ICYMI: Dems want the midterms to be a referendum on Trump, not bungling Biden — and the media are compliant.

I SUPPOSE ASKING “WHY?” IS POINTLESS: Hillary Clinton Can’t Stop Lying About Her Emails(VIP)

OPEN THREAD: Just do it.

YES, IRIDIUM IS STILL A THING: SpaceX to launch five spare Iridium satellites.

WEIRD NEWS:  Rare snake found apparently choked to death on centipede.

WHY MONARCHY-REJECTING AMERICA MOURNS QUEEN ELIZABETH, TOO:

Whenever the queen, or some member of the royal family, would visit these shores, exasperated citizens would reliably remind us that we once fought a war of independence from Great Britain and from monarchy itself. Which, of course, is perfectly and thankfully true. Yet it’s equally true that our declaration of independence from England was written in England’s language, that our own Constitution derives from the cumulative laws and customs of what used to be called the mother country — and not least, in recent times, that we have fought side by side with the ex-colonial power in defense of those rights and freedoms we both cherish.

The essential difference, however, is that in rejecting British rule, our republican system of checks and balances also jettisoned the principle of constitutional monarchy, which, while scarcely an error and consistent with our particular brand of self-government, has bequeathed to us a system that, while gloriously democratic, has not always proved so checked and balanced in the 2½ centuries since 1776.

Read the whole thing.

REAL ESTATE NEWS: Two Rocky Super-Earths Discovered Around A Nearby Star, And One Could Be Habitable.

SCIENCE MARCHES ON: F.D.A. OKs Daxxify, an Anti-Wrinkle Drug and Botox Competitor: The treatment lasts for six months in half of its users, company studies showed, representing the first major advance in facial injections in decades.

BE PREPARED: Jar Opener, 5 in 1. #CommissionEarned.

MICROBIOME NEWS: Gut microbes may lead to therapies for mental illness, study reports.

FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY: The Florida Trip, the Georgia Cop, His White Claw, and the Prostitution Sting. “This week we have the worst sword fight ever, the worst Mother Theresa ever, and the unluckiest Colorado fake cop ever.”

PUBLIC HEALTH INCOMPETENCE IS EVERGREEN: How the US monkeypox response failed to learn COVID’s lessons. “The Biden administration’s failed response to the spread of monkeypox has highlighted America’s inability to respond to large-scale disease outbreaks. These problems are bipartisan and were also evident in the Trump administration’s flawed response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Solving them will require bipartisan cooperation.”

Flashback: Fauci and other health ‘experts’ are messing up monkeypox just as they did COVID, Ebola and AIDS.

ANSWERING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Do You Really Need to Break in a New Rifle Barrel?

UKRAINE WAR: Moscow, We Have a Problem. “Ukraine’s unexpected and rapid advances in the north — as documented by these Russian sources — have engendered a palpable frustration from writers usually known for their pro-Moscow drumbeating.”

I’VE NEVER TRUSTED THOSE THINGS: Some artificial sweeteners may be linked to heart disease, study says.

A BUNCH OF NICE, CLEAN NUCLEAR PLANTS WOULD SOLVE THIS PROBLEM: California’s Electric Boogaloo to Nowheresville.

GOOD LUCK: NASA eyeing another attempted launch for Artemis I mission in 2 weeks.

‘WE MUST FIGHT BACK ON THIS:’ Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) tells the Washington Stand that he doubts 10 of his GOP colleagues will support Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) same-sex marriage bill when it hits the Senate floor later this month. Without those 10 GOP votes, the already House-passed Respect for Marriage Act will fail.

VITAMIN D UPDATE: Vitamin D levels affect overall survival for skin cancer patients. “Dermatology researchers discovered that those who were deficient in vitamin D (lower than 10ng/mL) following their melanoma diagnosis were twice as likely (hazard ratio 2.3) to have lower overall survival than those with vitamin D levels equal/greater than 10ng/mL.”

But there’s also this: Vitamin D Failed to Stop COVID, Other Respiratory Infections. Notice, though, that these studies were about supplementation, not about people’s actual vitamin D levels. Plus: “Bergman pointed out that COVID vaccination may have masked any effect of vitamin D in these studies, which was a limitation.” So it sounds like more research is needed.

FALLOUT: Poland, Baltics Agree EU Visa Ban Plan for Russians.

Poland and the three Baltic states said Thursday they would temporarily restrict access for Russian citizens holding EU visas by Sept. 19 to address “public policy and security threats.”

The prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland said in a statement they were concerned “about the substantial and growing influx of Russian citizens” into the EU.

“We believe that this is becoming a serious threat to our public security and to the overall shared Schengen area,” they said.

The statement said the four “agreed on a common regional approach and hereby express their political will and firm intention to introduce national temporary measures for Russian citizens holding visas.”

The measures would “restrict the entry into the Schengen area for Russian citizens traveling for tourism, culture, sport and business purposes.”

Exceptions will be made for various categories, including “dissidents,” “humanitarian cases,” family members and holders of residence permits in EU countries.

Given how the Poles and Balts were treated by Moscow until 1989, I’m surprised this took so long.

STOP THE COVER UP OF THE FRAME-UP: Trump’s Reason for Having Russiagate Docs Makes Sense. Here’s Why.

MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE: British Prime Minister Truss lifts fracking ban amid energy crisis.

LIFE MOVES PRETTY FAST. Then: Commercial Investors Are Sucking Up All American Housing! Now: They’re Losing Their Shirts!

SAY ANYTHING: Democrats Are Hoping We Forget They Brought Us Record Levels of Murders, Overdose Deaths, and Teen Suicides.

DEAL OF THE DAY: Copper Infused Adjustable Support Splint Wrist Brace for Carpal Tunnel. #CommissionEarned