Cross-Examination

• Unemployment rises: Jobs numbers for August show that 187,000 jobs were added, slightly ahead of the estimate of 170,000. But that’s where the economic good news ends, as the headline unemployment unexpectedly rose to 3.8% while the real unemployment rate jumped to 7.1%. Furthermore, thanks to Bidenomics, hourly pay is continuing to fall further behind inflation, as average hourly earnings rose by just 0.2% for the month and 4.3% for the year — coming in below the forecasted 0.3% and 4.4%, respectively.

• Forty percent of Dems oppose Biden: A sizable number of Democrat voters would rather have someone other than 81-year-old Joe Biden be the party’s nominee. According to a recent survey from Big Village CARAVAN, just 60% of Democrats favor Biden for the nomination, with 19% picking Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 10% backing Marianne Williamson, and an additional 11% naming “other” as their choice. For a sitting president running for reelection to get this much rejection from voters in his own party is uncommon and should be setting off alarm bells for the DNC. Meanwhile, when it comes to Americans in general, national polling shows even greater unfavorability for Biden, with RFK Jr. (39.4%) holding a higher favorability rating than Biden (35.2%).

• For Musk, Twitter was personal: What may have been the underlying motivation behind Elon Musk’s decision to buy Twitter, the social media platform he has now rebranded as X? Well, it may have been more personal than merely an altruistic commitment to free speech. According to a new biography on Musk by Walter Issacson, Musk made the decision to acquire the social media giant after his son and oldest child, Xavier, “transitioned” at 16 years old, calling himself “Jenna.” Apparently, when Musk learned of his son’s decision, he handled it in a mostly positive manner, though after his son embraced communism and subsequently cut Musk out of his life, it seemed to spur him into action against woke ideology. According to an excerpt from the book, Musk stated, “[Xavier] went beyond socialism to being a full communist and thinking that anyone rich is evil.” He added, “I’ve made many overtures, but she [sic] doesn’t want to spend time with me.”

• Good news: Nationwide gun ban injunction: Back in May, U.S. Senior District Judge Robert Payne of the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that a federal law banning the sale of handguns to individuals 18 to 20 years old was unconstitutional. At the time, Payne’s ruling applied to a case in Virginia known as Fraser v. ATF. On Wednesday, Judge Payne issued a national injunction against the federal ban, writing: “People between the ages of 18 and 21 in the Eastern District of Virginia suffer an equal burden as people of the same age in the Southern District of New York, the Central District of California, or any other district. The Government’s policies affect — and harm — each of them equally. Therefore, ‘[t]he categorical policies relied upon by the Government call for categorical relief.’ Only a nationwide injunction will ‘prevent irreparable injury to plaintiffs,’ who, since as class has been certified, include all American citizens between the ages of 18 to 21 who are otherwise qualified to purchase a gun.”

• Michiganders steamed over right-to-work repeal: Freedom to work has been inhibited in Michigan after the state’s Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a partisan bill repealing the Great Lakes State’s Right-to-Work law. As everyone knows, unions exist effectively as a slush fund for Democrat politicians. Forcing workers to join a union in order to be employed, which forces them to pay union dues — a significant portion of which goes directly into Democrat coffers — is a leading reason why conservatives have long rejected unions. Furthermore, unions take away workers’ right to individual choice and self-advancement. Polling shows that a large majority of Michiganders did not want Right-to-Work repealed, and 56% of voters are calling for a ballot measure to reinstate it.

• British shouldn’t heat homes: In yet another example exposing the reality that climate change alarmism is nothing other than an anti-human cult, the United Kingdom’s Climate Change Committee (CCC) is calling on Britons to not heat their homes during the evening hours this winter in order to help the nation reach the government’s ridiculous goal of net-zero carbon emissions. The CCC wants “behavior change” for Britons, instructing them to “pre-heat” their homes during the afternoon in order to use less electricity. This is effectively reversing the technological development of the modern era that allowed for greater climate control of homes and that has served to lengthen human life. Significantly more people die from cold than from heat. But apparently Britain’s CCC couldn’t care less when it comes to forcing people to bow to Mother Gaia.

Headlines

• Biden visiting Florida Saturday to see Hurricane Idalia aftermath (Forbes)

• Inflation ticked up to 3.3% in July in Fed’s preferred gauge (Washington Examiner)

• U.S. Capitol doctor, Mitch McConnell’s office shed light on senator’s latest “freeze up” episode (RedState)

• Trump pleads not guilty in Georgia election interference case (National Review)

• Trump says he might join GOP primary debates (PJ Media)

• Two Proud Boys sentenced to more than 15 years in prison in J6 case (Daily Wire)

• More migrant families crossed the U.S. border in August than ever before (National Review)

• KJP dinged for insisting Biden has done more “than anybody else” to secure border (Fox News)

• Report: Armed citizens stop active shooters 8x more often than FBI claims (Breitbart)

• Nebraska governor signs executive order enshrining biological sex in state law (National Review)

• Pete Buttigieg’s equity advisers want you to stop driving (Free Beacon)

• Finnish politician back in court for “criminal” interpretation of Bible verses (Daily Wire)

• Study shows journalism is “most regretted” college major as trust in corporate media sinks (The Federalist)

• Policy: Does social and emotional learning work? Let’s hope not (AEI)

• Humor: Wives across South break out fall decorations as temperatures briefly dip below 100 (Babylon Bee)

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