REMINDER:

173 House Democrats backed a Washington, D.C. law to REDUCE penalties for:

– Murders
– Sexual assault
– Robberies
– Carjackings
– Home invasions

Democrats are pro-criminal, and it’s why they are against Trump's efforts to make the Capital safe again. pic.twitter.com/nOZreejSET

— Christian Collins (@CollinsforTX) August 13, 2025

OH MY: Rubio on Maduro: ‘At Some Point… We’re Going To Take These People On.’

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: UN-Backed Famine Watchdog Quietly Changed Standards, Easing Way To Declare Famine in Gaza.

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Houston, We Have a Spending Problem.

If you could reduce the latest deficit blowup to just one movie line, it would be Tom Hanks as the late, great Jim Lovell in “Apollo 13.”

“Houston, we have a spending problem.”

Before I take you through today’s doom and gloom news item, a quick reminder that every time I write about Washington’s addiction to spending and debt — which is fully enabled by codependent voters — I probably lose readers. But hard truths must be told, and if you hit the Back button instead of reading them, you won’t be the first. Or the last.

Nevertheless, I persist after driving readers away for nearly a quarter of a century.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.

Much more at the link.

CHRISTIAN TOTO: Is the Left Learning the Error of Its Woke Ways?

Living in a bubble has its drawbacks.

Take Hollywood, an industry where the quest for diversity is literally skin deep. Sure, La La Land denizens come from all walks of life, but they generally read from the progressive playbook.

Black actors. Asian screenwriters. Female directors. Hispanic screenwriters. They voted for Kamala Harris last fall, or at least told everyone they did on Instagram.

The reporters who cover the industry fall under a similar umbrella.

That means reality often lurks just beyond reach. Case in point: The American public had little interest in the woke agenda, then or especially now.

Some key voices in the artistic community are starting to figure that out. Finally.

Much more at the link.

2026 PREVIEW: Democrat Sherrod Brown Wants His Ohio Senate Seat Back. Here’s Why That Could Be a Problem.

RECENTLY PROMOTED FROM UNOFFICIAL: Democrats Officially the Pro-Crime Party.

COME SEE THE VIOLENCE INHERENT IN THE LEFTISM: Socialists Plot To Attack Federal Agents. “So how does the Party for Socialism and Liberation get away with an open conspiracy to hinder law enforcement officers in carrying out their official duties? This seems like the sort of thing the FBI should investigate, especially the funding sources. The Party for Socialism and Liberation’s fiscal sponsor is the Progress Unity Fund, which in turn is funded by the George Soros-backed Tides Foundation.”

FAKE NEWS, COURTESY OF THE CORRUPT INTEL COMMUNITY AND PRESENTED BY THE DNC-MEDIA COMPLEX: Meet the Leakers! Russiagate Was More Incestuous Than You Could Believe.

WELL, YES: Low standards let kids sink.

In education, there’s little support for people who say, “That’s not good enough. Do better,” he writes. In a way , the consequences of low standards are life-threatening. But it’s not obvious until years later.

President Trump is reinstating the Presidential Fitness Test, which was discontinued in 2013 in favor of a “more holistic ‘barometer’ of student health,” he writes. In the past, “students who hit certain benchmarks got a certificate.” Not a big deal.

In a New York Times story, For Some, Return of Presidential Fitness Test Revives Painful Memories, a 60-year-old woman calls the test, “survive or fail. It was Darwinist.”

“Now, I don’t think Charles Darwin would think kids having to do pull-ups really captures the adapt-or-die essence of On the Origin of Species, writes Hess. “But this kind of overwrought anxiety has become pervasive, undermining our ability to set clear expectations for kids or confidently stand by them.”

Among many other things, kids need to learn how to fail.

IMAGINE NO POSSESSIONS:

This is Ida Auken, the WEF lady (she's actually a Danish politician) who originated the "You will own nothing" line

In reality, she owns plenty pic.twitter.com/DuEQ2Co2Ds

— Daniel Greenfield – "Hang Together or Separately" (@Sultanknish) August 13, 2025

It’s not so easy, is it?

UGH: When Narcan Isn’t Enough: The Rise of Frankenstein Opioids.

CORN, POPPED:

Adam Schiff's pardon is "for any offenses … related to the activities or subject matter of the Select Committee to Investigate" J6.

Schiff is not protected against Russiagate-related offenses. pic.twitter.com/EzuN0dv8QW

— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) August 13, 2025

CNBC: S&P 500, Nasdaq both notch record close as inflation report gives Fed green light to cut rates.

Politico: Inflation ticks higher as Trump’s tariffs kick in.

Same data, two very different headlines. But the first is from a business-focused outlet, and the other is… well, it’s Politico.

RELIGION OF PEACE UPDATE: Former Hostage Calls Out Outlet for Labeling Jihadi as a ‘Journalist.’

I’M NEVER DELETING THIS APP AGAIN:

For recent annual homicide rates, D.C. has had 27-39 per 100,000 people over the past two years, while Iraq is at 2-4 per 100,000, and Fallujah is estimated at 3-5 per 100,000. So, D.C. is no Fallujah– its about eight times worse.

— Mike Englund (@MikeEnglund2) August 12, 2025

Using facts and logic is an uncouth way to argue, Robert Heinlein once quipped, but it sure is a lot of fun.

CHANGE INCENTIVES, CHANGE BEHAVIOR: Overall Foreign-Born Population Down 2.2 Million January to July.

