CNN

Which of them gets to play Ukraine?

ZMan’s weekly podcast. Highly recommended.

Like so much from the 20th century, The Troubles has largely been forgotten, despite the fact it loomed large in the last half the century. It is a good example of how the cultural shadow of the Global American Empire warped everything. Meddling by important people in the empire played a huge role in the conflict. It was also one of the justifications for flinging open our borders.

Then all of a sudden, the conflict ended. Right around when the Cold War ended, the two sides decided it was time to get on with making peace. Just like that this generational event disappeared from our consciousness. Ireland quickly moved to the “Celtic Tiger” stage and then to the bust-out stage. Now Ireland is just another node on the Global American Empire trying to commit suicide.

Interestingly, The Troubles are a good example for dissidents trying to figure out how to combat the metastasizing blob that is the managerial state. It is not a perfect analogy, but it is a good example of a long running revolt against a cultural force. The British were not in it for the money. They were motivated by cultural factors and the Irish, for their part, rallied to their cultural banners in resistance.

New York Times.

The corporate culture wars have reached a turning point: A number of companies that once championed social justice and equity seem to be beating a hasty retreat.

You’d think thry’d learn.

Walgreens is trapped in a political firestorm. The pharmacy chain, which had sought certification so its stores could fill prescriptions for the abortion medication mifepristone, announced last week that it will not dispense the pill in the 21 states where Republican attorneys general have threatened legal action. Walgreens, which said it came to this conclusion before the threats began, won’t dispense the drug in several G.O.P.-controlled states where abortion remains legal. There was a swift backlash, with Gov. Gavin Newsom announcing that California would not renew a multimillion-dollar contract with Walgreens and others calling for a nationwide boycott. The hashtag #boycottwalgreens has taken off on Twitter.

But apparently not.

Read it.

I’ll bet you didn’t know that.

Read it.

Washington is not alone. Most of the nation’s major cities face a daunting future as middle-class taxpayers join an exodus to the suburbs, opting to work remotely as they exit downtowns marred by empty offices, vacant retail space and a deteriorating tax base.

Joel Kotkin & Hügo Krüger

The Western response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine is widely seen as a sign of a reinvigorated alliance of democracies against authoritarianism. Even historically anti-war publications like the Guardian speak volubly about the West’s heroic “defense of liberty.” Raising concerns about petty issues like a potential nuclear war over Ukraine leads one now to be dismissed as a Putinist stooge, both by those who habitually back wars, like neoconservatives and defense contractors, and those who almost always oppose them, or used to, anyway.

Amidst the relentless virtue signaling, there has been little consideration of how the Russo-Ukrainian War will change the world order, and not necessarily for the benefit of the West. Rather than join in a joint jihad for “democracy” aimed at destroying Vladimir Putin and his detestable authoritarian allies, notably China, there’s actually little support for sanctions, much less military aid, from the largest non-western democracies such as India, Indonesia, South Africa, and Brazil in their attitude to the war.

New York Times.

David Brooks does his bit as the Other Left Coast’s pet ‘conservative’ in pushing the Narrative.

Steve Sailer.

It’s a been big day for the good guys in the growing struggle over academic freedom. While the New York Times is still trying to get tenured law professor Amy Wax fired for telling the truth at the Penn Law School, tenured business professor Bryan J. Pesta filed suit today against Cleveland State for in effect firing him for co-authoring one of the most important DNA-race-IQ studies of this century (see post below).

And University of Central Florida tenured psychology professor Charles Negy, who was fired in effect for retweeting my best stuff during the first week of the Mostly Peaceful Protests….

The New Republic.

Specifically, librarians are fighting to expose children to Woke ideology despite the preferences of local parents and community standards.

All books are not created equal, popular proglodyte tropes to the contrary notwithstanding.

Read it.

When the history books look back on 2023, the biggest American news story may be something that’s getting little attention right now: the school choice revolution.

This year, Iowa, Utah, and Arkansas have passed massive school choice bills, giving parents access to state education funding for their children and letting them decide if they want to use it at public or private schools.

dCrushing rocks could capture CO2 equivalent to the size of Germany (Interesteing Engineering) If, of course, that’s what you want to do.

