READER FAVORITE: LEGO Creator Expert NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander 10266 Building Toy. #CommissionEarned (Bumped)

EVERYONE NEEDS A HOBBY: Building Your Own Home Defense AR-15: Building your own AR-15-pattern rifle is an excellent way to learn your rifle thoroughly while getting exactly what you want as a finished product.

WHY’S THE BEER GONE? Craft Distilleries Fight for Survival Amid Crushing Regulations.

Things are far from hunky-dory in the world of craft distilling. The COVID-19 pandemic unsurprisingly knocked the industry back on its heels, as distillers were forced to close for a time, delay or cancel expansion plans, and furlough large swaths of their work force. Many also nobly transitioned to making hand sanitizer to help with the national shortage, and for their sacrifice, they received years of harassment from the Food and Drug Administration.

Like a boxer staggering in the ring, the craft distillery industry at first appeared to weather the blow—and even continue growing—post-COVID. Now it faces another potential knockout. Not only are alcohol sales declining generally in America as younger generations show increased interest in low-alcohol and nonalcoholic drinks, but the growth rate in the number of craft distilleries fell to 2.4 percent in 2023—down from over 17 percent growth the year prior.

While some blame market saturation for the sudden shift, a closer look reveals burdensome laws and regulations are the predominant culprits.

Read the whole thing.

CAITLIN CLARK FOUL: Is the Indiana Fever Even a Team?

UPDATE (FROM GLENN):

I have never seen a group of people so determined to give up chartered jets to fly Spirit Airlines again https://t.co/fD9tbNMz18

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) June 1, 2024

LIMITED TIME DEAL: NEIKO 04204A Hex-Head Multispline Screw and Bolt Extractor Set. #CommissionEarned

MAYBE I’LL TRUST AI WHEN IT STOPS MAKING STUFF UP:

“AI-based news is the future.”

Meanwhile, Bloomberg this morning: pic.twitter.com/94hlLU5dVy

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) June 3, 2024

Plus: The NYSE publishes this update stating they are investigating a “technical issue” which sent many stocks down 99%+.

Maybe Skynet is trying to crash the markets as part of its takeover plan.

THE NATIVE AMERICANS HAD TO GO, FOR THE SAKE OF THE PLANET: Carbon dioxide dropped after colonial contact wiped out Native Americans.

STARLINER: Is This Thing Cursed?

FOLLOW THE MONEY AND YOU’LL FIND THE SCIENCE: Study shows most doctors endorsing drugs on X are paid to do so.

SELF-CHECKOUT IS A HIGH-TRUST CULTURE PRIVILEGE: Dollar General to eliminate ‘vast majority’ of self-checkout, reduce new store openings. “In addition to cutting self-checkouts, Vasos said the company’s supply chain teams are also addressing shrink on other fronts that include ensuring deliveries are on time and made in full. He said Dollar General is also focusing on delivering a more consistent front end staffing presence and removing high-shrink SKUs.”

WHEN YOU RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, SOMETIMES IT RAGES BACK: Off with the keffiyeh, on with the job search: Employers ‘resist’ hiring activists.

STEPHEN KRUISER: Let’s Take a Break From Despair and Be Irritated About Pride Month Today.

On Sunday afternoon, a friend reminded me that it is now the secular holy month of Pride, which I had managed to not think of until that point. Yeah, I hadn’t gone anywhere near the news or social media for a couple of days. I immediately thought, “Hey, let’s kick off the week with some annual Pride Month lamentation!”

Even the slightest variations on an “end of the Republic” theme can save what’s left of one’s sanity.

Here is a tale from last year’s Alphabet Mafia celebration that Catherine wrote about over the weekend:

It’s June, the month LGBTQ loonies have aggressively and egregiously claimed as their own, but even before the Pride flags unfurled last year, a California fire department lifeguard found himself in trouble for saying the flag did not accord with his Christian beliefs.

Last year, the LA County Board of Supervisors made it mandatory for county facilities to fly the Progress Pride flag throughout the month of June. The Los Angeles County Fire Department originally gave Capt. Jeffrey Little his requested religious exemption from personally putting up the flag, Fox News noted, but the exemption was later revoked and he was told his religious beliefs “do not matter”. Little later lost his investigation unit position and had to use vacation time to avoid being forced to put up the flag. This year, his religious exemption requests were simply ignored. Now he’s suing.

Good for him. It’s absolutely insane that people aren’t allowed to say “Christmas” at a public school, but a government entity can force an employee to worship its secular quasi-religion.

This is where everything goes awry for people like me. The heavy-handed “you will be made to care” approach by the militant LGBTQ+ mob provokes a rebound reaction. I’m all about live and let live, but around the 500th forced rainbow sighting of June — I think we’re already there this year — I’m more than a little irritated with the whole thing.

As are some on the left: Pride Marchers Face Off With Pro-Palestine Protesters After They Block Parade Route.

Pride parade marchers in Philadelphia Sunday were seen facing off with a group of pro-Palestine protesters after they blocked the parade route from moving forward, video shows.

From the comments: “They’re both fighting for top billing in the victimology hierarchy.”

This is also the time of the year when many notice that the Middle East itself appears exempt from most corporations’ Pride pandering:

MORE PROOF THAT THEY ARE IDIOTS AT THE WASHINGTON POST: The good professor highlighted Ann Althouse’ posting here on Jennifer Rubin’s idiocy w/r/t the Trump Verdict.

Rubin, like so many, don’t have the brains (or law degree) to understand WTF they are talking about. In fact, publishers survive largely because the concept of independent appellate review in certain cases allows a “do over” in the appellate process, even holding the authority to review — and potentially reverse –a jury verdict. For a good walk-through example, see Harte-Hanks Communs. v. Connaughton, 491 U.S. 657 (1989). From the syllabus:

“The evidence contained in the record reveals that the jury should have found the defendant liable, since multiple witnesses refuted the allegation published in the newspaper, and the newspaper failed to consult Connaughton’s own testimony or the evidence of other key witnesses. While the appellate court reached the proper conclusion, Stevens felt the need to remind courts in this situation to examine the record more carefully in the future.”

The creator of this meme should include journalists and editorialists.

WELL, GOOD: Cancer patients often do better with less intensive treatment, new research finds.

HMM: Dershowitz Suggests a Possible Legal Lifeline for Trump.

SAFETY FIRST: Medlines recalls 1.5M adult bed rails after 2 die by asphyxiation.

IT’S ALL JUST ANOTHER CASE OF HISTORY REPEATING, I GUESS: Hunter Biden’s Trial May Hinge on What the Meaning of ‘Is’ Is.

YOU CAN’T QUESTION A JURY VERDICT, OR AN ELECTION, WHEN IT GOES THE DEMOCRATS’ WAY: And note the phrase “jury denial.” It’s like “election denial.”

It’s funny that Democrats have appropriated that “X denial” phrase from “Holocaust denial,” even as Democrats are, you know, busy cozying up to actual Holocaust deniers.

BIDENFLATION: Spotify Hikes Prices of Premium Plans Again as Streaming Inflation Continues. “Streaming services, both audio and video, have been aggressively raising prices over the past year. While historically many services have gone a couple of years in between price hikes, the move by Spotify suggests that companies may be more aggressive in 2024 when it comes to charging more.”