SARAH HOYT’S SHOCKED FACE COULD NOT BE REACHED FOR COMMENT: Russian Oil Is Getting Mixed in Singapore and Then Re-Exported, Sources Say.

PENN BIDEN CENTER HOSTED PRO-CHINA EVENT: To the surprise of no one familiar with the Biden family business (Biden Influence for Sale, or “BIFS” for short),  it is reported by Alana Goodman of the Washington Free Beacon that the Penn Biden Center hosted events at which pro-China perspectives were prominently featured.

“The Penn Biden Center hosted a two-day ‘bootcamp’ for congressional staffers in June that encouraged closer ties with China on issues like green energy and academia, according to a source. One of the organizing groups has an advisory board member who served as spokesman for the controversial Chinese tech giant Baidu. The event was held as anonymous donors from China have poured millions into the University of Pennsylvania,” according to Goodman.

“There were no posted security officials at the Penn Biden Center during the June conference—just regular Penn staffers—and attendees were able to walk around the center unmonitored and make use of unused rooms for phone calls and other private work during the conference,” she reports.

With classified documents now being found at former Vice President Mike Pence’s home, the nation’s capital is edging closer to coming to grips with a fact that has long been known but rarely discussed in public: Millions of documents are classified that ought not be, among the inevitable consequences of this reality is that tracking all of them is near-impossible, and abuses of security protocols are inevitable and likely far more common than known.

BECAUSE THEY HAVE RECORD-SHATTERING NUMBERS OF SOMETHINGS TO HIDE: New Biden Admin Program Will Hide Numbers of Illegal Immigrants Entering the Country.

“BREAKING: SECRET POPE BENEDICT BOOK IS PUBLISHED BLASTING PROGRESSIVE POPE FRANCIS, REVEALS US CATHOLIC SEMINARIES ARE HAVENS OF ‘GAY CLUBS.'” Whoa.

READER FAVORITE: TurboTax Deluxe 2022 Tax Software. #CommissionEarned

WHEN YOU HAVE ROBERT REICH HEDGING…: Is Joe Biden a viable candidate for 2024? “If re-elected, Biden would be 86 at the end of his second term. That’s deeply worrying, given what we know about the natural decline of the human brain and body. This isn’t an ‘ageist’ prejudice against those who have reached such withering heights so much as an understanding that people in their mid-80s do wither.”

BE GOOD TO YOUR BRAIN: Head injury is associated with doubled mortality rate long-term.

LINCOLN BROWN: Forget the Rise. The Machines Are Here. AI Will Come for Everyone in the End. “Yes, having AI run a McDonald’s may be more efficient, and teach all those protestors a lesson about screaming over a $15 wage, but the time may come when you are cleaning out your desk to make way for something that doesn’t even need a desk.”

BACK TO THE FUTURE: I Used A Motorola Razr Flip Phone For A Week And Here’s How It Helped My Mental Health.

THE MOMENTUM IS AGAINST “QUALIFIED IMMUNITY:” Nevada’s Top Court Says Cops Can Now Be Sued For Rights Violations, Won’t Have Access To Qualified Immunity.

DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONES: Chase locking up some ATMs at 5 p.m. due to NYC crime. “This is an ongoing trend in New York City. In August, it was reported that other banks were locking up NYC ATM vestibules to keep out homeless people.”

I’m so old, I remember when the whole point of ATMs was to allow you to get or deposit cash at any hour.

IT’S BIGGER THAN YOU’D EXPECT: Milky Way found to be too big for its ‘cosmological wall’. “Typically, galaxies tend to be significantly smaller than this so-called wall. The Milky Way is found to be surprisingly massive in comparison to its cosmological wall, a rare cosmic occurrence.”

ANOTHER? There’s Another HUGE Bombshell in Kari Lake’s Election Lawsuit.

MORE NEW ANTIBIOTICS, PLEASE: How a sugar cane pathogen is gearing up a new era of antibiotic discovery. “The way albicidin interacts with gyrase is sufficiently different from existing antibiotics that the molecule and its derivatives are likely to be effective against many of the current antibiotic resistant bacteria.”