New process gives CO2 conversion more “bang for buck” (University of Sydney)

Scientists aim to take carbon from lab to shop shelves (The Standard)

How to meet the climate crisis? Redefine ‘abundance.’ (Washington Post)

Greta Thunberg reportedly deletes 2018 tweet claiming ‘climate change will wipe out all of humanity’ by 2023 (N.Y. Post)

Brazilian researchers find ‘terrifying’ plastic rocks on remote island (Reuters)

People and the planet are facing unprecedented challenges. Nature is the solution (EuroNews)

Newsom gives up call for lawmakers to cap oil industry profits (L.A. Times)

California regulators could decide oil profits penalty (Associated Press)

Cradle-to-grave emissions from food loss and waste represent half of total greenhouse gas emissions from food systems (Nature)

Russell Brand is the latest to platform climate conservative Bjørn Lomborg’s ‘reckless’ net-zero cost claims (The Guardian)

License to Disrupt: Australia Goes Soft on Climate Protestors

Washington Post: We Must Change the Meaning of Wealth to Appreciate Climate Action

San Francisco Bay Area to phase out natural gas heating appliances

Sen. Cruz Pressures Group for Role in Gas Stove Effort

2 in 5 Republicans want Fox held accountable for false 2020 claims (Washington P0st) I doubt it.

Meltdown: Paul storms out of Homeland Security markup after clash on amendments (The Hill)

Whoopi Goldberg tapes video apology for saying ‘gypped’ on ‘The View’: ‘I’m really sorry’ (Fox)

Whoopi Goldberg apologizes for using racially insensitive word on ‘The View’ — again (L.A. Times) I’ll bet you didn’t know that Gypsies were a race.

JK Rowling says she knew her views on transgender issues would make ‘many folks deeply unhappy’ (The Guardian)

JK Rowling salutes ‘grateful’ fans who stood by her after trans comments, hits cancel culture ‘dictators’ (Fox)

Judge Denies Requests From Jan. 6 Defendants To Cross-Examine FBI Agent On Leaked Messages

GOP lawmakers cringe over Trump’s effort to destroy DeSantis (The Hill)

Colbert Labels Reagan A Crack Dealer, Condemns Pro-Lifers With Harris

The Dilemma of Horny Bro Conservativism (The Bulwark) Charlie Sykes continues the Kristol Krew’s march to the Left.

21% of Fox News Viewers Trust Network Less After Texts Revealed in Dominion Lawsuit: Survey (Varfiety)

SCANDAL! Childish Daily Beast Seethes Over DeSantis, Claims He…Ate Pudding with Fingers?

Be skeptical of Elon Musk’s claims of educational ‘indoctrination’ (Washington Post)

The View Spews Misinformation About MTG’s District Being Gerrymandered

Meyers, Penn Condemn ‘Incredibly Stupid’ GOP Opposition to Wokeness

Kentucky middle school principal arrested first day on the job (N.Y. Post)

JCPS principal’s first day at new school ends with arrest (Courier-Journal)

Principal arrested during first day of job on terroristic threatening charges (NBC)

National Academies: We can’t define “race,” so stop using it in science

Abrams says she will ‘likely run again.’ That doesn’t excite some Democrats (Wall Street Journal) Who wouldn’t want a fat ugly malevolent black woman as the face of your party?

Nope, ‘Woke’ Is Not a Polite Way of Saying the N-Word

Loyola professor claims organized pantries are rooted in ‘racist and sexist’ social structures

Toxic school: How the government failed Black residents in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’ (NBC)

Election Denier Stacey Abrams Is Now Working To Eliminate Gas Stoves

SARS-CoV-2 omicron XBB.1.5 variant is highly transmissible (MedicalXPress)

Washington school board member who defied mask mandates faces recall: ‘Vindictive move by progressives’ (Fox)

Nearly Half Of Americans Do Not Expect A Return to Pre-Pandemic Normalcy

COVID Forever: Fauci Says Americans Should Get Booster ‘At Least Once a Year’

Comer tightens screws on Hunter Biden art dealer, wants to know buyers, how much they paid (N.Y. Post)

House GOP says evidence against Biden family is ‘as bad as we thought’ (ABC)

Treasury Department agrees to hand over Hunter Biden files (The Center Square)

House panel set to review Biden family’s suspicious bank reports (N.Y. Post)

Rumors Swirl Over Which Biden Family Member Got Cut Of $3M CCP-Linked Wire

‘We Are Under Siege,’ Border County Sheriff Tells House Republicans as Democrats Skip Hearing

Border Patrol chief publicly backs agents falsely accused by Biden of whipping Haitian migrants

NBC Reports Biden Border Crisis Now Spreading to Northern Border

Border Chief Disputes Mayorkas: We Don’t Control Border

How to Crash the Economy, Big Government Style

NOT Mission Critical: USAF Paying Big for Diversity Bureaucrats

VP Harris: DeSantis ‘Doesn’t Understand’ Ukraine War Now that’s comedy.

