WHISTLEBLOWER: FBI Manipulating J6 Cases to Support Biden Narrative of a National Crisis of Extremism.

THE SPIN: US consumer spending rose in August as gas prices fell.

THE REALITY: Americans Drowning In Long-Term Credit Card Debt. “According to an Aug. 30 report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, credit card balances increased by $46 billion from last year, becoming the second-biggest source of overall debt last quarter.”

We’re spending more, getting less, and racking up unsustainable credit card balances in the process.

GET WOKE, LOSE WARS: Unexpectedly, the USAF Finds Itself With a Critical Shortage of Pilots While It Says It Has Too Many White Officers.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): From the comments:

US Government: “You need to have F-15 to take on the Government”.
Also US Government: “We need people who can fly F-15s…”

Heh.

YUGE: Court Upholds Texas Ban on Big Tech Censorship.

VODKAPUNDIT PRESENTS YOUR WEEKLY INSANITY WRAP: ‘Beyond Meat’ Exec Tastes the OTHER Other White Meat. “That ain’t vegetable matter, Doug, no matter how you slice it.”

Plus:

• ‘Save Water, Shower with a Friend’ no longer just a naughty joke
• The real reason Joe Biden had to sit in the cheap seats at Elizabeth’s funeral
• The Nancy Pelosi photoshop you’ll hate me for

So much more at the link, you’d have to be crazy to miss it.

FASTER, PLEASE: Supply-Chain Decoupling From China Gets Sharper Teeth.

Two proposed laws in Europe are the latest case in point. The European Union proposed a ban on products made using forced labor last Wednesday. It doesn’t name China but alleged forced labor in the country’s Xinjiang region is clearly a main target. A few United Nations reports have added impetus in recent weeks. A U.N. expert published a report saying it is “reasonable to conclude” that forced labor has taken place in Xinjiang. And the U.N. human-rights agency said China has committed crimes against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. China denies such claims.

The proposed law looks less harsh than its U.S. equivalent. The U.S. legislation puts the onus on importers to prove that products from Xinjiang aren’t made with forced labor—an incredibly high bar. The EU proposal doesn’t. Products would only be blocked at the conclusion of an investigation. That, however, could change as the proposal needs approval from the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament.

It could be years before the proposal becomes law—but it will nonetheless add pressure for companies to reassess supply chains now, especially since the U.S. law is already in effect.

Plus: “All of this follows similar moves in the U.S. The healthcare, climate and tax law passed in August provides incentives for domestic manufacturing of clean-energy products such as batteries and solar panels. Washington is also implementing policies to encourage the onshoring of semiconductors and biotechnology.”

What we don’t need is more grift- and graft-filled federal “incentives” that never seem to do much but line pockets. What we need is serious deregulation, tax cuts, and a return to sound currency.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: It’s Like Biden Is Trying to Be the Dems’ November Albatross. “The Democrats’ late-summer flashes of optimism are now yielding to the harshest reality they’ll have to face this fall: their candidates can’t run away from Joe Biden.”

BECAUSE THEY AREN’T NEEDED FOR KIDS AND DON’T DO MUCH ANYWAY: Not a Single US State Is Requiring Kids to Get Vaccinated to Attend Public School. Why? “While a few US cities continue to push vaccine mandates to attend, Pew Charitable Trusts pointed out earlier this year that states have been surprisingly wary of mandating Covid shots for children.”

Previously: Denmark Ends Covid Vaccine for Nearly Everyone Under 50.

STACEY LENNOX: Don’t Believe the Hype: Biden’s Unpopularity Will Absolutely Be a Drag on Democrats in November.

CRIMINALIZING OPPOSITION: NY DA launches probe into fraud allegations over Zeldin nomination. “An upstate New York district attorney is reportedly moving forward with a probe into election-fraud allegations connected to the nomination of the Republican candidate for governor, Rep. Lee Zeldin, the same week absentee ballots are being sent out in the high-stakes race against Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.”

PJ MEDIA VIP ROUNDUP: Don’t forget that VODKAPUNDIT promo code if you’ve been thinking of joining us.

