FROM MICHAEL A. HOOTEN:  Till the Conflict Is Over (Enlisted Book 2)

Peter Wright not only survived the Battle of Juno, but managed to defeat the enemy as well. He’s hailed as a hero, and everyone wants to know his story and how he accomplished the impossible, but all he wants is to avoid everything that reminds him of that day. Instead he has to endure interviews, cotillions, and the social mores of living in outer space. And also anxiety attacks, suvivors’ groups, and funerals. Through it all, he wishes he could just be a normal sailor again.

Be careful what you wish for.

SHE’S MORE TERSE THAN I AM (BUT THEN WHO ISN’T?):  Lickers: among the enemies of civilization.

SHOCKED FACE, I HAVE ONE:  Liz Warren Promises Nonsense to Anti-Israel Group.

IF ONLY!  Ocasio-Cortez Learns the Road Goes Both Ways.

NAH. EASY MISTAKE. BUT HE’S JUST DUMB:  Beto, Go Home Already, You’re Drunk.

IT’S UNSEEMLY AND PROBABLY INDECOROUS FOR THE DEMOCRATS TO LET OLD DIPSOMANIAC HAIRY NANCY PRETEND SHE HAS ANY VESTIGES OF RATIONALITY:  Nancy Pelosi Says Trump Will “Make America White Again”

RUBS FOREHEAD.  WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK HAS BEEN GOING ON WITH THE DEM PARTY IN VIRGINIA? IF FALLING APART HAPPENS ON THE LEFT AND THE MEDIA IGNORES IT, DID IT EVEN HAPPEN?  Former Va. Gov. Doug Wilder kissed a 20-year-old college student against her will, Title IX investigation finds.

OH, PLEASE. FOR THOSE OF US FOLLOWING POLITICS IN THIS YEAR OF TOTAL INSANITY, ALCOHOL IS OFTEN THE ONLY THING KEEPING US HANGING ON:  Shunning booze may improve women’s mental health: study.

ALSO you get to tell Mrs. Vodkapundit she’d be saner without booze. Don’t do it in the kitchen. She has a lot of knives.

OKAY. LET’S KEEP THE WEIRDOS OUT OF CALIFORNIA, SO IT DOESN’T SEND MORE OF ITS WEIRDOS TO COLORADO. OKAY?  Travelers flock to California’s new earthquake crack site.

WAIT? THIS WASN’T EVEN IN COLORADO!  Bakery staff misheard mum’s request for Moana birthday cake for daughter and made a marijuana-themed one instead .  You’re welcome!

I’M SORRY TO SAY IT, THERE’S ONLY ONE CONCLUSION WE CAN TAKE FROM THIS (AT LEAST IF LIKE ME YOU’VE SLEPT 3 HOURS IN THE LAST 48):  Pair of shipwrecked WW2 submarines have VANISHED from sea near Malaysia – and the bodies inside are missing too.

WOW. THEY REALLY ARE INTELLIGENT:  Elephant slaps tourist in the face in viral video: ‘I was catapulted backward’.

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THE PRESS WILL DO WHAT IT CAN TO CHANGE THIS, BUT IT WON’T BE ENOUGH: Epstein Is Clinton’s Problem, Not Trump’s.

THAT’S DIFFERENT BECAUSE SHUT UP: NBC Blasts McConnell for Being Descended from Slave Owners, but so Are Obama and Kamala Harris.

CHOOM GANG REJOICES: Hawaii becomes 26th state to decriminalize marijuana.

NEW SOCIALIST “IT GIRL” CONTINUES TO PAY DIVIDENDS: Ocasio-Cortez accuses Pelosi of ‘persistent singling out’ of women of color: It’s ‘outright disrespectful.’

Will the popping of popcorn still be permitted under the Green Nude Eel?

UPDATE: And it couldn’t have happened to a nicer person, given Pelosi’s ham-handed attempt at painting the Tea Party as racists when she passed ObamaCare in 2010.

