UNEXPECTEDLIES STILL PLENTIFUL: Minimum wages rise in Chicago, Cook County.

Minimum wages have gone up for workers in Chicago and Cook County, but efforts to raise state and federal minimums remain on hold.

As of July 1, Chicago’s minimum wage is $17.05 per hour for employers with four workers or more, up from $16.60 the day before.

The $12.96 minimum for tipped workers remains in effect after the city council moved in May to pause a scheduled increase.

Cook County’s minimum wage increased from $15 to $15.40 on Wednesday, and the tipped minimum rose from $9 to $9.25.

National Federation of Independent Business Illinois State Director Noah Finley said minimum wage hikes impact small businesses’ ability to grow.

“Small businesses often have smaller margins, and raising the cost of labor puts additional pressure on them,” Finley said.

For the well-connected (and well-heeled) who push these measures, that’s the whole point.

WELL, YEAH: CNN’s Legal Eagles Act More Like Clucking Hens: The network’s coverage of the Supreme Court is by and large dismal.

LEADERSHIP MATTERS:

The U.S. Navy just hit its recruiting goal of 45,000 Sailors – 3 months ahead of schedule. Even more impressive: they raised their goal by 10% and still exceeded expectations.

This is what happens when strong leadership under President Trump, high standards, a return to… pic.twitter.com/nlpr5TsHPo

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) July 1, 2026

FASTER, PLEASE:

DEPORT https://t.co/9c0O1qEMlz

— Rob Schneider 🇺🇸 (@RobSchneider) July 1, 2026

Besides, Conan tells me that Haiti is a much nicer place than Massachusetts:

IT’S MY THURSDAY ESSAY FOR VIP SUBSCRIBERS: So Who’s Winning the Air War? “Back in January, I wrote a Thursday Essay headlined, “So How’s That Russo-Ukraine Oil War Going?” I won’t drag you through the whole thing, but my conclusion back then could be fairly summed up as, ‘Not very well because Kyiv remains too obsessed with Crimea to wage an effective, systematic campaign on Russia’s energy infrastructure.’ Well, times change.”

“SOURCE:” Key Source for Kristof’s New York Times Gaza ‘Rape’ Column Now Claims Palestinian ‘Journalists’ Can Also Be Terrorists: Times Won’t Comment: ‘Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor,’ which Kristof called ‘a Geneva-based advocacy group,’ has close ties to Hamas.

THE “WARMTH OF COLLECTIVISM” WILL ALSO BE “WARM TO POLITICAL VIOLENCE:”

Woke 2.0 is coming. It's starting already.

Rather than foregrounding identity politics, it will push:

1) Affordability (Marxist materialism);
2) Anti-corruption (ironic but an excuse to go after Trump);
3) Anti-Israel (pro-Palestine).

It will be warm to political violence.

— James Lindsay, anti-Communist (@ConceptualJames) July 2, 2026

LIMITED TIME DEAL: INSIGNIA 55-inch Class F50 Series LED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV. #CommissionEarned

CONSTITUENT SERVICE: Mamdani’s rent freeze affects 1 million apts—nearly 50% are occupied by foreigners. “According to the 2023 New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey, the latest data available, 44 percent of all homes that are rent-stabilized in the city were occupied by people born outside of the US, which would translate to approximately 440,000 residences.”

EVEN THE NY TIMES ISN’T BUYING ANTI-AC HYSTERIA: It’s Actually Okay to Run the AC All Day (Even If You’re Not Home). “To our surprise, all three apartments ended up using more energy when the AC was turned off than when we left it running all day. The first-floor unit, with the 18,000-BTU heat pump, used 7 kWh of energy on the day we turned off the AC, and it used only 4 kWh when we left it running.”

YES, I DO REALIZE IT’S NOT FEBRUARY 29TH. AND YET, IT’S MY BLOG’S FUNDRAISER DAY ONE:  Toss A Coin To Your Blogger, Oh Readers of Plenty.

COME SEE THE VIOLENCE INHERENT IN THE LEFTISM:

🚨 WOW: Wisconsin Democrat staffer, Teha Delaruelle is calling on activists to "K*LL YOUR LOCAL REPUBLICAN."

“We’re going to make this the moderate position for the state of Wisconsin”

WTF!? pic.twitter.com/NdFeWaCjMX

— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) July 1, 2026

RED DAWN:

The focus on Israel in the story that these far-left candidates are winning Democratic primaries obscures the glaring warning sign that actual Communists are going to be in Congress. This isn't about Israel, this is about revolution.

— Karol Markowicz (@karol) July 1, 2026

JOSH BLACKMAN: It Is Time To Revisit Kennedy v. Louisiana: Even if there was an actual “national consensus” against capital punishment for child rape in 2008, the facts are different today.

ROBERT SPENCER: Kamala Harris Reaches Out to Mamdani and AOC, and Yes, That’s What It Means. “Well, it looks as if Kamala Harris is indeed planning to run for president in 2028, and that she is counting on the Democrat Party’s rapidly growing Marxist wing to propel her into the White House.”

IT SURE WAS:  The opening ceremony for the Teddy Roosevelt Presidential Library was pure ‘MURICA.

MANY KINDS OF CONVENTIONS:  Convention.

IF ONLY THERE WERE SOMEONE IN THE STATE EMPOWERED TO WATCH FOR SUCH SCHEMES:  ‘State sanctioned’ Russian mob ran $1B Medicare scam out of New York, compromised 1M medical records: Feds.

POSSIBLY – BUT THE COST WILL WORSE THAN ALLOWING THE EVOLUTION UNIMPEDED:  Can anything slow the crushing wheels of the digital revolution?

DAILY AND WITH GREATER EMPHASIS THAN BASIC LITERACY OR NUMERACY:  How ideologues indoctrinate your children with the connivance of the state.

I’VE NO CONFIDENCE IN REPUBLICANS’ ABILITY TO READ A MAP:  Justice Kavanaugh May Have Handed the United States a Roadmap to Fix Birthright Citizenship.

POPULAR IN HER CIRCLE, AT ANY RATE:  Rep. Jayapal Insists Socialism Is Popular, Despite Losing Working-Class Voters.

IS MOST OF OUR DEBT FRAUD?  Illegal Alien In America Sentenced To 8 Years In Prison Over $89 Million Fraudulent Payroll Scheme.

IT’S BIGGER… AND WE’RE INSIDE IT:  Chanda data finds the Milky Way is bigger in size than previously believed.

INTERESTING. BUT THE LEFT JUST WANTED US TO GIVE UP EGGS:   ‘Big Egg’ Busted! DOJ Settlement Alleges Price Coordination Amid Bird Flu Panic.  Settlement involving 3 firms forces egg producers to donate millions of eggs to food banks pay $3.3 million in civil penalties.

No, I’m not about to forget they called us “treatlers” because we wanted affordable eggs. As though buying something we pay for with our own earnings were like a kid begging for treats. I will never forget.