HARDBALL: Trump To Canada: Palestinian Recognition Could Cost Trade Ties.

TO BE FAIR, LYING IS WHAT THEY DO: The Mainstream Media Is Lying: Republicans Are NOT Abandoning Israel — They Are Embracing It.

TO BE FAIR, CANADA HAS BEEN A BAD EXAMPLE ON A WHOLE HOST OF ISSUES FOR THE LAST DECADE OR SO: Canada Has Proven the Ineffectiveness of Oppressive National-Level Gun Control Laws.

MIDDLE EAST: ‘Ethnic Cleansing’: Israel Decries Syrian Massacre.

FAIL, BRITANNIA: Starmer Opens Possibility of Prosecuting Veterans Who Served During the Northern Irish Troubles. “No one will be chasing down any IRA, Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), or Ulster Defense Force (UDA) terrorists for appearances or answers. It appears they will be going after British Army pensioners.”

THERE’S ALWAYS A BUT: For the First Time, the Arab League Condemns Hamas and Urges the Terrorists to Disarm. But…

MARS AIN’T THE KIND OF PLACE TO RAISE YOUR KIDS: NASA Locked Them Up for a Year to Simulate Life on Mars. Today, They Reveal What They Did With Their Time: A Lot of PS4 Gaming.

The CHAPEA mission was designed to mimic the stressful, confined environment of a Mars mission. Volunteers lived in a 160 m² habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston, for 378 days. This experiment sought to test not just physical survival (limited food, spacewalks, and communication delays), but also the emotional and mental resilience of a crew under extreme isolation.

Why does this matter? Mars, unlike the Moon, is far from Earth. A round-trip journey would take up to two years, with minimal direct communication with Earth (delayed by over 20 minutes each way). For astronauts, the constant separation from family, friends, and daily life could be psychologically taxing. As a result, NASA had to understand how isolation impacts human behavior, decision-making, and teamwork under pressure.

It wasn’t just the hard science that stood out in this mission—it was the crew’s use of video games, especially strategy games and simulation games, as tools to combat boredom and stress. The isolation and monotony of the simulated Martian environment could easily lead to a decline in morale. To keep spirits up and minds sharp, the crew leaned on games, notably on a PlayStation 4.

As one participant, microbiologist Anca Selariu, explained, these gaming sessions became more than just a way to pass the time. They served as a form of cognitive training, encouraging problem-solving and strategic thinking under limited resources—an exercise that directly mirrors the types of decisions astronauts might have to make during a real Mars mission.

But did they simulate trying to download game patches from 140 million miles away?

OH MY:

🚨BREAKING: Trump’s administration has declassified the Durham Annex, discovered in burn bags inside a “secret room,” confirming that Hillary Clinton conspired with Obama’s FBI to fabricate the Russia Collusion Hoax

– The Steele dossier was pushed despite clear flaws.
– FBI… pic.twitter.com/VKTSDDrmS3

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 31, 2025

More to come…

DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONES: Lulu Karen Saw ICE Agents at the Home Depot and Lost Her Mind.

THAT’S BECAUSE THERE’S NO GENOCIDE: Fetterman slams MTG’s characterization of humanitarian situation in Gaza: ‘Not a genocide.’ “Fetterman told a reporter that the situation in Gaza is not a ‘genocide,’ after the reporter referenced Greene’s recent rhetoric, and appeared to criticize the journalist for asking for his take on her description.”

I WOULDN’T MIND KEEPING THEM CLOSED FOR A WHILE LONGER: Kamala Says No to Running for California Governor, but Her Next Move Is a Real Eye Opener.

HARDBALL: Texas GOP unveils new planned congressional map.

The maps are expected to create five new House seats that President Trump won by double digits in November. Trump had pressed Lone Star State Republicans to redraw the lines to protect the party’s narrow 219-212 House majority in next year’s midterms.

State Rep. Todd Hunter (R) filed the proposal as Texas lawmakers met for a special session.

