GOODER AND HARDER, PREVIEW EDITION: Yep, Mamdani Will Be NYC’s Next Mayor.

COLLECTIVISM IS TRIBALISM: Harry Potter Author Scorches Liberals for Killing Free Speech for ‘Approval of Their Tribe.’

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: ‘ChatGPT, Am I The Kwizach Haderach?’ “When you have people who have mental health issues, and they might be delusional in some way, it’s going to reaffirm that, which is not helpful.”

CHRISTIAN ADAMS: The Judgment Fund Can Make Whole the Victims of Biden’s Weaponized DOJ. “Consider the outrageous prosecution of Douglass Mackey. The Biden Justice Department went after him for tweeting a joke that Hillary supporters could vote by text in 2016. It was telling that he was indicted four years after the tweet, just days after Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed his ridiculous conviction this year because ‘no rational jury’ could have found him guilty.”

HMM: More than half of industries are already shedding workers, a ‘telling’ sign that’s accompanied past recessions, top economist says.

In a series of X posts on Sunday, he followed up his warning from last weekend that the economy is on the brink of a recession.

This time, Zandi pointed out that the start of a recession is often unclear until after the fact, noting that the National Bureau of Economic Research is the official arbiter of when one begins and ends.

According to the NBER, a recession involves “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months.” It also looks at a range of indicators, including personal income, employment, consumer spending, sales, and industrial production.

Zandi said payroll employment data is by far the most important data point, and declines for more than a month consecutively would signal a downturn. While employment hasn’t started falling yet, it’s barely grown since May, he added.

Just remember the old joke that economists have correctly predicted seven of the last five recessions.

HOME RULE WAS A MISTAKE: Well, This Ought to Make Heads Explode All Across D.C.

UPDATE: President Trump Announces Federalization of Law Enforcement in D.C.

PEACE: Iran threatens planned Trump corridor envisaged by Azerbaijan-Armenia peace deal.

The proposed Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) would run across southern Armenia, giving Azerbaijan a direct route to its exclave of Nakhchivan and in turn to Turkey.

The U.S. would have exclusive development rights to the corridor, which the White House said would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.

It was not immediately clear how Iran, which borders the area, would block it but the statement from Ali Akbar Velayati, top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, raised questions over its security.

He said military exercises carried out in northwest Iran demonstrated the Islamic Republic’s readiness and determination to prevent any geopolitical changes.

“This corridor will not become a passage owned by Trump, but rather a graveyard for Trump’s mercenaries,” Velayati said.

Iran’s foreign ministry earlier welcomed the agreement “as an important step toward lasting regional peace”, but warned against any foreign intervention near its borders that could “undermine the region’s security and lasting stability”.

Analysts and insiders say that Iran, under mounting US pressure over its disputed nuclear programme and the aftermath of a 12-day war with Israel in June, lacks the military power to block the corridor.

What hardly anyone seems to be talking about is that while Russia is tied up in Ukraine and Iran is busy licking its wounds, Trump is forging peace — and dealing Moscow and Tehran out of their own backyards.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Profanity Won’t Save a Party That’s Out of Coherent Arguments.

THE FIX IS IN: Kathy Hochul moves to back socialist Zohran Mamdani for NYC mayor.

Speaking to Fox News, Hochul responded to questions about Mamdani, a democratic socialist who is running against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and others. This was after Mamdani publicly praised Hochul for hosting Texas Democratic lawmakers who left their state to block a Republican redistricting plan.

“We still have many differences. I don’t know how you whitewash that away,” Hochul said. “He can agree with me, and many people agree with, and I think it’s not just Democrats who say New Yorkers stand up for our rights. We do that. It’s what we’re hardwired to do. We’re fighters. I’m a mom from Buffalo. I guess they’re not used to taking on a mom from Buffalo, perhaps.”

“There’s many areas of disagreement, but also there’s areas of alignment, including affordability,” she said. “His election touched a nerve. And people said, you know what, we’re just not getting ahead. And the Trump policies that were promised to lift people up, reduce costs, not touch Medicaid, make sure that tariffs create jobs, none of that happened. So there is this sense of we need some change now.”

Florida is about to get a little more crowded.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Disney Folds Again. “This weekend was rather quiet in terms of news, so I thought I’d take a look at some smaller stories from the past week, along with one that has personal significance.”

SARAH HOYT’S SHOCKED FACE JUST HIT THE SNOOZE ALARM AGAIN: ‘Whitelash’: Professors say white students get angry, frustrated by ‘anti-racist education.’

Two social work scholars argue that their “anti-racist education” efforts in the classroom faced “whitelash” from white students, who became emotionally distraught, pushed back by using “color-blind rhetoric,” or later wrote negative course reviews.

Quinn Hafen from the University of Wyoming and Marie Villescas from Colorado State University recently published an article in the Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research detailing their experience creating a “pedagogy of discomfort” to challenge white supremacy in the classroom. The research was conducted at CSU.

