OPEN THREAD: Happy Friday.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Blue Origin will launch these 6 passengers May 19, on its 1st crewed mission since 2022.

SO BY BANNING MENTHOL CIGARETTES, BIDEN IS CONDEMNING BLACK PEOPLE TO DEMENTIA: Unexpected Connection Between Menthol And Alzheimer’s Discovered in Mice. “It seems the chemical compound can stop some of the damage done to the brain that’s usually associated with the disease.”

IS THERE ANYTHING AI CAN’T DO? AI-Powered Fusion: The Key to Limitless Clean Energy.

RIP: Dabney Coleman, comic actor best known for villainous 9 to 5 and Tootsie roles, dead at 92.

GET WOKE, GO BROKE: Plant-based meat alternatives are trying to exit the culture wars – an impossible task?

ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE: ‘Doctor Who’ Actor Tells Viewers To ‘Turn Off The TV’ If They Don’t Like Him – Viewership Drops By 50%.

Get woke, go broke. But they never learn.

CHRIS QUEEN: Brave Cops Target That Criminal Mastermind Scottie Scheffler. “Scottie Scheffler is the number-one golfer on the PGA tour. He’s the reigning Masters champion and the favorite to win this weekend’s PGA Championship. He’s a devout Christian, a devoted husband, and a new father. And thanks to the intrepid work of the Louisville, Ky., Police Department, whose officers totally didn’t overreact, he now faces four charges, including one felony.”

BREAKING: David DePape Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Attacking Nancy Pelosi’s Husband.

WHEEL TO WHEEL: Rematch! Tesla Cybertruck vs. Porsche 911 Drag Race! (This Time It’s Not Rigged). The Tesla is towing a Porsche 911 while racing another Porsche 911.

THAT WAS TUESDAY — 51 IS SET FOR TONIGHT: SpaceX launches 50th Falcon 9 rocket of 2024 on Starlink mission.

FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY [VIP]: He Was Found Guilty of Grand Theft… Houses? “It’s time for your much-needed break from the serious news, and this week we have the curious case of the man who stole houses, instant karma for a Pokemon shoplifter, and Utah Man’s failed attempt at playing possum.”

READER FAVORITE: FLYBIRD Weight Bench, Adjustable Strength Training Bench. #CommissionEarned

THIS IS NOT INDICATIVE OF A BOOMING ECONOMY: Walmart gains high-income shoppers as elevated prices persist.

STILL A FEW BUGS IN THE SELF-DRIVING SYSTEM: NHTSA Investigating Waymo for Collisions With Stationary Objects and Unsafe Driving.

WHEN YOU’VE LOST CNN…: Even CNN Thinks That Michael Cohen’s Testimony Was a Gift for Trump.

THE VALUE OF EXERCISE: Consistent exercise changes how saturated fat is used by the body, study finds.

THIS IS WAS CNN:

Per TV Newser when compared to one year ago:

During primetime, Fox News was up by +40% in total viewers and +33% in the A25-54 demo.

In primetime, CNN was down -27% in total viewers and -39% in the demo.

— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) May 16, 2024

Something that can’t go on forever will stop.

I’M EXPECTING A SPACE-SHATTERING KABOOM: ‘Once-in-a-lifetime’ exploding star expected to be visible before October.

SARAH HOYT’S SHOCKED FACE HAS BEEN TAKEN TO AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION: More Shady Biden Accounts Have Been Discovered.

WELL, GOOD: Roche’s experimental obesity drug shows promising early stage results.

NIFTY: West Point team’s computerized rifle scope adjusts itself in combat. “The cadets, David Caddigan, Aiden Looney, Ashton Gaines, Heyward Hutson, dubbed the project ‘a smart sight for the average soldier.'”

IT’S BEEN YEARS SINCE I MISSED THE NFL: Time for the Bud Light Treatment: NFL Denounces Player for Advocating Traditional Values.

THERE’LL BE A LOT OF REBRANDING GOING ON: ‘Pour Souls’ – Rebranding Bitter Clingers and Deplorables for the 2024 Election Cycle.

CANDY CROWLEY REDUX? Some of us remember the notorious DNC stenographer Candy Crowley in 2012 helping Obama though his stumbling over facts in the debate. Just the News is asking whether the equally biased Jake Tapper can control his editorialization — not journalism — in the upcoming debates between Bad Orange Man and President Puddinghead:

“CNN initially showed the footage of Trump, though Tapper told staff in the control room not to continue showing it. “The folks in the control room: I don’t need to see any more of that. He’s trying to turn this into a spectacle, into a campaign ad. That’s enough of that. We’ve seen it already,” Tapper said while on the air […] “The Gaetz-McBreitbart nonsense that Trump spews, like these little code words that make [Sean] Hannity’s pins shine at specific moments when he utters them,” Tapper said, in apparent reference to conservative news outlet Breitbart and Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz. Tapper then editorialized, saying “He is running the single most negative, sleazy campaign in American history for a major party candidate.”

We’re to expect clean and fair debate management from this guy?
“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”