownnfl32) May 8, 2026