DON’T GET COCKY: Democrats Got Some Devastating News About the Midterms. “New data show Democrats are not gaining momentum this summer. Some of it suggests they’re losing ground, and losing it fast.”

Seriously, vote as though your life, liberty, and property depend upon it. And bring friends.

R.I.P., JERRY: Things have really turned around since this interview, thank God. And thank Elon.

I DON’T REMEMBER ANYONE TELLING ME THAT, BUT THE MATCHES HAVE BEEN MORE FUN TO WATCH THAN I EXPECTED:

But “BOW TO YOUR BRONZED OVERLORDS” is a keeper for sure.

SMART:

WELL SAID:

“I’m fine with complaining about the GOP, even Trump. But this ‘why should we vote for them’ approach is suicide-by-killing-the-good-in-pursuit-of-perfect.”

WELL, YEAH: Critics cast doubt on Biden’s claims he personally wrote upcoming memoir.

Conservatives and other critics raised doubts about Biden’s claim that he’d written the book, which is called “Promise Me, America.”

Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt said that Biden couldn’t write his own name, so he’s not writing books, referring to Biden’s reported use of the autopen to sign documents.

“Politicians write books to launder money. Nobody wants to read this, but the corrupt NGOs he provided for as President will buy up 100K copies and burn ’em to hold up their end of the bribes,” Pratt said on X.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., also chimed in, asking, “How many chapters are about your time hiding in the basement while someone else ran the White House?”

Conservative commentator Steve Guest said, “The first lie of Joe Biden’s book launch: ‘I’ve written a book.'”

Most of these things are ghost-written, but Biden’s memoir might be the first to be ghost-remembered.

DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONES:

Only one billion over budget? No wonder it’s years behind schedule — they need extra time for the grift.

GREAT CLEANER: Affresh Washing Machine Cleaner. #CommissionEarned I use this between washes and it keeps the washer from getting stale.

THE EV BUBBLE DENIES DEFLATION RUMORS: Lucid dismisses report that it is weighing filing for bankruptcy or going private after shares plunge.

A site focused on electric vehicles called EV reported Tuesday Lucid was considering going private or filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. According to the site, the company asked AlixPartners to review those options and deliver its findings to Lucid’s board before its next meeting.

The report from EV also said AlixPartners had encouraged the board to further restructure in the U.S. and Europe and to focus on the Gravity SUV.

AlixPartners said it had no comment on the report. Lucid said in a statement that “the rumors are completely false.”

I guess we’ll see. But unlike Tesla or even Rivian, I never see any Lucid vehicles in EV-friendly Colorado.

THE MARKET HAS SPOKEN:

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: The Commie Call Is Coming From Inside the Democrats’ House. “Until President Trump upended the political tradition apple cart in 2016, the Democrats used to be better at playing a more subtle long game in politics. Since then, they’ve been singularly focused on being consumed by hatred for the man who denied their alcoholic Ice Queen the presidency that they felt she was entitled to.”

CHANGE: Warren Buffett stops Gates Foundation donations, will give $6 billion to family foundations. “Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett said Tuesday that he stopped donating money to the Gates Foundation after revelations about interactions between the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.”

For a guy who spent a lifetime picking winners and dumping losers, he sure held on to Gates for a long time.

SHE’S SERVED HER PURPOSE, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, SHE KNOWS IT:

LET THE GAMES BEGIN:

READ THE WHOLE THING:

IT’S MY THURSDAY ESSAY FOR VIP SUBSCRIBERS: Our Love/Meh Relationship With AI.

“People wanted more than just text,” former CEO Eric Schmidt later said of the company’s moonshot effort to design, build, and launch the first image search engine as quickly as humanly possible. “Google Image Search was born” on July 12, 2001, Schmidt later recalled.

Google Image Search immediately became one of the company’s most-loved and most-used tools, and constant refinements over the last 25 years helped keep it that way. I moved on from Google years ago — mostly because I despise the company’s business practices — but when the copycats fail, I find myself back on GIS.

Then this week — on Image Search’s 25th birthday — Google just had to go and ruin it.

Say it with me now: “By adding AI nobody asked for.”

But this isn’t really about Google, Image Search, or even AI. It’s about tools.

Much more at the link.