SAD NEWS FOR ANCHOR STEAM: America’s First Craft Brewery To Close After 127 Years. “The San Francisco-based brewery informed its 61 employees of the closure Wednesday morning, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The company has already ceased brewing production at its Potrero Hill factory, but its taproom, Anchor Public Taps, will stay open until at least Aug. 1. In a statement, Anchor spokesperson Sam Singer said the company was losing millions of dollars a year.”

A “controversial rebrand” was part of the problem. What is it with beer companies and rebranding?

COVERUP: Biden State Department Blocks Congressional Investigation into Scandal-Plagued Iran Envoy.

ONLY EASY TESTS CAN BE ANTI-RACIST: NextGen Bar Exam Multiple Choice Questions Only Require Takers To Spot Issues, And Not Apply the Rules. “That background brings me to the NextGen bar exam. I have written about this new formulation of the multistate bar exam, which will launch in some states in 2026. Justice Jay Mitchell of the Alabama Supreme Court already expressed a concern that the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) is placing DEI concerns over competence. (Critics contend that the bar exam is racist, and should be eliminated). I have another concern, which may be related–the NCBE seems to be making the exam substantially easier.”

Plus: “I, for one, do not plan to change how I teach for this exam. And state supreme court justices should take a very long pause before adopting this new exam.”

HEY, WHEN DID FOX BUTTERFIELD JOIN CNN? California has spent billions to fight homelessness. The problem has gotten worse.

CNN is far from the first outlet to Butterfield homelessness in California. In December of 2009, SF Weekly had this classic Fox Butterfield-esque line: “Despite its spending more money per capita on homelessness than any comparable city, [San Francisco’s] homeless problem is worse than any comparable city’s.”

Funny how that keeps happening when spending goes through the roof on homelessness or the unhoused, or whatever the Orwellian term du jour is this week.

IT’S A MYSTERY, WRAPPED IN AN ENIGMA: Journalist claims to be unable to figure out what funds designated for a Christmas party were for:

HMM: Google hit with lawsuit over new AI data scraping privacy policy. “The class-action lawsuit was filed on July 11 by eight individuals who claim to represent ‘millions of class members’ — internet users and copyright holders — who have had their privacy and property rights violated in light of Google’s recent updates to its privacy policy.”

SO AS I REMARKED THE OTHER DAY, THE STORY ABOUT JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR USING STAFF TO HAWK HER BOOKS seemed like thin gruel. But a friend reminds me of the underlying book scandal:

Sonia Sotomayor took $3.6 million from Penguin Random House publishing when the company did have business before the court, and declined to recuse herself.

In addition to the $3.6 million advance (which Penguin Random House lost money on), the Daily Wire found that Sotomayor received payments from the company annually from 2017 to 2021, totaling over $500,000. In 2013, she voted in a decision regarding a case involving Random House despite then-fellow Justice Stephen Breyer recusing himself after receiving money from the publisher. In 2020, Sotomayor received a $10,586 check from Penguin Random House on the same day a lawsuit against the publisher appeared before the Supreme Court. The Court voted not to hear the case in February 2020, and Sotomayor received her largest-ever payment from the publisher in May of that year.

While the media has been busy attacking conservative justices for supposed financial misconduct, including failure to disclose free travel, it turns out that Justice Sotomayor herself failed to disclose six trips funded by outside groups in 2016—without being targeted by the media or enduring the wrath of outraged Democrats.

Well, none of this has anything to do with actual ethics. As usual, we are being lectured on ethics by scoundrels.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Nixon said ‘I am not a crook.’ By Biden standards, he probably wasn’t.

By Biden standards, Al Capone wasn’t much of a crook. If they treated him like Hunter he’d have gotten a couple of misdemeanor charges and no prison time.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? The CDC takes the transgender experiment to a new level.

THIS IS NOT QUITE THE APOLOGY BOYCOTTERS WERE EXPECTING: Anheuser-Busch: Buy Bud Light, or We’ll Fire Some Idiot Peasants Like You.

If AB-InBev were actively trying to sabotage their (formerly) most popular brand, what would they do any differently?

And Kira Davis reports in from southern California, which isn’t exactly overrun with conservatives: “They’re not even selling Bud Light at my local Costco anymore. Don’t know when it stopped but I’ve noticed it’s not in stock anymore.”

DAY 7 OF 15 STILL RUNNING BLOG FUNDING:  GiveSendGo (no incentives allowed) To donate to Give Send Go: Link Here.

Two novels being serialized in substack, update on Witch’s Daughter tomorrow (surgery threw everything off): to subscribe to Chapter House, the link is: Here.

And for odd quirky stuff, a lot of it about my cats: to donate on Patreon, please: Go here.

For snail mail address for cash, checks, gold, cat toys:  Link to the funding post.  There’s some ornithology going on.

BUT OUR PRONOUNS ARE FIRST-RATE: No, Our SSN’s are not Ready for a Great Pacific War.

Biden knows that — well, his administration does — but figures it doesn’t matter because they plan to capitulate anyway. An inadequate Navy just provides cover for the capitulation.

THIS ONE IS INESCAPABLE:  Paying the Slacker Tax.

IF YOU MAKE THINGS NO ONE WANTS TO BUY, PEOPLE DON’T BUY THEM:  Unsold Electric Vehicles Piling Up in Car Dealerships.

WHY? AFRAID BEFEHL IST BEFEHL WON’T WORK? NIH Scientists Struggle to Explain Emails on “Disproving” and “Refuting” Lab Leak Theory.

WHICH CONSIDERING WHICH WAY WE’RE HEADED…  Number of Illegals Coming to U.S. From El Salvador Down 50% Amid Nation’s Major Decline in Crime, Violence.

BEHOLD, MY SHOCKED FACE:  Hunter Biden’s Chinese Partners Recruited Former CIA Director To Do China’s Bidding.

OTHER PEOPLE WONDER WHAT TUCKER WAS THINKING:  Women Who Want Abortions and How Men Control Them.

DISBAND AND SALT THE EARTH:  Wray: FBI Shouldn’t Have Investigated Parents.

GOOD:  Real pushback: Montana’s library withdraws from ALA because it elected a Marxist/Queer leader.

SO, I HAVE A MODEST QUESTION: WHO ELECTED THE EPA? WHAT BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT ARE THEY, IN THE CONSTITUTION?  EPA Issues Final Rule Limiting Hydrofluorocarbons Used in Air Conditioners and Refrigerators.

It’s time to stop pretending these people are authorities.

NAH, BRO. FRAUD. HE’LL GET 400 MILLION VOTES. TOTALLY LEGIT:  ‘His Age is Going to be a Factor’: Mika Brzezinski Criticizes WH for Videos of Biden Falling.

WELL, HE’S MAD BECAUSE HE WAS STUPID. BUT “NO LABELS” IS A COMMIE FRONT. OH, WAIT. HE’S STUPID:  Joe Manchin Headed to NH With Third Party Group ‘No Labels’ as Democrats Scramble to Shut Them Down.

SO, WHY WOULD YOU SOW DESPONDENCY AND FEAR AGAIN? Mind Virus.

DUH:  Fourth Circuit Asked To Reinstate West Virginia “Save Women’s Sports Act” After Evidence Biological Boy “displaced over 100 different girls in competitive rankings”.