Interesting Engineering.

esearchers from Tel Aviv University and the Israel Institute for Biological Research developed the world’s first messenger mRNA-based single-dose vaccine that is 100 percent effective against a lethal bacteria.

Published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances, the study suggests that this paves the way for developing more vaccines for bacterial diseases, including diseases caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The study, conducted on mice, demonstrated that all vaccinated animals were fully protected against the bacteria that causes the plague.

This is HUGE.

The deep-sea miner angling for U.S. opportunities (Politico)

‘Trans Day of Vengeance’ protest continues as planned following Nashville shooting (ABC News)

Twitter removes tweets about “Trans Day of Vengeance” (CBS News)

Twitter deletes thousands of tweets about planned ‘Trans Day of Vengeance’ protest (N.Y. Post)

These House members get the most money from the oil and gas industry (The Hill)

Ron DeSantis Just Made Himself Unelectable as President (Newsweek)

Twitter Restricts Conservative Accounts Over ‘Trans Day Of Vengeance’ Posts

Jane’s Revenge Vandals Slapped With Lawsuits in Florida, Launching a Trend That May Spread Across the Country

It’s hard living in a state where the politicians hate people like you (Washington Post) Cry me a river–try being a Republican in California, or New York, or Taxachusetts, or Michigan, or Washington, or Oregon, or Illinois, or ….

Let’s Take a Closer Look at the Abuse Allegation Against House Oversight Chair James Comer (Jezebel) Comer is digging up the dirt on the Biden Crime Family, so naturally he must be discredited.

WATCH: Media Decide Who the Real Villains and Victims of the Nashville Shooting Are

The Far Right Is Calling For Bloody ‘Civil War’ After Trump’s Indictment (Vice) Perhaps a Day of Vengeance might be appropriate?

Violent Transgender Activists and Antifa Agitators Shut Down Pro-Life Event at Virginia Commonwealth University

CBS Orders Staff to ‘Avoid Any Mention’ of Tennessee Mass Shooter Being Transgender

Man on trial for Plano road rage flees after shooting on way to court, officials say  (Dallas Morning News)

Obama Makes Headlines in Australia for All the Wrong Reasons (Daily Beast)

Obama went to Australia to make money and trash Trump

Rupert Murdoch has fuelled polarisation of society, Barack Obama says (The Guardian)

Reid: Attacking Bragg is Dog Whistle That Blacks Controlled by Jews  Remember: If you hear the ‘dog whistle’, you’re the dog.

COVID vaccine fatigue: Study explores why many are refusing booster shots

Do two or more mRNA vaccine doses provide additional protection in patients with prior COVID-19 infection? (News-Medical)

Serious Harms of the Covid-19 Vaccine: A Systematic Review (Brownstone Institute)

The effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in Latin America, 2021: a multicenter regional case–control study (The Lancet)

WHO Now Says COVID Vaccines Not Recommended For Healthy Kids & Teens

How could the UK’s net zero plan involve new oil and gas? It’s mind-bogglingly stupid (The Guardian)

The strangeness of the right’s war on “green day” (The New Statesman)

This once-thriving lake has all but dried up. It’s a story repeated across Europe as the drought deepens (CNN)

Looking at Boston’s future as sea levels continue to rise (CBS News)

Climate crisis forces Barbados into fight for survival (CNN) Send us money!

More States Want Students to Learn About Climate Science. Ohio Disagrees (TIME)

Brazilian meat firm’s A- sustainability rating has campaigners up in arms (The Guardian)

Lauren Boebert Jokes About Climate Deniers During Colorado Drought Hearing (Newsweek)

Net zero strategy shows UK will miss 2030 emissions cuts target (The Guardian)

UK admits revised net zero strategy will fail to hit emission targets (Financial Times)

What does the UK net zero plan mean for me? (The Times)

Democrats Said No One Is Coming To Take Your Gas Appliances – They Lied

California to Require Half of All Heavy Trucks Sold by 2035 to Be Electric

More Nonsense About Greenland

‘Big Climate’ Nut Presses Mets To Dump Citibank Stadium Name

Read it.

While checking out the “banned and challenged” display at my local Barnes & Noble recently, I was reminded that the entire kerfuffle is a giant racket.

For publishers and booksellers, “banned” books are likely a money-making racket. Virtually every allegedly “banned” book on the display table is already a massive (sometimes generational) bestseller.

Not that this reality stops authors like Jodi Picoult, whose books dot virtually every bookstore in the country, from running around pretending their novels are “banned” because a sliver of taxpayers are no longer on the hook to buy them.

For the Left, the banned book claim is a political racket, allowing them to feign indignation over the alleged “authoritarianism” of Republicans who don’t want kids reading identitarian pseudohistories or books depicting oral sex, rape, violence, or gender dysphoria in their schools.

Yet, major media now regularly contend, as indisputable fact, that “book bans” are in place. The claim is embedded in the Democrat’s daily rhetoric.

The Foundry (Victor Davis Hanson)

A transgender Tennessee mass shooter this week executed three adults and three nine-year-old children at a Nashville private Christian school.

Supposedly, she left behind her a manifesto justifying her mass killing. As of this writing, law enforcement officials have declined to make the document public.

Yet in about a nanosecond after the news was disclosed, the left-wing activist machine kicked in, led by politicians, entertainers, and the media.