CAN SOMEBODY EXPLAIN WHAT THE CLUB FOR GROWTH THINKS IT’S DOING HERE? Conservative group hopes to derail Daniels’ US Senate bid. Daniels has actually been pretty radical in his education reforms while he was president of Purdue, and I’d love to see someone in the Senate who’d push that sort of an agenda. He seems like he’d win easily if he ran, and as far as I know he’s never been dismissive or condescending about the GOP base. In fact, he kind of seems like a Club For Growth candiate to me, and I don’t see anyone else on the list who looks obviously superior, though I confess that I’m not an expert on Indiana politics.

FASTER, PLEASE: The US certifies the first small modular nuclear reactor design. “The NRC’s certification is a significant stamp of approval for a potential climate solution that’s still controversial among environmental advocates. Essentially, it’s a green light for an entirely new generation of nuclear reactors.”

Environmental advocates who aren’t advocating for nuclear are advocating for something other than the environment.

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LEFT AND LEFTER: Progressive Ruben Gallego Going After Sinema’s Senate Seat.

Related: Thune Urges Independent Sen. Sinema to Caucus With Republicans.

I THINK PRETTY MUCH EVERYONE USED TO KNOW THIS. USED TO. Schools Should Think Twice Before Punishing Faculty for Their Speech: A North Carolina institution may soon learn a valuable lesson.

A professor can’t be fired, demoted, or otherwise penalized just because he or she has said something that bothers administrators.

There have been numerous cases fought on that issue, and freedom of speech always comes out on top. One might think that school officials would learn from that, but they seem strangely obtuse about the legal ramifications whenever they want to go after someone who has gotten their goat.

They start with the assumption that they’re above the law. The six-figure damage awards discussed here are a good corrective, but it may take seven- or eight-figure damages to really drive the point home. And with all the mandatory legal trainings that are inflicted on faculty — Title IX, Title VI, FERPA, etc., etc. — maybe we need mandatory free speech trainings for administrators. But follow the link for the latest example of administrators clueless thuggishness.

Related: Free speech is dying at MIT, survey shows: Why this matters even for those without a personal stake in this particular university. Well, our ruling class in general opposes free speech, because it espouses ideas and policies that can’t possibly survive open criticism and debate.

ELON MUSK, TAKE NOTE: Scientists Discover Giant Reservoir Of ‘Hidden Water’ Just Three Feet Below Mars’ Grand Canyon.

The European Space Agency and the Russian space agency Roscosmos jointly manage TGO. The orbiter is equipped with a device that maps hydrogen in the top layer of Martian soil. Data reveal an unusually high concentration of hydrogen in Candor Chaos, a key section of Valles Marineris, implying that up to 40% of the near-surface material in that location could contain water.

“With TGO we can look down to one meter below this dusty layer and see what’s going on below Mars’ surface — and, crucially, locate water-rich ‘oases’ that couldn’t be detected with previous instruments,” Igor Mitrofanov of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences said in an ESA statement on Wednesday. Mitrofanov is the lead author of a paper published in the journal Icarus on water discoveries.

Valles Marineris is so huge that NASA refers to it as “the Grand Canyon of Mars.” Except that it’s a lot bigger than the US landmark. The Mars version is 1,860 miles (3,000 kilometers) long and reaches a depth of 5 miles (8 kilometers).

The water in Valles Marineris may be mineralized, but the scientists believe it is more likely to be in the form of ice.

That would make it much easier to get to.

VODKAPUNDIT PRESENTS YOUR WEEKLY INSANITY WRAP: We Need to Talk About the REAL Insurrection. “There’s an actual insurrection going on and the January 6-obsessed left won’t talk about it.”

Plus:

• The tears of (a teacher dressed like) a clown.
• Weird how the FBI hasn’t infiltrated Antifa like they did the Jan. 6 “insurrectionists.”
• Watch a local reporter audition live on the air for CNN.

So much more at the link, you’d have to be crazy to miss it.

THAT’S CUTE, COMING FROM THE DECIDING VOTE ON THE BUDGET-BUSTING (AND LIBERTY-CRUSHING) INFLATION REDUCTION ACT: Manchin looks to strike deal with McCarthy to rein in wasteful government spending.

THE SYSTEM IS HUNG OVER: Universities are lowering expectations for pandemic-era students.

MEGAN FOX: Des Plaines, Ill., Councilwoman Goes Off on Censor-Happy Leftists, and It’s Glorious.

SEGREGATION NOW, SEGREGATION TOMORROW, SEGREGATION FOREVER! IU med school diversity program under investigation for allegedly excluding white students.