NEW IN NICK KRISTOF NEWS: Dog rape revisited.

He’ll be “Dog Rape Man” for the rest of his life.

FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY [VIP]: Florida Woman Steals Police Car, Goes on 100 MPH Joyride. “It’s time for your much-needed break from the serious news, and this week, we’ll learn just how far you can make it up I-95 in a stolen police cruiser, far too much about a drug bust in The Villages, and how to make a fair trade in Missouri.”

THE NEW SPACE RACE: NASA chief concerned China may deny access to parts of Moon’s south pole.

Last month, China delayed the launch of an ambitious robotic mission to the south pole of the Moon, Chang’e 7, until early next year. The country did not provide a detailed explanation for the schedule slip, but it was welcomed by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.

“They are targeting the exact same location on lunar south pole,” Isaacman said Wednesday evening at the Off World conference in Houston. “We may have dodged a bullet with the Chang’e 7 mission a couple of weeks ago because that would have gone to the Shackleton crater.”

Much of the lunar surface is pretty barren, but the south pole, and the Shackleton Crater in particular, offers some of the most coveted real estate there. That’s because the high rims of the crater create permanently shadowed regions known as “cold traps,” where it’s thought that water (in the form of ice, of course) and other useful materials may have accumulated over billions of years.

In all of NASA’s and China’s plans for long-term settlement on the Moon, relatively few square miles at the south pole of the Moon matter the most. It’s there that both countries believe they can establish an enduring presence that will help them learn techniques for expansion further into the Solar System. Isaacman and other US officials have started to express concerns that China could establish exclusion zones where robotic probes and then human missions go. Chang’e 7 will bring considerable mobility to the Moon.

Finders, keepers rules apply.

SPOILER: HE DID NOT.

THE FUTURE AND ITS ENEMIES:

I KNOW AND RESPECT JVL, BUT SHE’S JUST WRONG ON THIS ONE:

Armies run on diesel, Russia’s hard currency export income relies heavily on diesel, and Ukraine has attacked multiple Russian electrical stations and substations, going back to at least 2024.

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Virginia AG Spins Up a Dedicated Unit to Enforce the State’s New Vague Firearms Liability Law.

You’d have to have been living under a rock not to know about Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones and his infamous text messages that came to light during his campaign to be the commonwealth’s top law enforcement officer.

“Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, Hitler, and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head,” then-Delegate Jones mistakenly texted to Republican Virginia Delegate Carrie Coyner in 2022, referencing then-Republican Virginia Speaker of the House Todd Gilbert. “Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time,” AG Jones added.

After Delegate Coyner addressed his disgusting sentiments, then-Delegate Jones doubled down, following up with a disgusting and vile text message stating how he “wished” that the Virginia Speaker’s children would be shot and “die in their mother’s arms.”

Fast forward and AG Jones announced he’s established a dedicated, taxpayer-funded unit to investigate potential violations of the commonwealth’s new firearm industry liability law and bring civil enforcement actions against lawful and highly regulated businesses.

Announced Sept. 15, the Firearms Accountability & Industry Responsibility Unit gives the attorney general’s office a team focused on enforcing a statute that took effect July 1 and imposes so-called “standards of conduct” on firearm manufacturers, distributors, importers, marketers and retailers.

Virginians shouldn’t hold their breath if they think the same guy who texted the reprehensible messages that he did — and doubled down on them — will be a fair arbiter of any regulations in place meant to hamper the firearm industry and law-abiding Virginians’ ability to exercise their constitutional rights.

Gooder and harder, Virginia.

MY NEW BOOK IS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON FOR PRE-ORDER:

Here’s one of the blurbs from the book:

“Why We Walk on Eggshells is an incisive look at the wrong turns judges, legislators, and other officials have taken in shaping American civil rights law and policy, and how those choices have led the country in disastrous directions. It is essential reading for anyone interested in restoring the nation’s commitment to equal opportunity for all and moving beyond failed policies of preferential treatment based on race, ethnicity, or sex.”

—Heather Mac Donald, Thomas W. Smith Fellow, Manhattan Institute

It will be released on November 3.

DEMS PLAY THE NARRATIVE GAME ALMOST TO PERFECTION…:

…But they still need you to sit this one out to win.

RABBI MICHAEL BARCLAY: Netanyahu at the United Nations. “Before he even said a word, dozens of delegates left the room in protest of Israel’s very existence, but Netanyahu was not deterred and spent the next 40 minutes dispersing truths to these ‘moral cowards.’ Here are some of the highlights.”

SOME SMALL MEASURE OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Full details here.