Apparently the shooter was the real victim, and anyway Republicans are to blame.

ScienceNews.

The language we learn growing up seems to leave a lasting, biological imprint on our brains.
German and Arabic native speakers have different connection strengths in specific parts of the brain’s language circuit, researchers report February 19 in NeuroImage, hinting that the cognitive demands of our native languages physically shape the brain. The new study, based on nearly 100 brain scans, is one of the first in which scientists have identified these kinds of structural wiring differences in a large group of monolingual adults.

Read it.

Belgian authorities have arrested eight people during counterterrorism sweeps that took place in Brussels, the port city of Antwerp, and the border town of Eupen as a part of investigations into a potential jihadist plot to carry out terrorist attacks, the federal prosecutor’s office announced on Tuesday, March 28th.

The arrests, which according to the federal prosecutor’s office were part of two separate police investigations, happened on Monday evening and saw three in Brussels and five in Antwerp, some of whom are known for Islamic extremism, deprived of their liberty and taken in for questioning, the French-language Belgian newspaper Le Soir reports.

At the request of an investigating judge, federal judicial police in Antwerp conducted five searches in Merksem, Borgerhout, Deurne, Molenbeek, and Eupen. In a statement that followed the arrests, prosecutors involved in the case said: “At least two of the individuals involved are suspected of planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Belgium. The target of the attack has not yet been determined.”

Wherever you go,
Whatever you do,
A Muslim waits there
To try to kill you.

ZMan’s weekly podcast. Highly recommended.

In the modern age, which in this context means the period following the Second World War to the present, people have been conditioned to ignore the stupid. If you notice them at all, it is to show your compassion. You care about the stupid because you are a good person, not because you want to do something about them. In this regard, we are taught to confuse the stupid with the helpless.

This was not always so. For much of human history, the main task for the people in charge was to limit the number of transactions by the stupid. Every time a stupid person makes a decision, there is a chance for mayhem. Therefore, the way to create a stable society is to reduce the number of transactions made by the stupid. Controlling the stupid population was a priority of government.

In times when the intelligent people were in short supply, bandits would often be used by the intelligent to keep the stupid under control. In wartime, when the intelligent are busy with war fighting, the bandits could be used to make sure the stupid are limited to things that minimize the damage they cause. The bandits profit, but that is a price worth paying to keep the stupid under control.

Read it.

“We have to break through our kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents,” MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry argued. “Educators love their students and know better than anyone what they need to learn and to thrive,” the NEA asserted. “Parents claim they have the right to shape their kids’ school curriculum. They don’t,” a Washington Post op-ed bluntly asserted.

A Minnesota bill now proposes to take children away from parents who don’t agree to have them sexually mutilated. Similar bills are working their way through other states.

Steven Hayward at Power Line.

Trump should have shot someone on Fifth Avenue after all, since we know that Alvin Bragg won’t bring charges against anyone who does that.

Vice.

The new budget sets funds for libraries to $0. Library groups say the move is retaliation for suing the state over its recent book ban law.

Oh, ya think?  The modern clerisy has gotten used to having their own way at taxpayer expense too long. It’s time they re-learned the facts of life.

Read it.

Two Pakistani terrorists accused of plotting to attack Jewish targets here made their first court appearance Friday morning.

Syed Irtaza Haider, 27, and Saqi Abid Hussein, 29, were arrested Tuesday for plotting to attack a kosher restaurant in downtown Athens which also is home to the Jewish community center Chabad House. Police say they were led by a third Pakistani, Syed Hakar, operating out of Iran.

Wherever you go,
Whatever you do,
A Muslim waits there
To try to kill you.

Read it.

Gisele Fetterman, wife of Pennsylvania’s US senator John, has written an op-ed for Elle magazine, of which Cockburn is naturally an avid reader. The essence of her piece is: “I am perfect the way I am — and how dare you criticize me. Also I’m a volunteer firefighter.”

John Fetterman, readers will recall, suffered a stroke last year during the Democratic primary for Senate against Conor Lamb. He won regardless, lining up a head-to-head with Republican candidate Dr. Oz. His one performance on the debate stage raised alarms, even from the mainstream media, over claims he was perfectly fine following his serious health scare and was ready to serve. A little more than a month after being sworn in as senator, Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed Hospital for clinical depression. He is still there, and so far, has missed 83 percent of Senate roll call votes.

Being married to Uncle Fester can’t be easy.

Washington Free Beacon.

\Most lawyers probably would not appreciate being compared to a cold-blooded terrorist responsible for thousands of deaths. But for John Banzhaf—an octogenarian litigator who’s been called the “Osama Bin Laden of Torts”—the comparisons are a point of pride.

…

Now, though, this self-proclaimed “legal terrorist” has set his sights on an unlikely target: the Stanford Law School students who shouted down Fifth Circuit appellate judge Kyle Duncan.

Banzhaf told Stanford earlier this month that he will file a character and fitness complaint against the students with the California state bar.

“It appears that you have not taken any steps to discipline or otherwise sanction the student violators,” Banzhaf said in a letter to Jenny Martinez, the law school’s dean, who has since ruled out punishing the hecklers. As such, the complaint “will have links to video recordings of the disruption so that bar officials can judge the students’ conduct for themselves.”

Matt Taibbi.