The maps could endanger Democrats’ efforts to take back the lower chamber next year. In response to the moves in Texas, Democrats in California and other blue states have floated their own redistricting possibilities, heating up a redistricting war ahead of the midterms.
“Just a simple redrawing. We pick up five seats,” Trump said of the plans earlier this month.

Analysis of the maps from Punchbowl News and The Texan project a potential five-seat gain from the new proposal, including a big shift to Rep. Greg Casar’s (D-Texas) 35th Congressional District near San Antonio and Austin.

Texas Democrats have responded to the proposal by accusing Republicans of “trying to rig the midterms.”

California basically stole three GOP-held House seats in broad daylight last fall — so have at it, Texas.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Everyone on the American Left Wants to Kill You. “In any battle, it is important to understand the enemy’s strength and will. Resources are important too, but those first two things can really carry the day for those who have enough determination. The Democrats do have that hateful focus right now. They are not being coy about at all, either.”

END THE FED:

I’ve watched every Fed press conference since they began in 2011. I spent a decade trading interest rate derivatives. Following the Fed was literally my full-time job. Yesterday was the most confusing, bizarre, and blatantly political Fed press conference I’ve ever seen.

Jerome…

— James Fishback (@j_fishback) July 31, 2025

Full text:

I’ve watched every Fed press conference since they began in 2011. I spent a decade trading interest rate derivatives. Following the Fed was literally my full-time job. Yesterday was the most confusing, bizarre, and blatantly political Fed press conference I’ve ever seen.

Jerome Powell keeps moving the goalposts from meeting to meeting to justify keeping rates at 20-year highs—the lower-than-expected inflation data be damned! Why? It looks like an effort to sabotage President Trump and his economic agenda. And real people are paying the price.

Americans can’t get a home because they can’t afford a mortgage because Powell won’t get off his anti-Trump high horse and lower rates like every single central bank in the West has this year. He’s hurting workers, families, retirees, and businesses small and large.

What Jerome Powell is doing is economically illiterate and deeply un-American.

It’s unAmerican for so few unelected and unaccountable people to wield so much power.

FA, MEET FO: Francesca Albanese says US sanctions over her criticism of Israel will seriously impact her life.

Previously: “Despite repeatedly calling herself a “lawyer” on her CV, Francesca Albanese has now admitted that she never took a bar exam and has no license to practice law. Geneva-based NGO UN Watch is calling on the UN Human Rights Office to remove Albanese’s misleading professional designation from its website and conduct an investigation into Albanese’s conduct.”

And: UN Orchestrated Cover-Up of Francesca Albanese’s Pro-Hamas Funding.

Also: Hamas Defends UN Official Targeted by US.

Cry me a river, Francesca.

THEY’RE FLAILING: ‘Juan Crow’ Is The New York Times’ Latest Way to Call Trump RAAAAAACIST.

SIMULATE THIS: Wargaming is having its ‘Moneyball’ moment.

Armies of psychologists have spent entire careers attempting to understand human decision-making. It’s not easy to boil down to numbers and equations. Moreover, it’s conveyed through conversation, discussion and debate, something that technology has yet to harness or replicate.

Wargames have served as an indispensable tool in this exploration. They provide a way to exercise the decision-making process, explore why choices were made and determine what the implications might be. However, being human-centric isn’t always efficient. Wargames often require months of planning by experienced wargamers who deeply understand the defense issues at play. They also require human players with the expertise to emulate the various parties in a conflict. All this means wargames are often hosted on an annual cycle and can only explore a small number of the potential scenarios a national security leader might encounter.

After all, how many people could plausibly play the role of Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping?

But with the advent of generative AI, we now have the ability to ask a computer to harness human language and, at a minimum, plausibly approximate human conversation and decision-making. That opens an opportunity to merge technology and wargaming in a way that hasn’t previously been possible — meaning we can bring wargaming to a wider audience over a broader set of possible scenarios.