Biden’s lie of the day

Hallie Biden Took Big Check From Chinese Energy Company While She Was Dating Hunter

Comer: Bank Records Show Hallie Biden Got China Cash

“This Is Sheer Idiocy”: Capital Gains Tax Can Exceed 100 Percent Under Biden Proposal

Latest Biden Admin Sanctions Waiver Allows $500 Million Payment for Iran, Tehran Says

Chef Biden Moves To Ban Gas Stoves After Promising He Wouldn’t (N.Y. Sun)

Police Lt. Explains How Cartels Are Taking Advantage of Biden’s Open Border Policies

Fulton County investigators have another recording of a Trump phone call pressuring a Georgia official (CNN)

‘Our best face’: How ‘peaceful’ MAGA leader Amy Kremer cultivated ties to a violent Three Percenter group (RawStory)

Feds’ Foreign-Corruption Double Standard: They Protected Bidens Even as They Bore Down on Trumpworld

Looming Trump charges threaten to inject chaos into 2024 campaign (Axios)

There’s a new chief judge in DC who could help determine the fate of Donald Trump

Inside the Trump world-organized retreat to plot out Biden oversight

Investigators seek to question attorney about phone call with Trump in classified docs probe: Sources (ABC)

As 2024 election looms, Pence implies Trump is a bad Christian (Washington Post)

TikTok says US threatens ban if Chinese owners don’t sell stakes (Reuters)

The Biden administration demands that TikTok be sold, or risk a nationwide ban (NPR)

Snap stock surges on report that Biden may ban TikTok (CNBC)

Banning TikTok is a bad solution to the wrong problem (Washington Post)

Increased minimum wages may benefit small businesses, study co-authored at UC Berkeley finds (S.F. Chronicle) Obvious tendentious bullshit–small businesses are precisely those hurt worst by minimum wage laws.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams faces thousands in fines for potential campaign finance violations (Gothamist)

Mayor Adams’ inaugural arm allegedly accepted $15,600 in ‘prohibited donations,’ but dodges fines for now (N.Y. Daily News)

UFT-hired political adviser paid $150K by NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams’ budget staff, exposing conflict (N.Y. Post)

More ‘woke’ companies are going to fail, former CEO warns: SVB collapse was ‘perfect storm’ (Fox)

FACT FOCUS: Claims link ‘woke’ policies to SVB’s demise (Associated Press)

Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, Credit Suisse all donated to Massachusetts Democrats (Boston Herald)

Judge appears sympathetic to abortion pill challenge in consequential Texas hearing (NBC)

SVB Donated $73.4 Million To BLM And Related Entities

Wellesley Students Vote To Admit Trans Men To Historic Women’s College

Netflix Cancels Show Featuring ‘Nonbinary’ Buffalo

Leftist Groups Tapping $1 Billion To Vastly Expand The Private Financing Of Public Elections

MSNBC Claims GOP Could ‘Hurt Its 2024 Candidates’ Bigly…by Not Going on MSNBC  I think not.

NYPD Cop Shortage Result of ‘Woke’ Politics

More Than Two-Thirds of the People Arrested in D.C. Are Never Charged (Washington City Paper)

No, ‘Wokeness’ Did Not Cause Silicon Valley Bank’s Collapse (N.Y. Times)

Acosta Cues Parkland Dad: Forget Woke BS, Florida ‘The State Where People Go to Die’

NY AG Hosts Drag Story Hour For NYC Kids Using Taxpayer Money

First Rule of Journalism: Never Admit You’re an Obnoxious Lib (Even Though You Are)

‘You Know Better,’ Senator Calls Out CNN For Repeating Biden Spin

California Regulators Ban Gas Appliances In San Francisco Bay Area

Read it.

The debate inside Stanford Law School, where activist students earlier this month shouted down federal circuit court judge Kyle Duncan at a Federalist Society event, has moved beyond whether those students should face any consequences for their outrageous conduct. The school has made clear they will not.

Now we debate the propriety of the conservative students on the receiving end of that vitriol expressing their displeasure with the school, and their classmates, in the press.

Stanford administrators are hoping this public relations nightmare will blow over if everybody, particularly the Federalist Society students targeted by the activists, would be so kind as to shut up and take this one on the chin.

The administration aims to run the operation like any abusive parent would: Don’t say a word to anybody about how you got that bruise, or else!

Read it.