If the story was wrong, and Trump wasn’t a Russian spy, there wasn’t a word for what was being perpetrated. This was a system-wide effort to re-frame reality itself, which was both too intellectually ambitious to fit in a word like “hoax,” but also probably not against any one law, either. New language would have to be invented just to define the wrongdoing, which not only meant whatever this was would likely go unpunished, but that it could be years before the public was ready to talk about it.

Around that same time, writer Jacob Siegel — a former army infantry and intelligence officer who edits Tablet’s afternoon digest, The Scroll — was beginning the job of putting key concepts on paper. As far back as 2019, he sketched out the core ideas for a sprawling, illuminating 13,000-word piece that just came out this week. Called “A Guide to Understanding the Hoax of the Century: Thirteen ways of looking at disinformation,” Siegel’s Tablet article is the enterprise effort at describing the whole anti-disinformation elephant I’ve been hoping for years someone in journalism would take on.

The New Neo.

They say a prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich. That sounds sort of funny, but it’s actually not the least bit funny. It’s about power that can be misused for any number of purposes, including political ones.

The Trump indictment is for a purely political purpose. What’s more, that’s so blatantly the case that everyone knows it. Half the nation doesn’t care – or applauds. The other half is outraged, but unfortunately no longer surprised. We’ve come that far down a terrible and dangerous road.

U.S. Dept. of State

Following recent Russian military actions in Ukraine, U.S. citizens should consider departing Russia immediately via limited commercial options still available. Please visit travel.state.gov for the latest information on departure options.

Read it.

Researchers in Maine are testing a new approach to 3D printing homes, swapping out the standard concrete “ink” for a 100% recyclable material made of wood waste and bio-resins.

They’ve already built a prototype house out of the material, and if it can withstand the harsh Maine winter, they hope to scale up to printing a new home every two days — helping Maine address its shortage of affordable housing.

The Racial Reckoning Is All About Greed, Isn’t It?

$800 Billion & Counting… California Reparations Board Confronted To Make Good On Years Of Reparation Rhetoric

1K migrants surrender to Border Patrol along El Paso Border Highway (KFOX-TV)

White House dodges question on whether ‘assault weapons’ ban will lead to ‘confiscation’ (Fox)

Jean-Pierre: ‘Unacceptable’ for Republicans to say there’s nothing to be done on gun violence (The Hill) Which ‘Republican’s don’t say.

Fentanyl is ‘single greatest challenge’ U.S. faces, DHS secretary says (Washington Post) More than war in Ukraine? More than immigration? More than inflation? More than recession?

US Marshals were told not to arrest protesters at Supreme Court justices’ homes ‘unless absolutely necessary’ (Fox)

US Marshals told ‘not’ to arrest abortion protesters at SCOTUS justices’ homes (N.Y. Post)

More Chinese migrants are coming to the U.S. on foot, officials say (NBC News)

Inside the boom in Chinese migrants at the southern border (Axios)

John Kerry Says New Climate Change Executive Orders Are Coming  Hey, he’s got to do something to justify his no-show government job.

DOJ Memos Dissuaded Marshals From Arresting Protestors At SCOTUS Justices’ Homes: Sen. Britt

Lloyd Austin: No Regrets on Afghanistan Pullout  “It’s not my goddamned planet, monkey boy!”

Northern Border Sees Overwhelming Surge Of Illegal Immigrants

Want To Help Disabled Tajikistanis Fight Climate Change? Biden Could Pay You $1 Million for Your Advice.

NHL Evaluating ‘Pride Night’ as More Players Opt Out

US Revises 4Q GDP Down to 2.6%

Top US Counties See Immigration Rates Triple

TSMC may not expand in US if double taxation rule continues

Biden Would Veto GOP Bill Blocking D.C. Police Reform

How Bidenflation Was Made

Biden’s New Border Crisis: A Surge of Illegal Immigrants From China

Days After Nashville Shooting, Biden Condemns ‘Violence Against Transgender Women’

Immigration Tripled in Top U.S. Counties Even as Many of Them Lost Population (N.Y. Times)

Biden Administration Is Gearing Up to Pay Reparations

Josh Hawley called ‘fraud and coward’ over response to Nashville shooting (The Guardian)

Teen Pokémon player booted from tournament after laughing at pronoun question (Fox)

Teenager Says He Was Disqualified From A Pokémon Tournament Over Pronouns (OutKick)

Pokemon card tournament DQs player for laughing while saying his preferred pronouns (Dexerto)

Pokémon Player Laughs at Pronoun Query, Ejected (NewsMax)

Kentucky lawmakers pass major anti-trans law, overriding governor’s veto (Washington Post) We got yer democracy, right here.

NJ School Official Accused of Anti-Trans Tweets Cries ‘Dystopian’ Witch Hunt (Daily Beast) Which is what the Daily Beast spends most of its time doing.

Abortion Bans in the U.S. Created a Human Rights Crisis (Daily Beast)

Overreach, rather than oversight: Jordan and MAGA GOP skating beyond the law (The Hill) MAGA is the New Nigger.

Texas bills would set state against federal oil and gas regulation, renewables (The Hill)

Trans activist calls Nashville school ‘right-wing institution’ day after mass shooting

Why Is Anyone Still Listening to J.K. Rowling? (Daily Beast) Why is anyone still listening to the Daily Beast?

