NOT ANTI-WAR, JUST ON THE OTHER SIDE:
The same people who spent the last months claiming that it is a war crime to deny aid to Gaza spent today claiming it is a war crime to deliver aid to Gaza in a way that does not allow Hamas to steal it.
Kind of gives the game away.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) May 27, 2025
MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Starship Flight Test 9: Another Earth-Shattering Kaboom.
HOW’S THAT SPACE PROGRAM COMING ALONG? Venus Harbors Secret Asteroids That Could Threaten Earth, Study Warns. “These so-called ‘Venus co-orbitals’ share a similar path around the Sun with our neighbor planet but aren’t harmless tagalongs. According to a paper under review for the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, and currently hosted on arXiv, a yet-undetected group of the asteroids could pose a threat to Earth.”
ROBERT SPENCER: King Charles Undercuts Canada’s Sovereignty While Trying to Affirm It. “Yeah, this was really a great idea from the beginning: show Orange Man Bad that you’re a sovereign state by reminding the world that you’re a part of an international conglomeration of former British colonies under the sovereignty of the English king. But when he actually spoke on Tuesday, Charles made it even worse.”
THE EV BUBBLE CONTINUES TO DEFLATE: Tesla Rival BYD Tumbles After Launching China EV Price War. Several Rivals Fire Back.
BYD is generally viewed as the low-cost producer in China, reflecting its in-house production of batteries and many key components as well as its ability to extract volume discounts from suppliers. So it has more scope to get prices lower than rivals, many of which are not profitable.
Rising inventories at BYD dealers reportedly spurred the automaker’s move, along with a desire to reach 5.5 million in sales this year, up from just over 4 million in 2024.
The EV maker’s discounts don’t apply to its surging overseas sales. Those already tend to have higher margins. That gives BYD another edge over rivals that are almost entirely reliant on the cutthroat China market.
Still, hefty price cuts will likely squeeze BYD’s profit margins.
China price wars are nothing new. Tesla helped kick off big discounts in early 2023, as the U.S. EV giant slashed prices worldwide.
In early 2024, BYD spurred a wave of price cuts.
The market has too many producers and not enough growth, even with mandates and subsidies.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Reports of the Dems’ Return to Relevance Are Greatly Exaggerated. “Where Politico takes this is so ridiculous it’s like reading an old copy of Mad Magazine. The Who’s Who of leftist whackos in its fever dream for this shadow cabinet is chuckle-worthy. Bill Nye the Fake Science Guy is on it. The Democrats’ media mouthpieces are even less serious people than the party leaders are.”
CHANGE: Trump admin issues pause on student visa interviews at all embassies.
The Trump administration on Tuesday reportedly issued a blanket pause on the scheduling of student visa interviews at embassies and consulates while it mulls the implementation of social media vetting for foreign students.
The interim pause came via an order from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Politico reported.
“Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued septel, which we anticipate in the coming days,” it read.
Somewhere, a Biden or Obama judge is trying to figure out how to put a stop to the stoppage.
THE ART OF THE DEAL(S): Consumer confidence for May was much stronger than expected on optimism for trade deals.
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index leaped to 98.0, a 12.3-point increase from April and much better than the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 86.0.
Much of the positive sentiment, according to board officials, came from developments in the U.S.-China trade impasse, most notably President Donald Trump’s halting of the most severe tariffs on May 12.
“The rebound was already visible before the May 12 US-China trade deal but gained momentum afterwards,” said Stephanie Guichard, the Conference Board’s senior economist for global indicators.
May’s rebound followed five straight months of declines. Consumers and investors had grown sour on economic prospects amid the intensifying trade war that Trump has launched against U.S. global trading partners, with China a particular target.
However, the two sides reached a truce in early May, marking the second major walk-back of Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs since he levied them in his April 2 “liberation day” announcement.
Other board sentiment indicators also increased.
Now that the Democrats are out of power, the unexpectedlies all run in the opposite direction.
