BACK FROM LIBERTY CON, AND SHARING THE LATE PROMO POST, LATE: Book Promo And Vignettes By Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike.
There’s also a fun vignette challenge. (Every Sunday, normally.)
June 30, 2026
MOST OF IT COMES FROM CHINA AND THE “GLOBAL SOUTH:” One Of The Biggest Sources Of Mercury In Fish Isn’t What You’d Think. Although “China has been the world’s largest emitter of anthropogenic Hg since 1971. . . . Hg emission hotspots have significantly shifted toward the Global South (Fig. 3b), with Latin America, Africa, South and Southeast Asia experiencing rapid increases (Fig. 3a). In 2021, despite representing only one-fifth of the global economy59, the Global South (excluding China) constituted two-thirds of global emissions.”
No doubt some dumbass deputy mayor in France will blame the U.S. though.
WHOSE CAR IS IT, ANYWAY? Trump signs presidential memo that gives Americans more options to fix their cars. “The memorandum allows consumers to fix their own cars with aftermarket or third-party parts, directs the Environmental Protection Agency to issue guidance clarifying what actions individuals may take to fix their vehicles’ emissions systems, and expedites ways for consumers to acquire aftermarket auto parts.”
Cool. Now kill the kill switch.
SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP IN MAJOR BLOW TO TRUMP:
The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down President Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship, finding that the order violates the 14th Amendment.
Trump’s order declared that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens.
Writing on behalf of the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts says children born to parents who are in the United States unlawfully or temporarily are “born in the United States” and “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
“Under the Constitution, they are citizens at birth,” he wrote.
On to Plan B:
Apparently more border controls will be needed to thwart anchor baby tourism.
Pregnancy tests for all foreign women of birthing age seeking to enter the United States. OK.
Targeted deportations of foreign women of birthing age within US borders who lack resident alien status.… https://t.co/gRcZpwLApn
— Northern Barbarian (@xnoesbueno) June 30, 2026
CRY HARDER, MURDERERS AND RAPISTS: Insanity: Palestinians Now Complaining That They Can’t Cross Into Israel for Jobs.. Commit atrocities, then play victim. It’s their standard deal.
ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Mr. Obama, Are the Slaveowners in the Room With Us Right Now?
HOW TO YOU SAY “MAGA” IN SPANISH”? We Need to Talk About These Latin American Countries Moving to the Right.
CHANGE (IT BACK): Ford rehires experienced engineers after AI misses the mark.
Ford has rehired experienced human engineers to help address the shortcomings of artificial intelligence (AI) tools meant to tackle quality issues in the automaker’s production processes.
The hiring push helped Ford top the JD Power 2026 U.S. Initial Quality Study (IQS) for the first time since 2010 amid improvements in the quality of its new vehicles, and follows some hard-learned lessons about the ability of AI to replace human knowledge in production processes.
“Artificial intelligence is a fantastic tool, but it’s only as good as the information you use to train it,” Charles Poon, Ford’s vice president of vehicle hardware engineering, said on a press call Wednesday, according to a report by Bloomberg.
“Over prior years, we didn’t pay as much attention as we should have to the experience of our most knowledgeable engineers that have been with us through many product cycles,” he said.
The current Shiny New Thing is AI, but at least once each generation some Shiny New Thing comes along that makes people forget that lesson about human experience.
WELL, THAT DOESN’T PASS THE SNIFF TEST: Finally, a Budget Democrats Will Cut: The Guy Who Investigates Fraud.
READER FAVORITE: C CUSHION LAB Deep Sleep Pillow. #CommissionEarned
CHECKS OUT:
Europeans dying of heat stroke: “Can we please turn on the AC?”
Their governments: “Best we can do is replace you with migrants and prosecute you for Facebook posts.” pic.twitter.com/aYt0QfrJrI
— The Drunk Republican (@DrunkRepub) June 30, 2026
From the replies: “Europeans are now rioting just to get cooled off by the water canons.”
BODY POSITIVITY: Medicare will start covering weight-loss drugs on July 1 for the first time. Here’s what you need to know.
Medicare is prohibited by law from covering weight-loss drugs, but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is allowed to run short-term demonstration projects to test new payment and coverage models. The Bridge effort is part of a deal that the Trump administration announced in November with drugmakers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to reduce the cost of their blockbuster anti-obesity medications.
