AND SO IT BEGINS: The Long Goodbye to Most Successful Rocket of All Time.

DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONES:

The State of California told El Cajon we could not do welfare checks on unaccompanied children.
That is not a talking point. That happened. The Department of Homeland Security asked our police to help. The state attorney general said no, citing SB 54.
That is the law we are…

— Bill Wells (@MayorBillWells) May 7, 2026

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: After Suing Denver Over AWB, DOJ Sues State of Colorado Over ‘High Cap’ Magazine Ban.

The funny thing is, I know at least one local range that sells verboten “high capacity” magazines, and a former employee told me that LEOs were big buyers of them.

HUH:

This is an amazing Easter egg. Barbara Lagoa was reportedly the runner up to Barrett for the Supreme Court seat. This almost reads like she’s hinting that if she had gotten the seat, there wouldn’t now be all these headaches around the birthright citizenship case and other… https://t.co/6WP7LmkeRB

— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) May 7, 2026

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Ted Turner Wouldn’t Make It as a Democrat Now.

TEMU MISSILES:

China secretly supplied 100 CM-302 anti-ship missiles to Iran during the ceasefire. During yesterday’s attack on U.S. Navy warships, Iran launched them, but none hit their targets,either intercepted or failing mid-flight due to technical issues. Chinese equipment is failing again pic.twitter.com/Mr6lJzLW1B

— Baba Banaras™ (@RealBababanaras) May 5, 2026

JON CALDARA: Flipping the script: Coloradans no longer run their government.

Independence Institute, which I run, helped bring together nearly 50 highly diverse organizations that are usually at each other’s throats. We all shared a common concern: government in Colorado is turning opaque.

Open records are getting harder to access, open meetings are closing. The “people’s” work is being hidden from the people.

And when I say organizations from all over the political spectrum worked together, I’m not exaggerating: Independence Institute, the ACLU, Heidi Ganahl’s conservative Rocky Mountain Voice, the progressive Colorado Times Recorder, Colorado Public Radio, League of Women Voters, Colorado Press Association, Colorado Broadcasters Association, Common Cause, Colorado Black Women for Action, and many, many more.

Over a year-and-a-half of work we crafted a constitutional reform based on what many other states already have, called “Right to Know.” It’s simple: a fundamental right for the people to access public records and government deliberations, with reasonable exceptions.

But you won’t see this proposed amendment on your fall ballot.

The normally sober state Title Board voted 2–1 to block it. The appointees of Secretary of State Jena Griswold and Attorney General Phil Weiser voted against you being able to vote on governmental transparency.

Were they ordered to do so? I’ll let others speculate.

Their argument was that your “right to know” the affairs of government isn’t a single subject, and only “single subjects” may go to the ballot.

Legislators’ bills must also have a single subject. The difference is they get to decide for themselves whether a bill qualifies. By contrast, we “the people” must get permission from an unelected board. A set of rules for them; a different set for us.

If they don’t want openness, it’s because they’re hiding stuff.

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT, AND YOU CAN GET IT WITHOUT EVEN TRYING:

One of my friends works in boutique employment law in NYC, white male discrimination cases rule because instead of having to meticulously pick through years of performance reviews and correspondence for a hint of discrimination, you just subpoena emails and Ctrl+F “white men” https://t.co/Z4YFynQMZf

— Foundational White Janissary (@White_Janissary) May 6, 2026

THE SINGULARITY, OR SOMETHING LIKE IT: AI Models Near the Point Where They Can Build a Better Version of Themselves.

OR JUST SITS THERE DOING NOTHING WITH 80/20 LEGISLATION, SEN. THUNE:

Lesson from Indiana: Term “partisan” carries undeserved negative connotation-at least when its Republicans). When voters endorse one party, they have right to expect elected officials will use political levers at its disposal to enact its agenda.  Gerrymandering (which is…

— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) May 6, 2026

BLUE CITY BLUES: Wall Street giant Apollo aims to open ‘second headquarters’ outside NYC — in latest fallout from Mamdani’s war on the wealthy.

Private equity giant Apollo Global Management, headquartered in Manhattan, has decided to open a new business hub — internally dubbed its “second headquarters” — in either Florida or Texas with an official decision likely to be made public in the coming weeks, people close to the matter say.

The new outpost could eventually become home to as many as 1,000 employees over time – in line with Apollo’s current headcount in New York, the sources said. The buyout firm currently employs more than 6,000 worldwide.

Previously: Zohran Mamdani’s victory in NYC mayoral primary leaves Wall Street ‘alarmed’ and ‘depressed.’

Now they’re just leaving.

IT ISN’T THEFT WHEN THE LEGISLATURE DOES IT:

Washington just became the first state in U.S. history to terminate a public employee pension plan.

The plan belongs to retired police officers and firefighters. LEOFF Plan 1 was 160% funded as of June 2024 per the state's own actuarial valuation. It had not required a single… pic.twitter.com/6TiBBIYgtf

— Shane Kidwell (@shanerkidwell) May 6, 2026

GOOD LORD: In Los Angeles Schools, Teacher Sexual Crimes Now Merit… Reassignment?

NOVEMBER PREVIEW (MISSISSIPPI EDITION): ‘Earliest Opportunity’ — Gov Opens Door To Redrawing Maps After SCOTUS Nukes Race-Based Districting.

Mississippi, Reeves said, now has three separate redistricting fights in play.

“We have Supreme Court districts, we have congressional districts – which is what everybody in Washington, D.C., cares about — and then we have legislative districts,” Reeves said.