ICYMI: So This Latest Move Will Save the Democrats for Sure. “The Democrats have guys like Walz, who is maybe one handful of confetti away from Rip Taylor. Republicans? Their top guy’s third wife is also his second supermodel. How are you gonna compete for the male vote like that?”
STARSHIP FLIGHT 9:
Watch Starship's ninth flight test → https://t.co/Gufroc2kUz https://t.co/NYF0ZMyeGp
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 23, 2025
Watch the New Space Race live.
UPDATE (FROM GLENN):
Starship’s ascent burn is complete and is now coasting through space
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 27, 2025
ANOTHER UPDATE (FROM GLENN):
As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly. Teams will continue to review data and work toward our next flight test.
With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s…
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 28, 2025
Success through iterative failure!
DON’T TRUST CHINA. CHINA IS ASSHOE: Korea assessing China-made solar inverters after U.S. probe over undefined devices.
Korea is taking concrete steps to assess the potential security risks posed by China-made inverters, key in solar panels and batteries, following the launch of a probe into the devices in the United States after some unexplained communication components were found inside.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Tuesday it held a meeting last week with major domestic solar firms, including Hanwha Qcells, Hyundai Energy Solutions and Hyosung Heavy Industries, to review the current status of solar inverter deployment in the country and possible expected threats.
“The meeting aimed to gather industry input on potential cybersecurity risks associated with solar inverters,” the Industry Ministry said, adding that it currently has “no plans to conduct a comprehensive investigation into all inverters” distributed domestically.
That last bit might have to change, depending on what they find.
CORN, POPPED: The Dems Declare War on the Obama Boys.
CHANGE: Bezos’ WaPo Gives Staff Ultimatum as It Pushes Them Out.
Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post wants to push dozens of staffers out the door, offering opinion staffers, staffers with 10 years’ experience, and some desks buyout packages to leave the paper. “Like the rest of our industry, we are adapting to changing habits and new technologies that are transforming news experiences,” executive editor Matt Murray told staffers in a memo obtained by the Daily Beast. “Even as we have begun creating new departments and welcoming new colleagues, to reach new audiences we must increase our staffing flexibility and expand in areas such as audience data and social video.” The entire video desk, the copy desk, and the sports copy desks were also offered buyout packages, which Murray stressed were voluntary. Staffers will have until July to make a decision.
And then do buyouts become non-voluntary?
MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: So This Latest Move Will Save the Democrats for Sure. “It isn’t easy being a Democrat these days, but don’t think for a moment they haven’t come up with a brand-new agenda — one that somehow isn’t any different from the old one going back to FDR. But it has a shiny new name, so they’ve got that going for them. Which is nice.”
OUCH: At least 5 are dead and 19 injured after a chemical plant explodes in China, authorities say.
A huge explosion rocked a chemical plant in China ’s eastern Shandong province around noon Tuesday, killing at least five people and injuring 19, according to local emergency management authorities. Another six people were missing.
It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion.
The blast was powerful enough to knock out windows at a warehouse more than two miles (three kilometers) away, according to a video shared by a resident, who declined to give his name out of concern about retaliation.
The resident said his home shook. As he went to the window, he saw a column of smoke from the site more than seven kilometers (4.3 miles) away.
Video:
Today: Tragedy in Gaomi, China: May 27, 2025
A deadly blast at the world’s largest chlorpyrifos plant leaves:
– 5 dead, 6 missing,
– 19 injured.
The explosion at Shandong Youdao Chemical sent a fireball into the sky, shattering windows and lives. pic.twitter.com/Rhh7pa0zsr— Weather Monitor (@WeatherMonitors) May 27, 2025
Developing…
COME SEE THE VIOLENCE INHERENT IN THE LEFTISM: The Online Left Is Encouraging and Inspiring Murderers and Terrorists.
A THREAD:
"The President of the University of Virginia was justifying the marginalization of students on Grounds—and doing nothing about it. At that moment, I knew that man should not be sitting behind the desk in Madison Hall."
