ALITO NOT RETIRING:

She’s right, But this still makes a win in the midterms more important than ever.

OPEN THREAD: Ring out the weekend.

ARTICLE III CONTINUES ITS SWAN SONG: “Unserious Leaders Are Unsafe,” Opines a Federal Judge About RFK, Jr. ‘That’s the opening line from yesterday’s Oregon v. Kennedy, by Judge Mustafa Kasubhai (D. Or.) (the only federal judge I’ve seen who includes pronouns.)”

Plus: “My tentative sense is that, whatever one might personally think about Kennedy’s seriousness, judges’ decisions are more credible when those decisions focus solely on the law, rather than deciding which of our leaders are serious.”

It’s theater kids all the way down.

BLOCKADE: Trump says US has ‘full custody’ of Iranian-flagged ship, ‘seeing what’s on board.’

“Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them. The U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and gave them fair warning to stop,” he wrote on social media.

“The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom. Right now, U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel. The TOUSKA is under U.S. Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!” he added.

Developing…

I OFTEN WONDER ABOUT THE HISTORICAL IGNORANCE OF PEOPLE IN THE UK WHEN THEY SUGGEST THEIR COUNTRY IS A PACIFISTIC MODEL OF HOW ISRAEL SHOULD BEHAVE WHEN CONFRONTED WITH ROCKET FIRE ON CIVILIANS:

OOPS: AST Spacemobile BlueBird 7 Satellite Lost. “ASTS admits the satellite is too low and cannot be saved. Based on what the orbit appears to be. 20kg of fuel they can only raise it part of the way. During the New Glenn 3 mission, BlueBird 7 was placed into a lower than planned orbit by the upper stage of the launch vehicle. While the satellite separated from the launch vehicle and powered on, the altitude is too low to sustain operations with its on-board thruster technology and will de-orbited. The cost of the satellite is expected to be recovered under the company’s insurance policy.”