MORE NUKES IS GOOD NUKES: Army to lead nuclear microreactor development to power bases.

I THOUGHT THE FIRST RULE OF AI FIGHT CLUB WAS TO NEVER TALK ABOUT AI FIGHT CLUB: Lockheed Martin launches ‘AI Fight Club’ to test algorithms for warfare. “The initiative comes amid Pentagon efforts to accelerate AI adoption as military competitors, particularly China, invest heavily in autonomous weapons systems and AI-powered warfare capabilities.”

IT’S MY THURSDAY ESSAY FOR VIP SUBSCRIBERS: From the Maxim Gun to the Maxim AI.

HMM:

🚨 BREAKING
A new armed group in Gaza, led by Yasser Abu Shabab, is shaking what’s left of Hamas.

🔻 Hamas tried to kill him near Kerem Shalom — failed. His brother was killed.
🔻 His 300-men force now secures food aid zones.

The internal war has begun. pic.twitter.com/obU5KfEuK0

— daniel 📟✌️ (@LionsOfZion_ORG) June 5, 2025

We’ve seen “Gaza uprising against Hamas” stories that never panned out, so we’ll see what becomes of this one.

I’M NOT SO SURE THE FEUD ISN’T ENTIRELY FOR PUBLIC CONSUMPTION: The Unexpected UPSIDE of the Trump-Musk Feud: The Dems Just Lost Their Only Talking Point.

DISPATCHES FROM THE COLD CIVIL WAR: Sen. Marsha Blackburn unveils bill to shield law enforcement from doxxing as Dems push to out ICE agents.

BREAKING: You’re Not Going to Want to Miss Clarence Thomas’s Scathing Opinion in a Reverse-Discrimination Case.

ROBERT SPENCER: Has the U.K. Just Signed Its Own Death Warrant? “A court ruling on Monday in Britain, if it is allowed to stand, could do nothing less than change the course of that country’s history, and that of the entire world. The U.K. has taken a decisive step away from the principles of free speech that it played a dominant role in formulating and giving to the world. There is serious cause for doubt now about whether the Sceptered Isle will even survive as a free society.”

THE HORROR… THE HORROR…: OMG! Bruen Created an ‘Asymmetric Battlefield’ in Which Anti-Gun Groups Have to Defend Gun Control Laws Under ‘Adversarial Cross-Examination’ in Court. “Because the government bears the burden of justifying its restrictions—and good historical research is expensive—well-funded gun rights groups have a leg up. The Firearms Policy Coalition, the Second Amendment Foundation, Gun Owners of America, the National Rifle Association, the National Association for Gun Rights, and the gun industry’s trade group, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, have participated in at least 61 cases challenging gun laws under Bruen, the Trace found. Of those cases, nearly half — 29 — resulted in a ruling finding a gun restriction unconstitutional. Legal wins for gun rights groups used to be far less frequent.”

Ideally, it should be quite difficult for government to infringe upon constitutionally guaranteed rights, and easy to undo. It looks like Bruen moved us closer to that ideal

BREAKING: SCOTUS Laughs Mexico’s Lawsuit Against U.S. Gunmakers Out of Court.

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Choke Point Choked Out?

Remember Operation Choke Point, the Obama-era policy (renewed by Biden) to “unbank” disfavored people and industries (like firearms) despite the lack of any law to do so? Citibank just announced that they’re ending their own anti-gun policy.

So Citi will no longer discriminate against businesses that operate to enable a protected constitutional right. Imagine that.

It’s a win — take it.

CHANGE: Pentagon to Symbolically Move Greenland From Europe to North American Defense Command.

OOF: Dying CNN Crashes to 374K Viewers, Fox News Tops ABC, CBS, NBC.

CNNLOL averaged only 374,000 primetime viewers, which is six times — six times — lower than the Fox News Channel average of 2.3 million primetime viewers.

Fox News topped all three broadcast networks during the week of May 26-30. NBC and CBS averaged only 2.4 million average primetime viewers, while CBS earned just 2.3 million. Fox News grabbed 2.7 million.

Between May 26 and June 1, Fox News earned 1.5 million average viewers throughout the total day, compared to CNN’s pathetic 308,000.

In the 25-54 age demo that sets advertising rates, Fox News attracted an average of 175,000 during the total day and 240,000 during primetime. CNNLOL earned only 49,000 and 61,000, respectively.

The Fox News Channel’s most popular show, The Five, earned more demo viewers — 409,000 — than CNN earned average primetime viewers. The Five also attracted 3.7 million total viewers. That’s more viewers than most primetime network shows, and The Five probably costs about a 20th to produce.

CNN cannot survive much longer in its present form.

I have a full-on case of schadenfreude for CNN, but maybe the real news here is that Fox News — a cable outlet — can outdraw the broadcast networks in primetime.

NEWS NO ONE WILL USE: Here’s How Dems Can Win Back Men (But They Won’t).

PUTIN’S STUPID WAR: Russia-Ukraine war has caused 1.4 million military casualties.

