TO BE FAIR, THAT’S THE GOAL: PC Culture is Destroying Creative Freedom.

DEFUND THE THOUGHT POLICE: America burns while our schools hold the match: The nation’s educational establishment is responsible for current chaos and lack of restraint.

IT’LL BE OUT IN OCTOBER: Just sent off the final pages for my next book, America’s New Destiny in Space. All about where we’re going and why it matters. Short summary: There have been three phases of space activity, and we’re entering the third now. First was the visionary phase of Tsiolkovsky and Goddard. Then was the “command economy” phase of Von Braun and Korolev. Now we’re entering the “sustainable” phase of Musk and Bezos, where spaceflight becomes cheap and reliable enough to pay for itself without taxpayer dollars, making the visionaries’ visions affordable.

INDEED: Portland’s Pottery Barn Rule: If a mayor won’t stop violence in his city, why should Trump let him off the hook?

Exhibit A is Portland, Ore. Like many American cities, Portland has been consumed by protests. This is an overwhelmingly white city—African-Americans make up less than 6% of the population—run by a progressive white mayor, Ted Wheeler. In the Portland context he may be the moderate: his rival in the coming election is a woman who has said, “I am Antifa.” . . .

It’s not lack of resources that keeps such mayors from maintaining order. It’s lack of will. As South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott pointed out after Democrats sank his crime bill, the communities suffering most from the urban unrest “have been run by Democrats for decades. Decades.”

Portland is a bastion of white supremacy, according to The Atlantic, and Trump’s action is comparable to Ike’s in sending paratroopers to Little Rock.

IT’S OKAY, TUCKER CAN RETURN THE FAVOR BY BROADCASTING THE SULZBERGER HOME ADDRESSES: Tucker Carlson says the New York Times is getting ready to run a piece including his home address.

ANGELO CODEVILLA: The COVID Coup: And how to unlock ourselves.

CHINA SYNDROME: Malware stashed in China-mandated software is more extensive than thought.

REPORT: Missouri AG Moves To Dismiss Charges Filed Against St. Louis Couple Who Brandished Firearms To Defend Selves From Mob.

OPEN THREAD: After all is said and done, gotta move while it’s still fun.

CAPITALISM, THE UNKNOWN IDEAL: Why Did the Smithsonian Call Capitalism, Christianity, and the Family Aspects of ‘Whiteness?’

OLD AND BUSTED: The Little Red Schoolhouse.

The New Hotness? The Little Red Book: Virginia School District Urges ‘Marxist’ SPLC Race, Slavery Lessons for Kindergarten.

SPACE: UAE’s Amal spacecraft rockets toward Mars in Arab world 1st.

SPACE: SpaceX sets a turnaround record, flying the same rocket in 51 days.

Related: SpaceX Falcon 9 launch sets record, both fairing halves caught for first time.

WELL, IT’S NOT SHOCKING ANYMORE, BUT IT DOES NEED TO BE PUSHED BACK ON, HARD: Shocking Leftist Violence in Denver.

ACTUALLY, GRIFTERS AND HYPOCRITES ARE THE PERFECT LEADERS FOR THE NEVERTRUMP REPUBLICANS: The Lincoln Project and John Kasich Lack the Credibility to Lead Never-Trump Republicans.

FASTER, PLEASE: Single nanoparticles could pave the way for medicines on demand.

AT AMAZON, Shop Amazon Warehouse Deals – Deep Discounts on Open-box and Used Products.

Plus, Shop Amazon Outlet – Clearance, Markdowns and Overstock Deals.

BRYAN PRESTON: Prosecutors File Charges Against McCloskeys But Their ‘Case’ May Have Already Fallen Apart. 

Earlier: Missouri Governor Says He’ll Likely Pardon Armed St. Louis Couple If They Are Charged.

Related: “Kimberly Gardner, one of four Democrats running for St. Louis circuit attorney in the Aug. 2 primary, is taking heat for a new political ad paid for with money from a national super PAC that is at least partly funded by liberal billionaire George Soros.”

More: Soros-Backed Foundation Invests $220 Million to Support Racial Justice.

DON’T BRING A KNIFE TO A GUNFIGHT: Customer armed with gun stops machete-wielding man who entered Metairie store. To be honest, though, at close quarters a machete (or most any decent knife) is as good as a gun if you know how to use it. Glad to see the good guy won. People do tend to run away at the sight of a gun pointed their way.

MATT MARGOLIS: The Associated Press Stylebook Is Now Officially Racist.

DECREASE IN COMMERCIAL AIRLINE FLIGHTS MAKING WEATHER FORECASTS LESS ACCURATE.

YOUR TAX DOLLARS HARD AT WORK:

The US Fish and Wildlife Service merged with the Ministry of Truth so slowly, I hardly even noticed.

Flashback: The Atlantic Magazine Pronounces ‘Latinx’ a Linguistic Flop.

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE US-CHINA THUCYDIDES TRAP:

We remember Thucydides as a historian thanks to his documentation of the Peloponnesian War, but we often forget that he was also a philosopher. And like all great philosophers, he has many things to teach us, even if his teaching is inappropriately applied. Thousands of years after the war was fought between Sparta and Athens, observers argued that it showed that an authoritarian government would defeat a democracy. This was widely said in the early stages of World War II and repeated throughout the Cold War. In truth, what Thucydides said about democracies and oppressive regimes was far more sophisticated and complex than a simplistic slogan invoked by defeatists.

Jacek Bartosiak, who wrote of the Thucydides trap for us last week, is never simplistic, but I think he is wrong in some respects. The error is the idea that China is a rising power. He is certainly correct if by rising he means it has surged since Mao Zedong died. But he is implying more: that China is rising to the point that it can even challenge the United States. The argument that the U.S. may overreact is based on this error. The U.S. is choosing to press China hard, but the risk of doing so is low.

Read the whole thing.

IN 2020, DEMOCRATS DEFINITELY DESERVE THE SCARE QUOTES: Trump to send federal forces to more ‘Democrat’ cities, a Reuters headline notes.

Trump, a Republican, cited New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore and Oakland, California, as places to send federal agents, noting the cities’ mayors were “liberal Democrats.” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot frequently blasts Trump on Twitter.

“We’re sending law enforcement,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We can’t let this happen to the cities.”

State and local leaders in Oregon, as well as members of Congress, have called for Trump to remove Department of Homeland Security secret police forces from Portland, Oregon, after videos showed unidentified federal personnel rounding up people and whisking them away in black minivans.

“Not only do I believe he is breaking the law, but he is also endangering the lives of Portlanders,” the city’s mayor, Ted Wheeler, tweeted, having previously called the federal presence “political theater” in an election year.

As opposed to five straight weeks of riots and violence Wheeler let go unabated until the “unidentified federal personnel” showed up:

COMPLETING THE WORK OBAMA STARTED: Trump’s Warning That Biden Would ‘Abolish the Suburbs’ Isn’t Racist, and It Isn’t Hyperbole, Either.