WAS IT ATTACHED TO A GARAGE DOOR? Still no leads four months after noose found at Stanford labeled ‘terrorism.’

And when did nooses always and everywhere mean “terrorism?” They used to mean bad salsa.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Even America’s 250th anniversary couldn’t escape performative campus grievance culture.

AN IMMIGRATION TRAGEDY: Don’t Deport My Sugar Baby!

FINALLY:

BREAKING: The U.S. Senate has CONFIRMED Todd Blanche to lead the DOJ as Attorney General after beating a razor-thin 50-49 vote.

Every Republican Senator should have voted for him.

The American people voted to enact Trump’s agenda. Get it done. pic.twitter.com/5u66UPZN53

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) August 8, 2026

HAPPY 25TH ANNIVERSARY TO INSTAPUNDIT! This blog started on August 8, 2001. I can’t promise I’ll still be blogging in 25 years — but I can’t promise that I won’t, either.

HENRY VIII SEIZED THE MONASTERIES, SO THERE’S PRECEDENT FOR WHAT I’M ABOUT TO SUGGEST . . .

Here it is:

The Federal Reserve CONFIRMS: U.S. NGOs collectively hold assets worth half the size of the U.S. national debt—$14.2 trillion—of taxpayers’ money.

Government Funded-Non-Governmental Organization:

An NGO Family Endeavors (Endeavors), a San Antonio-based nonprofit… pic.twitter.com/ZeQRYMorfd

— 🇺🇸RealRobert🇺🇸 (@Real_RobN) August 5, 2026

WELL, YOU GOTTA GET THE GUAC:

Steak burrito with extras, because I’m a rich Boomer. pic.twitter.com/tGra25bDQZ

— The Patriarch Tree (@PatriarchTree) August 8, 2026

THIS IS LITERALLY THE MOST EDUCATIONAL THING THAT HAS HAPPENED AT CORNELL IN YEARS AND THEY KILLED IT:

Finally, a ray of hope for higher ed and they shut it down immediately https://t.co/KJimsN42mw

— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) August 8, 2026

THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW:

Jimmy Carter in 2005 on voter ID: "It will not restrict people from voting."

He even described Voter ID as “a move forward in getting more people to vote."

Republicans need to share this video far and wide. Voter ID was bipartisan then. It should be bipartisan now. pic.twitter.com/szZarfscjw

— Jenn Pellegrino 🇺🇸 (@JennPellegrino) August 6, 2026

The truth changes when the needs of the party change, comrade.

HE’LL BE HAPPY THERE. IT’S BETTER FOR EVERYBODY, REALLY.

Mitch McConnell's Staff Says He Was Dropped Off At A Farm In The Country Where He'll Be Happier And Have More Room To Run Around https://t.co/gwJtM54UqU

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) August 7, 2026

THE REAL AFFORDABILITY CRISIS ISN’T ABOUT BURRITOS:

Americans now pay more in taxes than they spend on food, clothing, and shelter combined.

Think about that.

Government has become so big and bloated that taxes cost more than life's basic necessities. Every American taxpayer should be outraged. pic.twitter.com/c6HRMbJH9t

— Stephen Moore (@StephenMoore) August 5, 2026

ASKED AND ANSWERED: What has cardiology gotten spectacularly right, and spectacularly wrong, over the past 30 years?

The treatment of acute coronary syndrome and MI. Young clinicians may not be able to remember how MI care was transformed with emergency PCI and stents but it is amazing. People with MIs often leave the hospital the next day with only a band-aid on their wrist. The heart and person saved.

This has led to fewer cases of heart failure and arrhythmia. I live in a city of million people and rarely do primary prevention defibrillators for ischemic-related cardiomyopathy—because of all these fixes.

The corollary to acute care has also been disease-modifying therapy for CAD. When I started my career, an MI was often followed by another and another. Now, with optimal medical therapy, recurrent events are much lower. Patients with MI usually live long enough to die of something else.

Heart failure care has also been transformed with the four classes of HF medicines. What was once a miserable death sentence has been transformed into a livable chronic condition. Of course, the challenge in HF care is using it wisely, because most cases of HF are not in ambulatory males with solid blood pressure, but in older patients with many co-morbidities.

Catheter ablation technology has been a spectacular success for every arrhythmia except AF. Ablation renders patients with arrhythmias from focal areas like surgical patients: cured. We still have a huge knowledge deficit in AF pathophysiology. More on that below.

In structural interventions, TAVI is nothing short of spectacular. We can extend the quality and quantity of life for many older adults who faced certain death from aortic stenosis—without open heart surgery.

Much more at the link.

OPEN THREAD: Ring in the weekend.

WITNESS TO THE ECLIPSE OF EARTH BY THE HURTLING MOONS OF BARSOOM: Mars rover watches Earth disappear behind Phobos.

BEWARE: In April 2029, a Massive Asteroid Will Just Miss Earth. Scientists Are Worried There Could Still Be Major Consequences. Well, if you regard space debris that might interfere with astronomy as major.

ALONE IN THE WORLD IS A LITTLE CATDOG: Meet the 30-Million-Year-Old Dog That Climbed Trees Instead of Chasing Sticks.

SPY REPORT: We Caught a Tesla Cybercab Prototype Charging, and It Revealed More Than Expected.

THE REAL FIRST RESPONDERS ARE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ALREADY THERE WHEN IT HAPPENS: Before the Police Get There: Armed People Save Lives More and More Often. “Everything takes time. Depending on the location and the number of civilians there, a killer can shoot about 15 people if we wait for the police to arrive and stop an attack. We’ve seen that data play out over the last decade. We have hundreds of examples. That’s the ugly calculus of time.”

When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? NY lawmakers want to bring back sex-fueled bathhouses — 40 years after ban during AIDS crisis.

HMM: Pumas can help prevent car crashes: The big cats can keep deer away from roads, according to new research.

DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST JULIAN EPSTEIN: I’m a longtime Democrat — fighting for GOP’s Mike Rogers, and my party’s soul, in Michigan.

DAVID STROM: I Hope This Is My Last Post on Jason Arday, but It Needs Saying. “But there is a lot to unpack here, and little of it has to do with the man himself. For Cambridge University and for academia as a whole, he was an empty vessel into whom they poured their ideology, self-delusion, pride, and sense of moral superiority.”

NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT, I’M SURE: Nothing to fear: AI just created a virus that is not found in nature.

NIZORAL GOT RID OF MY DANDRUFF; I’VE BEEN USING IT FOR 20 YEARS AND I STILL HAVE HAIR. Can a dandruff shampoo help with hair loss? The science is promising. Our tester’s results were mixed..

I DUNNO, I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE WITH INJURIES FROM PICKLEBALL: Why Pickleball Is the Best Fitness On-Ramp for Adults Over 40 Looking to Get Active Again.