As record numbers of fistfights are erupting amid a behavior crisis in the American public education system, more schools are attempting to use restorative justice—even though that process often makes behavioral problems worse.

Restorative justice is a remediation theory that suggests students respond better to affirmation-based conversations in which an adult de-escalates any problem situation by calmly discussing the students’ feelings about the problem until everyone agrees.

Restorative justice relies on student investment and commitment to say, “I am willing to do this.”

…

Proponents often point to schools that adopted the practice of restorative justice and saw a sharp decline in suspensions—Oakland Unified School District in California, for example. Although suspensions in Oakland Unified have decreased, the level of violence and total number of police incidents in the school district have not.

Few, if any, schools that have adopted restorative justice as a replacement for traditional discipline have seen a healthier school environment that is safer for teachers and students.

Read it.

Plenty of other falsehoods and misrepresentations animate the fable of January 6. But for those honestly seeking the truth, consider this a cheat sheet for future use.

Steve Hayward at Power Line.

About a decade after the end of the Vietnam War, by which time the bloodbaths of the Communist takeover of South Vietnam and the spillover of the carnage to Cambodia were undeniable, the West German journalist Uwe-Siemon-Netto, who had specialized in anti-American reportage as a correspondent during the war, caused a stir in Europe when he publicly suggested that for him and his fellow anti-war activists, the most appropriate course of action was a prolonged period of silence.

This recommendation comes back to mind just now in watching the neocon freakout over Gov. Ron DeSantis expressing doubts about our Ukrainian policy. Bill Kristol had an embolism on Twitter, his most prominent public platform these days. (How the mighty have fallen.) The Ukraine romantics (I’ll call them) rushed to say that Gov. DeSantis’s position was “pro-Putin,” even though DeSantis said he supported aid to Ukraine, but worried that the Biden Administration and other cheerleaders for our Ukrainian support don’t have a clear strategy and seem heedless of—or frightened by—the risks. It looks more and more like Vietnam all over again, in which we thought we could calibrate “graduated pressure” to achieve a precise outcome while always fearful of what a more forceful strategy might entail. War doesn’t work like that. As Ronald Reagan liked to say in the 1960s, we should either win, or get out. Everyone said he was irresponsible and naïve.

Apparently the Blue states are having a hard time reproducing themselves. I guess Nature doesn’t like socialism.

Read it.

Casual introduction to the uncertainty principle from quantum mechanics and how it leads to neutron stars and superfluids

Just in case you were wondering. I know I was.

‘Weather whiplash’: Flooding and droughts to happen more often and last longer as climate warms (EuroNews)

Confirmed: Global floods, droughts worsening with warming (KSL Utah)

Satellites link rain, drought intensity to global warming (Channel News Asia)

Water disasters on both ends of the spectrum – dry and wet – are getting more intense as planet warms, study finds (CNN)

Deforestation Inc. reporters checked global promises to end forest loss. This is what they found (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists)

Forest, timber certification important for economic develpment, ecological integrity, says Fadillah (New Straits Times)

In Florida, an invasive snail is helping save an endangered bird (NPR)

DOE Invests $47 Million to Reduce Methane Emissions From Oil and Gas Sector (Dept. of Energy)

Can the New High Seas Treaty Help Limit Global Warming? (Inside Narrative Climate News)

The looming threat of deep-sea mining (BBC)

More Aussie Climate Change Heresy?

Climate Crisis? What Climate Crisis? Part One: The Evidence

Claim: A Majority of Voters believe Climate Change is a False Religion

Biggest Victim of SVB Collapse? The Climate, Of Course

MQ-9 Reaper Is Capable Of Defending Itself With Air-To-Air Missiles  Wouldn’t that be fun.

Ukraine Situation Report: Poland Could Give Ukraine MiG-29s “Within Four To Six Weeks”

Top Democrat Warns Putin Against Unintended Escalation After Black Sea Spat (Newsweek)

Space Force chief warns: China, Russia deploying space weapons to attack U.S. satellites, forces

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba: Russia must be removed from the United Nations Security Council (The Hill) That’s not going to happen.

8 More Churches Zelensky Is Banning In Ukraine

Air Force goes on diversity, equity, inclusion hiring spree: Top job pays up to $183,500 (Fox)

Comer reveals new Biden family member has emerged in GOP-led probe: ‘We’ve got a problem here’ (Fox)

Study finds border crisis is costing taxpayers over $150 billion per year (NBC Montana)

The Upside Once The Fed Destroys The Middle Class

Some Mexican pharmacies sell pills laced with deadly fentanyl to U.S. travelers (NPR) So I guess the President of Mexico lied to us.