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OPEN THREAD: Did anything happen today?

JEFFREY EPSTEIN SHOULD CANCEL THE CULTURE’S HUMBERT HUMBERTS:

Hugh Hefner fired up a flare lighting the way to an almost anything-goes view of female sexuality, and it reached its apex at the 2003 Oscars. Under the regime of Hefnerism, conservative prudes and often the law stood charged with being uptight and repressive about sex involving girls just over or even under the age of consent. That Polanski became an exile from this country after his crime made him Hollywood’s favorite martyr. The Academy was eager to give him the Oscar both to showcase its view that he had been victimized by prudery and to dunk on conservatives. Attendees didn’t just applaud, they let out a mighty whoop of approval when Polanski’s Oscar was announced by a smiling Harrison Ford. Meryl Streep, Martin Scorsese, Weinstein, and others all jumped to their feet to participate in a chilling standing ovation. Jack Nicholson, at whose house Polanski’s assault took place, looked confused and joined in the applause, but remained seated. So did Nicolas Cage. No one captured by the cameras looked particularly peevish. As far as I know, no one in Hollywood had any problem with lionizing Polanski at the time.

Speaking of which, great moments in projection: Whoopi Attacks Christians For Not ‘Condemning’ Sex Trafficking, Pedophilia.

Unlike Whoopi, I think they know when something is rape-rape.

THE VEGAS HANGOVER CURE: There’s Something You Really Need to Know About IV Vitamin ‘Shots.’

SMART: Trump barred Jeffrey Epstein from Mar-a-Lago over sex assault: court docs.

TODAY’S FAKE OUTRAGE: Misogynists are angry a woman stars in the next Terminator movie.

They were so angry in 1993 at a woman starring in Terminator 2 that the film grossed $315,000,000 around the world. But that film has an 8.5 rating at IMDB, and four sequels, one TV series, and Skynet-only knows how many video games and other spinoffs later, perhaps that’s the reason why, like “Lady Ghostbusters,” and the Disney Star Wars reboot, its studio has created a cynical way to manipulate potential audiences and/or excuse away a potential box office bust. In 2006, before Twitter existed and Facebook was just getting started, Mark Steyn noted that “The more artful leftie websites have taken to complaining that the religious right deliberately killed [Brokeback Mountain] at the box-office by declining to get mad about it.”

Today, with the virus-like nature of social media, studios can more directly manipulate potential audiences. But there’s only so many times the stunt can work before ticket buyers realize how they’re being played.

NEW SOCIALIST “IT GIRL” CONTINUES TO PAY DIVIDENDS: AOC: Pelosi Saddling Me with Work to Keep Me out of Spotlight.

Nancy Pelosi has been a dedicated leftist before AOC was even born, and therefore knows best about what the Democratic Congress needs to wage war against the American people:

During her 1987 congressional race, Pelosi described herself as a “rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth person in the Democratic Party.” “I’m a hardened Democrat and have never voted for a Republican in my life,” she added. In some of her campaign literature, Pelosi derided the sitting U.S. President, Ronald Reagan, as a man who “has no compassion” and “has no vision.” “For the past two decades,” she boasted, “I have battled Ronald Reagan whenever he has attempted to disenfranchise people, jeopardize our environment or risk our future…. Now as a candidate for Congress, I want to bring my longtime battle with Ronald Reagan to the floor of the House of Representatives.”

Pelosi’s war against America has been going on long before Sandy’s War. It’s important that AOC accept that she’s a foot soldier in it, not the other way around. One would think a True Socialist™ would appreciate the importance of a top-down command and control leadership, and set the right example for her own constituents.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: A Modest Immigration Proposal: Colleges Can House Illegal Immigrants. “College campuses have lots of empty housing during the summer. Proudly progressive institutions such as Harvard, Yale, and Stanford should welcome illegal immigrants.”