SHAKEUP: Kittyhawk To Shut Down.

Even as news broke that the decision had been made to cease operations of advanced air mobility (AAM) startup Kittyhawk, the company was advertising job openings in human resources, purchasing and engineering, and for a flight test engineer.

The company announced the decision in a LinkedIn post on Sept. 21.

It is the first major shakeup in the emerging AAM industry, which has attracted billions of dollars of investment and support from government agencies, ranging from city councils to federal agencies. Kittyhawk was ranked 10th on the Aviation Week/SMG Consulting Advanced Air Mobility Reality Index as recently as August 2022.

Kittyhawk was, per Larry Page’s vision, a moonshot, a make it or break it venture,” says Sergio Cecutta, a principal at SMG Consulting and the developer of the AAM Reality Index. “They went for a vehicle that would allow for point-to-point passenger transportation without any first or last mile multimodality. Heaviside was a product ahead of the urban air mobility market development.”

The whole industry is ahead of the market, if there really is one yet outside government-subsidized trials.

More stories like this to come.

AMERICA’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD: Border Town Puts Up ‘Martha’s Vineyard’ Sign In Hopes Government Will Come Pick Up All Their Illegal Immigrants.

COLOR ME SKEPTICAL: Study: Dieters with diabetes should set aside steak, but can eat mashed potatoes.

BURIED LEDE: CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR GROWS A SPINE! Iranian President Scrapped Interview With CNN’s Amanpour After She Refused to Wear Headscarf During Hijab Protests.

AS ONE DOES: Letter Reveals Obama Foundation Is Keeping Classified Docs in Abandoned Furniture Warehouse.

FAKE FOOD: Taco Bell to test meatless carne asada steak at several locations next month.

HEALTH: First-ever vaccine prevents rheumatoid arthritis, study finds.

STRIKE A POSE, THERE’S NOTHING TO IT: Oregon Democrat Says Drug Prices Are ‘Out of Control.’ As State Legislator, She Tried To Keep Them That Way.

DISPATCHES FROM THE PRESIDENT OF UNITED EARTH: Stacey Abrams Drops Insanely Conspiratorial Take, and I Think I Know Why. “I’ve heard a lot of wild statements about abortion over the years, but the idea that fetal heartbeats are actually not real but are a conspiracy hatched by men to control the bodies of women is a new one. Scientifically, she’s just wrong. Fetal heartbeats absolutely exist at six weeks and can be observed. In fact, it’s very normal to get an ultrasound around that point and the first thing they do is find the heartbeat.”

Did Abrams steal her shtick from the Gray Lady? Heartless at the New York Times: “The New York Times wants you to understand that the heartbeat of an unborn child at six weeks’ gestation isn’t really a heartbeat. The heart, you see, isn’t fully developed. It’s ‘only a primitive tube of cardiac cells that emit electric pulses and pump blood.’ As for the sound you hear at an ultrasound appointment at that stage of pregnancy? It’s ‘created by the machine itself, which translates the waves of electrical activity into something audible.’”

(Classical reference in headline.)

UNFIT TO SERVE: The Saddest, Most Senescent Joe Biden Video Yet.

FLASHBACK: Ron DeSantis has emerged as America’s awesome ‘shadow president’.

JEFFREY SINGER & JOSH BLOOM: It’s Time to Undo the Harm the CDC Has Done to Pain Patients.

WE DON’T HAVE A REPLACEMENT CRUISER CLASS ANYWHERE IN THE PIPELINE: Sailors Bid Farewell to USS Monterey as Navy Prepares to Decommission 3 More Cruisers This Month. “The Navy decommissioned the guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG-61) in a ceremony on Friday as the service continues to take Ticonderoga-class cruisers out of inventory.”

RUSSIA! RUSSIA! RUSSIA! Whatever Happened to Linda Sarsour? New York Times Says Russian Trolls Got Her. “The New York Times has published a lot of ridiculous articles in its day, but this is one of the most ridiculous ever.”

DEAL OF THE DAY: 3 V2 Upgraded 3D Printer. #CommissonEarned

REPORT FROM THE BLUE ZONES: Battenfeld: Michelle Wu’s real record on traffic-stopping street protests.