The most immediate issue is Mississippi’s state Supreme Court map. A federal judge ruled last year that Mississippi’s three Supreme Court districts violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, triggering a remedial phase that could force lawmakers to redraw the districts.

“My initial call for a special session … was specifically for Supreme Court redistricting in the event that the federal judge forced our legislature to redraw those districts,” Reeves said.

But the governor made clear that the special session may not stop there.

“I have the ability as governor, constitutionally, to either remove that call of the special session or to add to it for the purposes of any other topic, which could include other redistricting matters,” Reeves explained.

Well, get to it.

FRAUD ALL THE WAY DOWN:

California Rep Kevin Kiley says they have learned the $100 million dollar pacific palisades Fire Aid concert money was laundered to nonprofits

“What we have learned is absolutely beyond belief — Tens of thousands of people donated raising a hundred million dollars for what they… pic.twitter.com/7vBGCaVeui

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) May 6, 2026

THE MORNING BRIEFING: Marco Rubio Makes the Case for America. “Rubio’s response was so perfect that I almost wondered if he’d paid Wright to set him up.”

ELIMINATE SNAP, BRING BACK SOUP KITCHENS:

USDA reported 1.3 million non-citizens receiving SNAP benefits.@SecRollins pic.twitter.com/Ol4x38wX9R

— Shiloh Marx (@Shilohmarx) May 6, 2026

CALIFORNIA: Experts stress energy independence as gas prices rise.

With so much of the state’s crude oil supply coming from other parts of the world, energy industry experts told lawmakers that regulations are to blame for rising energy prices and volatility.

“California’s petroleum system has been weakened by design,” Jodie Muller, the president and CEO of the Western States Petroleum Association, testified on Tuesday afternoon. “For years, state policies have pushed the refining sector to contraction, with predictable consequences – less in-state production, reduced resilience and higher costs for Californians.”

The current system has very little margin for error because of the declining number of oil refineries in the state, Muller told lawmakers.

“We are now at an inflection point,” Muller said. “Additional policy pressures risk pushing the remaining refineries past the breaking point. We are still seeing hostile legislation by your colleagues.”

Decline is a choice California seems happy to make.

YES:

Primaries are the new battleground.

Time to move the goalposts. America First can do better and tonight was proof of that. https://t.co/FWgcidpbXh

— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) May 6, 2026

IT’S MY THURSDAY ESSAY FOR VIP SUBSCRIBERS: Say Konnichiwa to Our New Old Best Friends.

IF THEY KEEP PUSHING, THE DAY WILL COME:

In fairness, they are in fact nazis, and we'll have to address the threat at some point. Shouldn't be hard, if we're using their rules https://t.co/1IZyQcybkA

— Northern Barbarian (@xnoesbueno) May 6, 2026

HEY, BIG SPENDER: Elon Musk’s Terafab chip factory in Texas could cost up to $119 billion, filing shows.

Musk, who’s also CEO of Tesla, is aiming for Terafab to be the “most epic chip-building effort ever — combining logic, memory and advanced packaging under one roof,” according to a post on X last month from SpaceX, which now owns artificial intelligence company xAI. Musk officially launched the project in March.

The chip complex outside Austin would be designed to manufacture chips for SpaceX, xAI and Tesla, and would be jointly built by those companies. Musk said in a post on X that xAI “will be dissolved as a separate company” and will be called SpaceXAI.

In April, Intel announced it will be joining the Terafab project to help “design, fabricate, and package ultra-high-performance chips at scale.” It’s the first major outside commitment for the capital-intensive foundry side of Intel’s business, which to date has only manufactured chips for its own products.

During Tesla’s first-quarter earnings call last month, Musk said Tesla plans to use Intel’s forthcoming 14A process to produce chips at the facility. Intel’s stock popped on the news and had its best month ever in April, more than doubling in value.

Intel has struggled with new fab processes for quite a few years now, and 14A — a leapfrog attempt to get to 1.4nm-class manufacturing — could be make or break for the company.

Here’s to hoping that an infusion of Musk-level capital helps do the trick.

One last thing: Oftentimes it seems like Musk’s commitment to American manufacturing is underappreciated.

LOL, BULWARK:

The Bulwark: "Democrat voters want candidates with Nazi tattoos because that means they are authentic"

Beautiful. Perfect. No notes. https://t.co/dhQ4FNUhwD

— PoIiMath (@politicalmath) May 7, 2026

DEMS PLAY HARDBALL: Josh Shapiro’s Message to Fetterman Carries a Familiar Party Warning: Conform.

Conformity is democracy, or something.

HMM: Ukraine could lift arms-exports ban this year as would-be buyers line up.

Vadym Ivchenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker for the Batkivshchyna party, told Defense News a political consensus on the need to allow Ukraine’s defense industry to launch export sales has emerged across party lines.

“Meeting the needs of the defense forces as a top priority is a fundamental condition for all sides. Only after that can the sale of surplus be considered to attract investment,” Ivchenko said.

The lawmaker said that, as Ukraine’s president has already approved the so-called Drone Deals framework, Ukraine is now officially coordinating export details at the state level.

“Therefore, 2026 can be considered a realistic timeframe for launching the first contracts. Of course, delays are possible, but it is important to understand that this would lead to idle production capacity, which is an unacceptable luxury during wartime,” according to the politician.

Ivchenko said drones of various types are expected to become the Ukrainian defense industry’s flagship export products.

Making yourself an indispensable part of other countries’ pressing defense needs isn’t a bad way to get them to invest in your national survival.