HEROES:  Ordinary Americans continue to do great things.

THE WORLD WAS READY FOR A LITTLE FUN THAT YEAR:  On this day in 1946, Micheline Bernardini, modeled a skimpy two-piece swimsuit at a press conference held at a public swimming pool in Paris.  The swimsuit’s designer, Louis Réard, called it a “bikini” after the Pacific atoll where the United States had recently conducted a nuclear weapons test.

Bernardini was an 18-year-old nude dancer from the Casino de Paris, not a professional runway model.  Réard had been unable to find a runway model willing to pose in his little creation.

The bikini was a scandal … or so the newspapers wrote.  But it was also a hit—especially with men.  Bernardini received over 50,000 fan letters.

Réard didn’t do badly either.  The former automotive engineer had inherited his mother’s lingerie business sometime during the war.  His bikini sold well (and … well … the cost of materials was low enough to allow for a decent profit margin).

I CAN’T KEEP UP WITH ALL OF BIDEN’S LGBT EXECUTIVE ORDERS:  But this blog post might help me.

RANDY BARNETT: The meaning of the Declaration of Independence.

LISTEN TO MR. JEFFERSON:  This morning I suggested that readers take today to re-read the Declaration of Independence.  If it’s late where you are, and you just can’t keep your eyes open, you can instead listen to Mr. Jefferson himself (or rather a computer generated facsimile) read it to you.  

GLENN LOURY:  “The Case for Black Patriotism.”  (From January of this year.)

RE-FUND THE POLICE:  Ibram X. Kendi has stated, “When it comes to defunding the police, many Americans have historically supported inflated police budgets on the premise that it’s police who are able to bring down crime levels.  But there’s no data that supports that.”

Paul Taylor cites the data that Kendi says doesn’t exist.  He also discusses the fact that, back in 1990s, there was considerable support among black leaders (even Eric Holder) for tough on crime policies.  At the time, they understood that blacks were both disproportionately the perpetrators and victims of crime.  They took seriously their duty to protect those innocent victims instead of mouthing empty platitudes about how “black lives matter.”

These days Kendi’s ill-informed views seems to be typical:  You’re a racist if you even mention the possibility that there has been a rise in crime.

(More from Taylor on race and crime here.)

IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE SINCE YOU WERE IN SIXTH GRADE, WHY NOT READ IT TODAY?:  Today’s a holiday for many of you.  It’s a short document.  And there’s no time like the present.

Here’s my favorite clause in Jefferson’s litany of offenses by the king:  “He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.”  I love that word “swarms.”

CHILDREN’S BOOKS DESIGNED TO INDOCTRINATE:  Here’s a book that will teach your children that (1) prior to the arrival of Columbus, America was a deliriously happy paradise; (2) Columbus was an ugly ogre, from a continent of ugly ogres, who destroyed the paradise;  (3) things have been terrible ever since; but (4) the ugly ogres who have been in charge for centuries will soon get their comeuppance.  It’s called Christopher the Ogre Cologre, It’s Over.

If you think that’s just a tad one-sided, you might want to pay attention to what your children are reading.   The book seems to be getting more publicity than I would have predicted.

Here’s the sequel:  Rebeldita the Fearless in Ogreland.

WHAT ELSE HAPPENED TO THE USA ON JULY 4?:  You’ve probably heard that both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826—the 50^th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.  But here are a few more American events that happened that day:

1827:  Slavery officially ended in New York.

1831:  “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” was first performed at a children’s Independence Day celebration in Boston.

1831:  President James Monroe died.

1863:  The Siege of Vicksburg ended with a Confederate surrender.

1997:  NASA’s Pathfinder landed and began its exploration of Mars.

2004:  The cornerstone to the Freedom Tower was laid on the site of the previous World Trade Tower.

Of these, I have a recollection only of the 1997 Pathfinder exploration.  It was very cool.

MANHATTAN CONTRARIAN:  Two Fundamentally Irreconcilable Constitutional Visions.

HILARIOUS ROAD RAGE EVENT:  Scroll down slightly from the headline (which is for a story a little further down).

BABYLON BEE:  “Democrats Argue That Clarence Thomas Should Only Have 3/5 of a Vote.”

(Yes, it’s satire … just in case you’re an idiot from Snopes.)

