IT GETS WORSE: New Text Messages Reveal Another Troubling Update on Trump Assassination Attempt. “Two words describe the security situation at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13: hot mess. There are so many glaring flaws, and the ground is so inexcusable that it is fertile for conspiracy theorists. Can you blame them? The Secret Service is stonewalling and stacking sandbags amid intense scrutiny from lawmakers from both parties.”

WELL, NO: ‘Not Our Best Candidate’: California Dems Reluctantly Embrace Their Former Attorney General Kamala Harris.

And, honestly, their best candidate is no great shakes.

OH, IT’S PARODY. IT’S JUST NOT INTENTIONAL PARODY.

This isn't parody? 😲 https://t.co/VBOta64rrK

— Phineas Fahrquar (@irishspy) July 29, 2024

POST-CHEVRON FALLOUT: Legal challenges ahead for truck speed, hours-of-service rules? OOIDA tells Congress that lawmakers, not regulators, should have final say in post-Chevron-decision landscape.

I MEAN, SHE’S NOT WRONG:

They tried to coup him, impeach him, remove him from the ballot, they ran show trials against him, tried to bankrupt him and his family, put him in prison, and assassinate him. They're OBVIOUSLY not done and it is reasonable to be worried about what their next step is. https://t.co/UCpiCqJ0w9

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) July 27, 2024

THE ENEMY WITHIN: Two men plead guilty to “acting as unregistered agents of the government of the People’s Republic of China (‘PRC’) and bribing an Internal Revenue Service (‘IRS’) agent in connection with a plot to target U.S.-based practitioners of Falun Gong—a spiritual practice banned in the PRC.”

ICYMI: WAIT, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE WASN’T MEANT TO BE A HOW-TO GUIDE: Astronaut Mark Kelly, one of the favorites to be Kamala’s VP pick, literally owns a spy balloon company funded by a Chinese venture capitalist.

I did NOT have the Democrats’ darling politician and favorite to be Kamala’s VP, Astronaut Mark Kelly, as a Chinese spy balloon guy on my bingo card.

But, dudes, it’s real.

Another potential veep candidate is under the spotlight as well: Pennsylvania Dem accuses potential Harris VP pick Gov. Josh Shapiro of sexism, covering up sexual harassment.

SHARE AN OBVIOUS PARODY AS EVIDENCE OF WHAT A DEEPFAKE CAN DO TODAY, AND YOU GET THIS: Elon Musk Shares Edited Version of Kamala Harris Campaign Ad.

Elon Musk, a master of the memes, is planting his flag in deepfake territory—and risking backlash at a fraught political moment.

Musk, Tesla’s billionaire chief executive, on Friday shared on X an edited version of a campaign video for Vice President Kamala Harris purporting to be a parody. By doing so, he potentially breached his own social-media platform’s policy against sharing synthetic and manipulated media.

The edited ad mimics Harris’s voice to have her say she became the new Democratic candidate for the November presidential election after President Biden “exposed his senility.” In the video, Harris’s altered voice also says she is the “ultimate diversity hire,” and says her work addressing the root causes of the border crisis was “catastrophic.” . . .

By reposting what appeared to be an AI-generated deepfake, Musk might run afoul of an X policy instituted after he took over the platform. The policy, instituted in April 2023, forbids sharing synthetic, manipulated or out-of-context media that might deceive or confuse people and lead to harm.

Among the criteria listed by X to determine whether content should be labeled or removed are whether the media is significantly and deceptively altered; whether it is shared in a deceptive manner or with false context; and whether the content is likely to result in widespread confusion on public issues.

The policy allows memes or satires, provided they don’t cause significant confusion about the authenticity of the media. Musk in resharing the video called it “amazing,” but didn’t say it was purporting to be a parody.

It was self-evidently a parody to anyone who isn’t brain-dead, which is to say to anyone who isn’t a “journalist” or a Democratic political operative. But I repeat myself.

OPEN THREAD: This is one of those, joints that never close.

YEP:

Sounds familiar https://t.co/tfHGzX5m7m

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) July 29, 2024

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Sierra Space conducts second full-scale burst test of inflatable module.

I WOULD EXPAND THAT TO PRETTY MUCH ANY NYT COLUMNIST, ACTUALLY:

In the entirety of human history nobody has ever asked David French’s opinion on how to be a man. https://t.co/G3NpfeDa2F

— Larry Correia (@monsterhunter45) July 28, 2024

UPDATE: To people in the comments asking, yes, that is a real article by David French. Here it is. “Within the Kamala Harris coalition, there are men who can show a better way.”

