NICE WORK, EVERYBODY:
We were assured that recession was imminent…
.@bloomberg: "The US economy expanded in the second quarter at a slightly faster pace than initially estimated on a pickup in business investment and an outsize boost from trade. Inflation-adjusted gross domestic product, which…
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) August 28, 2025
THE NEW SPACE RACE: Russian space official: “We need to stop lying to ourselves” about health of industry.
In his message to the corporation’s thousands of employees, Maltsev said Energia is having difficulty paying wages and delivering the spacecraft and other products it is contracted to build.
“We need to stop lying to ourselves and others about the state of affairs, convincing ourselves and others that everything is fine with us,” he wrote. “The time demands decisive action from us—not to sit, but to fight for the enterprise. I suggest that everyone answer the question honestly: are you ready to work for the result and make a real contribution?”
Maltsev, who was appointed director general of Energia just three months ago, closed his dark missive by suggesting it will take a miracle to save the historic space corporation.
This is an extraordinary statement coming from a senior leader within Russia’s space industry. Although it is widely understood that Russia’s space program is in decline, the most common tactic among Russian officials is to bluster about past greatness and talk about all the new programs that are under development.
What a sad state of affairs for the country that put the first satellite and the first man into space.
More: “In reality, the Russian space program is chronically underfunded, and the war against Ukraine has only accelerated the depletion of talent and resources. Russia cannot afford new spacecraft and rockets when it needs munitions and men for the front lines.”
Putin can have a space program, or he can keep throwing away hundreds of thousands of lives for minimal gains in Ukraine.
He seems to prefer the latter, so that’s what he’ll get.
BILLY JOEL’S “MIAMI 2017” WAS ONLY A FEW YEARS AHEAD OF THE CURVE: If New Yorkers Want to Know What the City Will Be Like When Mamdani Is Mayor, Just Look at Chicago.
WHAT IS A WOMAN? Sorority wins case against Wyoming sisters who sued after man admitted to sisterhood as judge refuses to define ‘woman.’
US District Judge Alan B. Johnson dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit filed by former and current members of the Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority at the University of Wyoming, which argued that the organization violated its bylaws by admitting a trans-identifying male as a member of the female-only sorority.
Judge Johnson ruled on August 22 that the sorority has the autonomy to dictate how it wants to define the word “woman,” arguing that the Courts should not interfere with the internal governance of private organizations. “Having considered the issues presented (again), we find that the majority of the claims must be dismissed on the grounds that this Court still may not interfere with [the sorority’s] contractually valid interpretation of its own Bylaws,” Judge Johnson wrote in the final ruling, per Wyoming Public Radio.
The complaint was previously dismissed by Judge Johnson in August 2023, but without prejudice, allowing the sorority members to re-file the suit. The plaintiffs argued in the second filing that President Donald Trump’s January 2025 executive order on “Defending women from gender ideology” defines the word “female” as a “person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell.”
“We dismissed that complaint without prejudice on the grounds that the sorority was free, as a private organization, to define the word ‘woman’ in its bylaws however it wanted,” Johnson wrote in an order, referring to the initial lawsuit, “and therefore the sorority was not contractually obligated to reject transwomen members.”
Ladies, feel free to reject Kappa Kappa Gamma.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Dems Gin Up Hate and Let Their Victim Groups Do Their Dirty Work. “Here in the 21st century, an unclear motive in these tragedies is code for ‘The conservatives’ suspicions are correct but we refuse to admit that they’re right AGAIN.’ It also means that the killer was an anointed member of one of the Democrats’ pet victim groups.”
HARRY ENTEN: The Democratic brand is in about as good a position as the Cracker Barrel rebrand. Bad, bad, bad.
What we’re talking here in terms of big party registration changes in the key swing states, let’s look at four key swing states that do keep track of registration by party. Look, the Republican Party is in their best position at this point in the cycle since at least 2005, in all four of these key battleground states.
How about Arizona, Nevada? Republicans haven’t done this well since 2005. Oh my goodness gracious, at this point in a cycle.
North Carolina, I couldn’t find a point at which Republicans were doing better at this point in the cycle. It’s at least this century, probably goes way back to the last century.