8 Things to Know About Biden’s Fiscal 2024 Budget, From Bad to Worse

Nets Skip GOP Acquiring Bank Records of Hunter Biden’s Associates

Taibbi: In FBI Case, The First Amendment Takes Another Bizarre Hit

Biden’s ‘La Invitacion’ to Illegal Aliens Triggered Border Crisis, New Book Charges

Rep. Comer to Newsmax: 4 Bidens Peddled Influence Globally

How The Fed Broke The Banks

White House calls on Republicans in Congress to reverse course on gun policy (CBS) Oh, like that’s going to happen.

Despite Promises, Biden’s $7-trillion Budget Shell Game Takes More of Everyone’s Money

Buttigieg: US Cannot Wait for Next Air Event  He’s talking like he isn’t the guy in charge of doing that.

Senators Introduce Legislation to Terminate Pentagon’s Taxpayer-Funded Abortions

CNN Touts Youth Disappointment In Biden Not Being Extreme Enough On Climate

Congress Takes Brief Pause From Sending All Your Tax Dollars To Ukraine To Send Them To Silicon Valley Bank (Babylon Bee)

Biden Admin Outraged That Russian Attack on U.S. Drone Was ‘Environmentally Unsound’

Iran Cashed in During Biden’s First Year in Office

Busted: Biden Lies About Supporting Gay Marriage Since The 1950s

Are There Any Limits to Biden’s Shameless Demagoguery?  Probably not.

Democrats Boycott Congressional Trip to Texas Border

Man Struggling To Feed Family Just Glad He Could Help Bail Out Bank (Babylon Bee)

Three Numbers That Help Explain What Happened to Inequality During the Pandemic (PBS)

FDA: Paxlovid Does Not Cause COVID ‘Rebound’ (Daily Beast)

FDA staff report says data shows Pfizer’s Covid treatment Paxlovid is effective in high-risk adults (CNBC)

Protective immunity of SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccines against medically attended symptomatic omicron BA.4, BA.5, and XBB reinfections in Singapore: a national cohort study (The Lancet)

3 years after pandemic school closings, how were kids and parents affected? (NPR) Well, they learned not to trust the government.

Report: US Agencies Made Duplicate Payments to Wuhan Lab Suspected of COVID Leak

German Health Minister Admits “Disturbing” Vaccine Side-Effects

Masks Off: Hollywood Celeb Tilda Swinton Defies COVID Mandate

The Looming Reckoning For COVID Tyrants

Read it.

Five years ago, a team of researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) was able to regrow cochlear hair cells in mice for the first time. These hair cells are found in the cochlear region of ears in all mammals. They sense sound vibrations, convert those into brain signals, and eventually allow a person to hear and understand the different sounds around them. The new study from URMC researchers sheds light on the underlying mechanism that allowed the ear hairs to regrow in mice.

Mice get all the best stuff.

John Stossel.

Your flight is delayed? Blame your government.
OK, it’s not always government’s fault. Sometimes it’s weather or mechanical problems. But often we suffer horrible flight delays because politicians won’t relinquish power.
In January, flights were grounded when the government’s “Notice to Air Missions” system broke down. That was just the latest incident.
America rightly prides itself on being on the cutting edge of innovation. But it’s the private sector that innovates. Government rarely does.
Asked if America’s air traffic control system is out of date, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg paused a long time before answering, “The system is continuously being upgraded.”
But the government’s been “upgrading” air traffic control for decades, promising to switch to a “NextGen” system that uses satellite navigation. But implementation keeps being postponed. Now the Federal Aviation Administration won’t even say when NextGen might be done.
Air traffic control is still a lot like it was in the 1960s. Controllers use paper strips to track flights. Instead of using computers, they move paper around manually.
“This is your government at work,” says Diana Furchtgott-Roth in my latest video. Furchtgott-Roth worked for the Transportation Department during the Trump administration.
I yell at her. “Air traffic control was in your department. You could have fixed it. You should have fixed it!”
She smiles and explains that although she had control of $1 billion, she wasn’t allowed to move those funds to where they were needed.
Government managers must fund projects pushed by politicians, like “Justice40,” meant to fix “underinvestment in disadvantaged communities.”
“Sounds like they mean well,” I say.
“It sounds a lot better to talk about social justice,” answers Furchtgott-Roth. “Nuts and bolts like computer hardware for air traffic control gets left behind.”

Read it.

Back in 2018 I reported on a bestial murder by a Somali (or Djiboutian) culture-enricher in Germany. The young “asylum seeker” entered the doctor’s office and stabbed him to death, while also wounding his assistant.

