WEEKEND AT BIDEN’S: Joe Biden’s Bad Weekend Leaves Dems in Disarray: Octogenarian president plagued by circular firing squad between donors, aides, and Biden family members.

IF ENOUGH PEOPLE NOTICE, THE PARASITE CLASS IS DOOMED. HE MUST BE STOPPED!

Javier Milei is showing the world the prosperity a freer market with less government spending & regulation can bring to a dilapidated nation.

Unfortunately, the big government apparatchiks in the U.S. won’t take the hint and emulate his success.@Gundisalvus pic.twitter.com/TDEV1ci4jr

— Heritage Foundation (@Heritage) June 30, 2024

ANY HYPED “HATE CRIME” IS NOW PRESUMPTIVELY FALSE: What If the Most Notorious Murder of a Gay Man Wasn’t a Hate Crime? “Was the story we heard true? And what would it mean if Matthew Shepard wasn’t murdered for being gay, but rather for something more common—though equally as tragic? And why, when some investigative journalists discovered a more complicated truth, did so many people refuse to believe it? . . . A cynic might note that a great deal of money has been invested in the Matthew Shepard story. And, as it turns out, the truth of the Shepard murder is indeed more complicated—and less politically palatable—than a story about a gay boy beaten to death by a couple of homophobic thugs.”

The cynics aren’t always right. But that’s the way to bet.

EUGENE VOLOKH: Sad Thoughts About American Politics. “One way of thinking about this is to imagine this happening in a foreign country. Imagine that, unexpectedly, we Americans started to pay attention to an election campaign in some other nation. In that campaign, an 81-year-old incumbent who was obviously entering cognitive decline was squaring an off against a 78-year-old candidate who had been convicted of crimes, was being tried for other crimes, and who at the very least behaved highly un-Presidentially in response to a prior electoral defeat. Would we think that the foreign country had healthy political institutions?”

ROGER KIMBALL: SCOTUS Rulings, Biden-Trump Debate Shake Up Political Landscape.

READER BOOK RECOMMENDATION: The Desert War: The classic trilogy on the North Africa campaign 1940-43.

SHOCKER: E. Jean Carroll’s lawyer leaves law firm following workplace misconduct allegations. “Roberta Kaplan, a prominent lawyer best known for ending the ban on gay marriage and her advocacy work for sexual assault victims, is leaving the law firm she formed in 2017. Kaplan’s exit from Kaplan Hecker & Fink comes following reports to the New York Times from those who worked with her that she mistreated lawyers and cultivated an unprofessional office culture. She allegedly insulted employees, made inappropriate comments about their looks, and threatened their careers.”

OPEN THREAD: Make it yours.

MY LATEST SUBSTACK ESSAY: The Supreme Court, Chevron, and the Political Class’s Worst Nightmare: Accountability.

As always, if you like these essays, please take out a paid subscription.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Chinese rocket static-fire test results in unintended launch and huge explosion.

If you’re not blowing things up now and then, you’re not making progress.

MICROBIOME NEWS: Parkinson’s Link to Gut Bacteria Suggests Unexpected, Simple Treatment.

MORE ON FITNESS: Eric Cowperthwaite: The Technical Stuff Behind Hard To Kill.

“FAR RIGHT.” French Far Right Scores Big in a First Round of Voting, Polling Suggests: A surprise decision by President Emmanuel Macron to hold a snap election appears to have backfired badly, giving the National Rally a decisive victory, early returns showed.

If they’re that popular, how “far right” can they be?

HAHAHA: ChatGPT Now Has PhD-Level Intelligence, and the Poor Personal Choices to Prove It. “GPT-5 is unlikely to destabilize the job market, as it is overqualified for most positions while at the same time lacking any marketable skills. Its main option is adjunct work, but here its chances of taking over jobs are also doubtful; GPT-5 Plus will cost around twenty dollars a month, whereas most human adjuncts work for nothing.”

Plus: “Although GPT-5 is more intelligent than ever, it also has debilitating imposter syndrome. So, if it appears to be in the process of overthrowing the human race, simply tell it, ‘Hey, did you hear that Google Gemini got tenure?’ It will then lose its confidence and retreat to binge Nutella and cry.”

SKYNET SMILES: Swiss Startup Connects 16 Human Mini-Brains to Create Low Energy ‘Biocomputer.’

NOT MY FIRST CHOICE, BUT IT WORKS: Running The Defensive Lever-Action Rifle.

WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW: Gene therapy halts progression of rare genetic condition in young boy.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: NASA Defines Lunar Cargo Mobility Needs as Part of Larger Moon, Mars Plans.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Starliner undergoing thruster testing before indefinite return flight.

EVERYTHING IS GOING . . . SWIMMINGLY: French Olympics Alert: Seine ‘Too Dirty to Swim In.’

TO BE FAIR, NORM ORNSTEIN HAS BEEN A JOKE FOR DECADES:

Staged a coup!
Insurrection!
Threat to democracy!

Totally ineffective. Makes you seem like a nutball. https://t.co/ZAy5TNIsoh

— DonSurber.substack.com (@donsurber) June 30, 2024

CHANGE: One of oldest women’s studies departments in U.S. on chopping block. “Wichita State University is closing its women’s studies department, one of the oldest in the country, due to continuously low student interest.”

MAKE THEM PAY: Jewish students sue UCLA, claim school allowed anti-Israel protesters to block them from campus: ‘The University of California, Los Angeles, once considered among the most prestigious public institutions in the world, has deteriorated into a hotbed of antisemitism,’ the lawsuit alleges.

NEWS FROM GAVIN NEWSOM’S STATE: Street takeover with more than 50 cars in downtown LA leaves some in flames.

IT’S OUT IN THE OPEN: White House Report Card: No more hiding #Joementia.