August 7, 2026

DAVID STROM: I Hope This Is My Last Post on Jason Arday, but It Needs Saying. “But there is a lot to unpack here, and little of it has to do with the man himself. For Cambridge University and for academia as a whole, he was an empty vessel into whom they poured their ideology, self-delusion, pride, and sense of moral superiority.”

Posted at 2:11 pm by Glenn Reynolds

ALMOST!

Posted at 2:03 pm by Stephen Green

OUT ON A LIMB: It’s not ‘body shaming’ to worry about Ariana Grande’s appearance.

Fame can be very tough. And Grande should be treated with civility and kindness. But there is something a little tiresome about celebrities and their PR teams claiming that the public is wrong to comment on their appearance. A pop star like Grande knows that not only is her music important, but so too are her looks. She has used said looks to secure lucrative advertising deals with Swarovski, Givenchy, Reebok, Mac, T-Mobile and her own fragrance line. It’s only fair that those of us expected to buy what her face is selling might have some views on the face itself.

This goes beyond the disingenuous hand-wringing of Hollywood stars who don’t like to be criticised. Much of the concern over Grande’s appearance stems from its potential impact on her young fans. They are watching a once healthy-looking girl fade into a shadow of a woman. Those of us who grew up in the era of ultra-skinny ‘heroin chic’ know that we’ve been here before. But at least during the 1990s we had the confidence to criticise what was clearly an unrealistic and warped view of femininity.

For those of a certain age, we’ve been here before:

Posted at 1:35 pm by Ed Driscoll

WE DID TELL YOU SO:

Solheim’s article is here, but it does require registration.

Posted at 1:32 pm by Stephen Green

JIMMY CARTER SAYS YES: Democrats Don’t Want You to Know What Jimmy Carter Said About Voter ID.

In 2005, Carter co-chaired the bipartisan Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform alongside former Secretary of State James Baker. The commission formed in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election.

The commission recommended voter ID, better voter registration, and stronger safeguards against fraud, and it did so with bipartisan support. In a resurfaced clip from that era, Carter is heard making the case for voter ID in terms today’s Democrats would call bigoted.

“Also have some form of photo ID required, voter ID,” Carter said. “So, the second reason is to make a uniform recommendation in our country through this report that we’ve issued, so that there’s not highly discriminatory laws passed by one party or another.”

Carter went further, explaining exactly how the commission designed the policy to prevent the very harms Democrats now claim are inevitable.

“These photo ID cards will be free,” Carter said. “There will be a wide distribution of them. The states will be required to go around the state to issue these photo ID cards to as many people as possible, which will be a good system just for recruiting new voters.”

Classical reference in headline:

Posted at 1:23 pm by Ed Driscoll

FROM A STUDENT, A ‘VIA MEDIA’ ON AI. I suspect this is about where most people will end up, once the hype/doom cycle starts to get boring. I do think the concern about it destroying writing skills is misplaced, though, because writing skills had been destroyed years before AI came around.

Posted at 1:20 pm by Robert Shibley

THE VITAL NEED TO STOP 5G DEPLOYMENT WAS IN THERE SOMEWHERE, TOO:

Posted at 12:59 pm by Stephen Green

CUT TAXES, CUT SPENDING, LEAVE US ALONE, AND EVERYTHING WILL BE ALL RIGHT:

Posted at 12:29 pm by Stephen Green

THE MORAL EQUIVALENT OF WAR: “Thank You for Your Service,” Dr Fauci — Appropriating Greetings to U.S. Warriors Is in the Direct Lineage of Leftist Cosplays of Valorous Combat Heroics.

Let’s start with a question that many of you will (correctly) find is naïve, but will be stated for the record: if Joe Biden pardoned Fauci, how much did the (p)resident — or his enablers — know? How much did he know about the whole Covid (non?-)pandemic? And if the whole democrat party apparatus was complicit in knowing about Fauci’s lies, does that not make it a conspiracy?  Is, then, a “conspiracy theory” not the appropriate response to this scandal — one of a magnitude never seen before?

Having said that: One thing that has been fairly unsettling in the latest Fauci revelations is going back to the the many MSM interviews regarding the COVID “menace” half a decade ago and hearing the “independent” journalists calling Anthony Fauci things like a “superhero.”

Unlike Norma Desmond, at the end of the line, he’s finally not ready for his closeup:

Exit question: Pure Gold: Rand Paul’s Perfect Reaction to Fauci’s Wife’s Rude Gesture After Contempt Vote.

(Classical reference in headline.)

Posted at 12:00 pm by Ed Driscoll

THIS IS KIND OF A BIG DEAL: US hits jackpot after finding multi-million-ton critical mineral reserve in Nevada.

The company revealed that the deposit is part of a mineral system that also contains world-class resources of lithium, potash, and boron.

As per 3PL, the deposit is reportedly five times larger than the biggest tungsten resource currently listed in the US and comes at a time when the country relies heavily on imports for the strategic metal. Its in-situ value is estimated at about USD 152 billion based on current market prices.

However, exploration across approximately 17 square miles of the project remains restricted by a NASA land withdrawal. The space agency uses the area to calibrate satellite instruments. It says mining could interfere with the facility’s operations.

That seems like a solvable problem. The tougher one might be CCP-friendly Americans lobbying to restrict mining to save the planet or whatever.

Posted at 11:44 am by Stephen Green

THAT WAS DELIGHTFUL:

Posted at 11:28 am by Stephen Green