The problem with Rick Scott’s pitch to address school shootings (MSNBC)

Georgia’s new anti-trans law also disparages autistic people like me (MSNBC) And, as we all know, it’s All About Me.

Declassified Records Show Bush’s Oil Business Was Probably a CIA Front (DeepStateBlog)

ABC & CBS Hype Bernie Sanders Berating Starbucks CEO After Ignoring Mayorkas Grilling

Nicolle Wallace smacks down Ginni Thomas for ‘demented and unethical way’ of funneling money (Raw Story)

Pokémon Player Laughs at Pronoun Query, Ejected (NewsMax)

Shooting Prompts a Shrug in Washington, as G.O.P. Rejects Pleas to Act (N.Y. Times) The Narrative is strong in this one.

Liberal Media Pivots School Shooting Response To Defend, Advocate for LGBTQ Community

MSNBC: Gun Violence Part of White Culture So GOP Protects It

Democratic Lawmaker Explodes At GOP Colleague Over Gun Violence: ‘Cowards!’ (Huffington Post) Don’t focus on the crazy people, just focus on the gun.

Media Outlets Fault Cops for Misgendering Nashville’s Trans Mass Killer

Nashville shooting exploited by right to escalate anti-trans rhetoric (Washington Post) Just taking a page from the proglodyte playbook.

After Mass Shootings, Republicans Expand Access to Guns (N.Y. Times) If somebody in that school had had a gun, the shooter could have been stopped. The purveyors of Gun Cooties never seem to catch on to that basic fact.

CNN Cues Up Andrew McCabe, Democrat to Argue Against Arming School Teachers

Daily Show Claims GOP Has ‘Permanently Stolen’ Wisconsin’s Legislature  After all, it’s rightfully theirs.

The Unlimited Wretchedness of MSNBC

Maxine Waters spews up ‘dog whistle’ talking points at SVB hearing  Remember: If you hear the ‘dog whistle’, then you’re the dog.

Far right presentation using misappropriated election software alarms experts (L.A. Times)

Ronna McDaniel’s hair and makeup have cost GOP donors nearly $100,000 (Raw Story) I’m glad they didn’t have anything more important to write about. Proglodytes grind slowly but they grind incredibly small.

Twitter pushes hate speech, extremist content into ‘For You’ pages (Washington Post) But only since Elon took it over.

Clash at House hearing: GOP claims social media censorship, Democrats want to strike testimony (USA Today)

Hakeem Jeffries Blasts GOP For Silence On Gun Control After Nashville School Shooting (Huffington Post) Maybe that’s because the GOP don’t think that the two have any connection. Pretty silly complaining that your opponents aren’t making the same assumptions you do.

‘Beyond the pale’: Dems go after DeSantis for visiting gun store after Nashville shooting (ABC) Pure Narrative witch-hunt.

Jennifer Aniston: Younger Generations Find ‘Friends’ Offensive

Columbia Law Students Throw Fit Because Classmates Met With Brett Kavanaugh

Lefties Lose Their Minds Over N.C. Abortion Ban Proposal

America should be ashamed of our role in the fiery death of 38 refugees (Philadelphia Inquirer) I don’t know about ‘America’ (shouldn’t that be ‘the Biden Administration’?), but I had no such role, so I see no reason to be ashamed. If Will Bunch, proglodyte Voice of the Crust, wishes to feel ashamed, he is certainly free to do so.

Newsom forms new group to fight ‘rising authoritarianism’ in red states (Washington Post) The problem is not authoritarianism in red states but totalitarianism in blue states. Somebody send this guy a mirror. A big one.

AOC Flees Libs of TikTok Creator, Served Ethics Complaint

FACT CHECK: California Politicians Need Private Security To Protect Them From Conservatives

The long shadow of Covid-19 myths (BBC)

UMMS and others start lifting requirement that masks be worn in public spaces, but they’re still needed around patients (Baltimore Sun)

Congressional Probe Confirms Scientific Assessments of Damage of COVID-19 School Closures

GOP eyes possible legislation to shield Trump from prosecution (MSNBC)

House Democrat leads rally backing Manhattan DA’s Trump probe (Politico)

House Republicans Are Becoming a Bigger Thorn in Alvin Bragg’s Side (Vanity Fair)

Special Counsel Says Trump Deliberately Misled Lawyers on Classified Docs: Report (Daily Beast)

Poll shows wide support in U.S. for Trump criminal investigations (MSNBC)

Trump’s lead grows in GOP primary race, now over 50% support  Elect the witch!

Trump Says the Justice System Has Been Weaponized. He Would Know. (N.Y. Times) Liberal Projection (per Scott Adams) is where proglodytes accuse their opponents of doing what they intend to do (or have done).

Allen Weisselberg just fired his Trump-funded lawyers — is he about to flip? (Raw Story)

Did New Yorkers Die, So a DA Could Target Trump?

DA Bragg Probing Another Trump Hush-Money Payment  Which, again, is not illegal.

Read it.

All life is made up of cells several magnitudes smaller than a grain of salt. Their seemingly simple-looking structures mask the intricate and complex molecular activity that enables them to carry out the functions that sustain life. Researchers are beginning to be able to visualize this activity to a level of detail they haven’t been able to before.

 

Read it.