Pennsylvania, very similar. Republicans are doing better at this point than any time this century, as far as I could find.
Now, what types of gains are we talking about here for the Republican Party? Well, let’s compare it to this point during their first Trump administration, all the way back in 2017.
Look at this: Republican Party gains in party registration compared to this point back in 2017, during the Trump first administration. Arizona, you got a Republican gain of three points. How about Nevada? Up the hill we go, even though we’re sticking in the southwest, again, a six-point gain. How about again we come to the East Coast, North Carolina, a gain of eight points for the Republicans. And then the Keystone State in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, again we’re talking about a gain of eight points.
My goodness gracious, for Republicans, they are converting old former Democrats to their side of the ledger, as well as picking up new voters, registering new voters, and it absolutely paid off for them back in that 2024 election.
Don’t get cocky, because Democrat energy has them outperforming their numbers in off-year elections.
ICYMI: Dank Gavin Just Declared Victory Over Cracker Barrel. “It seems like only earlier this week [it was only earlier this week, Steve —Editor] that I had to apologize for breaking last week’s promise not to write about California Gov. Gavin Newsom until he stopped with his pathetic attempts at faux-Trump attention-whoring on the Social Media App Formerly Known as Twitter (SMAFKAT). In the immortal words of Whitesnake: Here I go again.”
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is preparing for conflict with the United States and learning from ongoing wars that are redefining how future battles may unfold. A critical lesson emerging from today’s conflicts is that assets positioned behind enemy lines in peacetime can be activated with devastating effect in wartime.
Israel’s Operation Rising Lion succeeded in decimating Iranian military infrastructure and eliminating senior military leaders not only through superior platforms, munitions, and intelligence, but also through low-cost, unmanned systems launched from within Iran itself. Similarly, in Operation Spider’s Web, Ukraine struck at the heart of Russian airpower using covertly deployed UAVs pre-positioned in Russia, damaging or destroying at least 20 strategic aircraft across five oblasts.
China is undoubtedly studying these operations, recognizing that the ability to operate from within US borders through surveillance, sabotage, or pre-placed systems could prove decisive in a future conflict. These examples should serve as a wake-up call for American policymakers: the Chinese Communist Party’s acquisition of US farmland, including near sensitive military installations, is not merely an economic concern but a strategic threat.
What was it Lenin said about capitalists selling him rope?
THEN THEY SHOOT THEMSELVES ANYWAY:
"If you don't give trans people hormones, they'll shoot themselves!"
Well, if you do give them hormones, they'll shoot young Christian children
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) August 27, 2025
SAY ANYTHING: Dank Gavin Just Declared Victory Over Cracker Barrel. “Whether or not Trump eats at Cracker Barrel, you know a major MAGA contingent does — and Trump’s post spoke to them, even though (obviously) Masino had her about-face ready to go first. If there’s a major Cracker Barrel contingent among Newsom voters, I’ll eat both the cracker and the barrel.”
“MY STUPID PEOPLE DON’T KNOW WHAT’S BEST FOR THEM” WOULD BE QUITE THE TAKE, IF IT WEREN’T SO COMMON: Luis Guzmán: Latino Trump Voters Are ‘Ignorant.’
VICTORIA TAFT: Smell Yourselves Lefties: Loon Attacks Couple Wearing MAGA Hats. Then She Turns Around and Wow. “It was the moment that lefties, if they have any introspective tendencies, should consider the moment when the mirror was held up and everyone saw the ugliness. And hatred. Yes, plenty of hatred. And lunacy. Plenty of that, too. “
DAN ZIMMERMAN: The Time is Now: This May Be Our Last Chance to Finally Dismantle ATF. “For decades, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has stood as one of the most tyrannical agencies in Washington, with a long history of abusing its power against the American people. From Waco to the murder of Bryan Malinowski in Arkansas last year, the ATF’s record is littered with tragedy, government overreach, and open hostility toward law-abiding gun owners.”
DISPATCHES FROM AIRSTRIP ONE: The New Face of British Resistance Is Just 14 Years Old. “Culturally, things are so crazy that the BBC didn’t just blur out our heroine’s face, they even blurred out her blades. And now you understand the screencap at the top of this column. Mustn’t ruffle any feathers, you see.”
