HMM: Did Ron DeSantis’ Martha’s Vineyard Flight Save Illegals From Hurricane Death Toll?

FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY: The Heroes of Hurricane Ian. “Ian gave untold numbers of Florida men and women the opportunity to step up and show the world what they’re made of. Sure enough, they did.”

NEVER BEND THE KNEE: Ginny Thomas Ruins J-6 Committee’s Plan to Destroy Her.

OH: Pro-Vax Doc Believes COVID Booster Accelerated His Cancer.

HE’S JUST TRYING TO OPEN NEW MARKETS: Planned Parenthood Director Claims That Men Can Get Pregnant During Hearing.

STACEY LENNOX: A Winning Midterm Strategy for Republicans.

VIDEO: Doddering old man wanders off again – FEMA can’t save him. “Biden wanders away from the podium as his FEMA administrator attempted to lead him in another direction.”

THAT’S A WELCOME CHANGE FROM THE USUAL LAWLESSNESS: Biden Scales Back Student Loan Debt Relief Because He Knows the Plan Is Illegal.

LAUGHING WOLF’S TAKE ON PUTIN’S ANNEXATION, ANTI-WESTERN, FOREVER WAR SPEECH: Well, Shit. “I really want to go back and re-listen to his words and phrasing, but I believe Vladimir may have just repudiated every arms treaty, strategic or otherwise, in effect. That Russia would not be bound by efforts to reduce her defense by other powers who were already in violation of said treaties and using them to keep the Rodina down. Huge, and I suspect this is going to get overlooked in the short term. Oh, it was also the reason for my ‘Oh. Shit.’ twitter post.”

Read the whole thing.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: SpaceX again doubles the world in upmass.

In its quarterly reports on orbital space launches, the BryceTech analysis firm tallies upmass by each launch provider. During the second quarter of 2022, the report found that SpaceX delivered 158.7 metric tons to low Earth orbit, ahead of China’s space corporation CASC at 38.8 tons, Roscosmos at 17.2 tons, United Launch Alliance at 13.0 tons, and Arianespace at 9.8 tons.

Small potatoes for now … SpaceX alone doubled the rest of the world in the amount of payload delivered to orbit. It launched four times the mass of the entire nation of China. The bulk of this mass, of course, was composed of Starlink satellites as the company builds out its low Earth orbit megaconstellation.

Musk uses Starlink to create the demand SpaceX needs to generate the profits required to develop Starship to move even further ahead of the competition.

It’s about as clever a business model, certainly at this scale, as any of us is ever likely to see.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Mitt Romney’s Tedious Treachery Shtick Has Worn Thin. “Mittens masquerades as a man of deep principles. In reality, he’s a base political opportunist, no different from most politicians.”

JUST DO IT: NASA Considers Using SpaceX Crew Dragon to Extend Hubble Telescope’s Life.

MITTENS: No Surprise: ‘Liz’ Romney Stabs Mike Lee in the Back.

DISPATCHES FROM WEIMAR AMERICA: FBI allegedly engaging in ‘purge’ of conservative employees, retaliating against whistleblowers.

PRIORITIES: Insane Man Murders EMT in NYC as Crime Up 33% and Mayor Returns from Puerto Rico Photo-Op.

NORDSTREAM: Sigh. I shouldn’t do this, but…

I call them “incidents” for a reason. I grew up in overseas oilfields. I try to, by training, observe everything from as objectively neutral a viewpoint as possible.

In my experience when anything involving energy-industry hydrocarbons explodes … well, sabotage isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. And honestly, when it comes to a pipeline running natural gas under Russian (non)maintenance, an explosion means that it’s Tuesday. Or Friday. Or another day of the week ending in “y”.

“But, LawDog,” I hear you say, “It was multiple explosions!”

Yes, 17 hours apart. No military is going to arrange for two pipes in the same general area to be destroyed 17 hours apart. Not without some Spec Ops guy having a fit of apoplexy. One pipe goes up in a busy shipping lane, in a busy sea, and everyone takes notice. Then you wait 17 hours to do the second — with 17 hours for people to show up and catch you running dirty? Nah, not buying it.

Lots to chew on at the link.

THEY’RE FLAILING: White House in Turmoil, Planning Major Shake-Up.

OH: First Openly Transgender Army Officer Indicted for Trying to Give Soldiers’ Medical Info to Russia.

ALL OUR INSTITUTIONS HAVE BEEN CORRUPTED: Documents Reveal Fauci’s Staggering Pandemic-Period Profits.

It’s too late to stop Fauci, but his office needs to be zeroed out (and his public pension) to prevent the next little dictator.

I’m sure he’ll find a way to get by.

DALL-E GOES PUBLIC: Inside the Brave New World of AI That Makes Images So Real They’ll Creep You Out. “After months of restricted beta, DALL-E has been unleashed for the general public, and the results can astound, confuse, or even disgust.”

CHRISTIAN TOTO: ‘Armageddon Time’ Director Compares Trump to Nazi Goebbels. “I didn’t make it for Democrats or Republicans. In some ways, I made it for Republicans. When you’re fighting paycheck to paycheck, it’s easy to say, ‘What do you mean, white privilege? I don’t feel any f***ing privilege.’”

NOW IS IT A RECESSION? Final GDP reading shows US economy shrank 0.6% in the spring, cementing start of recession.

MUST-SEE TV: YouTube May Have Yanked New Italian PM’s Viral Speech, but This One’s Just as Good.

JUST UNDERSTAND PROGRESSIVISM AS NEUROTICISM AND SELF-LOATHING PROJECTED OUTWARD, AND IT ALL BECOMES CLEAR: Bizarre Documentary Showcases Affluent White Women Paying To Be Called Racists.

HEH: Woman Who Wrecked Atlanta Has Thoughts on GOP Commitment to America.