GOOD NEWS FOR OLDER MONKEYS: Injection of klotho protein into older monkeys found to improve cognitive decline.

CHRISTIAN TOTO: Bud Light and Country Music: It’s Complicated.

Suffice it to say Bud Light sales losses aren’t alone. It’s losing the meme wars, too, both on Twitter and YouTube videos.

Pitch Meeting to Save Bud Light
What does this have to do with country music? Plenty, as it turns out.

Country crooners have lined up on the issue, either pouring salt on Bud Light’s wounds or insisting the initial ad campaign was a Nothingburger on Steroids.

Here’s how the battle lines shake out so far.

I’d rather enjoy my beer and my music without either having to take a stand on anything current but the Gleichschaltung doesn’t care what anyone prefers.

MY NEW YORK POST COLUMN: CDC boss’ utterly laughable exit warning on politicized ‘science.’ “What we’ve seen repeatedly is the use of ‘science’ as an excuse for bullying people into going along with leftist policies, when there’s not any actual science involved. A statement isn’t ‘science’ just because people who call themselves scientists make it. If it’s not supported by data and replicable research, it’s just opinion. And, sometimes, just bullying.” (Bumped).

DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONES: Gunman arrested for Philadelphia mass shooting which left 5 dead is BLM activist who wore women’s clothes.

(Bumped, by Glenn, because of course.)

AMERICA’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD: Democrats Confused By Parades Where Everyone Wears Clothes And Doesn’t Swing Sex Toys Around.

WHY IS CHINA SUCH A HOTBED OF RACISM? Chinese social media users are not impressed with your ham sandwich. “The plain ham sandwiches, simple salads and other American-style packed lunches that fill office refrigerators don’t exactly scream ‘Instagram.’ But they’re a social media sensation in China, where they have their own hashtag: #WhitePeopleFood.”

Of course, James Lileks outdid them years ago, but nice effort folks.

QUESTION ASKED: Is Ben and Jerry’s The Next Bud Light?

This 4th of July, it's high time we recognize that the US exists on stolen Indigenous land and commit to returning it. Learn more and take action now: https://t.co/45smaBmORH pic.twitter.com/a6qp7LXUAE

— Ben & Jerry's (@benandjerrys) July 4, 2023

Well, are you Ben & Jerry’s? Then set the example for the rest of us, and go first. Move your operations from the US. Demand that your product not be sold in America. Make the first move and show us how it’s done!

GREG BYRNES: Independence Day Thoughts: What is America’s Vocation in The World? “The Revolution’s goal was not to change the old world or conquer it. The American system was to work out our destiny on our patch of earth. Rather than a warrior nation, we were to be an example of work and family responsibility capable of governing and supporting itself. It was to be an example that other countries could emulate as best they could. Leave the slaying of foreign dragons and the pipe dreams of ideological abstractions like those of the French Revolution elsewhere.”

NOTHING GOOD: What happens to your stomach in a hot dog eating contest?

OUR “CREATIVE CLASS” IS FULL OF SELF-IMPORTANT, SELF-RIGHTEOUS MORONS: “While a partnership with an individual with over 150,000 Instagram followers might seem appealing on its face, Son de Flor doesn’t seem to understand that an individual is only an influencer for a brand if they actually influence potential customers in a positive way.”

SPACE: Scientists Find the Remains of a Catastrophe on Mars Scattered Across the Planet.

YOU WILL BE MADE TO CONFORM: Lefties Begin Denying Service to Trump Supporters.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): “Begin?”

ISABELLE THIBAULT: Knowing the Role of your Organization and the Strength of Neutrality.

PROF. JACOBSON: By All Means, Eliminate Legacy And Donor Admissions Preferences Because They Are Corrupting, Regardless of Racial Impact.