Three years after she helped block traffic in a climate change protest, Michelle Wu awkwardly batted away questions about the latest demonstration to snarl traffic in the city — this time from her perch as Boston mayor.

In 2019 as a city councilor, Wu excitedly joined a few hundred protesters with the extremist environmental group Extinction Rebellion in protesting fossil fuels by shutting down a major Boston roadway, tweeting a video “Taking the Congress St bridge” from her @wutrain account.

Wu on Wednesday danced around questions about whether she supported XR’s latest demonstration that shut down several streets and intersections and resulted in 15 arrests. . . .

Why isn’t Wu condemning the traffic disruptions? Because that’s not part of her agenda or her constituency.

Wu did nothing to alert Boston commuters to the protests Wednesday morning or deter them from showing up. The demonstrations came on the same day that National Grid announced a 64% spike in electricity rates this winter, but did Wu do anything about that burden on average ratepayers?

Interesting that Wu fully understands and accepts when protesters stand in front of traffic, disrupting people’s commutes and small business customers, but when it comes to a handful of people with cowbells in front of her house then she puts her foot down.

Wu never even acknowledged that she took part in a street protest a few years ago, but she can’t distance herself from her protest days. She’s Boston’s most left mayor in history, whether it’s banning fossil fuels in new construction, advocating a free MBTA, creating new city offices like the “forestry” division at taxpayer expense, or embracing new car and bicycle lanes that are squeezing out motorists.

It would be nice if Wu had the same compassion for the average middle-class person that she has for far-left extremists.

Sure, but then she wouldn’t be a Massachusetts Democrat.

IGNORANCE BY DESIGN: Students cannot pass a basic citizenship exam: A shameful indictment of our education system. “After the exercises, I begin to probe the students in an effort to understand how it’s gotten this bad. The overwhelming majority of students state that throughout their K-12 education, they were never required to read the U.S. Constitution. This is extremely frustrating, because by the time these students get to my course, not only should they be able to easily identify the Constitution, but it should also be seared into their minds.”

There’s a lot of hate for a document most students couldn’t pick out of a lineup.

SHUT UP, THEY EXPLAINED: Congressional Squad Members, AOC and Tlaib ‘Debunk’ Facts With Nasty Threats.

LOYALTY OATHS ARE ALL THE RAGE: EXCLUSIVE: UPenn wanted ‘progressive applicants’ for its police department.

PUNCH BACK TWICE AS HARD: Melania Trump Vindicated: Ex-First Lady Destroys Former Aide, Media Over Christmas Smear.

“SCIENCE:” Scientists defend censorship, cancel culture as ‘recalibrating,’ ‘consequences culture.’

RED-PILLED: Ex-Democrat Mayor Of 3rd Largest Blue County In Florida Endorses DeSantis: ‘I Will Not Remain Silent.’

HAS BIDEN SAID THAT IF THEY LOSE IN NOVEMBER IT’S BECAUSE OF FRAUD? OR IS THAT SCHEDULED FOR NEXT MONTH? WaPo analyst: Democrats are fooling themselves on midterm turnout.

PROGRESSIVE SCIENCE: Warren and Markey Urge Loosening of Restrictions on Testosterone Access. “Many transmasculine and nonbinary people need testosterone as part of their transition, to align their gender expression with their identity or alleviate the distress of gender dysphoria. It’s a crucial step for the mental and emotional health of many trans people. Testosterone is also a controlled substance, which means accessing it can be fraught — and the restrictions can leave some without access to their prescriptions.”

Follow the science: Testosterone to help normal straight men who are deficient in the natural substance lead better lives is heavily regulated and treated with suspicion. Testosterone to help “trans men” lead the lives they choose should be dispensed like candy.

For that matter, why shouldn’t bodybuilders with “body dysmorphia” be prescribed true anabolics? They’re just trying to bring their actual body in line with their preferred look, same as the trans folk.

UPDATE: From the comments: “Masculinity is toxic except when women want to look like men.”

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Are Dems Finally Remembering They Never Liked Kamala Harris? “Given the current state of President LOLEightyonemillion’s mental ability, Harris should be getting a lot of quality time in front of the public. Who better to keep him as far away from cameras and embarrassing moments than his HISTORIC FIRST one heartbeat away? Obviously, the trouble is that she’s a bigger train wreck in public than he is and she can’t even say it’s age-related.”