NOT UNTIL THE ELECTION: Bird flu is undergoing changes that could increase the risk of widespread human transmission.

AIRBRUSH ALERT: Delicious: Rolling Stone had to issue a correction for reporting neo-Nazis are DeSantis supporters.

AREN’T JOURNALISTS ALREADY DOING ENOUGH TO HIDE HIS INFIRMITIES?

How should Biden add some vim and vigor to his campaign? He should take a page out of FDR’s book. https://t.co/ku6n2ey2CF

— The New Republic (@newrepublic) September 5, 2023

BIDEN SETS TIME MACHINE TO 2020: Biden to wear mask indoors after COVID-19 exposure.

Earlier: No Masks, Please, We’re Rational.

ROBIN HANSON: Escalating Signals Cut Fertility.

I NEED TO BORROW SARAH’S SHOCKED FACE: Fauci Knew NIH Funded Wuhan’s Gain-of-Function Research as Pandemic Began, Email Reveals.

GOP SENATORS MOVE AGAINST BIDEN’S NEW COLLEGE LOAN BAILOUT: Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) introduced a Congressional Review Act resolution to disapprove of President Joe Biden’s latest run at relieving millions of present and former college students from having to repay their federally subsidized education loans.

Question: Why are only 17 of the 48 Senate Republicans co-sponsoring the Cassidy measure?

THE DOGS OF (A BOTCHED) WAR: State Department Sought to Ease Diplomats’ Pain Over Afghanistan Withdrawal With Therapy Dog, New Book Says.

OOPS: Sen. Ralph Warnock (D-Ga.) just happened to not report $125,000 in deferred compensation he received from his former congregation, Atlanta’s Ebeneezer Baptist Church. The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) took notice and filed a complaint with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. Is that an oxymoron?

GREAT MOMENTS IN GASLIGHTING: Biden biographer says he has insecurities about being ‘perceived as stupid.’

WATCH: Biden has “insecurities” about being “perceived as stupid,” says @FranklinFoer, who wrote a book about the president’s first term.

“He has this plagiarism scandal back in the 1980s. So when he walks into an interview … he wants to have mastery of what he’s discussing pic.twitter.com/6oEXXE7vbm

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) September 3, 2023

Mastery of “what he’s discussing?” Sundown Joe is lucky if sits down in the right seat: ‘YOU take YOUR seat’: Very specific cheat sheet reminds Biden how to act.

And calls on the right stenographer:

SAFETY: Politics is Downstream of Culture: Let’s Look at Single-Parent Homes and Homicide Rates.

You’re not supposed to talk about stuff like this, as it might make women feel bad about their choices.

DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONES: ‘Rat tours’ boom in rodent-infested New York.

As the city grapples with a major rat problem – sightings doubled last year, prompting the mayor to advertise for a “somewhat bloodthirsty” head rat-catcher in December – the rodent issue is, according to some, New York’s latest must-experience trend.

As visitors to New York demand rat action, some of the city’s tour guides have started to add stops at notoriously infested sites, the New York Post reported this week.

It means that rat tourism is fast becoming a boom industry. Kenny Bollwerk, who built a TikTok following by posting videos from around New York, stumbled upon being a rodent guide when he spent “an hour or two” live-streaming rats running around outside a building site in Sunnyside, Queens.

“I was like: ‘Damn, this is bad,’” he said.

Maybe now is the time to see New York City before we’re forced to wall it off.

VANCE SAYS NO MORE MASK MANDATES; The Ohio Republican files bill to bar new public health mask mandates for commercial air carriers, commuter rail transit and public education. Curiously, the bill only goes through the end of 2024.

FOR ALL THEY’RE WORTH, I HOPE: Mother Sues School District Over Secret Gender Transition That Led to Her Daughter Being Trafficked.

READER FAVORITE: COZSINOOR Hotel Grade Queen Size Cooling Bed Pillows: Set of 2. #CommissionEarned

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Three Years Later, Trump Deserves A Nobel Peace Prize For The Abraham Accords.

Unmentioned is Mike Pompeo, who was our best Secretary of State since George Schultz but, like Trump, really needed another four years to cement his legacy.

BRAVE NEW WORLD:

"Bioethicist", S. Matthew Liao: In order to tackle "climate change", humans should be genetically modified to be intolerant to meat.

"If we eat less meat, we could significantly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Now, some people would be willing to eat less meat, but they… pic.twitter.com/0kM4I8mnf0

— Wide Awake Media (@wideawake_media) September 5, 2023

(Via SDA.)

THAT’S A GOOD TIME TO STRIKE: Emergency alert system test coming to phones, TVs, and radios across the U.S.: Don’t be too surprised when you get a warning on October 4 around 2:20 PM EST.

HOW IT STARTED: Preliminary Philly Budget to Reduce Police Funding by $14M, Adds Reforms.

—NBC Philadelphia, June 18th, 2020.

How it’s going: Philadelphia Police Chief Resigns amid Homicide Wave.

Philadelphia police commissioner Danielle Outlaw will be resigning from her post later this month, leaving the City of Brotherly Love reeling from a crime spike after three tumultuous years in office.

Over the course of her tenure, annual homicides in Philadelphia rose from 499 in 2020 to 516 in 2022. Before Outlaw’s arrival, between 2007 and 2019, murders in the city ranged between 246 and 391 per year.

—NRO, today.

THE FIX IS IN: Barack Obama Could Play a Key Role in Biden Corruption Investigation.

WILL WE HAVE A PRESIDENT WHO ISN’T IMPEACHED IN THE FUTURE? THE BAR WAS LOWERED, AND IT’S NOT GOING BACK UP. Biden’s ‘War Room’ Takes Shape As Impeachment Probe Looms.

YOU DON’T SAY: BMW Warns Gasoline Car Ban Poses ‘Imminent Risk’ To European Automakers.

The EU’s pledge to ban the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars and vans from 2035 poses an “imminent risk” to Europe’s car manufacturers, which are unlikely to win a looming EV price war with their Chinese competitors, BMW chairman Oliver Zipse has told the Financial Times.

“I want to send a message: I see that as an imminent risk,” Zipse said.

The executive, however, said BMW was in a better position to compete with the Chinese manufacturers, most of which are targeting buyers of cheaper and smaller electric vehicles.

Yet, “The base car market segment will either vanish or will not be done by European manufacturers,” Zipse told FT.

European Union member states in March approved an emissions regulation under which the bloc will end sales of new carbon dioxide-emitting cars and vans in 2035.

The actual point, of course, is to sell as few cars and vans for private use as possible. I’m not sure Europe’s leaders ever got over losing their serfs tied forever to the land — a mode of thinking picked up by our own “betters.”

SOME PARTS OF AMERICA STILL WORK: SpaceX makes record 62nd orbital launch, putting another 21 Starlink satellites into space. “The launch is SpaceX’s 62nd orbital mission of the year, which breaks the record of 61 set by the Elon Musk-owned company in 2022.”

I MISS THE INNOCENCE OF THE INTERNET’S EARLY DAYS: The Truth Costs Money.

DO THE LETTERS “F.O.” MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU? If You Need Pain Pills, Politicians Want To Monitor Your Body Chemistry.