With each year that passes since Bethany Mandel wrote that “Modern Motherhood has a Major PR Problem,” the truth of the claim becomes clearer. Earlier this month, the United Kingdom was meant to celebrate Mother’s Day. While flowers were quietly distributed to the women of TERF island by those who retain some sense of honor about the thing, the online world exploded with commentary from professional chatterboxes about just how horrible motherhood really is.

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June 22, 1972. John Calhoun stood over the abandoned husk of what had once been a thriving metropolis of thousands. Now, the population had dwindled to just 122, and soon, even these inhabitants would be dead.

Calhoun wasn’t the survivor of a natural disaster or nuclear meltdown; rather, he was a researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health conducting an experiment into the effects of overcrowding on mouse behavior. The results, laid bare at his feet, had taken years to play out.

In 1968, Calhoun had started the experiment by introducing four mouse couples into a specially designed pen—a veritable rodent Garden of Eden—with numerous “apartments,” abundant nesting supplies, and unlimited food and water. The only scarce resource in this microcosm was physical space, and Calhoun suspected that it was only a matter of time before this caused trouble in paradise.

…

As he had anticipated, the utopia became hellish nearly a year in when the population density began to peak, and then population growth abruptly and dramatically slowed. Animals became increasingly violent, developed abnormal sexual behaviors, and began neglecting or even attacking their own pups. Calhoun termed this breakdown of social order a “behavioral sink.”

Or, as we would put it, the Inner City. Think of this next time your local proglodyte pushes for ‘urban density’ as the solution to all of society’s ills, from The Housing Crisis to Pedestrian Friendly Streets.

Read it.

Left-wing extremists violently storm the state capitol in Tennessee, disrupting the work of that state’s legislature. Let’s arrest them for insurrection and give them 11 months in solitary confinement before we bring them to trial.

Read it.

I don’t have any immediate plans to do something destructive, futile, and stupid, but it occurred to me I should still have a manifesto reflecting my (unbalanced?) mental state on hand, just in case. Why should only nutballs and violent sickos get to have manifestos? Here is the first draft of mine:

Everyone ought to have a manifesto handy, just in case. Don’t leave home without it….

New York Times.

A federal judge in Texas who once declared the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional issued a far-reaching ruling on Thursday that prevents the Biden administration from enforcing a provision of the law that provides patients with certain types of free preventive care, including screenings for cancer, depression, diabetes and H.I.V.

The Nation.

The magazine that Molly Ivins edited and that remains the voice of speak-truth-to-power Texas liberalism is threatened with closing. We can’t let that happen.

Who is this ‘we’?

Newsweek.

Rep. Clay Higgins claimed “there’s no such thing as gun violence” in America on Wednesday during a House oversight hearing. “The number one cause of death for children in America remains abortion,” Higgins asserted.

UK ‘strikingly unprepared’ for impacts of climate crisis (The Guardian)

England not ready for the impact of climate change (BBC)

UK ‘strikingly’ unprepared against intensifying impacts of climate change: Report (Anadolu Agency)

UK government ‘strikingly unprepared’ for global warming (Financial Times)

Sea levels are rising — and it’s going to get worse. Here’s how some communities are adapting (CBS) Call me when property values in Malibu and Martha’s Vineyard start dropping.

For the First Time, More U.S. Electricity Came From Renewables Than Coal in 2022 (TIME)

Renewably Generated Electricity Surpasses Coal for the First Time in the U.S. (Gizmodo)

US electricity from renewables surpasses coal for first time (The Hill)

Renewable Energy Jumps Past Coal for First Time: Report (Daily Beast)

Climate Hysteria And Woke Gobbledegook Are Becoming Inseparable  But you knew that.

EU War on Agriculture Pushback Protests Spread

The Chemical Menace Inside Glaciers and Icebergs

EU Ban on Combustion Engine Receives “Final Green Light”

The Week in Energy: California Follies, Chapter 12,186

Climate Insanity: Swiss Government Sued for Not Preventing a Heatwave

Ukraine Situation Report: France Denies It’s Looking To Buy Back UAE’s Mirage Jets For Kyiv

Video Shows Ukrainian Drone Fly Into Russian Vehicle Carrying Troops (Newsweek)

Drone video shows smoke over Ukraine, soldiers in trenches (Reuters)

Bakhmut, Ukraine lies in ruins after Russian assault (CBC)

Taiwan president defiant after China threatens retaliation for US trip (Reuters)

China warns of retaliation if Taiwan’s president meets US House speaker during visit (The Guardian)

Putin takes ‘nuclear blackmail’ to new level with Belarus plans (The Hill)

Russia Test-Fires Supersonic Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles In Sea Of Japan

RUSSIA: Repairs, Replacements And Reality

He came to D.C. as a Brazilian student. The U.S. says he was a Russian spy. (Washington P0st)

Just say NO and Veto Putin From Taking Over U.N. Security Council (TIME)

Xi Jinping Says He Is Preparing China for War (Foreign Affairs)

Adidas asks US to bar Black Lives Matter from using three stripes in trademark (The Guardian)

Adidas retracts opposition to Black Lives Matter three-stripe design (Reuters)

Adidas backtracks on Black Lives Matter design opposition (BBC)

Adidas Objects to Black Lives Matter Logo (Newser)

Why Jonathan Majors’s assault arrest is so disturbing — and so complicated (Vox)

