RIP: Donald Sutherland, ‘M*A*S*H’ and ‘Hunger Games’ star, dead at 88.

THE EV BUBBLE IS DEFLATING: Why Americans aren’t buying more EVs.

OUT: “DEFUND THE POLICE.”

IN: Seattle police aim to fix staffing crisis by hiring ‘dreamers’ as Biden gives mass amnesty, work permits.

HACK GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE UNION ENDORSES HACK GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE: EPA’s largest union endorses Biden for president.

DON’T GET COCKY: ‘It’s Like It Was Written By a Committee of Chat GPTS’: Biden Ad Campaign’s Epic Fail.

COLOR ME UNSURPRISED: Study: Heavy strength training at retirement age helps keep you mobile.

GREAT SHOE FOR WALKING OR RUNNING: ASICS Women’s GEL-NIMBUS 26 Running Shoe. You can get the men’s version here. #CommissionEarned I bought a pair of these in black and the pale mint and they are excellent. The toebox is roomy if you need that and there is a lot of cushion.

XI’S GOTTA HAVE IT: ‘Only Pirates Do This’: China Wields Axes and Knives in South China Sea Fight.

The Chinese coast guard came in small boats with axes, long knives and spears.

They used the crude weapons to slash and puncture the Philippine military’s rubber craft. One Chinese boat rammed a Philippine boat at high speed, severing the thumb of a Filipino seaman who was holding on to the side of his ride.

During Monday’s frantic events in the South China Sea, the Chinese coast guard crew also boarded a Philippine boat, smashed its outboard motor and communications equipment, and grabbed the Filipino crew’s cellphones. They seized seven disassembled rifles that were packed in cases for delivery to a Philippine outpost, the Philippine military said.

“Only pirates do this,” said Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., the Philippine military’s chief of staff. “Only pirates board, steal, and destroy ships, equipment and belongings.”

The incident, described by the Philippine armed forces, marked a sharp escalation in China’s use of forceful tactics and intimidation against a U.S. ally in the South China Sea. Its coast guard had never wielded bladed weapons and spears in its previous sea confrontations with the Philippines.

There’s hardly anyone around able to push back, so of course, they escalated.

CHANGE: Banks, Law and Consulting Firms Are Watering Down Their Diversity Recruiting Programs.

White-collar companies that once championed programs to recruit diverse employees are now tiptoeing away from them.

PricewaterhouseCoopers and JPMorgan Chase are among those that recently removed or altered descriptions of their programs for underrepresented students. The shift came after an “anti-woke” movement took aim at U.S. companies and a Supreme Court decision overturned affirmative action in college admissions.

Employers’ embrace of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives peaked in 2021, sparked by the death of George Floyd and the height of the Black Lives Matter movement a year earlier. In the years since, access to diversity programs has been slowly declining, a Glassdoor study in April found.

Howell Raines, who had the famous Freudian Slip in 2001 that the New York Times’ hiring campaign “has made our staff better and, more importantly, more diverse,” won’t like this news at all.

HOME VR TRAINING: ACE Virtual Shooting.

AMERICA’S PRAETORIAN GUARD: Secret Service Says They Destroyed a Tape of Biden’s Dog Splattering Agent’s Blood at the White House.

ERIC COWPERTHWAITE: Strong People Are Hard To Kill: Or Why Am I Killing Myself In The Gym Every Day?

FRAUD, BULLYING, INTIMIDATION:

This is where we are now: The Biden Administration sent two FBI agents to intimidate a nurse who told the truth about the child sex-change program at Texas Children's Hospital. The regime is mobilizing to threaten and imprison anyone who opposes "transgender medicine." pic.twitter.com/XbtZVnp5Kw

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) June 18, 2024

Full story here.

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER DELAY: Is Boeing’s Cursed Starliner Going to Be Marooned Up There?

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: Lawmaker says watchdog’s report on FDA handling of infant formula crisis confirms panel’s findings.

The report by the Inspector General of the Health and Human Services Department comes two years after the FDA’s investigation into the Abbott baby formula contamination that caused nine infant deaths and triggered a nationwide formula shortage in 2022.

“The long-awaited audit by HHS’ OIG confirms findings by the House Oversight Committee that the 2022 nationwide infant formula crisis was exacerbated by dysfunction and delay within the FDA,” said Rep. Lisa McClain, Michigan Republican and chair of the subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services.

“This audit confirms testimony by multiple former FDA officials before the subcommittee that the FDA’s failure to heed whistleblower warnings, failure to conduct adequate inspections, and slow responsiveness had serious implications,” she said.

Ms. McClain released documents obtained by the committee during a recent hearing with FDA Commissioner Robert Califf indicating that Biden administration officials knew about the infant formula shortage months before they took action.

Just some basic competence at something, every now and then, would be nice.

CONTINUING A LONG TRADITION OF DISCRIMINATION: Alabama college offers $75,000 in trade scholarships to women only.

MOST HILL AIDES WANT NEW FACE IN THE WHITE HOUSE: Overall, 77 percent of the congressional aides responded “Yes” to the question of would they name a new presidential candidate for their political party if given the chance. Interestingly, 88 percent of the Democratic staffers said that, compared to 70 percent of the GOP aides.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. There Is No Equivalency Between ‘Convicted Felons’ Donald Trump and Hunter Biden.

WHY DO COLUMBIA STUDENTS WANT ISRAELI CIVILIANS TO DIE: Columbia students criticize AOC for appearing to back the Iron Dome.