Defining Critical Race Theory and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

USA Today's got a freakin' glossary on CRT and DEI. 

Here, "Schools keep talking about critical race theory and DEI. What do those terms really mean?"

Bob Dole's 98-Years-Old!

Shoot, the guy was wounded in WWII and he's still up and about at the age of 98!

Cool dude. It's amazing because that generation is really dying off. Of all the soldier's portrayed in HBO's "Band of Brothers," not a single one's still living today. 

At USA Today, "At 98 and facing cancer, Bob Dole reckons with legacy of Trump and ponders future of GOP."

Liz Cheney: A Clinton Republican (VIDEO)

At the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "New attack ad brands Cheney as 'Clinton Republican'."

Megan Parry's Thursday Forecast

It's still very mild at the coastal beach areas (but very hot inland).

At 10 News San Diego:

Larry Elder Placed on California Gubernatorial Recall Ballot After Winning Lawsuit

I had no idea, but Elder's a serious threat. 

See, "Larry Elder leads race to replace Newsom in recall election, new poll reveals."

At RCP, "Elder Wins Recall Legal Victory, Shakes Up CA Race."

Elder explains his issues getting his name on the recall ballot | https://t.co/bXbFAWOHvghttps://t.co/7Id61F7XE3#RecallGavinNewsom

— Larry Elder (@larryelder) July 22, 2021

Howard Kurts Slams NPR's Attack on Ben Shapiro's Success

At Fox News, "HOWARD KURTZ: NPR slams Ben Shapiro for drawing huge traffic by…being conservative: The target is Ben Shapiro, a highly successful entrepreneur of the right."

NPR says @BenShapiro rules Facebook--but "experts worry" he's fueling polarization (because he's conservative). He's cast as practicing "outrage politics" with little grasp that liberal sites do the same thing https://t.co/AksLfamKhr

— HowardKurtz (@HowardKurtz) July 22, 2021

Gold Box and Lightning Deals

At Amazon, Today's Deals. New deals. Every day. Shop our Deal of the Day, Lightning Deals and more daily deals and limited-time sales.

Also, Mountain House Classic Bucket.

More, MusclePharm Combat Protein Powder, Essential Whey Protein Powder, Isolate Whey Protein, Casein and Egg Protein with BCAAs and Glutamine for Recovery, Chocolate Milk, 4-Pound, 52 Servings.

And, Buck Knives 0110BRS 110 Famous Folding Hunter Knife with Genuine Leather Sheath.

Still more, Ray-Ban RB3025 Aviator Polarized Sunglasses.

Here, Samsung QN65Q70RAFXZA Flat 65-Inch QLED 4K Q70 Series Ultra HD Smart TV with HDR and Alexa Compatibility (2019 Model).

BONUS: Ben Shapiro, The Authoritarian Moment: How the Left Weaponized America's Institutions Against Dissent.

Biden Administration Walks Back Ties to Extremists Pushing Critical Race Theory in Schools

At Fox News, "Biden admin walks back ties to group pushing critical race theory in schools:'It was an error' to promote the critical race theory handbook said Biden's Department of Education."

An "error." Right. *Eye-roll.*

These ghouls totally back C.R.T., but for their rank political cowardice. 

'Why Do My Kids Hate America'

Interesting piece, at Your Tango.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Blocks Jim Jordan's Membership on Congressional January 6th Investigation Panel (VIDEO)

Also Representatives Jim Banks of Indiana. Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pulled three more for a total five, and apparently he was furious.

At the New York Times, "Pelosi bars two Trump allies from the committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot."

And Congressman Jordan, on Fox News:

Andrew Hacker, Two Nations

Andrew Hacker, Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal.

'Take the Long Way Home'

It's Roger Hodgen (of Supertramp):

Michelle Malkin, Open Borders Inc.

*BUMPED.*

At Amazon, Michelle Malkin, Open Borders Inc.: Who's Funding America's Destruction?

The New Era of Space Travel

Following-up, "Jeff Bezos Blasts Into Space Aboard Blue Origin (VIDEO)."

At the Los Angeles Times, "Jeff Bezos launches new era of space travel with Blue Origin ride":

VAN HORN, Texas — The New Shepard rocket rumbled to life early Tuesday, catapulting Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos and three others to the edge of space and allowing the world’s richest person to achieve a childhood dream.

Back on Earth, spaceflight enthusiasts saw the brief voyage as the realization of decades of promise — the beginning of a new era for space tourism.

“Space tourism is finally here,” said Alan Ladwig, author of the book “See You in Orbit? Our Dream of Spaceflight.” “It’s still going to be expensive, it’s still not going to be something everybody can do right away, but it’s a first step.”