JOHN FUND:  West Virginia v. EPA: The Supreme Court Strikes a Blow on Bureaucrats.

IT’S JUST A SITCOM, MARTA:  Are you sure you’re feeling white guilt?  Is it possible you’re just trying to get some good old fashioned publicity for yourself?

SRI LANKA, WE MAY BE JOINING YOU SOON:  “Here’s What Life Looks Like in a Country That’s Run Out of Fuel.“

AND SO IT BEGAN:  On this day in 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Regents of the University of California v. Bakke.   Four justices took the position that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act meant exactly what it says—that federally funded universities are forbidden to discriminate in admissions by race.  Four justices seemed happy to tolerate any amount of race discrimination so long as it favored under-represented minorities.  One justice—Lewis Powell, the man in the middle—apparently thought he could open the door to discrimination just a crack.  Colleges and universities promptly blew that door off its hinges.  We’re still paying for Powell’s error in judgment.

OH FOR GOODNESS SAKE:  Eye-rolling is a harmful practice rooted in white supremacy.

RICH VEDDER:  “In Princeton’s Contempt for Justice, Shades of Duke Lacrosse.”

HAPPY 119TH BIRTHDAY:  On this day in 1903, Eric Arthur Blair, better known to us as George Orwell, was born in Motihari, Bengal, British India.

IT STILL MAKES ME CRY:  Four years ago today, 12 boys–members of a youth soccer team–and their 25-year-old assistant coach were trapped by floodwaters deep in the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Northern Thailand.  What followed was an amazing international rescue effort–a jaw-dropping combination of courage, skill, selflessness, and coolheadedness.

It took weeks to get all the children and their coach out.  But, against all the odds, all of them survived.  Alas, the same was not true of all their rescuers.  Former Thai Navy SEAL Saman Kunan lost consciousness during one of his dives and died.  Another Thai Navy SEAL, Beirut Pakbara, died a year later of a blood infection acquired during the rescue.  Bless them and their fellow divers.  They are heroes.

Here’s something I probably don’t need to tell you:  Many people–both men and women–helped in the rescue.  And that’s great.  But all the divers–the ones who risked their lives to save these children–were men.  Maybe, just maybe, masculinity isn’t so toxic after all.

OUT WITH “BREASTFEEDING,” IN WITH “CHESTFEEDING”:  It’s the new, inclusive way to talk about the thing that “birthing people” do for babies.  A new bill in the Massachusetts legislature, which will fund “doulas” for pregnant Medicaid recipients, uses that term.

The Massachusetts bill appears to be a response to the whole “maternal health crisis” that the Left keeps talking about.  As far as I can tell, the response to the “crisis” is all about getting government jobs for “doulas” who can then be expected to join the SEIU.  A lot of what I have to deal with in the world seems to be about that.

YUP, I’M ON RECORD AGREEING WITH THAT:  Order needs to be restored in NYC schools if we want students to learn.

IF WE OFFERED TO GIVE IT BACK, I DOUBT SPAIN WOULD WANT IT:  On this day in 1898, the American flag was first raised on the island of Guam.  Its capture was slightly comical.  Spain had had control of Guam since the 17th century.  But it wasn’t exactly considered the Pearl of the Spanish Empire, so Spain had stationed only a tiny garrison there.  And despite the fact that the Spanish-American War had been declared two months before, nobody had gotten around to telling the guys on Guam.

When the U.S.S. Charleston arrived on June 20 with orders to take the island, it fired on the Spanish fort.  It’s unclear whether it missed or only intended a warning shot.  In any event, the locals mistook the shot for a friendly salute.  Several eagerly went out to greet the Americans.  Among those who came out was Guam’s leading merchant–Francisco Portusach–who turned out to be a naturalized American citizen and an old friend of one of the officers.  When he learned the true circumstances of their visit, he wanted to help.

The capture of Guam was thus bloodless.  The Spanish governor wasn’t exactly thrilled to surrender to the Americans, but his forces were significantly outnumbered, and he wasn’t a fool.  On June 21, the Spanish flag came down, and the Stars and Stripes went up.  Easy peasy.

BILL OTIS ON THE RISE IN CRIME AND ITS EFFECT ON BLACK LIVES:  “The Klan Was Never This Effective.“