CHRISTIAN TOTO: Why Hollywood Can’t Save Joe Biden This Time.

Last month, the president’s public approval reached its lowest point in nearly two years. Biden’s approval rating among young Americans is particularly low.

His administration’s inability to connect with this crucial demographic spells trouble for the Democrats. The youth vote could prove to be a decisive factor in November.

Enter “Won’t PAC Down,” a new super PAC with a star-studded Hollywood lineup. The group’s mission? Rejuvenate Biden’s appeal among young voters.

Imagine writers and comedians from “Saturday Night Live” and “Parks and Recreation” joining forces with political strategists to inject some much-needed energy into Biden’s image.

Well, imagine no more.

Much more at the link.

PLACE YOUR BETS: What Will Be in Biden’s Pre-Debate Chemical Cocktail?

COLD WAR II: A New Chinese Megaport in South America Is Rattling the U.S.

In this serene town on South America’s Pacific coast, China is building a megaport that could challenge U.S. influence in a resource-rich region that Washington has long considered its backyard.

The Chancay deep-water port, rising here among pelicans and fishermen in small wooden boats, is important enough to Beijing that Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to inaugurate it at the end of the year in his first trip to the continent since the pandemic.

Majority-owned by the giant China Ocean Shipping group, known as Cosco, Chancay promises to speed trade between Asia and South America, eventually benefiting customers as far away as Brazil with shorter sailing times across the Pacific for everything from blueberries to copper.

As nations around the world shudder at a new flood of cheap Chinese manufactured goods, the port could open new markets for its electric vehicles and other exports. China is already the top trade partner for most of South America.

Previously: “Somebody from a developing country said to me, ‘what we get from China is an airport. What we get from the United States is a lecture.'”

FOR THE LEFT, POLITICS IS JUST WAR BY OTHER MEANS: Why Is the Biden Admin Hanging Israel Out to Dry? It’s Politics.

WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT STUDIES? California’s $20 minimum wage led to fast food price hikes, lower foot traffic, study shows.

In the six-month period leading up to the new law being enacted, fast food prices in California rose on average by 7% — forcing franchisees in the state to slash work hours, postpone capital improvements and expedite the deployment of automation features such as self-serve kiosks.

The Placer.ai report found that casual dining chains may be benefiting from the erosion of traffic at fast food restaurants.

Olive Garden and Chili’s locations in California have seen an uptick in visits that outperformed the national average since the minimum wage law went into effect, according to the report.

The value proposition between fast food and traditional dine-in is changing quickly.

K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE: Chicago Doubles Education Spending, Tragedy Ensues. “There are few things I enjoy more about this job than writing a good ‘hilarity ensues’ headline about the latest lefty absurdity but when it comes to today’s Chicago Public Schools (CPS) absurdity, the only word that will do is ‘tragedy.'”

WELL, GOOD — THAT SHOULD HELP STARSHIP IFT-5 LAUNCH IN ABOUT A MONTH AS HOPED:

BREAKING: FAA will not require mishap investigation for IFT-4 of Starship

"The FAA assessed the operations of the SpaceX Starship Flight 4 mission. All flight events for both Starship and Super Heavy appear to have occurred within the scope of planned and authorized activities."

— Adrian Beil (@BCCarCounters) June 12, 2024

Related: The Countdown to Mars Begins.

IT’S ALSO GOING ABOUT AS WELL AS BIDEN INTENDED: Biden’s Border ‘Crackdown’ Working About as Well as We Expected.

BIDENOMICS IS WORKING: Democrats Celebrate More Americans Working Three Or More Jobs To Make Ends Meet.

Take, for example, an economy that has three people and three jobs. Such an economy could have three people each with one job and no unemployed. Alternatively, such an economy could have one person working three jobs and two people unemployed. The May jobs report shows a trend moving toward the latter scenario instead of the former.

The government tracks and publishes both sets of job data — that’s how we know the May jobs data was really bad. From the pro-Biden media, you hear only about the first set of data, which shows the increase in “all employees” of about 270,000 from April to May.

The problem is, that figure double-counts (or triple- or quadruple-counts) people who have to work more than one job to make ends meet. This is because a single person counts as a different “employee” for each separate employer. In other words, the data set that the White House and left-leaning media point to tells us little about how many Americans are actually working.