Analysis of the CPS data shows the total foreign-born population of all ages, both in and out of the labor force, declined an unprecedented 2.2 million from January to July – the largest six-month decline ever within the same year.

Non-citizens accounted for all of the falloff in the total foreign-born; the naturalized U.S. citizen population has actually increased some since January.

We preliminarily estimate that the illegal immigrant population declined an astonishing 1.6 million (10 percent) to 14.2 million from January to July of this year.

Confirmation of the decline in the illegal immigrant population can be seen in the 10 percent decrease in the number of non-citizens from Latin America who indicated they arrived in the U.S. in 1980 or later. It is well-established that this population overlaps significantly with illegal immigrants.

Although some have voiced concern, based on the BLS’s other employment-focused survey, that job growth is underreported, the CPS actually shows significant job growth among the U.S.-born. Further, to the extent employment growth may have slowed overall, it is likely due to illegal immigrants leaving the country.

Based on the CPS, the BLS reports in Table A-7 of the Employment Situation Report that the number of employed foreign-born individuals declined by 1 million from January to July 2025. Table A-7 also shows an increase of 2.5 million workers among the U.S.-born.

There are a few important caveats. First, given recent stepped-up enforcement efforts, it is possible that the observed decline in the foreign-born was due, at least in part, to a greater reluctance by immigrants to participate in the survey or to identify as foreign-born; 2) Some of the administrative data necessary to estimate illegal immigrants is not yet available, making our estimate for July only preliminary; and 3) Given the way the CPS is designed, employment gains among the U.S.-born, at least in part, may represent a statistical artifact rather than a real trend.

Those caveats are important, but don’t seem likely to be near enough to discount the trend.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Biden’s Open Borders Horror Stories Never Seem to End. “The Democrats do have a knack for turning their humanitarian endeavors into horrific dystopian ordeals, don’t they?”

SHE FIGHTS: ‘Bring it On, Gavin!’: Karoline Leavitt Says Trump Admin Relishes Legal Fight With Newsom.

Newsom accused the administration of “extortion” on Friday after the Department of Justice (DOJ) proposed that the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) pay $1 billion to settle allegations of antisemitism on campus. At the briefing, Leavitt said that the administration is “well within its legal right” to propose this settlement.

“Bring it on, Gavin,” Leavitt said. “This administration is well within its legal right to do this and we want to ensure that our colleges and our universities are respecting the First Amendment rights and the religious liberties of students on their campuses and UCLA has failed to do that. And I have a whole list of examples that I will forward to Gavin Newsom’s press office if he hasn’t seen them himself.”

Newsom seems to think this is a winning issue for 2028.

MAYBE THE DOGS DON’T LIKE THE DOG FOOD: Beyond Solvency: Beyond Meat Facing Bankruptcy?

OH MY:

No wonder Nicole Wallace was looking totally miserable when she had to report the news of the Russia Hoax Conspiracy Grand Jury!
Her husband, Michael Schmidt was receiving leaks of Classified Information from that sanctimonious git Comey dirtying up Pres Trump
Her husband is a… https://t.co/SyFbsjHwr6 pic.twitter.com/Be90QIX341

— Svetlana Lokhova (@RealSLokhova) August 13, 2025

THIS IS A PROBLEM: America’s Drone Crisis: ‘Made In America’ Is Nearly Impossible.

The New York Times had an article about a military drone exercise in Alaska and describes it as a comedy of errors. Drones crashed, missed targets, and nearly flew into a group of observers, all while being flown by the drone manufacturers themselves.

The U.S. military trails the Russians and Chinese in manufacturing, training with, and using drones by the millions. The U.S. is behind in developing drone technology while the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel are “dominated by swarms of … inexpensive drones that are largely produced with components from China,” according to the Times. One Chinese company, DJI, accounts for 70% of all worldwide drone sales, and they make millions of drones a year.

Beyond the obvious overmatch concerns, technical and manufacturing concerns exist as well. DOD explicitly and wisely prohibits the military from using drones of Chinese origin, remembering the challenges of Lenovo computers and Haiwei phones and their links to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) government. DoD has a “Blue List” of drone manufacturers and models authorized for U.S. military use. However, only 14 companies and 20 models are on that approved list. Among these 20 models are the ones that performed so poorly in Alaska.

Read the whole thing.

2026 PREVIEW: Trump Picks His Dawg in Georgia’s GOP Governor Fight.

CHANGE INCENTIVES, CHANGE BEHAVIOR: OK Can No Longer Give Illegals In-State Tuition While Americans Pay Full Price After DOJ Lawsuit.

LOOKS LIKE SOMEBODY IN THE CPD IS MAKING A FORTUNE SELLING TURNED-IN FIREARMS ON THE BLACK MARKET: Chicago Woman Who Was Shot With a Police Department ‘Buyback’ Gun Sues the City for $50,000. “While the Chicago Police Department ‘gun turn-in program’ website states that ‘all guns are destroyed and never returned to the streets,’ that wasn’t the case for Twanda Willingham. Ms. Willingham recently filed suit against the City of Chicago and others after she was shot with a GLOCK 21 .45 caliber handgun that had been relinquished to Chicago police at a gun turn-in event in December 2023. The same firearm that was used to shoot Ms. Willingham was then used in at least two other shootings before being discovered on a 16-year old boy months later, as we reported back in April of this year.”