MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT [VIP]: It Isn’t Just Disney — Not Even ‘Barbie’ Can Save Warner Bros.

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Federal Judge Rules Against ATF Brace Rule. “The pistol brace rule would retroactively make millions of law-abiding Americans criminals for not registering them (which, for the left, is no doubt the point).”

DISCRIMINATION, STRAIGHT UP: ‘Wee Man’ Blasts Hollywood for Yanking Roles for Dwarf Actors in ‘Snow White.’

CHRISTIAN TOTO: Will Rude Movie Goers Crush the Barbenheimer Rebound?

It took a plastic doll and an atom bomb to end Hollywood’s pandemic hangover.

“Barbenheimer” turned July into a box office juggernaut and proved Americans had shaken free of the COVID-19 lockdowns at long last. Both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” have legs, as they say in the business, meaning the films continue to draw huge crowds well into their theatrical runs.

That’s great news for both Hollywood and the theatrical model, the latter still struggling from pandemic lockdowns and the crush of A-list material on streaming services.

There’s just one problem.

Many of the “new” moviegoers are behaving badly. They talk, snap selfies and conduct phone conversations mid-movie.

I haven’t seen anything like this in southern Colorado but you big-city experiences may differ.

JOHN LUCAS: Political Lies, a Slave’s Story, and a Damn Good Whiskey.

PUSHBACK: New ‘Bruin Alumni in Defense of Free Speech’ group to pressure UCLA to improve.

RESTORING RESPECT FOR AMERICA ON THE WORLD STAGE: It Sure Looks Like the Saudis Are Playing Keep Away with Joe Biden. “Our friends, the Saudis, appear to be playing geopolitical Keep Away with Presidentish Joe Biden and America’s energy security — with an assist from Russian strongman Vladimir Putin.”

PUSHBACK: UC faculty lead ‘behind-the-scenes protest’ over new equity-based math admissions requirements.

SPACE: ESA still seems shy about sharing news on Ariane 6 rocket testing. “The space agency’s spokesperson said ESA is not planning to provide live video of the long-duration Ariane 6 test-firing in French Guiana. That’s disappointing and would be a missed opportunity for ESA to engage with the taxpayers footing the bill for this new rocket.”

That’s hardly encouraging.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Idiot Dems Want to Make the Economy an Issue, Republicans Should Let Them. “It’s safe to say that none of the people involved in the telling of the Bidenomics tale have been to a grocery store in the last year.”

FLASHBACK: “Under capitalism, rich people become powerful. But under socialism, powerful people become rich.”

MARK PULLIAM: In Texas, Ken Paxton Faces a Ham Sandwich Impeachment.

THEN THEY CAME FOR YOUR CAR: You may have seen the announcement a few days ago from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that it is upping the mandatory fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks to as high as 58 mpg by 2032. It’s for the environment, right?

“These draconian measures in the name of ‘efficiency’ would effectively make electric vehicles mandatory in this country by forcefully limiting Americans’ options. In the name of fighting climate change, the Biden administration is seeking to bend the American people to their will through government coercion. They don’t trust us to make our own choices, and so have decided to make our choices for us,” observes the American Accountability Foundation (AFA).

In fact, secret emails obtained and made public by AFA, reveal that NHTSA administrator Ann Carlson has long been convinced nothing less than complete abandonment of fossil fuels can save the Earth. Raising fuel economy standards to unreachable levels is a clear path to accomplishing that mythical goal.

Does Joe know that will mean no more driving his Corvette?

NOTHING GOOD: What Do Federal Tax Receipts and Total Receipts Suggest About Recession?

Total receipts have fallen three consecutive quarters. Tax receipts have fallen two straight quarters.

When tax receipts and total receipts both plunge, the economy is typically in recession. There were false signals in 1985 and 2003. There have also been recessions unconfirmed by plunging receipts so this is admittedly not the greatest of signals. But the tax data and the GDI data align.

Plus: “Of the 894,000 rise in employment in January, 810,000 was due to annual benchmark revisions. And the BLS does not say what months were revised, just poof, here you go. Again, we cannot, with strong confidence, suggest these reports portray an accurate picture of either jobs or employment.”

Washington can temporarily paper over a bad economy by printing money and spending it on do-nothing “infrastructure” and Green Nude Eel projects, but eventually the truth will out.

DID JESUS REALLY SAY HE WAS GOD? It’s a commonplace in many American campus classrooms that Jesus Christ never actually claimed to be God, that all that deity stuff was made up by the disciples after the crucifixion. You know, to keep the movement going, giving them something to do, an excuse to travel the Mediterranean, etc. etc.

J. Warner Wallace, the now-retired Los Angeles Police Detective who became famous on NBC’s “Dateline”  for solving decades old open murder cases, grew up an atheist but that changed mid-life and today he’s an extremely knowledgeable, articulate defender of the faith. He’s especially good in this video on HillFaith today in refuting the Mithras theft theory.

