THIS STATEMENT IS AT MOST CONDITIONALLY TRUE: Whether Or Not Men Find You Sexy Has Nothing To Do With Your Size Or Shape.

DECLINE IS A CHOICE: Homeless Man Throws Bottle of Water at Gavin Newsom During Trip to Oakland. “When asked about the incident, Newsom laughed it off with a joke as the Democratic governor also failed to receive a question regarding the sharp increase in homelessness throughout California. As residents continue to worry over the segment of the homeless population that is crazed due to drug abuse and prone to violent behavior, Newsom should consider a form of state-funded boxing programs so Californians can get better at bobbing and weaving.”

Oakland’s last Republican mayor left office in 1977.

MATT ZOLLER SEITZ ON JAMES GANDOLFINI, 1961-2013: A Great Actor, A Better Man.

As Seitz notes on Twitter, “The great James Gandolfini would’ve been 60 today.”

DOES DAD LIKE GOLF? A fun gift would be James Y. Bartlett’s golf mystery series.

IT’S FUN WATCHING BILL MAHER BEING SLOWLY RED-PILLED: Bill Maher Tells Lin-Manuel Miranda To ‘Stop Apologizing’ To Critics For Lack Of Representation In New Film.

Related: The tide is turning against the woke-liberal Blob that misrules us.

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Texas Governor Abbott Signs Constitutional Carry Bill.

THIS IS CNN’S HOME PAGE RIGHT NOW: They want so badly for us to hate each other. It’s really sick.

To be fair, it’s CNN, so there’s a fair amount of self-loathing going on as well: CNN’s Brian Stelter sets new self-unawareness record by noticing that Fox News is pretty obsessed with him.

WHATEVER WORKS IS THE RIGHT WAY: The Right Way to Terraform.

CHICAGO ALDERMAN SAYS GANGS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CHICAGO PROBLEMS, NOT RACISM, AS MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT CLAIMED.

Related: Urban Criminal Gangs in the Civil War to Come. “Although murders in Chicago seemed to level off in the 2005-2010 period, the percentage of murders attributable to gangs actually went up significantly. Nearly two thirds of murders in Chicago are committed by gang members. This has happened because of the close working relationship between gang leaders and many Chicago aldermen and City Hall functionaries. Major gangs have enjoyed substantial if not complete official protection from the Chicago police and prosecutors for at least twenty years.”

Fortunately, Gov. Pritzker (D) of Illinois is focused on finding the solution to both of the above stories: Illinois Governor Signs Bill to Make Official Titles Gender-Neutral. “The terms ‘alderperson’ and ‘congressperson’ will replace ‘alderman’ and ‘congressman.’”

FASTER, PLEASE: mRNA vaccine yields full protection against malaria in mice.

APPARENTLY, HOSPITAL WORKERS AND SUPERMARKET CLERKS ARE M.I.A. AS FAR AS CBS IS CONCERNED: Teachers were more stressed than everyone else working during pandemic.

SNOWFALLS ARE NOW JUST A THING OF THE PAST: 15 Years After Matt Lauer’s Botched Apocalypse Prediction: ‘Countdown to Doomsday.’

(Classical reference in headline.)

IT’S COME TO THIS: Australian Media Mocks CNN’s Glowing Coverage of Bumbling Joe Biden.

WELL, SURE: Fish oil supplements may help fight depression.

TOP OBAMA ETHICS OFFICIAL RAGES: Biden’s Actions ‘A Real F*** You’ To U.S., He’s A ‘F***ing Failure.’

THAT ROAD DIET DOESN’T STARVE ITSELF, YOU KNOW: Gavin Newsom Silent as Nation’s Highest Gas Tax Rises — Again.

Flashback: California City Bans New Gas Stations in Latest Climate Change Effort.

VICTORA’S SECRET’S REBRANDING CONTINUES TO GO SMOOTHLY: Not on brand! Leftist soccer star Megan Rapinoe under fire for ‘Asian eyes’ tweet about ex-teammate one day after being named face of newly woke Victoria’s Secret.

POPULAR SUMMER READING: Cane Fighting: The Authoritative Guide to Using the Cane or Walking Stick for Self-Defense.

THE POWER LINE WEEK IN PICTURES: Gee-Whiz 7 Edition.

DON SURBER: The Gun Revolution. “Without firing a shot (except at the firing range), Americans have won a revolution — state by state. . . . 35 years ago, it was illegal in 16 states (including Texas) for a civilian to carry a concealed weapon. Only Vermont did not require a pistol permit. Working through the slow process of going state to state to change the law, the revolution happened.”

ROGER SIMON INTERVIEWS MIKE POMPEO:

Roger Simon: Mr. Secretary, let’s begin with your new PAC. You named it CAVPAC in honor of the cavalry, I imagined, coming to rescue America …and it needs it. The PAC’s filled with the best intentions—championing American values and so forth. But let me ask you a difficult question. Our schools are teaching our kids critical race theory from kindergarten. Our colleges have turned into Marxist indoctrination camps with entertainment and the mainstream media doing much the same, all of this going on for some time. Is it already too late? What can CAVPAC do to turn this around?