Combine AI and physics-based modeling and simulation, which can traceably adjudicate how interactions between military platforms will play out (think whether or not an F-35 will be detected), and suddenly you can run wargames with a much smaller number of human players across a much larger number of scenarios. Because the artifacts of these games are captured digitally, you can then rapidly conduct assessments of exactly what happened and why it happened — which is incredibly labor-intensive in traditional wargaming.

When this stuff goes commercial, it’ll be the best thing to happen to hobbyist wargaming since “The Operational Art of War” launched in 1998.

JON CALDERA: A Broncos bargain: No new stadium until Denver is safe & clean.

The people of Colorado have been faithfully loyal to the Denver Broncos, win or lose, for 65 long years. We should get a fraction of that loyalty back. If your girlfriend demands you buy her a new car or she’s leaving, you might be dating the wrong girl.

Look, we all know how this game is going to play out. Once the Broncos have a decent season or two, they’ll announce their plan for a new stadium. The “economic development” bros will pimp study after study showing how this colossal redevelopment will pay for itself many times over within 15 minutes of the first kickoff. (Really, every city should build 10 stadiums to be rich). And there will be rumors of cities wanting to lure the Broncos to their town.

Bottom line: sports-crazed voters will pass the tax and debt package, and a new Dixie cup stadium will go up.

So, why don’t we taxpaying Broncos fans get out in front of it? Before the Broncos owners make a deal with the city, let’s demand a deal from the Broncos. Instead of waiting for them to threaten to leave, let’s hold a new stadium over their heads until we get something first.

Taxpayers are diffused, rarely organized to flex political muscles or negotiate for real results, so we get little for what we pay for. Perfect example: tax increases for schools.

Colorado’s educational system is a failure. Reading and math scores are in the toilet. So, inevitably, school districts ask for more money to fix the problem, promising with more cash our kids will finally read and write at grade level. But we never demand any accountability in exchange.

You wouldn’t build your house like that. You wouldn’t pay a contractor the full price before he even put a shovel in the ground. You’d give him enough money to get started. Then, when he finishes the foundation, you’d give him another check, when the framing is done, another check, and so on.

We should only agree to school tax increases if the deal is structured with guaranteed outcomes before money is paid. The school district gets a first tranche of money to get started and then, in two years, if reading and math scores reach a mutually agreed level, they get the next tranche.

The accountability must be verifiable and agreed to before we say yes.

This could take a while.

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Cincinnati Councilwoman: ‘They Begged for That Beat Down.’ “What’s there to be ‘grateful’ for in that part of the story? Where’s Barack Obama to remind us, ‘This isn’t who we are?'”

HEH: The Case Of The Playboy Monk. “China has appointed Shi Yinle, former abbot of White Horse Temple, as the new head of the Shaolin Temple—just two days after the monastery confirmed that longtime abbot Shi Yongxin was under investigation for alleged financial crimes and sexual misconduct, according to the South China Morning Post.”

Celibacy and asceticism are hard, especially when there’s money and women to be had.

FALL PREVIEW: Terry Bradshaw Versus Aaron Rodgers? It’s Almost Football Season!

HA, HA — OH WAIT, HE’S SERIOUS? Seth Meyers: Americans Should Get Their News from Us. “Meyers routinely pushes Fake News to his audience. Consider how he warped the truth behind a ‘Meals on Wheels’ narrative meant to attack then-President Donald Trump. Or, how both he and John Oliver downplayed far-Left Portland violence during the post-George Floyd riots.”

“ATLAS SHRUGGED” WAS NOT AN INSTRUCTION MANUAL: The ‘Worst Mayor in America’ Promises a ‘Head Tax’ on Larger Businesses.

THE AUTHORITARIAN MIND: Gun Control ‘Logic’ Fails Just as Badly When It’s Applied to Artificial Intelligence. “Banning or heavily regulating advanced AI development won’t be possible once it becomes feasible to do that kind of research in mom’s basement. The technology will be developed by somebody. It’s just a matter of how much time we have to prepare.”

UNEXPECTED HEADLINES: Hamas Co-Founder’s Son Rips Pro-Jihadi UK Government.