That information is contained in a separate report, called “Employment Level,” which is largely ignored by pro-Biden media. As this report explains, “[e]ach employed person is counted only once, even if he or she holds more than one job.” This data set tells us how many Americans actually have jobs at a given point in time. From April to May, this number decreased by more than 400,000 people. In other words, in May 2024, 400,000 fewer Americans had jobs than in April 2024.

Plus: “To completely reconcile Biden’s so-called May job ‘gains’ with the even larger decrease in the number of Americans actually employed during the exact same period, one must conclude that many people are taking on three or more jobs to make ends meet.”

Biden: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”

American worker: “Well, sure — under Trump I only had one job but now I have three!”

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: MSM Hacks Are Blackout Drunk on Their Own Biden Kool-Aid. “I am a big Sci-Fi fan and am willing to entertain the possibility that we live in a multiverse. If we do, I can guarantee that there isn’t one of them in which Joe Biden ‘makes sense.’ Joe Biden didn’t make sense before the dementia set in, he certainly hasn’t gotten better.”

DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONES:

3 criminals attempted to break into a 77 year old man's home in Oakland. He shot and killed one of thefelons.
Naturally, since it’s Gavin Newsom‘s lawless California, where the criminals are in charge, the homeowner has been arrested for murder. pic.twitter.com/m4in3Ttfwl

— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) June 12, 2024

Now about those “declining” crime statistics: The FBI’s Crime Data Has Real Problems.

The fact that measures of reported and total crimes don’t match isn’t that puzzling. But when even these two measures of the same thing – reported crime – are going in opposite directions it raises concerns with the FBI data.

A frequently discussed concern with the FBI data is the decline in police departments reporting crime, after a new reporting system was used. In 2022, 31% of police departments nationwide, including Los Angeles and New York, didn’t report crime data to the FBI. That is better than 2021 but still much worse than the 97% of agencies covering most of the U.S. reported in 2020. In addition, in cities from Baltimore to Nashville, the FBI is undercounting crimes those jurisdictions reported.

As Stalin might say, “No report, no crime.”

I HAD BEEN ASSURED BY ALL THE VERY BEST PEOPLE THAT THIS KIND OF BEHAVIOR COULD ONLY COME FROM MAGA FLYOVER MOUTH-BREATHERS: New York City Is Getting Really Scary for Jews.

BEEGE WELBORN: If It Was Really Sailing in Boiling Seas, How Did the EU Ship of State Hit a Populist Iceberg?

They ignored citizens who were fed up with being overrun by “immigrants,” run over by inflation, beaten up by skyrocketing energy costs, pursuing “Green” policies that delivered the opposite result promised, suffering while waiting for a boiling frog Climate Apocalypse that never arrives but never ends and watching their national identities and standard of living being stripped away before their very eyes.

All while being told to stuff a sock in it, and suck it up. Their betters in Brussels and the elected instruments of enforcing those mandates in EU members’ capitals would lead the dullards to a more perfect world.

Anyone questioning the methods, data, pretense, or wisdom of the policies, would be declared a heretic for deviating from the path best for “the common good.” And suffer repeated schmearings of the worst vituperations that a European can fling. In any previous other election, this repetitive shaming would have cowed the general populace of even-keeled Europeans back into the woodwork.

The soothing ‘shared values’ cajoling and dire warnings had always worked before.

Read the whole thing.

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT [VIP]: Wargaming the Electoral College: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.

Asked to lay their money down on “Who will win the presidency?” Polymarket bettors have given Trump a commanding lead. The current forecast, as I write these words at about 3:30 p.m. Eastern, gives Donald Trump a 56% chance of turning that POTUS 45 moniker into POTUS 47, Joe Biden just a 34% chance of keeping power, and RFK Jr pulling up the rear at 2%.

ASIDE: I’d also note that when prediction market bettors put their money down, they aren’t necessarily indicating a belief that there will be a free and fair election. They’re betting on the actual outcome, no matter how crooked it might be.

Those are the kinds of numbers I like to see, and the trendline has been moving in Trump’s favor. Whether that’s despite or because of his Deep State legal troubles is anyone’s guess. But my guess is “because of.”

Don’t pop the champagne cork just yet though because the devil is, as always, in the details.

Much more at the link.

MAYBE HE DIDN’T KNOW THERE’S A LAW AGAINST THAT: Travis County Assistant DA Arrested For Aggravated Assault With A Deadly Weapon. “So here’s a 51 year old Assistant DA, who’s worked in the DA’s office for 17 years, he lives in an apartment with a roommate, and his idea of entertainment for a visiting guest is to stream pornography. Which he evidently has trouble viewing, so he demands his roommate help fix the issue.”