Now it has been revealed that the young perpetrator, who was determined to be mentally ill and has been housed in a psychiatric facility, is currently allowed to walk free in the city for several hours a day.

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

The Guardian.

No rich person ever said that, Arwa Mahdawi.

Read it.

Emergency preparedness is serious business but not all of our endeavors need to take on the gravity of life and death. This is a fun list, and while the suggestions are solid, it is by no means a list that covers everything you need to be prepared.

Why the US northern border is experiencing record migration (CNN) I guess Canada isn’t the socialist paradise that everyone claims it to be.

Mexico’s president says Mexico is safer than the US (CNN)

US border patrol closes bridge to Juárez after rumor causes migrant rush (The Guardian)

Mayorkas under fire after 1,000 migrants rush El Paso border: ‘Resign immediately’ (Fox)

PETA to White House: No more real eggs for Easter Egg Roll (The Hill)

FBI: Hate Crimes Up 35 Percent in Biden’s First Year

Biden: Florida ‘Close to Sinful’ for Trans Restrictions  Progressivism really is a religion.

‘Bail Out Rich People’: What You Need to Know About Biden Administration’s Silicon Valley Bank Action

Networks Ignore Dems Boycotting ANOTHER Hearing on Biden Border Crisis

The Bank Crisis Has Democrats Scrambling Behind The Scenes To Find A Scapegoat

AMLO Tells Americans That Mexico Is ‘Safe’, Despite Kidnappings And Murders

Daily Show Tees Up Biden To Condemn ‘Sinful’ Laws Against ‘Trans Kids’

Rep. Lesko: Biden’s DOE Coming for Gas Stoves

We Should Give Up the Fantasy of Solving the Border Crisis (N.Y. Times) Certainly so long as Democrats have any influence over the process.

Ex-intelligence officials challenge the Hunter Biden witch hunt (Washington Post) Jennifer Rubin takes a break from bashing Trump.

‘Another Scandal’: Biden Admin ‘Radicals’ Blocked SVB Sale, Nationalized It, Then Blamed Trump For Collapse

Yes, The Latest Bank Bailout Is Really A Bailout, And You Are Paying For It

Biden Admin Promises To Tax Silicon Valley Billionaires On All The Money The Federal Government Just Gave Them  (Babylon Bee)

Pro-Lifers Targeted by Biden DOJ Challenge Constitutionality of FACE Act

Trump returns to Iowa, with a plan to avoid the missteps he made in 2016 (Politico) And the mind-readers at Politico know all about it.

Fearing indictment, Trump changes his story in hush money mess (MSNBC)

Trump claims violence he inspired on Jan. 6 was Pence’s fault (Washington Post)

Weird! George ‘Bimbo Eruption’ Stephanopoulos Grills Trump Lawyer on Hush Money

Donald Trump just called for another coup and hardly anyone even noticed (RawStory) Perhaps because it’s a lie. Or because the author, a Person of Color, doesn’t know what ‘coup’ means.

Giant seaweed blob twice the width of the US takes aim at Florida (The Hill)

Huge seaweed bloom that can be seen from space threatens Florida beaches (N.Y. Post)

Climate is changing too quickly for the Sierra Nevada’s ‘zombie forests’ (NPR)

Japan Is Right, John Kerry Is Wrong: The U.S. Must Go All In On Financing Natural Gas (Forbes)

Erosion rulings send clear message: Landowners must come to terms with rising seas (Hawaii News Now)

Iraqi prime minister promises action to tackle climate change, transition to renewables (PBS)

Aussie Sea Level Rise Building Permit Chaos

Greta Thunberg Deletes Tweet Claiming “Climate Change Will Wipe Humanity” By 2023

10,000 Dutch Farmers Protest Govt’s Crippling Nitrogen Emissions Target In The Hague

Fox News braces for more turbulence as second defamation lawsuit advances (The Guardian)

How Fox News Begged D-List Right-Wingers to Defend Them (Daily Beast)

The hits keep coming for election-deniers (Washington Post) Huh? There was no mention of Hillary Clinton in this article.