Secretary Pompeo: No, it’s not remotely too late. The cavalry from my young days when I was a young officer sounded the alarm. I think we were a little late in getting that done, but I’m happy now to be out working on that project. It’s not too late. This Republic is strong. Your point’s well taken, and I’ve been asked this before. But I worked on problems all around the world for the past four years, China foremost amongst them. There’s no greater threat to the United States than the challenges within the Marxist socialist ideology of the progressive left.

You talked about the theories that are being foisted upon kids as young as kindergarten, saying that our American founding was racist. Those are the challenges of our times. We can get it back. Americans know how to do this. And it will be in those places—our schools, churches, our faith-based institutions. Those will be the places that the Republic will get its foothold again. And we need to make sure that we have leaders at every level working to do just that.

That’s why I’m going to be out traveling. I’ve already done it for two months, traveling the country, talking about this very value set, and then finding people who are prepared to stand up. Whether that’s at a board of trustees meeting for the board of Regents in your state or at the PTA meeting or your city council, those are the places where we get to reject ideology and put America back on its founding ideas that have made this most exceptional nation in history. I am confident that the decline is a choice and that Americans are going to choose not to allow that to happen.

Roger Simon: Well, that’s optimistic and I hope you’re right. But there’s a Catch-22 in this for some readers of the Epoch Times—right, center-right, libertarians—in other words, people who might well be your constituents. You were head of both the State Department and the CIA, both of which, among other government institutions, today are not too popular with this very group. In fact, it was reported last night by Tucker Carlson and also by Revolver Media, I believe, that the FBI, therefore the Department of Justice, was heavily involved with instigating, in various ways, the Jan. 6 events. Would CAVPAC fight against this as you were once a leader of those institutions?

Secretary Pompeo: Well, of course, it’s totally inappropriate for the Department of Justice to have done that, if that’s in fact what took place. I fought back against the bureaucracy inside the State Department. It causes enormous problems when you have unelected officials who have their own view of the world and work to undermine an administration and president that was duly elected [in the] constitutional way. I actually am proud of the work that the State Department did under my leadership because we prevented much of the malfeasance that had taken place there. And it’s a big organization.

There’s always going to be bad actors, but we made clear our expectations that everyone would do the right thing. I’ve seen this, I’ve seen some of the FBI leadership. I didn’t run that organization. I’ve seen some of that. I’ve seen some of that leadership that appears to have lost its way. They should be held accountable for that. And it is absolutely the case to get back to good.

And every government employee [should] act in the way that is consistent with our constitutional obligations. And when there is a duly elected president of the United States, they should be the ones driving, whether that’s intelligence, collections, and operations at the CIA or foreign policy and diplomatic policy at the State Department. There’s one commander-in-chief designated duly by article two of our Constitution, and I’m going to fight mercilessly to make sure that that happens.

Exactly — even with the bottomless nature of the Deep State, the buck has to stop with President Klain.

THE DEMAND FOR HATE CRIMES IN AMERICA FAR EXCEEDS THE SUPPLY: Student charged with misdemeanor for residence hall fire in hate-crime hoax. “As The College Fix previously reported, the April 18 incident was the culmination of a series of incidents that ignited racial unrest at Viterbo University throughout the spring semester. . . . Unanka spoke at the university-endorsed walkout, which attracted hundreds of students and staff. A few weeks after Unanka was arrested, President Glena Temple said that the student responsible for the dormitory fire had been identified, however, refused to provide the person’s name. Simultaneously, Temple closed the internal investigation into campus racism vandalism and graffiti. Temple refused to fully connect the dots.”

BREAKING: THE POPE IS CATHOLIC. “One Twitter commenter wrote, ‘If the Catholic Church is going to deny President Biden his Sacramental rights because of his politics, then the Catholic Church should pay taxes.’ The use of ‘Sacramental rights’ instead of ‘Sacramental rites’ was telling. The loudest complaints came from people who consider the Eucharist everyone’s God-given, American right. It most certainly is not.”

JIM TREACHER: The Sky Is Falling and Our Only Hope Is Katy Perry.

Remember when Katy Perry used to run around half-naked singing about popsicles and lesbians and whatnot? Remember Left Shark? Perry didn’t care about politics, and the world didn’t end. Now she cares about politics, and the world isn’t going to end. The only difference is that now she’s addicted to making herself miserable because… I dunno, it makes her feel important? She survived Trump, she survived the pandemic, and now she needs something new to be upset about.

No matter how many times the sky doesn’t fall, it’s always about to crash down on people like Katy Perry.

She and Legolas actually believe this tripe. They really think the evil Republicans are aching to kick down their door for voting Democrat. And why wouldn’t they believe that? They’re completely insulated from what most Americans would call reality. When was the last time they talked to a Republican? When was the first time?

I just hope Katy Perry lives until 2055 so we can all have a laugh at the stupid, histrionic nonsense she was spouting in the early ‘20s. “Hey Katy, can ya still vote? Are the stormtroopers at your door yet? Hey, where’s Orlando? LOL!”

“‘Progressophobia’ — ‘a brain disorder that strikes liberals and makes them incapable of recognizing progress,’” is near universal on the left.

HE’S LIKE THE FAUCI OF RACISM: As Asian, Black, White parents stand up to CRT, Ibram X. Kendi dismisses opponents’ arguments.

Related (from Ed): Fairfax, Va. School District Spent $24,000 On Ibram Kendi Books For U.S. History Classes.

There’s certainly no shortage of Critical Graft Theory studies in Joe Biden’s America.