I HOPE THIS IS CLEAR ENOUGH: NO. Garland Demands an End to ‘Attacks’ on the DOJ.

I DO NOT TRUST THE INTERNET OF THINGS; I TRUST IT LESS WHEN IT’S MADE IN COMMUNIST CHINA:

Let me say it again: any product with a Chinese made electronic component in it is at serious risk for use in intelligence gathering. Auto parts to traffic cameras to noise cancelling headphones https://t.co/BVpp64gHQG

— Met Gala Loser Balding 大老板 (@BaldingsWorld) June 12, 2024

Good on the Netherlands for switching to Western-made gear. We should do the same but it’ll never happen with CCP Joe (nominally) in charge.

HE COULDN’T EVEN QUITE MANAGE A SHOUT: Old Man Yells at Gun Owners in Latest Biden Brain-Freeze.

OH:

The @nytimes posted a false story about Starlink and an Amazon Tribe becoming addicted to porn 🤦‍♂️ They have apologized and corrected the story, highlighting Starlink's benefits in healthcare, education, business, and communication.

My thoughts, the subject and accusations of… pic.twitter.com/mGw9AloQ13

— S.E. Robinson, Jr. (@SERobinsonJr) June 12, 2024

WOEING: Starliner, You’ve Sprung Another Leak?

VLADIMIR PUTIN’S FOREIGN POLICY CUNNING CONTINUES TO PAY DIVIDENDS: Armenian leader announces plan to leave Russia-dominated security alliance as ties with Moscow sour.

Amid the widening rift with Russia, Armenia earlier froze its participation in the alliance, canceled its involvement in joint military drills and snubbed CSTO summits.

On Wednesday, Pashinyan said for the first time that Armenia will leave CSTO altogether during a question-and-answer session in parliament, saying that the government will decide later when to make the final move. There was no immediate comment from Russian authorities.

Armenia’s ties with Russia, its longtime sponsor and ally, have grown increasingly strained after Azerbaijan waged a lightning military campaign in September to take the Karabakh region, ending three decades of ethnic Armenian separatist rule there.

Putin — that great defender of Christian civilization — pretty much sold out Christian Armenia to Muslim Azerbaijan during the most recent crisis between the two countries, leading to ethnic cleansing in Azeri-occupied parts of Armenia. Whether that was due to Russia being bogged down in Ukraine or Putin not wanting to offend Russia’s growing Muslim population (or both) is anyone’s guess.

WHO ARE YOU GOING TO BELIEVE, YOUR OWN LYING EYES OR WHATEVER THE HELL IT WAS JOE BIDEN JUST TRIED TO SAY? What Was Their First Clue? Poll Shows Most Voters Think Old Joe’s Mental Decline Is Real.

UNEXPECTEDLY: In-N-Out burgers are about to cost you more – but only in California.

In-N-Out has put up its prices – blaming them on the $20-an-hour minimum wage was introduced in its home state of California.

It now mean’s its famous Double-Double with fries and a drink is typically more than $10 in the state’s 275 restaurants.

When the new rule took efect on April 1, In-N-Out president Lynsi Snyder said she had blocked major prices rises to protect cutomers

‘I was sitting in VP meetings going toe-to-toe saying, ‘We can’t raise the prices that much, we can’t,’ Snyder told Today during an interview.

They can’t sell at a loss, either.

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL: Bidenflation Sucks Slightly Less Than Expected, Left Dons Party Hats. “The good news is that inflation came in a massive 0.1% under consensus expectations, and the bad news is pretty much everything else. Before we get to ‘pretty much everything else,’ let’s look at the headline numbers that the State Media is using today to assure you that ‘All is well, comrades.'”

CONGRATS: Raspberry Pi is now a public company.

Who would have thought that Raspberry Pi, the maker of the tiny, cheap, single-board computers, would become a public company? Yet, this is exactly what’s happening: Raspberry Pi priced its IPO on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning at £2.80 per share, valuing it at £542 million, or $690 million at today’s exchange rate.

Shortly after that, the company’s shares jumped a nice 32% to £3.70. It means that Raspberry Pi could end up raising more than $200 million during its IPO process.

Retail investors can’t buy Raspberry Pi shares just yet, as only certain institutional shareholders can trade the company’s shares right now. Retail investors will be able to buy and sell shares starting on Friday.

I’ve had a couple of Pis over the years and loved them. Tempted to buy one share just for sentimental reasons.