Doctors and patient advocates have been clamoring for years to expand Medicare coverage to weight-loss drugs, arguing that obesity should be treated like any disease. The cost of buying GLP-1 medications without insurance can still run into hundreds of dollars.
Dr. Catherine Varney, obesity medicine director at the University of Virginia, has about 100 Medicare patients who will probably be eligible for Bridge program. None of them can afford to pay for weight-loss medications out of pocket, she said. Several have told her they are relieved that they may finally be able to obtain the drugs at a reasonable price.
“Most of these patients that I wanted to start on this medication are ticking time bombs,” said Varney, who is also a trustee of the Obesity Medicine Association. “They’ve got prediabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, all these cardiac risk factors that are leading to heart attack and stroke.”
Maybe it’s time to change the law, because these are not quack medications.
SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS LIMITING WOMEN’S SPORTS TO WOMEN.
Also: Federal campaign spending limits violate the First Amendment.
And now birthright citizenship: “Children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause.” Not really a surprise, but a disappointment.
Congress can still make it a felony to enter the United States for the purpose of having a child, or to facilitate that, of course.
NOW ON SUBSTACK, MY THOUGHTS ON THE SUPREME COURT’S SLAUGHTER OPINION: Bringing Back the ‘Spoils System?’ Yes, Please. A better name would be an “accountability system.” And it’s just the beginning.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Johns Hopkins layoffs, financial problems come as university is mired in Title VI controversy. “WBAL-TV reported on June 26 that many of the affected employees served in administrative roles and that school sources linked the layoffs to the Trump administration’s cuts to federal research funding. Johns Hopkins lost about $500 million in research funding in 2025 over widespread anti-Semitism on its campus.”
Laying off administrators?
FLASHBACK:
“War” 🫳🏼🎤 pic.twitter.com/wtBWjA5Mxw
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) June 30, 2026
SALENA ZITO: The spirit of ’76 lives on as Pennsylvania rallies for America’s birthday.
Two days ago, Beth Ann Bossio woke up to the news that Pennsylvania would not have a booth at the Great American State Fair, the Fourth of July celebration underway on the National Mall in Washington.
The decision was made by Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), who told the New Republic he would not send a delegation to the fair in honor of America 250 after his administration said it canvassed opinions among Pennsylvania businesses and told the reporter, “None of them were interested.”
Shapiro said their disinterest “reflects the sad state of affairs that we find ourselves in that the president politicized this to a degree that businesses don’t want to participate.”
Spoilsport.
More:
Her reaction wasn’t alone. Sens. David McCormick (R-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA) were on the phone at the crack of dawn Saturday as soon as the New Republic Shapiro interview became public.
Within hours, McCormick and Fetterman were working the phones, reaching out to the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce, PennAg, and scores of businesses, urging them to step up. Most Pennsylvania businesses answered the call.
So far, Crayola, the Pennsylvania Coal Alliance, Core Natural Resources, Quandel Construction, Schlouch Construction, Utz, Orvis Hill Country, GNC, MSA, The Safety Company, Vitro Glass, the Marcellus Shale Coalition, the Neighbor Helping Neighbor Food Bank, and Camp Susque are all donating displays, manpower, carpentry expertise, or donations.
Volunteer firefighters from across the state offered to staff the booth. So did the owner of a pest control company in Montgomery County. They are just a few examples of the people, small-business owners, and large companies now clamoring to make Pennsylvania’s booth reflect the state’s cultural and economic influence, past and present.
So much more at the link. And if anyone “politicized this,” it was Shapiro.
FOLLOW THE SCIENCE!
One would think that the the idiocy of the left wouldn't surprise me anymore but this whole thing where Europeans actually think not using AC will make the weather cooler in their lifetimes is absolutely bananas.
— RBe (@RBPundit) June 30, 2026
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: We Regret to Inform You That Election Integrity Won’t Be Returning.“It was Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett who decided to aid and abet the Democrats in their election fraud efforts. I can complain all I want about activist libs in the judiciary, but they never, ever waver on this issues that are most important to the Democrats.”
MOBSTERS SHOULD PREEMPTIVELY DESTROY BOLSHEVIKS, BUT THEY NEVER SEEM TO: The Democratic Civil War: the Organized Crime Democrats are Losing to the Bolsheviks.
DON SURBER: Obama’s red revolution: Communists take credit for the works of capitalism. “The thin-skinned Obama was the first communist president. No one cared that he was black. What mattered was he was red.”
WAR IS HELL: Lack of Gasoline Getting to Russians, Part Two.
