ALL THE WORRY ABOUT “RACISM” IS MEANT TO DISTRACT FROM FAILED SCHOOLS:

Children’s reading, maths & science skills in Wales just slumped to their lowest ever level, lower than other OECD nations. Maybe Wales should focus on that rather than worrying if its libraries are “anti-racist?”https://t.co/liUeIhMiRY

— Matt Goodwin (@GoodwinMJ) August 20, 2024

The distraction is no different here than it is in Wales.

HMM: Preclinical study shows potential of Manuka honey as a nutraceutical for breast cancer.

A CHEER FOR PHIL DONAHUE: “What is remarkable is not so much that Donahue would host Friedman for an entire show, but that he would let Milton finish his answer. He didn’t interrupt of heckle or demagogue his guest. In fact he is courteous and polite to Friedman throughout. Perhaps Donahue knew he was overmatched, but regardless it is unthinkable that The View or MSNBC or any other news outlet today would let a guest go on for as long as Donahue does in this clip.”

MORE THAN DOUBLE THE US RATE, TOO: This Genteel Country Is Now the Rape Capital of Europe. “The rate of increase is staggering, too. Reported rapes are up 63% in just five years.”

THEY’RE BREAKING OUR DOORS DOWN: University of Tennessee in 2024 once again welcomes a record-breaking number of students.

And not in dumb pro-terrorist riots like at Columbia or Harvard.

WELL: RFK Jr. Could Quit Race and Back Trump, Running Mate Says.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, said the two might drop their independent bid for president and join with Donald Trump to block Kamala Harris from becoming president.

Speaking on the Impact Theory podcast published on Tuesday, Shanahan accused Democrats of blocking their independent bid from ballot access through lawsuits, forcing the campaign to spend thousands of dollars on legal fees. The DNC and groups aligned with the party have been part of some lawsuits, including one in New York where a judge found Kennedy wasn’t a legal resident of New York. The campaign is appealing.

“There’s two options that we’re looking at and one is staying in, forming that new party, but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris and Walz presidency because we draw more votes from Trump,” she said. “Or we walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump and explain to our base why we’re making this decision.”

Kennedy has denied reports that he has discussed with Trump the possibility of endorsing the Republican in exchange for an administration position. The two met in July ahead of the Republican National Convention.

This would be deserved blowback from the Dems’ lawfare campaign against Kennedy.

PARTY OF HATE AND DISCRIMINATION: Chicago Democrats let anti-Israel protesters march, but block pro-Israel Jews during DNC.

LAWRENCE PERSON: DNC Riot Season Begins. “Another sign of the fun and games in store for Chicago? Someone has been delivering pallets of bricks to various locations in Chicago.”

And congratulations, if that’s the word, to Lawrence for his Grand Prize in this year’s Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest.

MICROBIOME NEWS: Human gut might be source of powerful new antibiotics.

Here’s the article, in Cell.

DON’T GET COCKY: Obama Advisor Just Crushed Democrats’ Dreams About the Election. “If the election were today, I’m not sure who would win, and I think it may well be President Trump because it’s an Electoral College fight.”

Lightning Deal: Amazon Brand – Solimo Dark Roast Coffee Pods.. #CommissionEarned

PERHAPS ALLOWING THE ENEMIES OF OUR CIVILIZATION TO EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN WAS A MISTAKE:

A troubling thread on the trend toward human utilitarianism as we increasingly equate value with contribution. Beware of this. When ppl stop believing they’re a reflection of a creator, they don’t see any reason why human beings should matter. Dangerous stuff. https://t.co/BrnqLofNcP

— Elizabeth Scalia (@TheAnchoress) August 19, 2024

Of course, the “public health” field has long attracted authoritarians and worse.

PROGRESS:

BREAKING!🚨 Georgia State Election Board votes 3-2 to approve new rule REQUIRING the reconciliation of the total number of votes with the total number of unique voter ID numbers.

They’re also required to investigate any discrepancies BEFORE certification and report facts of… pic.twitter.com/0srtfjq33w

— True the Vote (@TrueTheVote) August 19, 2024

More like this, please.

MARK JUDGE: Being human in a digitally disembodied world.

I’ve written about this.

A UNITER, NOT A DIVIDER!

"If Donald Trump gets back into the White House, he's going to fire civil servants, like intelligence officers…and even federal prosecutors…!"

Trump couldn't buy a better campaign ad than this! 😂pic.twitter.com/QyGqWxqNYN

— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) August 20, 2024

GOOD QUESTION: What Did the CCP Get in Return for Helping to Fund Tim Walz’s China Travel Business?

THE NEW SPACE RACE: SpaceX’s Polaris crew set for first private spacewalking mission next week.

A four-person crew for SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission arrived in Florida on Monday ahead of their Aug. 26 launch to space for a mission that includes the first privately managed spacewalk, a risky endeavor only government astronauts have done in the past.

The crew – a billionaire entrepreneur, a retired military fighter pilot and two SpaceX employees – neared the end of more than two years of training for the mission, in which they will venture out of their Crew Dragon capsule in Earth’s orbit for a tethered spacewalk.