Jonathan Majors has been arraigned on charges of harassment and assault (NPR)

Army quickly plans new ads after Jonathan Majors’ arrest (Associated Press)

Reparations advocate has no idea how San Francisco can give Black residents $5 million each (Fox)

San Francisco leaders favor reparations that could include $5 million payouts. Here’s when it could happen (Deseret News)

Newsom falls silent after calls for him to take executive action on reparations (Fox)

This Bay Area school district could be first in U.S to offer cash reparations to some Black students (S.F. Chronicle)

The Big Squeeze: How the U of California Uses Quotas When They Are Banned by Law from Using Quotas

SKIN GRAFT: 10 White Liberals Outed as Fake Minorities

Reparations for Black Californians could top $800 billion (Associated Press)

‘Shameful’: Alabama Supreme Court Justice, AG Slam SPLC for ‘Displays of Racial Bias’

California Reparations Could Top $800 Billion, Economists for State Panel Say

One COVID-19 bivalent booster is enough for now, CDC finally decides (S.F.Chronicle)

When Can You Get Another Bivalent COVID Booster Shot? (AARP)

Covid update: Officials consider additional Covid-19 boosters for at-risk adults (Charleston City Paper)

How many COVID-19 vaccine doses should you have by now? (CTV News)

Game-Changer Nasal Spray: A Universal Shield Against All COVID-19 Variants (SciTech Daily)

CDC Found COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Signals Months Earlier Than Previously Known, Files Show

5 Takeaways From House Hearing on COVID-19 School Lockdowns

Republicans don’t really care about crime — and the Nashville shooting proves it (MSNBC)

Juror in Oath Keepers trial reveals secrets from the deliberation room (Politico)

Gorsuch and Kavanaugh object to justices’ refusal to hear absurd case (MSNBC)

In Case You Missed It, The Onion Is Going Nuclear Against J.K. Rowling And Anti-Trans Rhetoric (BuzzFeed)

Guns don’t kill Americans — Republicans do (Raw Story)

A High-Stakes Election in the Midwest’s “Democracy Desert” (New Yorker)

Republican senator draws blowback for blocking military promotions over abortion policy (NBC)

Rep. Neal Dunn: NewsGuard Targeted Conservative Media

Joy Reid Invites Pelosi to Strategize How to Take Away Your Guns!

On guns, conservatives are winning. This nightmare is the result. (Washington Post)

Sunday Shows Spend Over An Hour on Trump Indictment, Ignore Hunter Biden Scandals

D.C. U.S. Attorney declined to prosecute 67% of those arrested. Here’s why. (Washington Post)

The dangers of Dollar General (Popular Information) Popular Information is a volunteer Voice of the Crust who aren’t happy with the lack of proglodyte nagging on the Internet.

Katie Hobbs’ Press Secretary Josselyn Berry Slammed For Trans-Rights Gun Meme After Shooting (Huffington Post)

A new book-ban fiasco in Florida reveals the monster DeSantis created (Washington Post) Greg Sargent takes a break from bashing Trump.

Tenn. Gov. Lee: Shooter Killed 2 of My Family Friends  Hunting Republicans; it’s a trans thing.

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race could be the beginning of the end for GOP dominance (Politico)

Another Fact-Free “Intersectional” Attack on Israeli Police Exchanges

NBC’s Kotb Joins Woke Mob Smear Campaign Against GOP Rep, Touts CT Gun Bans

The GOP’s gun obsession goes deeper than campaign donations (Public Notice) Dunh duhn DUNHHHHH….

How Can We Be a Country That Does This to Our Children? (N.Y. Times) ‘We’ aren’t. Just because some deranged person commits a crime doesn’t tar the entire country with guilt.

CBS’s King Unhinged: ‘We Value Guns’ Over Kids, So We Need to Ban Them, NOT Books

Arizona Dem Official Slammed for Tweet After Shooting

Gov. Hobbs’ press secretary resigns after controversial tweet following Nashville mass shooting

AZ Governor’s Press Secretary Resigns Amid Outrage After Calling For Violence Against ‘Transphobes’

Macho Joe Scarborough: Some Men Go To Gun Ranges with AR-15s ‘To Feel Like Real Men’  Guess that wouldn’t work for Joe.

Randi Weingarten calls for gun confiscation: Must ‘have the courage to do’ what Australia, New Zealand did

New details in Dominion suit reveal damning evidence of deception in Fox News’ 2020 election coverage (Media Matters for America) Dunh dunh DUNHHHHH….

Here’s what Fox News was trying to hide in its Dominion lawsuit redactions (NBC News)

s

Video Report: Hostiles Plan ‘Trans Day of Vengeance’

‘Trans Day of Vengeance’ protest to take place after Nashville school shooting (N.Y. Post)

Strange New Respect: Heartbreaking: The worst Supreme Court justice you know just made a great point (Vox)

Strange New Respect: Brett Kavanaugh’s Surprising Dissent in SCOTUS Ruling Cheered by Liberals (Newsweek)

License Plate Surveillance, Courtesy of Your Homeowners Association (The Intercept) HOAs are the closest thing to fascism in the United States.

How poverty and racism ‘weather’ the body, accelerating aging and disease (NPR)

Washington lawmakers buck trend of anti-trans bills (Axios)

Fear pervades Tennessee’s trans community amid focus on Nashville shooter’s gender identity ‘Trans community’? Do they have meetings and everything?

