BIG AND BEAUTIFUL: Eyeing Arctic dominance, Trump bill earmarks $8.6 billion for US Coast Guard icebreakers.

China and Russia have been working together to develop Arctic shipping routes and fortify their defenses. The United States, Canada and Finland last year announced a trilateral partnership called the “ICE Pact” to build a fleet of 70 to 90 ice-breaking ships over the coming decade to “project power” into the polar region and enforce international norms and treaties.

Trump has also repeatedly called for the United States to acquire as many as 40 new icebreakers to enhance national security in the Arctic. Those icebreakers could help companies with logistics and keep open supply lines for potential oil and gas and mineral development in the rugged and frigid region.

Russia has the world’s largest fleet of icebreakers and ice-capable patrol ships with 57, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

China has a far smaller fleet, but is also investing in growing it. The two countries in May pledged to raise cooperation to a new level and “decisively” counter U.S. influence.

More background here on X, courtesy of Rod D. Martin.

STILL A FEW BUGS IN THE SYSTEM: Grok-aganda: A flash flood wiped out Grok’s credibility. Good.

HAHA: ‘An Albatross On Him’: New Book Details The Strain Hunter Biden Put On 2024 Campaign.

OF COURSE HE IS: John Lucas: Zohran Mamdani — An Analysis of His Video Propaganda Piece Shows That His Core Beliefs Are Communist Dogma.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS GUY? Tucker Carlson to Serve as PR Lackey for the President of Iran, Provide Platform for the Regime.

IT’S JUST A PATHWAY FOR A PAYOFF: Comey Don’t Play That: Former FBI Goon Writes Crime Novel About Saving the World from MAGA ‘Mouth Breathers.’

YES:

Reading about Javier Milei — paragraphs like this should be internalized by every public policymaker in the west pic.twitter.com/wu9EJq5NXZ

— John Loeber 🎢 (@johnloeber) July 6, 2025

But this reply nails it: “The people against don’t actually care about outcomes.”

HOW IT STARTED: “PolitiFact” declares Zohran Mamdani is not a communist in fact-check of Trump.

—David Rutz, Fox News, June 30th.

How it’s going:

For context, I went into the Wayback Machine to find the deleted posts in Mamdani’s Twitter thread:

I’m sure Mamdani will attempt to play some variation of the left’s “botched joke” get-out-jail free defense, but these things just keep happening to Mamdani. He’s not a witch; no word yet how he much enjoys playing Simon Says.

Related: If It Quacks Like a Communist: Zohran Mamdani Describes Himself as a ‘BMW Bolshevik’ in Old X Post.

PRIME EXCLUSIVE DEAL: Amazon Kindle Scribe 16GB (newest model). #CommissionEarned

BLUE CITY BLUES: Chicago Aggressively Defending Its Hard-Won Title of ‘Murder City USA’ in July. “Thanks in part to immigration enforcement pulling some of the worst of the worst violent illegals from the streets of Chicago, America’s Murder City has become relatively tranquil in recent weeks. Gang violence had even simmered down. But hoo boy, did that change with the start of July and the unofficial start of the Windy City’s summer ballistic festival. In just 40 hours, fifty-one (51!) people suffered gunshot wounds and nine of them died.”

ICYMI: MY LATEST SUBSTACK ESSAY IS THOUGHTS ON THE BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL: Trump 2.0 is a Wrecking Ball. And he’s wrecking the right stuff.

SALENA ZITO: A Very Consequential Two Weeks for Donald Trump’s Presidency.

IN NEW YORK, SCRAPPY LOCAL NEWSPAPER STRUGGLES FOR SURVIVAL: Times pushed ahead to avoid being scooped on Mamdani Columbia story.

The afternoon before a long holiday weekend isn’t always the best time to drop a major scoop. But the New York Times did not want to wait to publish its story about Zohran Mamdani’s application to Columbia University in 2009, in which the paper reported that the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor then identified his race on a form as both “Asian” and “Black or African American.” Mamdani is of South Asian ethnicity and was born in Uganda.

The story, published late last week, came as the result of the release of hacked Columbia University records that were then shared with the Times. The paper believed it had reason to push the story out quickly: It did not want to be scooped by the independent journalist Christopher Rufo. Two people familiar with the reporting process told Semafor that the paper was aware that other journalists were working on the admissions story, including Rufo, a conservative best known for his crusade against critical race theory.

In a message, Rufo confirmed to Semafor that he had been reporting out the piece before the Times published its version of the story. Rufo said that he would be publishing additional details about the incident on his Substack in the coming days.

Not surprisingly, Rufo is having fun trolling Mamdani’s fellow leftists at the Times: 

Bummer to get scooped, but kudos to my friends at the New York Times for being first to publish the story https://t.co/SSOw62Hnxa

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) July 7, 2025

Earlier: New York Times Struggles to Explain Why It Reported News to Traumatized Readers.

(Classical reference in headline.)

ON SUNDAYS I RUN A PROMO POST FOR (MOSTLY) INDIE AUTHORS:  Book Promo And Vignettes By Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike.

UGH: Death Toll Rises in Texas Flooding.

Related: Texas Floods: More Than 60 Dead, Digital Ghouls Smirk.

GET WOKE, GO BROKE: Sweden invented ‘flight shaming’. Now it is begging airlines to return.

AW POOT. MY FUNDRAISER DOESN’T EXTEND TO THIS STUFF:  A Martian meteorite discovered in Africa is up for auction.

“NOBODY DOES PERFORMATIVE INDIGNATION LIKE A SLIGHTED LEFTIST POLITICIAN, ESPECIALLY WHEN GOD IS THROWN INTO THE MIX”:  The milquetoast martyrdom of Chris Coghlan MP.

UNLIKE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION PRACTICE THESE WON’T GET SLAPPED ON THE WRIST AND RELEASED:  Operation Apex Hammer: Over 200 Criminals Arrested.

SHE INCREASINGLY REEKS OF FLOP SWEAT AND DESPERATION:  Harris Faces Backlash Over Grim July Fourth Post and Apparent Biden Snub.

GIVE THEM CREDIT: THERE’S NO TRAGEDY THEY WON’T EXPLOIT:  Here’s the Gross Anti-Trump Narrative Libs Are Peddling About the Horrific Flash Floods in Texas.

IF THE ECONOMY DOES WELL, THE DISINFORMATION WILL JUST ROLL OFF OUR BACKS:  Elections 2026: Will Republicans Counter Democrat Disinformation Campaign Against Big Beautiful Bill?

HORRIFYING:  Texas Hill Country’s Lack of Flash Flood Protection Exposed by July 4th Disaster.

TO BE FAIR, HE HATES MOST PEOPLE, POSSIBLY INCLUDING HIMSELF:  Mamdani Hates You.

INDEED, INDEED:  The Real No Kings Day.