The mission will be a major first test of SpaceX’s new astronaut spacesuits and marks the latest risky, high-stakes commercial milestone that Elon Musk’s space company is looking to clinch on the billionaire’s path to eventually building colonies on Mars.

“Whatever risk associated with it, it is worth it,” said mission commander Jared Isaacman, the CEO of electronic payment company Shift4 who is also the head of the SpaceX-affiliated Polaris program.

Godspeed…

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: My Fondless Farewell to the Worst Human Being to Serve as President.

Fox News’ Chris Wallace summed it up best: “The word that everybody is using to describe tonight is bittersweet. It’s just bitter.”

Well, good.

Biden’s economic record includes the worst bout of inflation in almost 50 years, a seemingly permanent jobs recession, and an explosion of spending, debt, and regulation meant to hobble this country for generations. His foreign policy of coddling authoritarians and dictators while running roughshod over our allies has unleashed war from Eastern Europe through the Middle East to the Red Sea — and the Pacific isn’t looking too great, either.

There’s more but I don’t want to talk about his awful record. I want to talk about the awful human being.

Much more at the link.

READER FAVORITE: BALEAF Men’s Sun Protection Shirts UV SPF UPF 50+. #CommissionEarned

DISPATCHES FROM AL-BRITANNIA:

“Operation Orwell” more like it https://t.co/JQWpEtn37v

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 19, 2024

THE NO-LONGER READY FOR PRIMETIME PLAYER: The Accidental President Shuffles Off the Stage.

It was less a roar than a long series of shouts, a reheated collection of his greatest hits from the period since he reemerged as a presidential candidate in 2019. Biden pointed, hectored, bellowed, and glared. The president had been done dirty by his own party and the convention organizers, and he wasn’t interested in hiding his peevish mood.

“You can’t love your country only when you win.” “There’s no place for political violence in America! “We finally beat big Pharma!” “[Trump] never built a damn thing!” “Great jobs, right here in America! With every new job and new factory, pride and hope are returning to America’s communities!” “Wall Street didn’t build America! The middle class built America! And unions built the middle class!” “‘Suckers and losers!’ Who does he think he is? Who does he think he is?” “We just have to remember who we are! We’re the United States of America, and there’s nothing we cannot do when we do it together!” *

Our Noah Rothman noticed that a lot of Biden’s rhetoric was recycled from his “remarks about the continued battle for the soul of the nation” at Independence Hall in September 2022. Other parts felt recycled from this year’s State of the Union Address.

Perhaps the most significant line was one that was ad-libbed: “Those protesters out in the street, they’ve got a point.”

In one final, absurdly shameless insult from his party, Biden took the stage at 11:26 p.m. Eastern time, pushed out of the prime-time window by an inordinately long list of can’t-miss Democratic Party all-stars like Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo, childhood friends of Kamala Harris Stacey Johnson-Batiste and Doris Johnson, Maryland representative Jamie Raskin, Texas representative Jasmine Crockett, Kentucky governor Andy Beshear, Georgia senator Raphael Warnock, and Delaware senator Chris Coons, before we got to Biden’s wife Jill and daughter Ashley.

Now, West Coasters might be shrugging, but there was a time when finishing by 11 p.m. Eastern was important for the local news and, after that, The Tonight Show. And even today, all other things being equal, you would rather that audiences in the Eastern time zone — you know, in states like Pennsylvania and Michigan and Georgia and North Carolina — could watch your best featured speakers.

The not-so-subtle signal was that Democrats didn’t want anyone to watch Joe Biden’s speech live. And it’s hard to begrudge them that trepidation, as his last appearance in prime time was such an unmitigated disaster that it led to him quitting the race.

I’m sure Joe’s late speech was merely a coincidence; a victim of bad planning and long-running speeches throughout the day. I mean, just ask Nancy what happened to John Gill: Pelosi Admits She Put Old Joe Out to Pasture When He Was No Longer Useful.

* And: Biden Repeats the ‘Very Fine People’ Line in His ‘Hero’s Goodbye.’

Which seems like an odd thing to bring up, given that (a) the smear against Trump has been debunked by Snopes, and (b) referencing it yet again reminds people that it’s Charlottesvilles all the way down in Joe Biden’s America:

Related: Daniel Greenfield on [INSERT SCARY MUSIC HERE] The Night of the Living Democrat Dead.

UPDATE:

An actual “very fine people on both sides” moment after giving a lecture about Charlottesville. https://t.co/WMSzLWcJee

— AG (@AGHamilton29) August 20, 2024

SEGREGATION NOW, SEGREGATION TOMORROW, SEGREGATION FOREVER: U. Illinois has 42 ‘illegal’ race, sex-based scholarships: federal complaint.

SPRINGTIME FOR CANDACE: At this Point, Candace Owens Should Grow Out the Rest of Her Mustache. “In less than a decade, she’s gone from the left to the right, and then to the Reich.”

EASY CALL: THIS WILL DO NOTHING TO STEM THE CHURCH’S LONGTERM DECLINE: The Church of England No Longer Identifies as a Church.

IT’S A BIG CLUB AND YOU AIN’T IN IT: Jeffrey Carter: Not “Elite” But “The Connected Class.”

Classical reference in headline.