‘State-Sanctioned Kidnapping’: California Dems Approve Plan To Let Kids Enroll in Group Homes Without Parental Consent

U.S. Border Policies Have Created a Volatile Logjam in Mexico (N.Y. Times) I have an idea: Send them back where they came from.

How Many Children Must Democrats Execute Before Parents Surrender?

The Nashville school shooting brings out the worst in our media

NPR Pushes Euro-Left Policy Cloaked as U.S. Health Concern: ‘Live Free AND Die?’

Why Glenn Youngkin Would Be Crazy Not to Run for President (Politico) Why, he could be the Mitt Romney of 2024!

GOP donors open to other Trump challengers as DeSantis tries to find footing (Washington Post) Spreading FUD amongst their enemies.

He Wanted to Unclog Cities. Now He’s ‘Public Enemy No. 1.’ (N.Y. Times) The Crust takes care of their own.

CNN Urges Pastors To ‘Speak Your Truth’ And Embrace Gun Control

Congresswoman Forces Flustered DC Officials to Address Aborted Baby Scandal

When a Trans Person Murders Christian Schoolchildren

Minneapolis Hosts Drag Queen Story Hour and Transgender Activist at Elementary School  Time to leave.

Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon UNLOADS on Big Tech: Censorship Guards Narrative, Not Truth

More LW Double Standards: NFL Buys Off Players Over DEI, Terminates Media Employee

How the MSM is framing the Nashville shooting

The View Denies Nashville Shooter Hated Christians and Was Mentally Ill

EXCLUSIVE: Virginia School District Boots 14 Sexually Explicit Books to County Libraries

Associated Press Tells Journalists to Deny People Are Born With Biological Sex in New Guide Entry 

9 Worst Media Reactions to the Nashville School Shooting

Drag Queen Straddles Student, School Claims It Will ‘Revise Campus Policies’

NHL may cancel LGBT ‘Pride’ nights as growing number of players refuse to wear rainbow gear

Seattle Installs Fentanyl Detectors on Public Buses as Drivers Get Sick From Fumes

FBI Vows To Get To The Bottom Of What Christians Did To Provoke Attack  (Babylon Bee)

DOJ Indicts Two More Far-Left Activists for Targeting Pregnancy Resource Centers

Biden takes heat for joking around in response to question about Nashville school shooting: ‘What a disgrace’ (Fox)

Dems push back on GOP fentanyl claims during hearing with Mayorkas (The Hill)

Hunter’s business partner who paid Biden family $1M was frequent WH visitor during Biden vice presidency (Fox)

Biden Cabinet official forced to admit climate agenda is strengthening China (Fox)

With shelters full, Maine seeks long-term housing solution for asylum seekers (CBS)

Portland again to convert sports arena into emergency asylum seeker shelter (ABC)

‘Once In A Generation Crisis’: Vets Blame Biden’s Focus on Woke Priorities for Low Military Recruitment Numbers

Pentagon Chief Won’t Deny Ceding Airspace to Russia After Drone Confrontation (U.S. News & World Report) They won, we lost.

Cotton Rips Jean-Pierre for Blaming GOP for Nashville Shooting

‘Your Refusal to Do Your Job Is Revolting,’ Sen. Cruz Tells DHS Secretary Mayorkas

Tuberville Protests DoD Abortion Policy, Blocks Promotions

Nets Ignore GOP Senators Grilling Mayorkas over Biden Border Crisis

Hunter’s Art Dealer Doesn’t Give Committee Requested Info

As Veterans Learned the DCCC Had Leaked Their Data, the VA’s Tech Chief Was Meeting With His Wife. She Runs the DCCC. (Washington Free Beacon)

New IRS Report Provides Fascinating Glimpse Into Your “Fair Share” ‘The top 1% of US taxpayers paid 48% of total US income taxes.’

‘Sinking Our Future’: Biden’s Budget Cuts Funds to U.S. Navy As China Ramps Up Shipbuilding

DOJ Discouraged Marshals From Arresting Illegal Protesters at Supreme Court Justices’ Homes, Senator Says

Admission of Wrongdoing? DHS Finally Scrapping Biden Admin’s Defunct Ministry of Truth

Republicans Seeking Info on Bungled Afghanistan Withdrawal Hit Blinken With Subpoena

Watch: Ted Cruz Eviscerates DHS Secretary For Still Refusing To Admit There Is A Border Crisis

‘Even Democrats are voting for Trump’ if THIS happens: Trump voters weigh in on ex-president’s legal fight (Fox)

‘Screwed’: After Trump talks arrest, grand jury vet dishes on Cohen’s ‘truthful’ accusations (MSNBC)

How Cohen’s Big Mouth Could Be Delaying Trump’s Prosecution (New York Magazine)

Why Donald Trump is talking about parents not loving their kids (Washington P0st) More mind-reading from anti-Trump hack Philip Bump.

Clinton, Inc. Formed “Joint Venture” Of “Co-Conspirators” To Smear Trump: Durham

Mike Pence Will Testify Against Donald Trump (Slate) No he won’t.

Manhattan DA Insiders Worry the Trump Hush Money Case Is Weak Sauce (Daily Beast)

Donald Trump does not understand democracy (Washington Post) Philip Bump doesn’t understand Donald Trump–although he thinks he does.

