ANNIHILATION: British voters have spoken in local elections seen as a verdict on Keir Starmer’s leadership.

Reform are basically wiping Labour out in the North. It's not a defeat. It's not even a rout. Labour are simply ceasing to exist.

— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) May 7, 2026

Tonight’s results are calamitous for Labour. Not just for Keir Starmer’s leadership, but for the very future of the party

— Nick Lowles (@lowles_nick) May 8, 2026

6 out of 6 in Runcorn for Reform, too. All gained from Labour.

— Leanne (@LeanneSpurs) May 7, 2026

If The Times briefing about Miliband telling Starmer to quit is true then the PM has to sack him – which will precipitate open warfare in government and it's game on

If the PM doesn't sack him, there is an open rebellion against him and it's game on

Either way it's game on

— Ross Kempsell (@RossKempsell) May 7, 2026

Britain needs literal annihilation of the people who waged war on it from within, but electoral annihilation would be a good start.

OPEN THREAD: Just do it.

SATELLITE INTERCEPTORS IN DEVELOPMENT: ‘Whatever Russia is testing, it’s sophisticated’: 2 Russian satellites get within 10 feet of each other in orbit.. “This wasn’t a coincidental pass — COSMOS 2583 performed several fine maneuvers to maintain this tight configuration.”

I believe the US was doing this with Agenas in the 1960s. What’s funny is, Putin was threatening Starlink, but Elon can launch those faster thn he could intercept them.

BACK FROM THE WASTELAND: J. Budziszewski has been a University of Texas professor for 45 years, but the J strolling to the lecturn today might well not even recognize the one who first accepted the Austin position.

To understand why, check out Terrell Clemmons’ interview with one of the most intellectually courageous people you may encounter in American academia. The interview first appeared in Science & Culture Today. Here’s a taste of the conversation:

“I had come to think that there couldn’t be any real moral authority for anything, that good and evil were things we made up; I am just a process; I don’t have personal responsibility for my actions; I’m not free. But I loved my wife and children.

“Now consider: love is a commitment of the will to the true good of another person. But I didn’t believe in objective good, I didn’t believe in persons, and I didn’t believe my commitments were in my control. So it wasn’t that I didn’t love them. It was that I couldn’t make sense of this love. That was horrible.”

ONE OF MY HIGH SCHOOL CLASSMATES HAD THIS AND IT WAS AWFUL: The ‘100-Day Cough’ Often Missed in Adults Is Highly Contagious.

WHAT CORRUPTION LOOKS LIKE:

the evolution of the Bulwark summarized:

>we're the real conservatives
>we don't like trump
>he is a threat to democracy
>trump is a nazi
>all republicans are nazi sympathizers
>support democrats
>endorse nazi tattoo democrat for senate
>nazi tattoo guy should be the president https://t.co/VgpaUuaHn9

— Nathan Brand (@nathanbrand) May 7, 2026

AT MY SUBSTACK: Talking to Old People: My mother and dementia.

HMM: New research reveals that midlife in the U.S. is becoming more stressful and less secure.

HOW DARE HE? Left-Wing Influencer Gets Death Threats for Buying a Tesla.

NEWS FROM MY NECK OF THE WOODS: Gov. Bill Lee signs new redistricting map into law, hours after lawmakers pass it. “The new map reshapes Tennessee’s only Democratic-held congressional seat, District 9, into a Republican-leaning district. Shelby County, which forms the core of the current district, would be divided among three districts. Memphis would be placed in District 5, which would stretch east to include parts of Williamson and Maury counties.”

This is hilarious: “The Tennessee Democratic Party said the new maps, set to take effect for the August 2026 primary, ‘dilutes the voice of Black Memphians and harms their ability to elect a representative from their community.'” The district has been represented forever by Steve Cohen, who is utterly white, not withstanding his propensity for eating fried chicken during hearings.

Plus: Governor signs bill to expand school voucher program.

UPDATE:

Gentle reminder that when a troon terrorist murdered six people at a Christian school in Nashville these same people stormed the capitol to celebrate the dead shooter https://t.co/Xl3vjkEnOB

— Auron MacIntyre (@AuronMacintyre) May 7, 2026

ALL THE BEST PEOPLE ASSURED ME THAT THERE WERE NO RISKS: Large study finds a strong link between depression and cannabis use.