Why big and small businesses flock to Delaware (CNBC)

Here’s why more than 60% of Fortune 500 companies are incorporated in Delaware (CNBC)

Former Fox producer for Tucker Carlson feared truth telling would insult ‘dumb’ audience (CNN)

Barney Frank blames crypto panic for his bank’s collapse. Elizabeth Warren blames Trump. (Politico)

Prosecutors refute claims Tucker Carlson’s airing of security footage exonerates January 6 defendants (CNN)

Tucker Carlson’s disingenuous effort to exonerate the QAnon Shaman (Washington Post)

Why Fox News wants you to be afraid of electric bikes (Electrek)

Conservatives blame Silicon Valley Bank collapse on ‘diversity’ and ‘woke’ issues (NBC)

The Supreme Court Conservatives’ Favorite New Weapon for Kneecapping the Administrative State (The New Republic)

Jan. 6 Attorney Alleges FBI Criminally Altered Evidence, Requests Special Master Review Of Leaked Messages

White House rebukes Mike Pence over homophobic jokes about Pete Buttigieg (The Guardian)

Student Activists Target Stanford Law School Dean in Revolt Over Her Apology (Washington Free Beacon)

Matt Gaetz’s New Staffer Identifies as a ‘Raging Misogynist’ (Daily Beast)

The Boys Who Cried ‘Woke!’ (N.Y. Times)

GOP election deniers increasingly admit they’re just going off vibes (Washington Post)

Twitter Files Journalist Matt Taibbi CLAPS BACK After Dem Calls Him ‘So-Called’ Journalist

Vermont Bans Christian School Teams for Transgender Boycott

Vermont Christian School that Refused to Play Trans Player Banned from Future Tournaments

The View Flips Out Over Pence’s Buttigieg Joke, Laughed at Murdering Pro-Lifers

Why ‘MAGA’ is so appealing to older Republicans (Washington Post) ‘Analysis’ by a clueless proglodyte mind-reader.

Embattled Rep. George Santos indicates intention to run for re-election (NBC) I’d do the same in his place.

Is Ron DeSantis Flaming Out Already? (The Atlantic) David Frum, reliable Voice of the Crust, starts the effort to undermine DeSantis.

PBS Never Satisfied: ‘Oscars So Male’ and Other Bean-Counting Academy Awards Gripes

Three Black leaders offer one practical solution to reduce police assaults on Black motorists (CNN)

UPenn Accuses a Law Professor of Racist Statements. Should She Be Fired? (N.Y. Times)

AZ Senate Fights to Ban Racist DEI; Dems Furious

NYT: The Worst Thing Law Professor Amy Wax Ever Said Is: “On Average, Blacks Have Lower Cognitive Ability Than Whites”

San Francisco to Air Black Reparations Plan, $5M per Person  Good. Every black ‘victim’ in America: Move to California. Stay there.

Stacey Abrams gets a new job after election loss, joins environmental group trying to eliminate gas stoves

Woman says MPD officer told her Black Lives Matter is a terrorist organization  Which it effectively is.

Russian Fighter Jet Downs US Drone Over Black Sea

‘SSN AUKUS’: How the US and UK plan to get nuclear-powered subs to Australia

AUKUS deal: US, UK and Australia agree on nuclear submarine project (BBC)

AUKUS will bolster stability in the Asia-Pacific, not undermine it (The Guardian)

China looms large as Biden makes submarine moves with UK, Australia (CNN)

Further U.S. involvement in Ukraine is not vital national interest, says DeSantis (Associated Press)

Republican 2024 hopefuls respond to Tucker Carlson’s questions about their stance on Russia-Ukraine war (Fox)

War in Ukraine ‘distracts from our country’s most pressing challenges,’ DeSantis says (Politico)

Ron DeSantis says helping Ukraine fend off Russia not a vital US interest (N.Y. Post)

China has three roads to Taiwan: The US must block them all (The Hill)

War by miscalculation or by mistake? (The Hill)

Ukraine short of skilled troops and munitions as losses, pessimism grow (Washington Post)

Russian Assets Reportedly Seized at Baikonur Cosmodrome by Kazakh Authorities

Ukrainian Official: ‘We Don’t Have The Resources For Counteroffensive’

The US would sooner see TSMC fabs burn than let China have them  Convincing China of that will be the problem.

Read it.

No word on whether it will give you super powers.

Read it.

The readings from gauges planted throughout the company’s twin wells showed that pressure quickly began to build, as water that had nowhere else to go actually flexed the rock itself. When they finally released the valve, the output of water surged and it continued pumping out at higher-than-normal levels for hours.

The results from the initial experiments—which MIT Technology Review is reporting exclusively—suggest Fervo can create flexible geothermal power plants, capable of ramping electricity output up or down as needed. Potentially more important, the system can store up energy for hours or even days and deliver it back over similar periods, effectively acting as a giant and very long-lasting battery. That means the plants could shut down production when solar and wind farms are cranking, and provide a rich stream of clean electricity when those sources flag.