Judging by this column, French doesn’t even understand what he calls “Trumpist masculinity.”

UPDATE: From the NYT comments to French’s column:

Dyed-in-the-wool Democrats are resorting to irrelevant arguments because the facts are against them.

First, let’s dismiss the entire premise of the article. Hulk Hogan is a cartoonish entertainer. No one aspires to be him. They appreciate his entertainment.

Harris made an appearance on Ru Paul’s Drag Race. But, Republicans are honest enough not to claim that Democrats think Ru Paul is the only way to be a man.

Now the issues. Why don’t you talk about Afghanistan, the dead in Ukraine, Gaza, Israel Russia, inflation, the needless Biden Admin deficits, Biden admin’s poor performance relative to Trump as it pertains to real-stock-price-changes, Wage changes? Or why not talk about the record number of border crossings, medicine shortages? The strategic Petro reserve? Interest Rates?

Perhaps it is time to drop our “dyed-in-the-wool” way of thinking and realize that Democrats aren’t the only way to be a voter.

Plus:

Agree with your headline but the problem is the democrat party answer to it ie wokeness ie male generational shame, discrimination, cancellation female privilege, promotion, preference (instead of equality) is not the answer.

Which came first, Trump or wokeness?

Related: How David Brooks Created Donald Trump.

ANOTHER UPDATE: From the InstaPundit comments below: “Of course Hulk Hogan isn’t the only way. There’s also the Sean Connery way, the Clint Eastwood way, the Chuck Norris way, the Donald Trump way… There is no David French way.”

And: “Frenchie would also write this article about Teddy Roosevelt.”

DAVE FOSTER ON ARTHUR KOESTLER ON OUR CIVILIZATION.

MY NEW YORK POST COLUMN IS ON THE OLYMPIC “LAST SUPPER” DEBACLE: “But its biggest sin was not blasphemy. It was that it stunk on ice, as most such efforts do. . . . And – and this is the most important part – it was designed to stink. Lousy culture like this is a power statement (‘look what we can get away with!’).”

IT’S ALL SMOKE AND MIRRORS: Chris Wray’s attempt to cast doubt on Trump assassination attempt is all politics.

I’VE ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT DIET SODAS ARE PROBABLY NO BETTER FOR YOU THAN THE REAL THING: Here’s What ‘Diet’ Soft Drink Could Be Doing to Your Health in The Long Term.

AT AMAZON, Barkeeper’s Friend. A magic cleaner.

Also: Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE: The Thick Ice of Europa: A Barrier or a Gateway to Alien Life?

MEMORY HOLING THE TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT:

This is what happens when a monopolist dominates search and controls Americans’ access to information https://t.co/6k708cVFZ0 pic.twitter.com/Sb4DO1MKrZ

— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) July 28, 2024

Woke AI lies about history. pic.twitter.com/zFOAZgYbLT

— James Lindsay, anti-Communist (@ConceptualJames) July 28, 2024

INTERESTING: Orchestra experiment shows older people can identify and remember musical themes as well as younger people.

Flashback: “A while back I realized that I could remember the guitar solo note-for-note from a song I hadn’t heard in 20 years. Why waste brain cells remembering that? My colleague Ben Barton suggested that in the old days, prehistoric people without writing often used songs to pass along useful knowledge. If you had the gene that let you remember the song about famine foods, you were a lot more likely to survive the famine than if you didn’t.”

ZOOM: American Supercar: Your First Look at the 1,064-HP 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1.

A NICE INTERVIEW WITH INSTAPUNDIT BLOG DESIGNER STACY TABB.

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Another Unconstitutional Biden Ban Overturned.

Plus: Second Amendment Foundation Scores Court Victory in PA’s Banning of Firearms in a Vehicle. “District Judge Christopher C. Conner with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania issued an order granting summary judgment to SAF and its partners, finding the state’s law banning carry of a firearm in a vehicle without a license unconstitutional. He further declared that a ban on firearms possession without a license during a state of emergency is facially unconstitutional, and enjoined Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Col. Christopher Paris from enforcing those provisions.”

ONE OF MY REGRETS IS THAT I NEVER BECAME A HAM: The rich history of ham radio culture.

HMM: Stunning Implications of Tesla Real World AI.