Politico: Trump Grand Jury Off for Month Due to Planned Break  Hoping that things will quiet down.

Pence Hints He May Drop Legal Efforts To Avoid Testifying Against Trump In Jan. 6 Probe (Huffington Post) He is not going to be testifying AGAINST TRUMP, proglodyte fantasies to the contrary notwithstanding. He would merely be testifying.

The Fine Print.

It’s one of the least polite questions one can pose at any media gathering: “How did your parents’ success in media affect your own career?” For months, we’ve been asking it of people who’ve traversed familial paths. Some replied tersely (“pass, thanks”), others declined to comment with kindness or never replied at all. (Don’t worry: we’ll be naming them all.) But some agreed to share the thoughts that come from a lifetime of anxieties and striving, and their stories spilled out as if unleashed from an electric tension.

It’s not hard to understand why nepotism is such a social taboo in media circles. Privileges of all shapes are under stricter scrutiny lately, and notions that individuals should credit their good fortune to something other than their own talent and work ethic especially rankle. But the subject of nepotism in journalism has long brought out streaks of apoplexy in even habitually mild observers. “Nepotism is by no means confined to politics,” wrote John Bakeless, editor of The Living Age before becoming a journalism professor at New York University, in his 1931 book Magazine Making. He complained it “is especially rampant in publishing, largely because of the attractive character of the work and the prestige which for some odd reason attaches to it. The most grotesquely unqualified people are perpetually struggling to ‘get into editorial work.’” For example, he added, “I have known a proof-reader who could neither spell nor use reference books.”

Read it.

Senators advanced cross-party legislation on Wednesday to repeal authorizations for the wars in Iraq, 20 years after American forces invaded the country to remove Saddam Hussein from power.

Well, I’m glad they don’t have anything more important to do.

ZMan turns over a rock.

Paul Gottfried has a post up on the topic of elite whites incessantly condemning white people for alleged crimes against nonwhites. A feature of the current crisis is a rich white person, usually a woman, wagging a bony finger at white people for the alleged crimes of their ancestors. Of course, these white people always live in the whitest areas and rarely interact with nonwhites. This always brings the charge of hypocrisy from the sorts of people who think this matters.

The question that white civic nationalists ask themselves when confronted by this strange behavior is whether the antiwhite scolds believe it. The practical brains of the people attracted to civic nationalism cannot accept anything but a practical answer to the question of motivation. The antiwhite scolds must see some profit in this behavior so they are cynically exploiting it. They do not actually believe what they are saying, which explains how they live.

Gottfried offers up an alternative to this thesis. These antiwhite scolds are acting from some form of self-loathing. Eric Hoffer made this observation seventy years ago in his book The True Believer. People who join causes tend to do so because they have a desire for self-abnegation. This is driven by a hatred of their natural identity and a desire to swap it for some other identity. The group identity then becomes their own, which is why they so viciously defend the group.

TechCrunch.

Concrete is ubiquitous. A mainstay of the construction industry, over 10 billion cubic meters of concrete is used every year. It’s also responsible for up to 8% of CO2 emissions: one ton of ordinary Portland cement creates somewhere between 800 and 900 kilograms of CO2 emissions. Finnish startup Carbonaide has just raised €1.8 million (~$1.9 million at today’s exchange rate) in seed funding to knock down concrete’s carbon emissions, but not the construction industry.

“Our goal at Carbonaide is to create a more sustainable future with cutting-edge tech that doesn’t just reduce the carbon emissions of construction materials like concrete, but that traps more CO2 than they emit throughout their lifetime,” explains Tapio Vehmas, Carbonaide’s CEO. “It is very natural that the constructed environment becomes a CO2 sink, as it is the largest volume of man-made material.”

Carbonaide’s process binds carbon dioxide into precast concrete using an automated system at atmospheric pressure. By reducing the quantity of required cement content and mineralizing CO2 into the concrete itself, Carbonaide believes it can halve the carbon dioxide emissions of traditional Portland cement concrete. If it can introduce industrial waste products, for example, industry slag, green liquor dregs, and bio-ash into the process, it has the potential to produce concrete with a negative carbon footprint.

Washington Post.

To get our politics working again, we need a system that delivers energy (the ability for the government to get things done), republican safety (protection of our basic rights), popular sovereignty (adaptive responsiveness to the will of the people) and inclusion (all voices should be synthesized in the national voice of our House of Representatives). Real proximity of representatives to their constituents is necessary for delivering on all those design principles. For that, we need a bigger, and continuously growing, House of Representatives. We need smaller districts and fairer representation between more- and less-populous places.

But how big should the House be? That is also to ask how small should a district be. And based on what math? And on what principle of growth?

Scholars and advocates have been working on this question for decades. There are seven basic options, all compiled in a report on enlarging the House by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences commission on the state of our democracy, which I co-chaired. Those options would increase the size of Congress from 435 to between 572 to 9,400.

CBS News Pittsburgh.

Every day, we make environmental decisions. Recycling has become almost a reflex.

But did you ever think you are making an environmental or climate decision when you buy toilet paper?

Last week’s World Forest Day went pretty much unnoticed, except for one group which chose the day to release its Issue with Tissue report.

The report takes toilet paper makers to task for wiping out a lot of forest land.