Of the 1 million Russian casualties, roughly 250,000 troops have been killed, while Ukraine has seen around 60-100,000 of its soldiers killed out of 250,000 casualties.

It is difficult to calculate accurate casualty numbers since Russia often under-counts and Ukraine doesn’t report them. The study used figures from U.S. and UK government estimates and other sources.

Russia has seized less than 1% of Ukrainian territory since 2024, with its forces in some places progressing just around 165 feet a day, according to the study. The country has also lost a third of its long-range bomber and surveillance fleets, nearly a third of its Black Sea fleet, and some of its top generals.

Co-author of the CSIS study Seth Jones told The New York Times that Russia’s campaign is one of the slowest in modern history.

Some glaciers move faster.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Hear Me Out — Arrest All the Democrats. “It’s only mostly tongue-in-cheek. I’ve really had it with these people.”

GROOMING, STRAIGHT UP: ‘Have You Considered Changing?’: Florida Teens Asked To Consider Becoming Gay In Class Assignment.

During a course for high school children in Miami-Dade County, students were assigned to complete a sexuality-focused questionnaire that asked a series of bizarre questions such as: “What do you think caused your heterosexuality?”; “Is it possible that being straight is just a phase you may grow out of?”; and, “Considering the menace of hunger and overpopulation, could the human race survive if everyone were straight like yourself?”

Parents were shocked to learn that a professor made their children answer questions like this as part of a Miami-Dade College course being offered to high schoolers. The course, called “Preparing for Student Success,” was designed for students to develop academic goals and come up with strategies to succeed in college and offered in Miami-Dade County, an area that has turned red in recent years.

The course is certainly trying to prepare high school kids for something, but it ain’t necessarily success.

IRAN WAS NEVER GOING TO AGREE TO ANYTHING ACCEPTABLE: Iran Rejects Nuclear Deal With U.S. But Leaves Door Open to a ‘Regional Consortium’ to Enrich Uranium.

IT’S AMAZING WHAT YOU CAN FIND IF YOU JUST LOOK: ICE arrests Russian national accused of being member of Al Qaeda.

The 39-year-old man detained on May 23 was born in Tajikistan and is a fugitive who is wanted overseas, ICE announced this week.

“Arresting individuals linked to terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda reaffirms our unwavering commitment to safeguard the homeland,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Philadelphia Field Office Director Brian McShane said in a statement.

“Through close collaboration with our outstanding partners at the FBI, we have taken decisive action to make our communities safer and prevent potential threats to the American people,” he added.
…
“It is alleged that he is or was a member of Al-Qaeda,” ICE said. “After his arrest, this individual was detained in ICE custody, where he will remain pending removal from the U.S.”

The Biden Cabal was just fine with him staying as long as he liked and doing whatever he liked.

PLEASE, STOP — I CAN’T SUPPORT HIM MORE THAN I ALREADY DO: Uh-Oh! China Isn’t Happy With Marco Rubio.

KRUISER: After Years of Calling Us Nazis, NYT Times Panel Wonders Where All the Empathy Went.

CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER…

The "next friend";s petition was heard because the firebomber's wife is unreachable and Dvortsin presented an affidavit that said she had a significant relationship with her. One other interesting thing: wife's last name is different. He's Soliman. She's El Gamal.

— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) June 4, 2025

More to come, I’m sure.

CONSEQUENCES:

🚨 BREAKING: Trump administration officially notifies left-wing, pro-Palestine Columbia University that they NO LONGER meet national standards for being accredited.

They were found to have violated federal Civil Rights law.

MAJOR FAFO moment right here. pic.twitter.com/LFecSu4PMR

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 4, 2025

DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONE: Calif. cannabis market posts biggest sales drop in legalization history.

Taxable sales at California’s legal cannabis stores amounted to $1.088 billion in the first quarter of 2025, the lowest figure in five years and an 11% drop in sales compared to the same quarter a year earlier, according to an SFGATE analysis of tax data. That’s the largest such drop in the history of legal cannabis sales in California.

Tamma Adamek, a spokesperson for the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, did not dispute SFGATE’s analysis of the drop. However, she said comparing the latest figures to earlier reported taxable sales is like comparing “apples to oranges” because the tax figures are constantly being updated as more cannabis stores file their tax reports.

“We know that the gap will shrink,” Adamek said, without providing an estimate for how much the agency expects the reported sales to change.
Experts have been warning for years that California’s legal market is in dire straits, as legal operators face extraordinarily high regulatory fees, taxes and competition from the unlicensed market.

“Unlicensed,” heh.

Sacramento forgot that, long before legalization, California had a robust “unlicensed” infrastructure in place for the production, distribution, and sale of pot. Were they stupid enough to think they could tax and regulate licensed producers and sellers to the point where their product was more expensive than the “unlicensed” stuff — and still collect their precious taxes?

I suppose they were that stupid.

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Here’s How Dems Can Win Back Men (But They Won’t).