Weds Blogcast: Eliot Ackerman "Sheepdogs"; Suing Boulder; Training camp!

Just One Thing: It's merit only now to get into US military academies

The Department of Defense has entered into a settlement agreement to end lawsuits that were arguing against the use of race or ethnicity as a factor in admission to the US service academies. The agreement covers West Point (Army) and the US Air Force Academy; the Naval Academy at Annapolis had already been the subject of a settlement.

Anti–Affirmative Action Group Settles With Military Academies

Settlement document: Bjbr

A key finding:

The Department of Defense has determined, based on the military’s experience and expertise—and after reviewing the relevant evidence—that the consideration of race and ethnicity in admissions at the MSAs does not promote military cohesiveness, lethality, recruitment, retention, or legitimacy; national security; or any other governmental interest. The United States no longer believes that the challenged practices are justified by a “compelling national security interest in a diverse officer corps.”

I come back, as always, to my main point on this kind of issue: We need to focus on why so many kids of a particular racial group (black) are, on average, less qualified to get into top universities. OF COURSE there are lots of black kids who ARE qualified, maybe number 1 in their high school class and otherwise extraordinary individuals. I'm talking about the average. And on average, the black community's ongoing challenges with boys being raised by single moms, with no strong male role model or discipline-giver, and the failure of government schools to prepare these kids for the future, is the real problem. Trying to overcome it by saying "we're going give an unqualified kid, or even a less-qualified kid, one of our precious admissions into this university because of skin color" is fraught with negative consequences including, often, for the kid (or young adult if you prefer.)

This is THE civil rights issue of our time but it will require the black community to take much more responsibility, and for black men in particular to be actual fathers to their children. It will also require massively weakening or, better yet, destroying teachers unions.

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Today's Guests

Elliot Ackerman is a best-selling author who served as a US Marine Corps Raider, being awarded the Silver Star among other commendations. His latest, "Sheepdogs", is a fun and thoroughly enjoyable thriller novel that's quite different from most other thrillers in ways I won't describe here. It has some of the best character nicknames/call signs ever.

Amazon.com: Sheepdogs: A Novel

Elliot Ackerman - Wikipedia

Quite an article: Tufts Magazine / Spring 2007

Part of the plot seems to relate to a particular event in Elliot's military experience: U.S. military, security company failures lead to tragedy in Afghanistan

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Phil Goldberg is Special Counsel for the Manufacturers’ Accountability Project

We'll discuss the effort by Suncor and ExxonMobil to get the Supreme Court of the United States to stop a lawsuit by Boulder County based on climate-alarmist nonsense from proceeding in state court. It seems entirely obvious to me that the lawsuit should have been stopped by the State Supreme Court but remember that we have one of the worst, most partisan, supreme courts in the nation.

Cert petition to SCOTUS: Bi94

Opinion from state court ruling for Boulder, and including the correct dissent by Justice Samour: 24SA206

Statement by Mr Goldberg's organization: https://mfgaccountabilityproject.org/2025/08/09/map-statement-on-boulder-cert-petition-filing/

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Other Stuff

Think about the nonsense from the mayor about making Denver more affordable: Denver to increase local minimum wage in 2026 | 9news.com

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This goes too far...but I definitely get the motivation: NJ parents outraged over law that could imprison them for kids' behavior

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Have you ever dated or married, or stopped dating or divorced, someone because of his or her earnings or financial situation? Nearly half of Gen Z would pick money over love, survey finds

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The most and least stolen cars: This Is America's Most-Stolen Car

Camaro ZL1 tops chart of most-stolen vehicles

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Imagine trying to "fence" this haul: Cargo container with $400K of Pine-Sol inside stolen in Dauphin County | fox43.com

That fridge could probably use some Pine-Sol: 'The cold hard facts:' Man arrested for 'copulating' with refrigerator at Trader Joe's

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AI is going to change the way a lot of things are done. Homework, essays, take-home tests, for example. And this: Companies embrace in-person interviews to dodge the chatbots

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One of the worst examples of "burying the lede" I've ever seen. Read this and see if you figure out what I'm talking about: Colorado combat veteran who earned Purple Heart detained by ICE, facing deportation

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While I get a little queasy about the idea of the government monitoring and guiding museums, the Smithsonian is basically a government entity and gets a massive amount of taxpayer money. Therefore, I do think it's legitimate for the government to require the museums to offer balance and a wide range of viewpoints in displays where such a concept is even relevant. But I don't think it would be OK for the government to tell the museum to, for example, take down a placard describing a painting that has a very anti-government or even angry-with-America message, assuming that's the message intended by the artist. Nor would I necessarily prohibit such art from being in the museum. This has to be about promoting a wide range, not narrowing what's acceptable.

Exclusive | White House to Vet Smithsonian Museums to Fit Trump’s Historical Vision - WSJ

Letter to the Smithsonian: Internal Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions and Materials – The White House

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Seriously? Stressed adults use pacifiers for comfort, sleep

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Big mistake by Trump, it seems: Trump BLS pick E.J. Antoni gets panned by economists on left and right

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Dueling AIs (and dueling AI owners): Musk-Altman rivalry devolves into lawsuit threats, insults in social media brawl

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Today's Video

Ohmygod (maybe literally)

I wish my dog...or kids...were that well trained