KEYSTONE COPS, WEST COAST EDITION:
San Francisco police have a robbery suspect from Los Angeles pinned down, until they don’t… https://t.co/zcZnsGDiOF
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) August 26, 2025
You couldn’t put that in a movie because nobody would believe it.
JON CALDARA: Consolidation of radio a cautionary tale for local TV news.
We’ve seen this type of conglomeration here before, in radio, and it’s served no one well, including, ironically, the companies that did it.
Before 1996, the Federal Communication Commission’s rules usually allowed only two radio stations to be owned by one entity in any one media market, an AM and FM station. It made for the “WKRP in Cincinnati” period of radio — local, often independently owned, stations with a variety of styles and personalities. In other words, lots of choice for listeners.
It also gave birth to the heyday of local talk radio, arguably the most potent force for limited government news and views we’ve ever had. It’s what drew me to work in talk radio for nearly 27 years now.
In Colorado, we had local giants like Mike Rosen and Peter Boyles who would dive into local politics and bring out stories and opinions the newspapers and TV stations wouldn’t touch. They kept the mainstream media honest
Talk radio was a political force. Those days are gone.
The FCC changed their rules so one company could own up to eight radio stations in any market. It started a buying spree. Companies went into debt to buy as many stations as they could as fast as they could.
The plan was to centralize the operations of the radio stations; thus, saving a lot of money by taking meat cleavers to the local stations.
Why have a newsroom crew serving only one station when you could have that one newsroom serve eight radio stations? Lay off all the other newsrooms’ employees, and there’s your profit.
If you’ve ever heard the same voice on different radio stations report the same news item, it’s because they record the story once and send it out to eight “sister” stations. No option of hearing how up to seven other stations might have covered that story differently.
If you’ve ever heard a radio traffic reporter mispronounce a common Colorado street or city name, it’s because they’re not in Colorado. They’re in another studio in a different state reading off some computer screen; then the guy does the same for the next city.
Fallout for local news
But the biggest damage done was the death of local news coverage and talk shows. Oh, yes, they’re still around, but they are not nearly the influencers and power brokers they once were.
Less local news/talk means less local accountability.
MINNEAPOLIS UPDATE:
Nearly an hour later, credible journalists (including @karol) have ID'd the Minneapolis shooter as Robert Paul "Robin" Westman, whose motives are known. @ABCNewsLive continues to play dumb.https://t.co/eXaO9ZkG5R
— The Patriarch Tree (@PatriarchTree) August 27, 2025
And for as long as X allows it, here’s the shooter’s video manifesto.
BREAKING 🚨🚨 🚨
WARNING HIGHLY DISTURBING
This is an 11 minute video posted by the psychotic school shooter today in Minneapolis. It was posted 2 hours ago on a YouTube channel named Robin W.
In it he shows a manifesto and an arsenal of guns with writing on them while… pic.twitter.com/w5VNufJWXL
— Champagne Joshi (@JoshWalkos) August 27, 2025
Joshi isn’t exaggerating — it is disturbing.
Between the “Kill Trump” stuff and his “I’m a girl!” hairdo, it’s an easy guess the shooter isn’t exactly MAGA.
AND WHY WOULD ISRAEL LET THEM IN?
WSJ: Egypt is training 10,000 Palestinian forces at its military academies to secure postwar Gaza, drawing exclusively from West Bank PLA/Fatah ranks, Hamas’ main rivals. pic.twitter.com/wdSIhTeMAa
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) August 27, 2025
MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: It’s Official: Bill Gates Now Contains 2 Percent Less Bond Villain. “That’s because of who Gates just cut off from his charitable foundation’s metric crap-tons of money.”
CALIFORNIA FAILIN’:
For a bit of perspective, 62 Amish dudes in Pennsylvania did in 48 hours what Gavin Newsom couldn’t do in 2 years.
Oh yeah, and they did it at 4% of the cost https://t.co/2jLYv7fqwj pic.twitter.com/uAY1umWO1B
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) August 26, 2025
The Amish came to work, not to grift.
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