The method was criticized by two scholars in interviews with The College Fix, who called the experiment somewhat abusive.

“[T]he more I reflect on that paper, the more I find it cruel to shame students based on immutable identities they hold, regardless of identity,” one observer said via email. “For the professors, it appeared that White and male students were their target.”

The College Fix reached out via email to both Hafen and Villescas regarding some of the concerns raised about their teaching methods. Hafen and Villescas did not reply.

Maybe they could try finding work that didn’t involve tacitly (or worse) treating ordinary students like they’re horrible people.

THE ENEMY WITHIN, UK EDITION: Pro-Jihad Qatari Royals Own More of London Than British King.

WISH THEM LUCK, BUT THIS ONE SEEMS LIKE A STRETCH: House Oversight wants to gather evidence that could overturn Biden’s pardons, executive orders.

INSURRECTION, STRAIGHT UP: School District Defies Law on ‘Trans’ Athletes, Illegal Immigration.

WELL, GOOD: Gina Carano Achieves Complete Victory In Disney Lawsuit Settlement Over ‘Mandalorian’ Firing.

JON CALDERA: The three different ways Coloradans are being taxed.

Here’s one:

The untold story of the Jared Polis years is the explosion of Colorado’s regulatory state. The Mercatus Center released a report on regulations throughout the states. And congratulations, Colorado, we have skyrocketed to No. 12 in the number of regulations.

As of 2023, we have 165,994 regulatory restrictions. By contrast neighboring Kansas and Nebraska have around 75,000. Idaho clocks in at only 31,497 — five times less than us.

Colorado has 53,550 environmental restrictions, while the national average is close to half that. How much of your health care costs are from regulations? We have 13,719 restrictions on health care services, while the national average is only 4,673.

It’s not just that there are so many more regulations here. It’s that authorities to create even more regulations is growing like a cancer.

Take the Air Quality Control Commission. Just a few years ago, it was called the Regional Air Quality Council and had no real authority other than making recommendations. The legislature mutated it into a “commission” on par with the likes of the omnipotent Public Utilities Commission.

It now has near unlimited authority to regulate the state out of business. From banning gas-powered tools to forcing companies to require their employees to carpool, this unelected star chamber is working to make Colorado unaffordable.

Previously: ‘F’ Is for Democrat: Colorado’s Collapse Under One-Party Rule.

MIDDLE EAST: Israel’s security cabinet approves plans to take over Gaza City. “Israel’s security cabinet has approved taking control of Gaza City, located in the north of the enclave, in another escalation to the war. Netanyahu earlier noted that Israel planned to take over the entirety of the enclave and eventually hand it off to ‘friendly Arab forces’ instead of Hamas.”

SPACE: Firefly Aerospace soars over 30% in market debut to land at $8.5 billion valuation.

PAR: NY Times: ‘Many Jewish Voters Back Mamdani.’ Their Evidence Is Laughable.

SARAH HOYT’S SHOCKED FACE HAS RETIRED TO THE STUDY WITH A COGNAC: Nearly one-third of detainees released from Gitmo may have returned to terrorism, ODNI data shows.

CHANGE: The Ump Wore a Skirt. MLB Calls Up First Female Umpire.

PREFERENCE CASCADE: FL Police Union Official: It’s Time to Stop Using the SIG SAUER P320. “This is not a criticism of Sig Sauer as a company, but a necessary judgment to protect those who put their lives on the line daily.”

Meanwhile, in Texas: Sig’s P320 Problem Deepens. “Despite Sig Sauer’s constant denials, the crisis over uncommanded P320 discharges continues to mount, and the Houston Police Department just pulled the weapon as a duty pistol.”

CORN, POPPED: Sen. Cornyn Sics the FBI on ‘Flee-Bagging’ Texas Democrats.

JUST LIKE HE SAID HE WOULD: Trump Doubles Tariff on India to 50%, Sparking Outrage in Delhi.

US President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50% as a penalty for its purchases of Russian oil, escalating a fight with a key Asian partner and sparking outrage in New Delhi.

Trump signed an executive order imposing a 25% tariff on Indian imports that will stack on top of the 25% levy he announced last week, the White House said Wednesday. The higher duty will take effect within 21 days, according to the order, providing some time for negotiation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government fired back after the announcement, saying the purchases are necessary for the nation’s energy security and blasting Trump for singling out India when other countries are also buying Russian oil. The nation’s opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, also lambasted Trump as a “bully.”

It would be nice to have India as a reliable partner against China, but since that still has yet to happen, it’s unrealistic for New Delhi to expect to be treated like a “key Asian partner.”

UPDATE:

Russian Urals crude is being offered to Chinese buyers at lower prices as Indian refiners pull back after new US tariffs. Traders report five to ten cargoes have been purchased, but China is unlikely to absorb all volumes redirected from India, according to Bloomberg.…

— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) August 8, 2025

GOOD: Teacher Fired for Rejecting Trans Ideology Can Sue Over Religious Discrimination.