OPEN THREAD: Ring in the weekend.

ELON NEEDS A BACKUP PLAN JUST IN CASE THE DEMOCRATS GET BACK IN POWER: Will Starship launch from foreign shores? SpaceX ‘constantly exploring’ options for megarocket liftoff sites.

I DON’T TRUST ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS: Common Sweetener May Harm Critical Brain Barrier, Risking Stroke.

HAVEN’T WE SEEN THIS MOVIE? Scientists Create “Living” Materials That Crawl, Walk, and Dig on Their Own.

FASTER, PLEASE: Experimental drug shrinks advanced kidney tumors, clears cancer in one patient.

THE E.V. BUBBLE HASN’T COMPLETELY DEFLATED: Why Volvo Is Still All-In on Electric Vehicles.

SECRET SERVICE: One Loser Got Far Too Close…So What Happens When Four Pros Show Up? “Let’s revisit that same glittering ballroom. We’re back again with the same black-tie crowd of self-important media elites and administration heavyweights at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner 2.0 in D.C. with the same velvet-rope security theater outside.”

THE GOP SHOULD PROBABLY GO AHEAD AND DO IT BEFORE THE DEMS DO, BUT IT WON’T.

Court-packing is a completely mainstream view on the political left now. They see it as entirely justified because they are unhappy with recent decisions. They're not interested in the "judicial philosophies" behind the opinions – they just want their way. They're refreshingly… https://t.co/TJztmjwiF1

— FischerKing (@FischerKing64) May 15, 2026

AMERICANS WILL DO ANYTHING TO AVOID USING THE METRIC SYSTEM: Giant Squid Longer Than a School Bus Emerges From 1,500ft Deep Off Australia.

THE PRICE OF FRAUD: Vance announces suspension of $1.3 billion in Medicaid payments to California.

“SPACE LEADERS?” Space Leaders Worldwide May Fight SpaceX Lofting 1 Million Satellites.

THE 21ST CENTURY ISN’T TURNING OUT AS I HAD PLANNED: Queer Men’s Obsession With ‘PrEP Belly’ Indicates That Our Priorities Might Be A Little Skewed.

MAKING WAR ON THE NORMALS IS THE CORE OF THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM:

Spencer Pratt: I will clean up homeless encampments, address drug addicts, & prevent fires from burning down people's homes.

Karen Bass: I will spend your money on teeth for meth addicts.

Nithya Raman: I will ban grilling burgers in the backyard.

Your choice, Los Angeles.

— Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) May 15, 2026

AN INDUSTRY THAT PRODUCES TOXIC INTELLECTUAL WASTE: The connection between academia and political violence, explained.

DIVERSITY PROBLEM: Faculty at largest U.S. Catholic university donated over $140k to the left during 2026 cycle, analysis finds.

THAT’S HOW THEY KNEW HE WAS TALKING ABOUT THEM, DUH:

He literally says “fraudsters” in the video that this tweet sits above. https://t.co/qoEqqTxPCy

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) May 15, 2026

KILLER INSTINCT: Republicans Move To Wipe Out Democrat Seats In Louisiana, South Carolina: Republican-led Southern states have raced to redraw their congressional maps after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision two weeks ago.

WIKIPEDIA IS A PROPAGANDA ORGAN, STRAIGHT UP. Left-Wing Wikipedia Editors Fight To Keep Democrat Adam Hamawy’s Ties to ‘Blind Sheikh’ Offline Even Though House Candidate Testified to Their Friendship in Court.

Try Grokipedia instead.

COLOR ME UNSURPRISED: Times Columnist Kristof’s Father Fought on Nazi Side in World War II: Hamas prison-rape-dog propagandist’s dad also defended Vichy war criminal, then committed suicide after decades of nightmares.

JOHN ROBERTS COULD PUT A STOP TO THIS: SCOTUS Liberals Caught Slow-Walking Another Ruling To Help Dems.

DISHONESTY:

This overt racism would be bad enough in ordinary university admissions. It is made so much worse by the fact that it's a prestigious medical school that trains the doctors we will one day trust with our lives. pic.twitter.com/vffOlBt7Rs

— Colin Wright (@SwipeWright) May 14, 2026

OPEN THREAD: Happy Thursday.

STARSHIP TEST TENTATIVELY SCHEDULED FOR MAY 19. Godspeed.

THE POISON IS IN THE DOSE: A Common Vitamin Has a Complicated Link to Cancer, Experts Reveal. More likely, as the article notes, unusually high B12 levels may be a symptom or a marker for cancer, not a cause.

COLOR ME UNSURPRISED: Mixing Edible Cannabis and Alcohol May Impair Driving More Than Scientists Expected.