LEFTIST CONSTITUTIONAL LAW IS ABOUT WISH-FULFILLMENT: Criticism of Bruen basically just “But I don’t like it!”

WHY IS THE LEFT SUCH A CESSPIT OF ANTISEMITISM? Cardi B Tries to Compliment Her Jewish Lawyers But Messes It Up Badly.

Earlier today, American rapper Cardi B tweeted the following to her 31.4 million followers:

She has since deleted it.

What did she mean by the tweet? The clue is in her Instagram stories (where she has a whopping 168 million followers)[.]

It seems her Tweet was referring to the fact her lawyers – who are Jewish – helped get her cleared of wrongdoing for throwing a microphone at a fan. The words “Lawyer is a Jew he gon’ chew up all the charges” are part of her 2018 hit Bickenhead.

In other words, it seems the tweet was meant as a compliment, even though it plays into a particular stereotype of Jews as merciless lawyers.

However, at a time of rising hate crimes against Jews, especially religious Jews in the USA, the tweet could easily be misinterpreted. When I first saw it, I thought she was referring to the fact Jews have perpetrated [insert supposed crime].

An enterprising journalist could have a lot of fun with Karine Jean-Pierre asking her about Biden’s reaction to this.

Flashback: Joe Biden, President Of Cardi B(abylon). Biden gave Cardi B (whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar) an interview (of sorts) that was published by Elle magazine on the first day of the Democratic National Convention in August of 2020.

SOMEBODY SHOULD TELL JOE: California Gov. Gavin Newsom is clearly positioning himself for a run at the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination. Washington Free Beacon’s Susannah Luthi reports on Newsom’s deployment of his Campaign for Democracy PAC, using it to challenge “Red State authoritarians” like Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida.

Does Joe know? Is Jill ready to not be First Lady? Will Hunter be able to run the family business from jail? As they used to say, inquiring minds want to know.

DEAL OF THE DAY: Invicta Men’s Stainless Steel Pro Diver Quartz Watch. #CommissionEarned

OK, GROOMER: Canadian Professor Advocates for Showing Children Pictures of Genitals.

WHY I WENT INTO LAW INSTEAD OF MEDICINE: Do you Want to see What I Pulled out of my Body? The things people say in the ER.

MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE: In Oakland, the NAACP decries the harm caused by progressive crime policies.

Now, two years later, amid shocking levels of mayhem and murder, the local NAACP president and the city’s foremost Black pastor are pleading with city officials to open their eyes.

“African Americans are disproportionately hit the hardest by crime in East Oakland and other parts of the city,” they write. They are under no illusions about where the blame lies. It isn’t systemic racism or white privilege or out-of-control cops that have made Oakland so unsafe. It is the political assault on common-sense policing — the replacement of tried-and-true law enforcement practices with an ideology from which even lifelong liberals like former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis have recoiled.

“Failed leadership, including the movement to defund the police, our District Attorney’s unwillingness to charge and prosecute people who murder and commit life-threatening serious crimes, and the proliferation of anti-police rhetoric have created a heyday for Oakland criminals,” the NAACP letter declares. “If there are no consequences for committing crime in Oakland, crime will continue to soar.”

The district attorney they referred to is Pamela Price, who ran for office on a progressive platform of ending “mass incarceration,” rooting out “racial, socioeconomic, and gender disparities,” and downplaying the conviction of criminals when evaluating prosecutors’ job performance. Her response to the open letter was to accuse its authors of promoting “a false narrative on such an important matter.” She had thought, she said peevishly, that she could “expect more from Bishop Bob Jackson and the Oakland Chapter of the NAACP.”

Maybe the people of Oakland will listen to the NAACP and ditch Price. If not, they’ll keep getting it gooder and harder.

JULIETTE OCHIENG: Lucking Out: You and your cards.

PROF. JOHN M. KANG: Why The Actual Malice Test Should Be Eliminated.

UNEXPECTEDLY: Two US Navy sailors charged with providing sensitive military information to China.

Two U.S. Navy sailors were charged Thursday with providing sensitive military information to China — including details on wartime exercises, naval operations and critical technical material.

The two sailors, both based in California, were charged with similar moves to provide sensitive intelligence to the Chinese. But they were separate cases, and it wasn’t clear if the two were courted or paid by the same Chinese intelligence officer as part of a larger scheme. Federal officials at a news conference in San Diego declined to specify whether the sailors were aware of each other’s actions.

Both men pleaded not guilty in federal courts in San Diego and Los Angeles. They were ordered to be held until their detention hearings, which will take place Aug. 8 in those same cities.

U.S. officials have for years expressed concern about the espionage threat they say the Chinese government poses, bringing criminal cases in recent years against Beijing intelligence operatives who have stolen sensitive government and commercial information, including through illegal hacking.

Flashback: Treason? Resignation Calls Follow Report of General Milley’s Secret Calls to China.