MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: The IRS Just Made the Best Argument in Favor of a Shutdown.

ENDORSED: ‘We shouldn’t have them in our universities,’ DeSantis said when asked about China.

WHY WASHINGTON IS ‘AWASH IN CORRUPTION:’ Professor Jonathan Turley told yesterday’s first House Impeachment Inquiry hearing that the nation’s capital “is awash in corruption,” referring to the millions of dollars paid by nearly two dozen foreign entities to the Biden family’s influence-peddling enterprise specifically and more generally to the access selling that is such a familiar feature of the governing political culture. The indictment of Sen. Robert “Gold Bar” Menendez (D-N.J.) also comes to mind.

But the bigger point is made by Issue & Insights in the context of former First Lady Michelle Obama being paid “an obscenely large amount for a speech in Germany on diversity.” Obama received $741,000 for a 60-minute oration, or $12,350 per minute. And let’s not forget the continuing worldwide grifting of Bill and Hillary Clinton with their foundation.

That bigger point is this: “These are all variations on a theme. Call it bribery, or extortion, or abuse of power, or whatever you want. This is how Democrats get rich these days. They expand the size and power of the federal government, then sell access and favors to the highest bidders.”

Call it Grifter Government. But don’t call it government of, by and for the people.

TIME TO GET SERIOUS: The Service Academies: Either Toughen Them Back Up or Close Them Down. “The very fact that the Pentagon has an Office of Force Resiliency fretting about plebes getting yelled at tells you a lot about today’s US military.”

CHANGE: Taiwan unveils first domestically made submarine to help defend against possible Chinese attack.

“Even if there are risks, and no matter how many challenges there are, Taiwan must take this step and allow the self-reliant national defense policy to grow and flourish on our land,” Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen said at the unveiling ceremony.

The diesel-electric submarine, called “Haikun,” cost $1.5 billion and still needs to undergo further tests before it’s deployed. It will be handed over to the Taiwanese navy in 2024, CBS News partner network BBC News reported.

It is the first of eight submarines Taiwan plans to build, according to the Reuters news agency, and will join two others that were purchased from the Netherlands in the 1980s.

The Haikun will carry U.S.-made Mark 48 heavyweight torpedoes and use a combat system manufactured by U.S. defense industry giant Lockhead [sic] Martin.

It ought to pack a punch.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: A Most Perfect Comparison of Dem/Rep Differences Regarding the Border. “Who would know more about how secure the U.S./Mexican border is than a woman who lives in Massachusetts and works in Washington, D.C.? Next up, I’ll be speaking authoritatively on the fishing conditions in Newfoundland.”

WILL GAVIN NEWSOM APPOINT HIMSELF? Dianne Feinstein dead at 90: Five-term senator and oldest member of Congress dies. I mean, at one point he promised to appoint a black woman, but he could always just identify as one.

Or he could name Kamala to get her out of the way for a Biden replacement.

MY COURTROOM PREFERENCE IS “YOUR HONOR.” In 5-2 Vote, Michigan Becomes First State To Require Judges To Use Pronouns Preferences Of Lawyers And Parties.

CRISIS BY DESIGN: Watch: Illegal aliens fist bump Border Patrol agents who cut razor wire and let them in.

SAD: Young Chinese adults can’t find work. Now many have a new job description: ‘Full-time children.’

As China’s economy deteriorates and job opportunities dry up, the concept of becoming a professional son or daughter, which started circulating on a popular Chinese internet forum in December, has taken off.

“Increasingly, when young people look around, there is almost no one they can rely on except their parents,” said Yunxiang Yan, a UCLA anthropology professor, noting that bonds have been strengthening between parents and children as family sizes shrink.

“It’s more complicated than an economic downturn, but the economic downturn is definitely the trigger,” Yan said.

It’s unclear how many people are taking part in the “full time children” phenomenon, though it’s become a prevalent and divisive topic online, with related hashtags receiving more than 40 million views on China’s Instagram-like app Xiaohongshu.

That this is happening while China’s working-age population is already shrinking makes China’s official figures about economic growth even more difficult to believe.

ADVICE ON MASCULINITY FROM THE NYT. LOL. NYT ‘Fearless’ Writer Advises Men To Ditch Masculinity. But That’s Why So Many Men Are Depressed.

I feel like taking masculinity advice from the NYT is a good way to get the “bristle reaction.”

COME TO THINK OF IT, “IVY LEAGUE” WOULD BE A PRETTY GOOD DRAG NAME: For Just $83,140, Princeton Will Train Your Son to Be a Drag Queen.

ERASURE: Democrat Katie Porter Says Republican Women Don’t Count as Women.

Like all the other identity politics, it’s all just a shill job for voting Democrat.

LIGHTNING DEAL: CS CELERSPORT 6 Pack Men’s Running Ankle Socks. #CommissionEarned

THE NEW SPACE RACE: SpaceX wins first Pentagon contract for Starshield, its satellite network for military use.

The Pentagon has awarded Elon Musk’s SpaceX its first confirmed contract for the Starshield network it’s developing, a military-specific version of the company’s Starlink satellite internet system, the defense agency said Wednesday.

A Space Force spokesperson confirmed that SpaceX on Sept. 1 was awarded a one-year contract for Starshield with a maximum value of $70 million. The award came alongside 18 other companies through a program run by the Space Force’s commercial satellite communications office.

“The SpaceX contract provides for Starshield end-to-end service (via the Starlink constellation), user terminals, ancillary equipment, network management and other related services,” Space Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek told CNBC.

It’s impossible to overstate the importance of maintaining internet communications in a major war, hopefully while denying it to the other side. So far, China has nothing like Starlink.

21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: The Modality of Monogamy: “After running last week’s abortion regressions, I looked at the General Social Survey’s histograms for reported numbers of sexual partners. They’re weird.”

AND IT WAS LUCRATIVE: A left-wing take on the fall of Ibram Kendi: He gave white liberals what they wanted.

SAY ANYTHING: Squad Member Rep. Pressley: ‘No Doubt About It. Our Border is Secure.’

CHANGE: Desire for large families hits 50-year high in America: Gallup.