Matt Margolis: Biden Is Grasping at Straws as He Seeks a Winning Narrative for November. “Why would Biden say such a thing? Desperation, obviously.”

Robert Spencer: Biden Tries to Get Us Into World War III Again, White House Walks Him Back. “The ChiComs were not amused.”

Yours Truly: Look Ma, No Strings! Denver to Give $12k to 140 Lucky Homeless People. “Does it come with a drug test and a comprehensive mental health screening? Hell, no.”

SPOILER: HARDLY ANYONE WILL WATCH. Lincoln Project’s World-Class Grifters Get Their Own Showtime Docuseries. Here’s What You Can Expect.

CRANKY OLD MAN: ‘I Got That!’ Joe Biden Snaps At Interviewer, Downplays Historic Inflation.

IF? Newsom ‘Unequivocally’ Running for Prez — IF Biden Doesn’t.

I DON’T THINK ARGUING THAT REALITY IS RACIST IS QUITE THE POWER PLAY THEY THINK IT IS: Canadian teacher says 2+2=4 is white supremacy.

MARIEL II (AKA ‘CRISIS BY DESIGN’): Venezuela Sending Violent Prisoners Across Our Southern Border.

NO THANKS: This Is Your City On Chinese Construction Standards. “Fires are hardly unknown among American skyscrapers, but usually they occur in older buildings, not ones built this century, as modern construction practices like firewalls and sprinkler systems generally prevent fires from spreading from floor to floor. The Lotus Garden China Telecom building in Changsha was finished in 2000.”

ASSUMING SHE’S CAPABLE OF EMBARRASSMENT: Stacey Abrams’ Embarrassing Weekend.

THIS IS MORE LIKE THE 21ST CENTURY I’D BEEN PROMISED: Lockheed Martin delivers record 300-kW laser weapon to US military.

NOT OUR KIND, DEAR: Martha’s Vineyard Residents Claim They Don’t Have Room for Immigrants, but Airbnb and Hotels.com Say Differently.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: Jeff Bezos’s Rocket Engine Nears Debut, Ending US Reliance on Russia.

Blue Origin predicted in 2014 that its BE-4 engine would be ready by 2017 to launch the new Vulcan rocket built by the United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of top Pentagon contractors Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. But the Government Accountability Office as recently as June cited “continued technical challenges in developing a US-produced rocket engine.”

Now, the US Space Force is expressing optimism, saying in a statement that “Vulcan launch system development activities continue to make progress” toward a first test launch by December because “ULA and Blue Origin have completed originally planned BE-4 development testing, and have successfully demonstrated full engine performance.”

Maybe Vulcan will launch before SLS does.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Martha’s Vineyard, Illegal Immigrants, and Liberal Hypocrisy. “If you look closely, the open-borders crowd is comprised largely of politicians who don’t live anywhere near the border. They’ve latched onto a crisis that doesn’t affect them in an effort to seem like they’re true humanitarians. When the crisis does arrive at their pristine doorsteps the response is, ‘Ooh, icky people.’ Democrats love making the case that their principles reside on the highest of moral high grounds. When faced with a choice to be the benevolent world-builders that they fancy themselves to be, however, they invariably prove that they’re elitist, classist snobs.”

MARTHA’S IS LOVELY THIS TIME OF YEAR: Venezuelan Migrants Stun AOC, Thank Ron DeSantis For Sending Them To Martha’s Vineyard: ‘They are not angry at Ron Desantis, they are actually thanking him, they were brought to paradise.’

THEY’RE AFRAID OF HIM: Glory-Hungry Attorneys Demand Authorities Open Criminal Probe of DeSantis for Flights to Martha’s Vineyard.

IT WOULD MATTER LESS THAT OUR INSTITUTIONS ARE SO INEPT IF THEY WEREN’T SO DOMINEERING: Phony Motion Discovered on Trump Raid Court Docket. “Even the Associated Press acknowledged that the document was ‘a clear fabrication.’ Court records and interviews suggest the filing came from a serial forger at a North Carolina federal prison.”