The Jefferson Council’s president, Joel Gardner, doesn’t… pic.twitter.com/qHtL5RPVJh
— The Jefferson Council (@TheJeffersonC) May 26, 2025
Exit quote: “He warns that DEI has morphed into ‘a quasi-religion’ — ‘a catechism that, if not dutifully followed, results both figuratively and literally in having your knuckles wrapped.’ Fear of speaking freely, he says, is widespread — ‘It’s shocking and it’s heartbreaking at Mr. Jefferson’s university.'”
DECOUPLING: China Criticises Plan To Return Darwin Port To Australian Ownership.
China’s ambassador to Canberra has criticised the Australian government’s intention to return Darwin Port to local ownership, saying the Chinese company running the strategically located northern port should not be punished.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in April during the election campaign that his government was working on a plan to force the sale of Darwin Port from its Chinese owner on national interest grounds.
Australia sold the commercial port on a 99-year lease to Chinese company Landbridge in 2015, a move that was criticised by the U.S. president at the time, Barack Obama. Around 2,000 U.S. Marines exercise for six months of the year in the northern city.
Ambassador Xiao Qian said Landbridge Group had invested in the port and contributed to the local economy, according to a statement on Sunday by the Chinese embassy.
If Beijing is unhappy then I presume it’s good for Australia.
I’D MISSED THIS FROM BEEGE YESTERDAY: On Serving Your Country: Gratitude. “Years later – it doesn’t matter how many – the tears still come. The memories flood back, the choking starts, and dear God, if only you could see them for one second more.”
ANALYSIS: TRUE.
Fact Check: According to our polling, True https://t.co/MeE5zP6ETo
— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) May 27, 2025
Republicans have a little more than a year to accomplish what they were sent to DC to do, before they return home to campaign for reelection.
“But campaign on what?” is the question they seem happy not to ask themselves.
BLUE CITY BLUES: Denver mayor points finger at Trump after $250M shortfall brings hiring freezes, furloughs.
The city and county of Denver plans on hiring freezes and furloughs as it projects $250 million in revenue shortfalls over the next couple years.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a Democrat, laid some of the blame on the Trump administration for the municipality’s budget woes in a fiscal update given on Thursday.
“The economic downturn and volatility brought on by President Trump is a major challenge facing Denver,” Johnston said in a written statement. “This uncertainty, coupled with declining revenues and significant growth in the cost of city government over the past decade, require us to immediately address the city’s structural budget deficit while protecting essential services and positioning Denver for economic growth in 2026 and beyond.”
The city projects a $50 million revenue gap for the remainder of this year and a $200 million shortfall in 2026.
Johnston explained the growth of city government is “unsustainable,” nearly doubling in size over the last 12 years while costs have increased 83% and revenue has grown by 75%, leaving an 8% difference.
Sounds like you have a spending problem, Mr. Mayor, not a Trump problem.
NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU DESPISE THE MEDIA…: Now We Know the Real Reason Tapper and Thompson Wrote About Biden. “Sure enough, the pivot is already underway. This week, while being interviewed by Wolf Blitzer, Tapper made it clear the book is less about reflecting on the media’s failure to vet Biden—but a call to arms to pivot directly to Trump.”
“Sure, we lied about Biden for years, but now that we’ve made a non-apology tour, you can totally trust us on Trump,” is quite the flex.
DON’T FORGET THE DRONES AND MISSILES! Trump says US wants to make tanks, not T-shirts.
President Donald Trump said on Sunday his tariff policy was aimed at promoting the domestic manufacturing of tanks and technology products, not sneakers and T-shirts.
Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One in New Jersey, Trump said he agreed with comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on April 29 that the US does not necessarily need a “booming textile industry” – comments that drew criticism from the National Council of Textile Organizations.
“We’re not looking to make sneakers and T-shirts. We want to make military equipment. We want to make big things. We want to make, do the AI thing,” Trump said.
T-shirts are nice, but the “big things” are necessities.
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