Read it.

Car engines, bespoke medicines, organs for transplant, food, fashion and now even a whole street of houses… Is the all-conquering promise of 3D printing finally coming true?

Ira Stoll is not afraid to ask the hard questions.

Where in the world did the government of New York get the power to take Signature Bank away from the bank’s shareholders and from the management who had worked for years to build it into the formidable institution that it was?

It’s hardly an academic question. The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution states that no person shall be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”

The constitution of New York state has similar language: “private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation.” Yet depriving the bank shareholders of their property — without due process and without just compensation — appears to be precisely what Governor Hochul did in respect of Signature Bank.

Usually, when people sit down with a good book like this, it’s the Bible.

Read it.

Arizona’s Water Infrastructure Finance Authority has been tasked with reviewing a proposal for a multibillion-dollar project to construct a water desalination plant in Mexico that would pump water through a 200-mile pipeline to the border state as part of an effort to counter its drought-driven water uncertainty.

The Arizona Republic said the state water finance board recently passed a non-binding resolution supporting a potentially massive seawater desalination plant in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez that Israel-based desalination plant operator IDE Technologies would construct.

Through reverse osmosis membranes, the plant would separate salt from seawater and pump the fresh water through a pipeline across the Mexico-US border to a reservoir west of Phoenix. IDE said the new plant could replace declining Colorado River water that flows through the Central Arizona Project’s aqueduct.

Interesting Engineering.

Researchers at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) performed a breakthrough experiment in which they observed time reflections of electromagnetic signals in a tailored metamaterial.

The scientists, who published their findings in a paper in Nature Physics, were able to successfully cause time reversal as well as frequency conversion of broadband electromagnetic waves in their experiments.

Read it.

Cowless dairy is here, with the potential to shake up the future of animal dairy and plant-based milks

Maybe for some.

The Economist.

The marines are training for a war with China, probably precipitated by an invasion of Taiwan. Their base in Okinawa, at the southern end of the Japanese archipelago, is just 600km (370 miles) from Taiwan. The two islands are part of what American military planners call the “first island chain”: a series of archipelagoes and islands, big and small, that stretches from Japan to Malaysia, impeding naval passage from China to the Pacific. Whether by harrying Chinese ships from a distance or—much less likely—by deploying to Taiwan to help repel a Chinese landing, the marines will be early participants in any conflict.

The hardest part, says Lieutenant-Colonel Jason Copeland, Darkside’s commanding officer, would be dealing with “an adversary that’s coming at you in mass”. As China’s military power grows, predicting how a war over Taiwan might unfold, and thus improving the odds of fending China off without unleashing a nuclear calamity, is getting ever harder. The only certainty is that, even if all nuclear weapons remained in their silos, such a conflict would have horrific consequences, not just for the 23m people of Taiwan, but for the world.

Biden to enact Arctic protections as approval of oil project looms (Washington Post)

Biden indefinitely blocks millions of acres of land, water from future oil drilling (Fox)

As Biden weighs the Willow oil project, he blocks other Alaska drilling (NPR)

Mexico too dangerous for spring break, Texas officials say (BBC)

Rep. Turner: Biden Admin ‘Too Timid’ to ‘Provoke’ China  Biden is an honest politician–he stays bought.

“It’s Too Dangerous”: Texas Officials Issue Travel Warning After Latest Mexico Kidnappings

Gov. Murphy: 1,000 Percent Behind Biden in ’24  Bend over, Joe; just pretend it’s Buttplug Pete.

Hundreds of migrants try to force their way into US at Mexico border (Reuters)

How Biden’s New Washing Machine Regulations Could Ruin Laundry Day

Rep. Comer Keeps Digging on Hunter Biden Associates

House Oversight Chair Comer quietly subpoenas bank records for Hunter Biden business associates

Silicon Valley Bank Bailout is Socialism for the Rich

Hundreds Of Illegal Immigrants Storm Border At Texan Port Of Entry  If that’s not an invasion, what is?

Biden Raises Taxes for Americans, Raises Pay for Bureaucrats  My, what a surprise.

The View Demands Dems Accept Kamala as VP, Can’t List Accomplishments

Federal Judge Castigates DHS, Orders Stop to Its Mass Paroling of Illegal Aliens

US Intel Agencies Need To Focus Intensely On ‘Diversity, Equity, Inclusion,’ Intelligence Chief Says

Silicon Valley Learns to Love Socialism for the Richs (The Nation)