LOSERS ON PARADE: Meet the Rich Kids, Professors, and Activists Arrested at Columbia in April.

DAVID BERNSTEIN: “One of my pet peeves is the way the modern academic left insists on seeing all ethnic and racial conflict through the lens of the American black-white racial dynamic.”

DON SURBER: Eagleton is Kamala’s hope: He’s why Democrats shouldn’t pass her over if FJB quits.

OPEN THREAD: It’s all for you.

ALIENS: Private Odysseus moon lander reveals which Earth ‘technosignatures’ aliens might see.

RONALD REAGAN WARNED US OF THIS: Trees Have Become a Hidden Source of Air Pollution in Los Angeles.

MICROBIOME NEWS: Breakthrough Study Links Gut Bacteria to Food Addiction and Obesity.

ANDY KESSLER: The Tyranny of Today’s Tipping: When did it become expected to shell out a 25% gratuity for soggy takeout fries?

The screen reads: “Add a tip: 18%. 20%. 25%.” For a takeout sack of burgers and soggy fries? C’mon. It takes extra taps to change it to 10% or zero. Instead, we sheepishly tip and feel resentful. Using Internal Revenue Service data, I extrapolate that tipping has almost doubled since 2013, when San Francisco-based Square turned iPads into cash registers with suggested tips.

It’s the American way to show gratitude for a job well done, but tipping has gotten out of hand. It’s become expected. Even required. A Mountain View, Calif., restaurant had a line on its bills: “For parties of 1 or larger, a 18% gratuity is applied automatically.” . . .

One study reveals that we tip because it’s a “social norm,” to “show gratitude,” and to “avoid feeling guilty.” Those answers ring true, but reasons also include the expectation of “poor future service if I don’t tip,” and that “the waiter may yell at me.” Those feel even truer. . . .

I recently hailed a Waymo car in San Francisco and didn’t tip the driver—because there wasn’t one, a gentle reminder that automation often solves pricing problems. Americans don’t hate tipping. We hate that it’s expected, that you’re labeled a tightwad if you don’t tip. How do we get back to tipping being optional? For great service. For promptitude. Not for soggy takeout fries.

I’m a generous tipper, but tipping retail cashiers — which is what Starbucks baristas are — is a bit much. I’ll stick a dollar in the jar, but 25% automatically added as an “option”? Another reason to pay cash. And all companies are doing here is shifting wage expenses to customers.

I DON’T CARE ENOUGH: Fuck the Modern NBA.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: 10mm vs. .40 S&W: Similarities, Differences and Uses.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: China Discovers Graphene on the Moon.

BEATS A SLEEP STUDY: Blood test can help predict risk of obstructive sleep apnea.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: University of Michigan wins NASA’s lunar lander challenge award.

THAT WILL WORK WELL: Americans show growing interest in microdosing psychedelics.

ICYMI: Chevron, The Supreme Court, and the Law.

BUYING INFLUENCE: Foreign policy scholar warns of Arab country donations to American universities.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: New Jersey SJP group urges students to apply to West Bank university with Hamas ties.

WELL, GOOD: Court blocks Biden admin’s ban on new LNG exports. “A federal judge issued a ruling Monday that blocks the Biden administration’s ban on new exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) following a challenge by a group of more than a dozen states.”

HAVING FAILED MISERABLY AT INFECTIOUS DISEASE: The Surgeon General Aims at Guns. “If we cannot trust the authorities to protect us, and they have repeatedly shown themselves to be malevolent and self-interested, then we should at least have arms to protect ourselves.”

MAKE THEM PAY: Antifa Goons Who Attacked Trump Supporters in San Diego Sentenced to Jail.

NOT FAST ENOUGH OR HARD ENOUGH: The Establishment is Getting Crushed. “What seems to be going on is a universal dissatisfaction with how the ruling elite have been running things, and with good reason. Whether it is conservatives, liberals, or ‘moderates,’ the ruling elite has been committed to policies that have eroded the power of individuals and vastly increased the power of the state. Moreover, Western governments have made abundantly clear that their commitment has been to a form of transnationalism that has grown increasingly unpopular. As borders have opened up throughout the West, citizens have grown restless as crime has skyrocketed, economic growth has slowed, and national cultures have been diluted.”

SEE KAMALA’S ABORTION LIE BELOW: Liberal Media Scream: NBC’s Welker lies about ‘lies,’ can’t stand truthful Republicans.

CONTEMPT FOR THE LAW: Biden Admin Flying Migrants Deported by Trump Back Into the US.

OUT TODAY: From Randy Barnett A Life for Liberty: The Making of an American Originalist.

SORRY, KAMALA, YOU CAN’T LIE AT ELON’S PLACE LIKE YOU CAN ON MORNING JOE:

When will politicians, or at least the intern who runs their account, learn that lying on this platform doesn’t work anymore? pic.twitter.com/wP7H4AJFwG

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 1, 2024

Related: Trump Stakes Out Middle Ground in Abortion Wars. It’s Kamala and Joe who are the extremists here.