GOOD: West Texas A&M University receives $20 million gift for new institute to promote “Texas Panhandle values:” University leaders say the new Hill Institute will promote values like family life, the free and open exercise of faith, and rugged individualism. The lefties at the Texas Tribune seem unhappy about it.

FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY: The Villages’ 77-Year-Old Viagra Smuggler. “It’s your much-needed break from the serious news, and this week we have a riding mower that doubles as a brewpub, a flawless T.J. Hooker impersonation, and a tale from Atlanta too wild to believe.”

BUT THEY MAKE IT UP IN VOLUME: Rivian Loses a Huge Amount on Every Vehicle It Sells.

SURE. THEY AREN’T THAT MUCH MORE ARTIFICIAL THAN SONGS WRITTEN BY COMMITTEE TO BE PLAYED BY COMPUTERS AND SUNG WITH THE HELP OF AUTOTUNE: Can AI popstars make it in the real world?

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

HMM: Tesla slashes prices of Model 3, Models Y vehicles in U.S. “The carmaker missed market estimates for third-quarter deliveries earlier this week after planned upgrades at its factories to roll out the newer version of the Model 3 mass-market sedan forced production halts.”

YOU’RE SAFE UNLESS IT’S AN ELECTION YEAR: Do I need to worry about Disease X? Here’s what experts say about the threat posed by unknown future pandemics.

HE JUST NEEDS TO APPEAR TO BE DOING SOMETHING LONG ENOUGH TO APPEASE ANGRY BLUE CITY VOTERS: Mexican President Calls Biden’s Border Wall a Publicity Stunt.

COVID IS OVER: The CDC has stopped printing COVID vaccine cards. Here’s what to do with your old one.

CHRISTIAN TOTO: Bill Burr Predicts a ‘Revolt’ Against Cancel Culture. “Burr doesn’t actively define his political views, but if you listen to his stand-up routines and podcast it’s likely he’s a center-Left soul. He still understands how nefarious Cancel Culture can be and its impact on free expression.”

FASTER, PLEASE: ‘Bioprinted’ skin shows promise for treating severe burns, wounds.

WELL, THAT DIDN’T TAKE LONG: Disney Promises to Tone Down the Woke, Then Signs Race Huckster Ibram X. Kendi for ESPN Series on Racism in Sports.

YOU HAVE TO WEIGH THOSE AGAINST THE BENEFITS OF LOSING WEIGHT, OF COURSE: Study confirms risk of gastrointestinal side effects of Wegovy, Ozempic.

SHOCKING NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF SCIENCE: Less-educated Americans may have higher risk for overdose deaths.

BLUE CITY BLUES:

As if San Francisco wasn't dangerous enough, SFPD is experiencing an "unprecedented" staffing crisis. More than 700 officer jobs are currently empty, representing 32.4% of its intended size.

Another 350 officers are already eligible for full retirement.

Between recruitment… pic.twitter.com/kAfesfqm5D

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) October 5, 2023

As I wrote in 2020, the Left doesn’t actually have to defund the police to achieve their goal of low- or no-policing. It’s enough just to demoralize the police.

21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: Men Are Cheating With AI Instagram Bots, Because Men: The trend has prompted an ongoing conversation about what constitutes infidelity in the digital age.

You can’t cheat with a bot, sorry. Whatever it is, it’s not “cheating.” But note the casual men-are-pigs “because men” slur, utterly acceptable at the woke Rolling Stone. Also note that if women were “cheating” on men with bots, the message would be that men need to raise their game, not that women are pigs. Also note the girlfriend who says he has “trust issues” with the relationship due to the bot, which she discovered by going through her boyfriend’s phone without his permission.

KRUISER: Opportunity Knocks: GOP Can Opt to Turn House Fight Into a 2024 Crucible.

MARK PULLIAM: Commentary: ‘The Swamp’ is everywhere — even in Republican Tennessee.

ROB HENDERSON: Two Murders — and the Cost of Luxury Beliefs.

Luxury beliefs can stem from malice, good intentions, or outright naivete.

But the individuals who hold those beliefs, the people who wield the most influence in policy and culture, are often sheltered when their preferences are implemented.

Some online commenters have said that my luxury beliefs thesis is undermined by these tragic events, because the victims were affluent and influential—and they still suffered the consequences of their beliefs.

But the fact remains that poor people are far more likely to be victims of violent crime. For every upper-middle-class person killed, 20 poor people you never hear about are assaulted and murdered. You just never hear about them. They don’t get identified by name in the media. Their stories don’t get told.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the poorest Americans are seven times more likely to be victims of robbery, seven times more likely to be victims of aggravated assault, and twenty times more likely to be victims of sexual assault than Americans who earn more than $75,000. One 2004 study found that people in areas where over 20 percent of inhabitants live in poverty are more than 100 times more likely to be murdered than people in areas where less than 10 percent of residents live in poverty.

Expressing a luxury belief is a manifestation of cultural capital, a signal of one’s fortunate economic circumstances.

Right up until it isn’t.

And do read the whole thing.

AND THEY ARE NOT SPECTACULAR: Yes, Dead Voters Are Real.

READER BOOK PLUG: Stephen Krueger’s Law Future. #CommissionEarned.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: SpaceX’s Starship has ‘decent chance’ of success on upcoming flight, Elon Musk says.

Flight 2, as Musk calls the upcoming Starship launch, will include key changes SpaceX recently implemented to Starship. For example: The company aims to “hot stage” the system, meaning that Starship will light its second-stage engines before the vehicle’s two stages have fully separated.

While the Soviet Union made use of hot staging before, Musk said it’s the first time SpaceX will attempt it. “I’d say that’s the riskiest part of the flight,” he said. “If the engines light and the ship doesn’t blow itself up during staging, then I think we’ve got a decent chance of reaching orbit.”

Presuming that happens according to plan, Starship will make less than a complete orbit of Earth and splash down in the Pacific off the coast of Hawaii, he said. The next key test in-flight will be the heat shield, so far untested.

“We think it will work, but we aren’t sure if it will work,” Musk said of the heat shield. “So if it doesn’t work, we want it to not work over the Pacific — which is a large body of water with almost no people on it.”

But: “While SpaceX said it has implemented all 57 actions required for the next flight and completed its investigation, the FAA has not yet awarded a license for the second launch.”

HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT YIELDS DESIRED RESULTS: Center-right law professors ‘have had enough,’ leaving academia for other opportunities.

If I were to leave under these circumstances, I’d explain exactly why and encourage alumni not to donate. And at a state school, I’d communicate that to the legislature, too. Don’t give them what they want for free.

THE PRESIDENT WHO IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE SAID THAT THE CHIEF JUSTICE “HAS HIS OPINION, NOW LET HIM ENFORCE IT” WAS ALSO A DEMOCRAT: A Threat to Democracy? Biden Defies the Supreme Court Again.

ADMINISTRATIVE HARASSMENT, CREATING A HOSTILE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT: University creates administrative nightmare with exorbitant security fees for Riley Gaines event, students claim.