JUST IN TIME FOR THE MIDTERMS: New York Times Resurrects Its Religious Right Bogeyman. “The New York Times was once so crafty about its particular brand of bias that I would occasionally praise the organization for the effort it put into feigning objectivity. Like so many individuals and institutions, however, Donald Trump’s election in 2016 broke the powers that be at the Times.”

DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS: Lina Hidalgo Aides Indicted On Corruption Charges. “My working assumption is that any time you see smoke like this, the fire is almost invariably channeling taxpayer money to the pockets hard-left Democratic Party cronies.”

UK GROOMER: Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story review – a welter of devastating detail. “The [two-part Netflix documentary’s] nearly three-hour running time is a measured, relentless march of contemporary footage, present-day interviews with people who worked with or knew him, the investigative journalists who eventually unearthed the evidence behind the rumours – the years and years of rumours – and one of his victims – from the years and years of victims. It moves chronologically through his career, from the early days as a DJ through to the jewel in the BBC’s crown as Top of the Pops and Jim’ll Fix It presenter, and on to an enjoyable non-retirement as a national treasure in perennial demand for TV guest appearances. All of it bolstered, of course, by his constant work raising millions for charity – most famously for Stoke Mandeville hospital and other such institutions. The latter gave him an entree into the establishment, and friendships with everyone from then prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who admired his can-do spirit, to Prince Charles, who saw him as a conduit to the working man and spent years in correspondence with him seeking advice on public relations and the best way to use royalty’s influence for the good of under-acknowledged services. It, effectively, made him invincible. Rumours of his true predilections abounded, but there was never any evidence. Journalist Meirion Jones eventually found victims willing to testify, despite their enduring vulnerability, but his Newsnight investigation into the by-then late Savile’s rape and abuse of countless children and adults was infamously pulled at the last minute, apparently to save the BBC embarrassment.”

NO THANK YOU: Gardener’s itchy eye turns out to be maggot larvae infestation.

WE NEED A COMPLETE AND TOTAL SHUTDOWN OF NEW YORK STATE UNTIL WE CAN FIGURE OUT JUST WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON THERE: “Authorities arrested New York Democratic Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin on Tuesday morning on campaign finance-related federal charges, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News 4.”

I SUSPECT THAT THIS IS LARGELY WHY “MATERNAL MORTALITY” APPEARS TO BE INCREASING:  Doctors now classify a death as pregnancy-related where they didn’t used to.  One can argue over whether a suicide or drug overdose by a recent mother should be attributed to the pregnancy.  But, if one changes the previous policy to include such deaths, one cannot then argue that pregnancy-related deaths are increasing.  I wrote about this a few months ago (and, more significantly, about why, contrary to what some claim, the racial disparities are not the result of racist doctors and nurses).

Being on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights gives me a window into the progressive mind.  Until my progressive colleagues started suggesting that we study maternal health, I had no idea how much attention that issue was getting.  It even made it into Biden’s SOTU address.  The most commonly offered solution is to hire large numbers of “doulas” to assist African American mothers with birth.

HMM: U.S. and U.K. ‘Closely Monitoring’ Reports of Russia’s Use of Chemical Weapons in Mariupol.

GOOD: Researchers have uncovered a regulator of body weight that could lead to new treatments for metabolic disorders.

JOSH BLACKMAN: I can no longer rely on Uber.

“GREEN” ENERGY: Wind energy company pleads guilty after 150 eagles are killed at its farms in 8 states, including Colorado. “CEO of ESI Energy owner NextEra Energy says deaths of bald and golden were unavoidable accidents that should not be criminalized. NextEra has 10 wind farms in Colorado.”

DEPEND UPON IT, SIR; WHEN A MAN KNOWS THE MIDTERMS ARE IN NOVEMBER, IT CONCENTRATES HIS MIND WONDERFULLY: Biden Scraps Green Fuel Rules In Bid To Slow Skyrocketing Gas Prices.

SPACE: NASA working around valve issue to complete testing of Artemis moon rocket.

“LEFTISTS DEMAND SAFE SPACES FOR THEMSELVES, BUT TAKE THEM AWAY FROM CHILDREN:” The Left’s War on Childhood.

DEAL OF THE DAY: O-Cedar EasyWring Microfiber Spin Mop & Bucket Floor Cleaning System. #CommissionEarned (Bumped)

GOOD GUY WITH A GUN: Reason # 1 to Own a Gun: Intruder Shot in Head While Breaking Into Child’s Bedroom.

TECHNOLOGY: FDA clears Fitbit device that passively monitors heart rhythms.

DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONES: Illinois Democrats’ plan to force retailers to post ‘tax relief’ details is unconstitutional, election year propaganda. “Budget bills introduced by Illinois Democrats in the waning hours of session and that were passed early Saturday will require private-sector retailers to notify consumers of temporary “tax relief” measures included in them. Critics say the requirements are an unconstitutional violation of free speech rights and forced campaign propaganda during an election year.”

INSTAPUNDIT INFLUENCE: Between us, Insta-coblogger Gail Heriot and I have three of the top ten slots on the recent downloads charts at SSRN.

NOW OUT FROM MATTHEW HENNESSEY: Visible Hand: A Wealth of Notions on the Miracle of the Market.

MITTENS WON’T BE MISSED: Utah Sen. Mitt Romney Unsure of Political Future. “Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, the only Senator in history to vote to convict a president of his own party during an impeachment trial, said recently that he is not sure if he will seek reelection to the upper chamber in 2024, possibly sharing the ballot with former President Donald Trump if he runs for president again.”

OH: Biden Has Given $1 Billion to Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan.

OUR RULING CLASS SEES CHINA AS A ROLE MODEL: A Warning From Shanghai. A new California bill threatens to strip doctors of their medical licenses for saying things the state doesn’t like. We don’t have to imagine what that would look like.

Remember when we were told that China was a model for the world in controlling Covid? Sure, as a totalitarian state, it was able to weld people inside their homes and monitor its citizens via drone. But many in the West believed that such measures were necessary. They argued that the abandonment of personal liberty was an appropriate way to fight a respiratory virus.

Now Shanghai is the model for the terrifying dangers of giving dictatorial powers to public health officials. The harrowing situation unfolding there is a testament to the folly of a virus containment strategy that relies on lockdown. For two weeks, the Chinese government has locked nearly 25 million people in their homes, forcibly separated children from their parents, killed family pets, and limited access to food and life-saving medical care—all to no avail. Covid cases are still rising, yet the delusion of suppressing Covid persists.

The repression isn’t a tool for achieving a worthwhile goal. The repression is the goal.

AND THEY REALLY HAVE: Why the past 10 years of American life have been uniquely stupid. “When people lose trust in institutions, they lose trust in the stories told by those institutions.”

This is why it’s very important that the people in charge of institutions be trustworthy.

THE STAFF SERGEANT IN QUESTION IS STACY MCCAIN’S KID: This Army ‘Best Ranger’ competitor showed soldier ingenuity that had instructors face-palming. “McCain was immediately hailed as the archetype of noncommissioned officers in the U.S. military – finding creative solutions to problems that are technically correct, even if they might be unconventional. And, of course, finding loopholes if such a loophole exists.”

Everyone knows you can’t “out-crazy” Stacy McCain — or, apparently, any of his rather large brood. Staff Sgt. McCain looks like he could play himself in the movie, too.

GO AWAY: Extension of transportation mask mandate ‘absolutely on the table,’ Jha says.