Bezos’ suborbital flight — his company Blue Origin’s first crewed launch — came a little over a week after British billionaire Richard Branson along with five others boarded a space plane built by his Virgin Galactic firm and flew to the edge of space and back, making it there ahead of Bezos, who had announced his plans earlier. Virgin Galactic plans to complete two more test flights before it begins flying paying customers to space next year.

Although Blue Origin flew its first paying customer on Tuesday’s flight — 18-year-old Oliver Daemen, the son of a Dutch private equity executive and now the youngest person to go to space — it has yet to announce seat prices or additional details about its commercial operations. During a livestream of Tuesday’s launch, Ariane Cornell, Blue Origin’s director of astronaut sales, repeatedly encouraged interested customers to email the company.

Already the company is approaching $100 million in private sales, Bezos told an assembled audience of guests, employees and reporters after the launch.

An auction for a seat on Tuesday’s flight ended with a winning bid of $28 million, but the ticket holder, whose identity has not been disclosed, postponed the trip, citing scheduling conflicts, according to Blue Origin. They will fly on a future mission. (Proceeds from the auction for a spot on Tuesday’s launch went to the Club for the Future foundation, which was founded by Blue Origin and is aimed at promoting science, technology, engineering and math careers. From those proceeds, 19 nonprofit organizations were selected to receive $1-million grants.)

But suborbital flights aren’t the company’s only goal; Blue Origin plans to build a family of larger rockets that could hoist cargo, satellites and people to orbit and beyond, eventually creating an ecosystem to allow millions of people to live and work in space. Bezos has previously suggested building cylindrical habitats with artificial gravity known as O’Neill colonies, after the physicist Gerard K. O’Neill, who pioneered the idea.

“Big things start small,” Bezos said Tuesday. “We’re going to build a road to space so that our kids and their kids can build the future.”

The seeming arrival of the era of suborbital space tourism after years of hype has fueled public debate around the increasing commercialization of space and the role that billionaires play in the industry.

After his flight, Bezos thanked Amazon employees and customers, saying, “You guys paid for all this.” He has previously said he has sold about $1 billion of Amazon stock a year to fund Blue Origin...

Well, you can't say the man ain't got the money. *Shrug.*

Still more.

 

'Way Down in the Hole'

It's Tom Waits, taking us way back to 1987.

Kate Upton Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2013

Don't see much of this woman anymore, but hot damn she's got some of the finest honkers around.

Wednesday Cartoon

Via Theo Spark:

Jen Psaki's White House Disinformation

At 90 Miles From Tyranny, "Democrats’ Definition of ‘Misinformation’ Is Whatever Hurts Them Politically Today."

Dua Lipa and Then Some

Ms. Dua is here.

Plus, Busty Blonde Hottie.

A patriotic babe:

Satellite Images of Western Wildfires (VIDEO)

The "Bootleg fire" in Oregon's at the video, but hundreds of fires are blazing across the American west. 

At the New York Times, "How Bad Is the Bootleg Fire? It’s Generating Its Own Weather":

A towering cloud of hot air, smoke and moisture that reached airliner heights and spawned lightning. Wind-driven fronts of flame that have stampeded across the landscape, often leapfrogging firebreaks. Even, possibly, a rare fire tornado.

The Bootleg Fire in Southern Oregon, spurred by months of drought and last month’s blistering heat wave, is the largest wildfire so far this year in the United States, having already burned more than 340,000 acres, or 530 square miles, of forest and grasslands.

And at a time when climate change is causing wildfires to be larger and more intense, it’s also one of the most extreme, so big and hot that it’s affecting winds and otherwise disrupting the atmosphere.

The Bootleg Fire has been burning for two weeks, and for most of that time it’s exhibited one or more forms of extreme fire behavior, leading to rapid changes in winds and other conditions that have caused flames to spread rapidly in the forest canopy, ignited whole stands of trees at once, and blown embers long distances, rapidly igniting spot fires elsewhere.

“It’s kind of an extreme, dangerous situation,” said Chuck Redman, a forecaster with the National Weather Service who has been at the fire command headquarters providing forecasts.

Fires so extreme that they generate their own weather confound firefighting efforts. The intensity and extreme heat can force wind to go around them, create clouds and sometimes even generate so-called fire tornadoes — swirling vortexes of heat, smoke and high wind.

The catastrophic Carr Fire near Redding, Calif., in July 2018 was one of those fires, burning through 230,000 acres, destroying more than 1,600 structures and leading to the deaths of at least eight people, some of which were attributed to a fire tornado with winds as high as 140 miles per hour that was captured on video...

Also, cool map here: "Tracking Western Wildfires."