July 9, 2026

ICYMI: SHOCK REPORT: The New York Times Almost Has Standards. “Not that exact piece, you say? So — there is some version of Kristof’s baseless canine consent irregularities story that Kahn’s news division would have run? Help me out here, because I’m a little confused.”

Posted at 4:22 pm by Stephen Green

UGH: In the post-literate society … Look! A meme!

The End of Reading is Here, writes Rose Horowitch in The Atlantic. Everyone’s reading less — if you don’t count Instagram captions — and people who do read are choosing shorter and shallower books.

The best-selling novel of 1958 was the English translation of Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago, she writes. Last year, the top-selling novel was Sunrise on the Reaping, the latest in the Hunger Games young-adult series.

Adults are choosing young-adult fiction and romantasy (romance and fantasy). School librarians are stocking graphic novels and manga to match students’ lower reading levels and shorter attention spans.

In 2024, in a national test, just 35 percent of high-school seniors were “proficient” at skills such as analyzing complex fictional themes and evaluating the effectiveness of an author’s argument.

Reading is fundamental, they told me. And it still is.

Posted at 3:51 pm by Stephen Green

I HATE THOSE THINGS: Wind Turbine Blade Dump Disposal Drama (Plus A Modest Proposal).

Wind turbine blades are made of fiberglass, which is very hard to recycle. Basically you have to shred them up, melt them and then pour them into new molds. Evidently Global Fiberglass Solutions just thought they’d take the same shortcut so many municipalities have by simply omitting the expensive “recycling” part of the recycling cycle.

But because I’m a waste-not, want-not sort of guy, I have a modest proposal to solve the dilemma of having too many wind turbine blades: use them for segments of the border wall.

Maybe sharpen them first.

Posted at 2:49 pm by Stephen Green

PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS: M-SNOW: Why Mitch McConnell’s extended absence really matters.

In a letter released Wednesday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear asked the 81-year-old senator with a history of medical issues to “fully update Kentuckians regarding the current status of your health.” It’s a fair request, particularly since transparency has been notably lacking from other legislators. We’ve seen several lawmakers go missing for months at a time in recent years, including Rep. Kay Granger of Texas, who later turned up in an assisted living facility, and Rep. Tom Kean, who just returned to Capitol Hill after more than three months absent.

We’ve also seen one recent lawmaker mentally go missing for four years, and no one at M-SNOW’s predecessor network seemed to mind at all. Quite the contrary; during the former (p)resident’s last year in office, Joe Scarborough boasted:

“Start your tape right now,” Scarborough continued, “because I’m about to tell you the truth. And eff you if you can’t handle the truth. This version of Biden, intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever. Not a close second, and I’ve known him for years. The Brzezinskis have known him for 50 years. If it weren’t the truth, I wouldn’t say it.”

—Scarborough Goes Full Nutcase Defending Biden’s Mental Acuity, Matt Margolis, PJ Media.com, March 6th, 2024.

Fortunately, one man is well equipped to crack the case of McConnell’s current situation:

Posted at 2:35 pm by Ed Driscoll

THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES: Graham Platner’s possible replacement has his own allegations.

The Maine Democrat floated as a possible replacement for scandal-plagued Senate candidate Graham Platner is accused of previously hitting a woman with a water bottle.

Political organizing group Progressive International said Monday it is investigating claims from “contacts on the ground in Maine” that former state Sen. Troy Jackson threw the bottle at the woman on an unspecified date. Jackson, on the same day, declared himself “the best person to replace” Platner, who won the Democratic primary in June but now faces allegations of sexual assault against a woman he previously dated, in addition to a litany of other scandals that had failed to place his candidacy in serious jeopardy.

The Democratic Socialists of America‘s Maine chapter endorsed Jackson for governor before he lost his June primary. Maine DSA initially endorsed Platner for the Senate but backtracked on Monday, calling for him to drop out of the race after Politico published the account of the woman who said Platner broke into her home and sexually assaulted her in 2021.

Jackson’s campaign and Maine DSA did not respond to the Washington Examiner‘s requests for comment.

It’s the Platner Paradox: Why is the left having such difficulties recruiting normal guys to run for office?

Posted at 2:35 pm by Ed Driscoll

ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES:

Posted at 2:22 pm by Ed Driscoll

WELL, GOOD: US seeks cheaper hunter-killer drones after Iran destroys $1B worth of Reapers.

In a call for industry pitches, the Defense Innovation Unit’s notice described the US military’s current reliance on drones and crewed aircraft, each costing more than $30 million, as being “unsustainable against adversaries utilizing layered defenses enabled by increasingly low-cost antiaircraft capabilities.” It envisions deploying more “cost-effective” drones to “overwhelm enemy air defenses even while experiencing numerous [drone] losses.”

That is, in practice, what Ukraine’s military has been demonstrating with its long- and mid-range strike campaign against Russian supply lines, oil refineries, and various energy or industrial targets within Russia or occupied Ukraine. The Ukrainian campaign has been overwhelming Russia’s overstretched air defense capabilities by launching hundreds of relatively inexpensive drones and missiles on a daily basis to attack targets far behind the frontlines, while continuing to damage or destroy Russia’s most sophisticated air defense systems.

Maybe the Pentagon is waking up to the new reality.

Posted at 1:47 pm by Stephen Green

FASCINATING:

Posted at 1:32 pm by Stephen Green

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Revolutionary rocket engine company Venus Aerospace raises $91 million to scale design. “RDREs differ from conventional rocket engines in the way they ignite and expel their propellants. Typical engines burn fuel as part of a controlled process inside a combustion chamber, which is directed through the engine nozzle and bell. RDREs use a ring-shaped combustion chamber and feature a continuously circulating detonation wave, which produces higher pressure and increased thrust while burning less fuel, in theory.”

Last year’s test flight impressed.

Update: Not sure why the X embed didn’t work, other than that just happens sometimes. But now there’s a link.

Posted at 12:45 pm by Stephen Green

THE CRITICAL DRINKER: Double Crash And Burn — The Mickey Rourke Story.

Posted at 12:30 pm by Ed Driscoll

WELL, I’M CONVINCED:

Posted at 12:29 pm by Stephen Green