YOU HAVE TO LOOK TO FOREIGN OUTLETS FOR MOST OF THE COVERAGE ON THIS STORY:

My interview with @tristanleavitt who is representing IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, the supervisory agent who made bombshell disclosures to Congress about the investigation into Hunter Biden's taxes.https://t.co/UVEIqOtsqS

— Maddie Hale (@MaddieHale) July 5, 2023

CHANGE: Emerging economies are decoupling from China, helping them stay strong despite rising interest rates.

Due to the recent weakness in China this year, Wall Street largely expected most other emerging economies to follow, he noted. Meanwhile, rate-hiking cycles in the 1980s and 1990s triggered crises in emerging markets, and analysts expected the latest tightening campaign to produce a similar results. But except for a few instances, that didn’t happen.

“Among the 25 largest emerging economies, three-quarters of those reporting data have beaten growth forecasts this year — some, including India and Brazil, by a wide margin,” the chair of Rockefeller International wrote. “Forecasts for global growth in 2023 are rising and most of that uplift is coming from emerging economies.”

Many developing nations entered 2020 with improved fiscal discipline and stronger banking systems compared to prior decades, Sharma said.

So when the pandemic hit, they didn’t have to borrow as much money to pay for stimulus spending, with their deficits rising on average by 15% of GDP from 2020 to 2022, just half as much as the US’ did, he pointed out.

“The old notion that ’emerging’ is another word for reckless no longer applies,” he wrote.

And, compared with the Federal Reserve, emerging-market central banks did not delay in tightening their monetary policy. Such early intervention now allows many to start cutting interest rates, while the US looks to possibly hike two more times this year, he added.

In other words, our central bank isn’t as well run as, say, Kenya’s.

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: CDC Altered Death Certificates to Remove ‘COVID Vaccine’ as Cause.

DEAL OF THE DAY: Meat Slicer Electric Deli Food Slicer. #CommissionEarned

RESIST: Hong Kongers are mailing memes and support to jailed pro-democracy protesters.

More than 10,000 people have been arrested and at least 2,900 charged for their roles in the 2019 Hong Kong protests, which first erupted in June over a government extradition bill and later morphed into a broader movement fighting for democratic freedoms. In 2020, the Chinese government quashed the movement by imposing a national security law that gave authorities expansive new powers to crack down on political opposition. In 2021 alone, 985 people were put into custody for charges related to the protests, including unlawful assembly, rioting, and endangering national security. By the end of 2022, 522 of them remained behind bars.

While public expressions of dissent have dwindled in Hong Kong, some residents continue to support the city’s jailed protestors through small-scale online initiatives. Because inmates are prevented from using the internet, supporters like Ruby update them on news of the outside world through mailed printouts of news clips, memes, and YouTube video transcripts. They send essential items such as toothbrushes and underwear using online businesses, and share handwritten letters from the prisoners on social media to help relay their conditions to the public.

More than a little reminiscent of resistance to Soviet rule.

FOLLOW THE SCIENCE: Texas professor fired after teaching sex is determined by chromosomes: legal group.

Schools in Texas should be afraid of doing things like this.

BEIJING BARBIE: Vietnamese Government Censors Hollywood Flick Over Disputed South China Sea Map.

COVERUP: San Francisco State University fails to provide all documents.

CORPORAL KLINGER, CALL YOUR OFFICE: Army’s transgenders are exempt from physical fitness standards.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Judge Gives Free Speech Lovers a Big 4th of July Gift. “Doughty, by the way, is a Trump appointee, so thank you once again, Mr. President.”

MATT TAIBBI: Remember, Freedom Is Good. Things have gotten so weird, even the most uncontroversial parts of the American experience are becoming taboo. “The country today is run by politicians who spend all their time telling us freedom is dangerous, and the press won’t go near the word unless it can wedge it into an act of self-flagellation, à la the Washington Post headline today: ‘How an enslaved genius saved the Capitol dome’s ‘Freedom’ statue.’ The one thing this country doesn’t need to be ashamed of is its unifying idea, and our cultural and political leaders have somehow managed to turn even that into a source of division.”

Well, that’s because so many of our institutions, especially in media and academia, are anti-American. Also, the people running them are garbage people. That’s all.