June 26, 2026

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Second Amendment Fans Can Start Celebrating Independence Day Early. “Democrats don’t like fair fights, so they prefer that their lawlessness not be hindered by law-abiding citizens who can defend themselves. They blather on about wanting to fight injustice and inequality, but when they gain majority power in a state the first thing they do is go after legal gun owners.”

Posted at 9:09 am by Stephen Green

THEY DON’T WANT IT DEPOLITICIZED, THOUGH.

Posted at 9:05 am by Glenn Reynolds

WE’RE IN A DISTANT THIRD PLACE: China Now Leads World Submarine Construction.

World submarine construction is growing to levels unseen since the Cold War in the 1980s. And in stark contrast to back then, today many more countries are involved. An estimated 77 submarines have been launched in the past 5 years (2021-present) by some 16 countries. This number includes 33 nuclear-powered submarines in 6 countries (China, Russia, United States, United Kingdom, France and India). Brazil and North Korea also have nuclear-powered boats under construction, but they have yet hit the water. Meanwhile South Korea and Australia have plans to operate nuclear boats.

But one country stands out for both their dramatic increase in volume and rapid pace of technical development. China has established a commanding lead in submarine production. Over the past five years, it has launched about 24 submarines. This is twice Russia’s 12 and more than triple the United States’ output of 7 boats.

We’re barely ahead of Japan at six.

Posted at 8:38 am by Stephen Green

WHAT IS A WOMAN?

Posted at 8:35 am by Ed Driscoll

CHANGE:

Posted at 8:22 am by Stephen Green

CHARLES COOKE: Thatcher and the Conservative Party, Fifty Years Later.

Margaret Thatcher was not perfect. She could be overly combative with her allies, which can hurt in a parliamentary system. On free speech, the right to bear arms, and due process, she was a throwback to the Victorian era rather than to the classical liberal epoch that informed most of her other views. And she probably stayed in office too long. However, imperfection is inherent in the nature of Great figures, and Mrs. Thatcher was undoubtedly one.

For reasons that I have never quite understood, the smart set within our illustrious cache of academic historians are allergic to the idea that history’s turning points can be attributed to the personal virtues or resolve of individuals who stepped up at the right moment. I dissent from this view. It is, of course, true that history is about more than birth certificates and obituaries, but even a cursory glance at the last three hundred years suggests that amorphous forces cannot account for all its jukes and contours. A world without George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Nikola Tesla, Henry Ford, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr., and Ronald Reagan is a world that, in my estimation, would look profoundly different—even if one assumes that all the same societal desires and impulses remain. So, it is with Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher had the audacity to take over the British Conservative Party—thereby hijacking a vehicle that, before and after, was characterized by squishy “One Nation” capitulation and steering it toward the eternal maxims of Milton Friedman and Ludwig von Mises. She dared to take action that temporarily damaged the economy in the interest of a longer-term fix—thereby risking her re-election and, with it, the entire project. She refused to relinquish the Falkland Islands to a hostile foreign power simply because the bien pensant class thought she should—thereby creating a hostage to fortune that, had it gone wrong, would have put her approval rating into single digits. And, above all, she understood that political rights are ultimately won by argument, not by force.

Read the whole thing.

Posted at 8:22 am by Ed Driscoll

ICYMI: It’s Official: The Democrat Party Is a Socialist Skinsuit. “Just about the last thing you should expect from some lefty political insider is a forthright admission of what they’re actually up to, but that’s exactly what happened when Democratic Socialist of America (DSA) New York City cochair Gustavo Gordillo spoke with NY1’s Spectrum News earlier this week.”

Posted at 8:07 am by Stephen Green

CHANGE:

Posted at 8:00 am by Glenn Reynolds

BEWARE:

Posted at 8:00 am by Glenn Reynolds

HURRAY FOR JOHN ONDRASIK:

Posted at 7:30 am by Glenn Reynolds

SO THE COMMIES ARE JUST ANGRY INCELS:

Posted at 7:20 am by Glenn Reynolds

FOR SIXTY YEARS, LEFTIES HAVE BEEN TRYING TO MAKE SOCCER POPULAR IN AMERICA. AND NOW? Democrats grapple uncomfortably with World Cup success.

The triumph of the World Cup’s first two weeks — boosting the U.S.’s global reputation with sold-out stadiums and few logistical complications — has forced Democrats who had criticized President Donald Trump’s role in preparations to grudgingly reconsider.

“I think that there was a little bit of like liberal wishcasting that this would maybe be a disaster to sort of stick it to Trump,” said Rob Flaherty, the digital Democratic strategist and soccer fan who attended the U.S. group-stage match with Australia. “It hasn’t yet been.”

Before the tournament, attitudes about the World Cup were polarizing, like so much else, along partisan lines, with Democrats confronting FIFA and the Trump administration over high ticket prices, shortfalls in public funding, and the government’s posture to foreign visitors. As the tournament approached, local officials in areas hosting matches, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill, turned from critics to cheerleaders.

Now a prominent congressional Democrat is going even farther: praising the U.S.’s handling of tournament logistics — if not giving the Trump administration explicit credit by name.

This week, Rep. Brendan Boyle, a Philadelphia Democrat active in foreign-policy issues, called it a “remarkable success” and vowed to “do everything I can to get the World Cup back here as soon as possible” in an X post.

In an interview with POLITICO Thursday, Boyle said, “this has been a great moment, actually devoid of politics, and I think it would be best to keep politics out of it.”

It’s been largely devoid of the left’s politics. As a result: The World Is Re-Discovering America During the World Cup — and Loving It.

Posted at 7:14 am by Ed Driscoll

FROM JEFF DUNTEMANN:  Souls in Silicon: Tales of AI Confronting the Infinite.

Veteran computer tech writer Jeff Duntemann turns his talents to the challenges that “strong” artificial intelligence may face in this, his latest collection of SF tales. Stories include the novelette “Borovsky’s Hollow Woman” (written with Hugo and Nebula Award winner Nancy Kress), “Guardian,” (nominated for the Hugo Award), “The Steel Sonnets,” “Marlowe,” “Silicon Psalm,” “Bathtub Mary,” “STORMY vs. the Tornadoes,” and “Sympathy on the Loss of One of Your Legs,” plus excerpts from his novels of strong AI, The Cunning Blood and Ten Gentle Opportunities.

Posted at 7:00 am by Sarah Hoyt