BLAME AMERICA FIRST: Beto Blames U.S. for Guatemala Drought ‘Caused Not by God Nor by Mother Nature.’

IDENTITY POLITICS MELTDOWN: LESBIANS AGAINST BUTTIGIEG? “Democrats plan to go all-in on identity politics in 2020 — as soon as they can establish their hierarchy of identities. Politico reports today that Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who has made his sexual orientation a key selling point in his campaign to become the first openly gay president, might ironically find himself the victim of identity politics. Lesbians, it turns out, are less interested in sexual orientation than in gender when it comes to electoral justice next year.”

WINNING: U.S. Manufacturers to Pick Up Turkey’s F-35 Parts Business.

K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE: Public schools should be places of learning, not propaganda.

Or maybe they should be replaced.

QUESTION ASKED: Given Bret Stephens’ tendency for massively overreacting to the smallest slight, isn’t Twitter the perfect website for him? Bedbug Bret Stephens should stay on Twitter and quit the New York Times.

IT’S (NO LONGER) A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD: Nuclear Nations at Total War with Each Other – but Don’t Use Nukes?

(Dueling references in the headline.)

HMM: U.S. Trucking Industry Rushes to Switch to Electronic Logging Devices.

THEY’RE STILL NOT ACTING AS THOUGH THEY REALLY BELIEVE IT’S A CRISIS: ‘Climate Action’ Flops at the G-7.

SHE’S NOT JUST A COUNTRY-WRECKER, SHE’S A HOME-WRECKER TOO: My husband dumped me for Ilhan Omar, DC mom says in divorce filing.

JUSTICE: Prosecutors Want Death Penalty for Alleged Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter Robert Bowers.

HE’S RIGHT, DAMMIT: NASA Administrator Says Pluto Is Still a Planet, And Things Are Getting Heated.

THAT’S NOT THE NARRATIVE: At the G7, Trump Is One of the Popular Ones: When it comes to approval ratings, only Japan’s Shinzo Abe has him beat.

Only 32% of Germans polled for broadcaster ARD a few weeks ago said they were satisfied with German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government. In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s approval rating was 41% in one recent poll and 39% in another (and in the second poll, by Ipsos, only 33% agreed that he “has done a good job and deserves to be re-elected”). In the U.K., only 31% have a positive opinion of brand-new Prime Minister Boris Johnson, according to YouGov. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte just resigned, so while he remains in office until a new government is formed and the current governing coalition still has a majority in polls, I don’t think he can really be counted as riding on a wave of approval.

Then there is French President Emmanuel Macron, the one other more or less directly elected head of state (as opposed to leader of a parliamentary government) coming to Biarritz. In so many ways, he’s the diametric opposite of Trump: young, cosmopolitan, well-spoken, technocratic. He’s the least popular of the lot, with a 28% approval rating in the most recent poll listed by the diligent editors of the “Opinion polling on the Emmanuel Macron presidency” Wikipedia page and 22% percent in the one before that.

The global ruling class in general has become quite unpopular, and this is affecting a lot of people.

WHAT’S AMAZING IS THAT IT TOOK REPUBLICANS THIS LONG TO TURN THE TABLES: NYT Reporter: Trump Allies Targeting Journalists Are Deploying Media Matters Playbook.

WHY DOES NYC HATE ASIANS? NY City Diversity Committee Says Programs for Gifted Students are ‘Racist.’

CHANGE: Home Depot Says Suppliers Are Moving Manufacturing Out Of China. As a friend points out, most of them are probably moving to Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, etc. — thus weakening China and simultaneously strengthening the countries we need to help us contain China. And giving them money they can use to buy weapons from us, strengthening our defense industry while further weakening the position of China vis a vis its neighbors.

CHRISTIAN TOTO: Is Chappelle’s ‘Sticks & Stones’ the Woke Tipping Point? “The comedy giant shreds Cancel Culture in his new Netflix special. Is this the beginning of the end for the PC Police?”

I certainly hope so. I for one really miss comedy that was, you know, funny.

SO WHO’S RIGHT? U.S. rejects twice the number of transplant kidneys as France. “The researchers think if the United States adopted a more lax policy, it could reduce the more than 35,000 of people over age 60 in the United States waiting on a kidney. They say that would give more than 10,000 years of life to people who would otherwise die in need of a kidney.”

PROGRESS: The startup behind the world’s first marijuana breathalyzer just raised a fresh $30 million and offered a glimpse at how the device works. “If successful, the technology could help employers and police distinguish between people who’ve used cannabis legally — in the past — from people who are currently impaired, either while driving or on the job. As more states legalize marijuana, investors are betting that demand for such a device could be substantial.”

YOUR DAILY TREACHER: MAGA: Make All Greenlanders Americans.

NOT SO FAR: China’s spies are waging an intensifying espionage offensive against the United States. Does America have what it takes to stop them?

Related: During all the Russia hacking hype, China is rising in influence: While Russia’s role in the 2016 election dominates the news, China’s spying and alarming influence within our borders is too little noticed.

I LIKE THE CUT OF HIS JIB: Trump Skips G-7 Climate Meeting, Says Won’t Risk US Wealth On “Dreams.”

DOWN THE MEMORY HOLE, ALONG WITH EPSTEIN’S BODY: What Happened to the Epstein Story? A lot of powerful people are hoping it stays this way, and doing their best to make it so.

ILLINOIS SPLITUP MANEUVERS: Jefferson County board puts Chicago separation question on ballot.

My paper on state secession is looking more and more timely.

Also, there’s an opportunity to split Illinois into Chicagoland and the rest — which would basically be a two-Senate seat pickup for the red team — as the price for a federal bailout when Illinois goes bankrupt, but only if the GOP controls the House, Senate, and White House at the time.