ARE LAWYERS AND DOCTORS ACTUALLY OVEREDUCATED? Rich Vedder points out that compared to other countries, our grad students of all kinds probably are, at least in terms of time to degree. (I had no idea a Ph.D. in 3 years “wasn’t that atypical in the 1960s.”) I do think that a two-year law school with a year of apprenticeship (not just a wine-and-dine summer position) would be much better than our three-year track.

WATCH AS THE CRISIS-BY-DESIGN DEVOLVES INTO A CLOWN SHOW: Biden Administration Is Desperately Seeking Ways to Manage Illegal Alien Arrivals When Title 42 Expires.

STUPID LEGISLATURE, JUST PAY THE BILLS AND SHUT UP: UNC faculty protest proposed state civics requirement as ‘undue interference in university affairs.’

THE NEW SPACE RACE: A Russian ‘inspector’ satellite appears to be chasing a secret US military satellite in a game of cat and mouse. “The behavior of Kosmos-2558, and the lack of a formal explanation from Russia, has led space observers to believe that the probe is stalking USA-326. It’s at least the third satellite Russia has launched that appears to be an ‘inspector’ — a spacecraft aiming to gather up-close data on another satellite.”

DEAL OF THE DAY: The L’OR Barista System Coffee and Espresso Machine Combo. #CommissionEarned

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Enough With the Mentally Unstable Climate Hysteria. “When this incarnation of the climate scam began, it was all about Al Gore and his ilk ginning up hysteria for a money grab. The hysteria thing worked so well that an entire impressionable young generation is convinced that their lives are in imminent danger from the sun. At least I think it’s the sun that is the Big Bad right now.”

DON SURBER: Media says voting threatens democracy.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Randi Weingarten is an evil liar.

I tried to find a good excerpt, but David Strom is on fire here and you should just read the whole thing.

MARY KATHARINE HAM: Teachers’ Union President Randi Weingarten ruined kids’ lives — but she refuses to apologize for not following the science.

HOW VITAL IS THE NARRATIVE? THIS VITAL: Biden Nominees Torpedo Own Confirmation To Kill Report On Whether Lax Crime Policies Hurt Minorities.

CHANGE: Manchin and Senate GOP vote to overturn EPA emissions rule. “Someone’s hearing footsteps. Manchin voted with the GOP on this because he’s going to get creamed in WV next year no matter which office he seeks for enabling the Biden-Schumer Inflation Reduction Act. He needs some conservative cred for WV voters, and this one’s cheap because Biden’s veto makes it meaningless. I doubt Schumer or Biden even mind, since it gives Biden a chance to look tough.”

LARRY KUDLOW: McCarthy’s Debt Ceiling Victory Turns the Tables on Biden. “President Biden has been prattling on for weeks and months, saying he won’t negotiate until the House Republicans come up with a budget. Well, they just did, and it’s going to force him to the negotiating table sooner than he and his minions think. Speaker McCarthy notched an enormous victory by passing a debt ceiling bill that would lift the federal borrowing allowance by $1.5 trillion over the next year in return for nearly $5 trillion of deficit reduction over the next 10 years. This changes the political fiscal game — completely.”

Related: Kevin McCarthy Basks in Rare Win After Republicans Unite to Pass Debt Ceiling Plan.

Also: White House Regroups After McCarthy’s Debt Ceiling Success.

UPDATE: You know it’s going well, because suddenly the GOP is “seizing.” GOP Seizes on Debt Ceiling Vote to Target Vulnerable Democrats in New Attack Ads.

WHAT DO THEY REQUIRE TO BE CALLED VACCINES? FDA Says ‘Vaccines Do Not Require Demonstration of the Prevention of Infection or Transmission.’

FIREWORKS AT MOST RECENT MEETING OF THE COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS:  “Biden Nominees Torpedo Own Confirmation to Kill Report on Whether Lax Crime Policies Hurt Minorities.”

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: Energy Secretary Granholm Ducks Questions on Biden Admin Grants to Companies with ‘Material Operations in China.’

Related: Obama’s Man in China Now Beijing’s Man in Washington.

DECOUPLING CUTS BOTH WAYS: Yuan Overtakes Dollar as China’s Most Used Cross-Border Currency. “The local currency’s share of China’s cross-border payments and receipts rose to a record high 48% at the month end from nearly zero in 2010, according to research by Bloomberg Intelligence citing data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. The dollar’s share declined to 47% from 83% over the same period, the figures showed.”

21ST CENTURY HEADLINES: Sex in Space! Scuba divers have been having zero gravity sex for decades.

REPORT: Trans Shooter’s Manifesto May Be Released Soon.

FROM CEDAR SANDERSON, C.V. WALTER, BLAKE SMITH:  Steam-Powered Postcards Kindle Edition.

Can you tell a story in exactly 50 words? The Three Moms of the Apocalypse went to Louisiana’s World Steampunk Exposition and Makers Faire in Lafayette, LA and issued a challenge.

Tell us a story that could fit on the back of a postcard. Use 50 words, no more, no less. We’ll provide the postcards.

The response to this challenge was huge!

So many wonderful authors decided to take up the challenge that it was a real struggle to pick the 20 best stories.

Steam-Powered Postcards, the second Postcards anthology from Raconteur Press, contains our favorite stories, the pictures that inspired them, plus a few exciting extras. We hope you enjoy the stories as much as we did and maybe take some inspiration to try one for yourself!

MATT TAIBBI: