EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: HHS urges blood culture vial conservation amid shortage.

VIA A FRIEND:

And another friend comments: “Fucking inflation. I’m cutting back on grocery delivery and am going to sneak over to Walmart on Saturday mornings for the basics.”

Meanwhile an increase in Walmart sales is being held out as a sign of economic recovery.

Related: Elitist Snob Atlantic Writer Gets Bitten by REALITY After Criticizing People Struggling to Buy Food.

This thread is hilarious. 100% filled with people saying “actually my bill has about doubled” and this guy going “no it hasn’t” over and over again https://t.co/pJvfgjvVqR

— demon peen (@PeeneyTodd) August 15, 2024

You proles could stand to lose some weight anyway.

WHEN LAWFARE FAILS: Federal judge dismisses ACLU lawsuit against Indiana’s intellectual diversity law.

ANNALS OF PREDICTABILITY: UC Berkeley’s summer reading list recommends books on George Floyd, racism, and ‘whiteness.’

MATT TAIBBI: “Press Renounces Itself For the Party.”

BOB GRABOYES: Extraordinary Scholarly Delusions and the Madness of Experts.

Related: The Death of Expertise.

PREDICTABLE: Standardized tests ‘rooted in white supremacy,’ teachers union president says.

HMM: Walz Busted By…CNN? “In 1995, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, then a resident of Nebraska, was stopped while driving 96 mph in a 55 mph zone. He failed a sobriety test and was charged with speeding and drunk driving. Walz has been lying about the incident ever since, as CNN rather surprisingly admits.”

COVERUP: Kamala Harris Stonewalls Congressional Probe Into NatSec Adviser’s Ties to Iran Influence Network.

LIFE IN THE AGE OF UNACCOUNTABILITY:

Who was the pilot aboard the ship that hit the bridge in Baltimore?

Great question!

Who was the USSS agent in charge in Butler, PA?

Who made the plan to evacuate Afghanistan?

Who’s responsible for the frigate, icebreaker & carrier delays?

I DON’T KNOW

They refuse to say https://t.co/L1pczoRt6B

— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) August 15, 2024

Related: Our Crisis of Institutional Competence.

INFECTED BY A DEADLY MIND VIRUS: Europe’s Strange, Self-Destructive Delusions. . . The Minister For Drama has entered the chat. “America has underwritten European defense for so long, generations at this time, that many believe they are entitled to it. This dependency is blended with a snobby-contempt that the European elite have, on balance, always had about Americans. Especially after the end of the Cold War, the American appetite for paying to defend people who hold you in contempt has continued to wear thin.”

Plus: “Europe’s contempt for anyone to the right of the American center-left is quickly becoming the existential threat to the alliance they are so quick to accuse others of being.”

HMM: 5 charged in Matthew Perry’s ketamine death as new details emerge.

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, SHE PACKED THAT HIGH SCHOOL GYM:

Extremely small crowd in Maryland for Kamala today pic.twitter.com/MvGCAlbQMV

— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) August 15, 2024

I LOVE SONNY’S: Sonny’s BBQ celebrates founder’s birthday. When I was a law clerk in Nashville, I lived across Murfreesboro Rd. from a Sonny’s, and when I was feeling down I’d go over there on all-you-can-eat chicken night and eat an entire barbecued chicken. We used to have a couple in Knoxville but they closed, I suppose unable to fight the competition from the local Buddy’s chain, which is also good but different. I’ve bought some bottled Sonny’s sauce but it’s not the same — sweeter and without the touch of mustard that I remember.

Plus, a special Sonny’s memory.

OPEN THREAD: Hang on baby, Friday’s coming.

PROFESSOR CARRINGTON, CALL YOUR OFFICE: Colossal X-class solar flare erupts from ‘rule-breaking’ sunspot and Earth is in the firing line.

WELL, YES, AND IT WOULD:

Implicit in this argument is the assumption that taking questions from the media would make Kamala Harris less likely to win the election. https://t.co/Fxs1xK9c8l

— Daniel Friedman (@DanFriedman81) August 14, 2024

For 3 weeks the MSM, which is actually State Media, lied based on the words of anonymous staffers and told you Kamala Harris was now a “moderate,”only to have her to go full blown communist before she even officially becomes the nominee.

— David Giglio (@DavidGiglioCA) August 15, 2024

She could try learning from a successful leader: Newsweek: Javier Milei Got Rid of Rent Control in Argentina. Housing Supply Skyrocketed.

UPDATE:

A few months ago, the Media wouldn't stop talking about how Kamala needed to be replaced on the Biden ticket because she was dragging him down.

Now, we're all supposed to suspend our disbelief while the same Media tells us that Kamala is now amazing.

My flabbers are ghasted.

— Joey Meugniot (@realjoeymUS) July 28, 2024

JACK MCWILLIAMS, CREATOR OF “JOGGING IN A JUG,” SMILES: Vinegar Has a Surprising Effect on Depression, Study Finds.

Flashback: Ask Well: Can Vinegar Aid Weight Loss? “The weight loss claims hinge mostly on a 2009 clinical trial of obese Japanese adults that found those who consumed a beverage containing one or two tablespoons of vinegar every day lost two to four pounds after 12 weeks, while a comparison group given a plain beverage did not lose weight. . . . Several studies have shown that consuming small amounts of vinegar before a meal containing starches may blunt a rise in blood sugar afterward, reducing the glycemic response by 20 to 40 percent, Dr. Johnston said, by partially inhibiting the digestion of starch.”

Plus: “I’m curious to see how much vinegar was consumed by people 50-100 years ago, and our ancestors who used it as a primary food preservative. Pickles anyone?” I wonder if the switch to refrigeration led to lower levels of vinegar in the diet, and hence to the midcentury jump in heart disease? Purely speculative, of course, but interesting.

JEFFREY CARTER: Harris And The Teleprompter Spoke: Maybe We Should Worry.

AND YET WE’VE SPENT 20 YEARS DEVELOPING ANTI-AMYLOID MEDS: The Real Cause of Alzheimer’s Might Not Be Amyloid: Groundbreaking Discovery Challenges Decades-Old Theories.

Flashback: Study: Decreased proteins, not amyloid plaques, are tied to Alzheimer’s disease.

Well, the amyloid-plaque theory has issues: “A now-seminal study published in 2006 provided evidence that the toxic accumulation of a protein called beta-amyloid in the brain was tied to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Recently, an assistant professor from Vanderbilt University suggested that some of the images in this study were manipulated by the authors.”

IN 2024 THIS COUNTS AS A BOLD POSITION: Actually, Interviewing Presidential Candidates Is a Good Thing.

WAIT, I THOUGHT WORRIES ABOUT CHEMICALS IN SUNSCREEN WERE ANTI-SCIENCE CONSPIRACY THEORIES: Chemicals in makeup, sunscreen may increase risk of pregnancy complications.

MAKE THEM PAY: Texas Sues General Motors Over Allegedly Selling Driver Data to Insurance Companies.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Why Iron Sights Still Matter.

THINGS THAT YOU BUY SHOULD BE YOURS FOREVER. Even if it’s disguised as a “license.” Redbox app axed, dashing people’s hopes of keeping purchased content.

Buy physical media while you still can.