LABOR ECONOMISTS REJECT MINIMUM WAGE HIKES: A survey of 166 economists, most of whom are academics specializing in labor economics, found solid opposition across ideological camps to huge minimum wage increases proposed by House Democrats, lefty activists and Mayor Mamdani.

ICYMI: The Long Goodbye to Most Successful Rocket of All Time.

TIT FOR TAT IS THE ONLY WAY TO IMPROVE BAD BEHAVIOR:

Massachusetts is more red than Tennessee is blue.

Massachusetts has not had a Republican member of Congress in 30 years.

If Massachusetts has 0 red districts, Tennessee should have 0 blue districts.

Democrats are just mad that Republicans are finally doing the same thing they… pic.twitter.com/2ebAV2JyKO

— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) May 7, 2026

No wonder Dems are losing it.

ACURA HASN’T LIVED UP TO MY HOPES: Lexus models consistently outperform Acura in reliability scores across SUVs and sedans.

LIFE… FINDS A WAY: Fungal strains in space spark worry.

AND HE’S IN THIRD PLACE BEHIND A COUPLE OF COMMIES WHO WANT TO DO THE OPPOSITE:

Spencer Pratt is basically just pointing to how awful Los Angeles has become and saying "How about we stop giving the homeless drugs and start punishing crime?"

And for that he is honest to goodness the most courageous politician California has seen in decades.

— Lauren Chen (@TheLaurenChen) May 7, 2026

UPDATE (From Ed):

Spencer Pratt is worth supporting even if he loses because his rhetoric and ideological framing are sufficiently humiliating to the other leading candidates.

It’s not nothing to be right about things and to demoralize your opponents and make political life joyless for them, even… https://t.co/ZCn2vxocYT

— Coddled Affluent Professional (@feelsdesperate) May 7, 2026

Tweet concludes, “It’s not nothing to be right about things and to demoralize your opponents and make political life joyless for them, even if they ultimately have the political muscle to win.“

DEMS’ DATA CENTER FREAK-OUT:

“We already have a lot of data centers in the United States. It’s not 1992. This is how most of the internet works.

“I think those who are opposed to the construction of data centers would do much better to focus their energies on good zoning regulations,” says Charlie [Cooke]. “That is to say, to make the sort of demands of the construction process that they would make of an airport or a factory or a railway station or what you will. . . .

“What worries me about this,” says Charlie, “is that these sorts of moral panics, when they capture the imagination, are quite difficult to dispel. And we need to maintain our advantage here. This is what we are good at. This is what we have been good at for a very long time. The United States leads the world technologically and has since the end of World War II. . . . We do not want China to overtake us in AI or in anything else.”

But alas, Bernie wouldn’t mind:

It’s a bit on the nose that communist Bernie Sanders is looking to the Chinese Communist Party for their “leadership” on AI. https://t.co/XUXP546lcO

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) April 27, 2026

IT’S A MESS: Rabbi Michael Barclay’s Iran War Update for May 6-7.

BE PREPARED: Airmoto Tire Inflator Portable Air Compressor. #CommissionEarned

THE LEFT PROJECTS, ALWAYS:

Never let the same people who purged, divided, and politically sorted the military suddenly lecture you about unity.

Those who politicized the force while currently accusing others of undermining it, are among the greatest hypocrites in history.

— InfantryDort (@infantrydort) May 7, 2026

ONLY TRAINED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS CAN BE TRUSTED WITH GUNS: Oops…Class Cancelled After High School Resource Officer Leaves – And Loses – His Gun in a Bathroom.

B-52 FOREVER: BUFF Gets An Upgrade. “Supposedly the new engines increase fuel efficiency by 30%, the cost savings from which will actually pay for the upgrade.”

HMM: Disastrous Charlotte Dem Mayor Abruptly Resigns.

BIG BADDA-BOOM:

Starship Flight 12: Booster 19 Pre-Flight Static Fire (and wow!).

Came after DSS fired up, stopped (no deluge), looked like an abort… then minutes later, recycled, DSS and Deluge – and FIRE!

Live on X and YT:https://t.co/fUrUzOpSa4 https://t.co/2j3vonEUbF pic.twitter.com/24QAfYh6M3

— NSF – NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) May 7, 2026

Still no official announcement on Flight Test 12, but the FAA published permission for May 12 and 13.