JONAH GOLDBERG: Indiana’s Law Is Not the Return of Jim Crow. Don’t be silly. In the 21st Century, everything is the return of Jim Crow.

CONOR FRIEDERSDORF: The Misdirected Zeal of Same-Sex Marriage Converts: It is immoral to discriminate against gays—and irrational to make a religious freedom law in Indiana the focus of the gay-rights movement. It’s the joy of bossing other people around, and forcing them to submit. Foucault would understand.

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INSTAVISION: I talk with Kurt Schlichter about his new book, Conservative Insurgency, and what’s coming between now and 2016, and after.

ROGER SIMON: Fifty Shades Of Iran Negotiations.

VIA JOHN LOTT: Join Katie Pavlich, Dana Loesch, Brad Thor, Ted Nugent and other favorites on April 10th in Nashville for a fun filled and informative evening!

I BLAME RACISM. ASIANS, AND FOREIGN STUDENTS GENERALLY, SHOULD PROBABLY AVOID VASSAR JUST TO BE SAFE. Due process denied: Judge finds against Vassar student accused of sexual assault.

To those who knew him, Peter Yu was a shy young man – highly intelligent, athletic and a good student. A Chinese citizen, Yu was accepted to Vassar College in 2011 as a sophomore, having obtained enough Advanced Placement credits at his Connecticut boarding school to skip his freshman year.

Yu, who grew up in Northeastern China, joined the rowing team and excelled, becoming a varsity team member as a sophomore. He met a fellow team member, the daughter of a Vassar professor, and became friends.

In February 2012, during a team party in which both Yu and his fellow team member consumed alcohol, the two engaged in sexual intercourse. Yu lost his virginity that night.

One year later, she would accuse him of sexual assault over the incident.

Between the time of the encounter and the accusation, Yu and his accuser exchanged multiple friendly Facebook messages. One message from the accuser said: “I’m really sorry I led you on last night I should have known better then [sic] to let my self [sic] drink yet, I really don’t want this to effect [sic] our team dynamic or friendship. I don’t think any less of you at all I had a wonderful time last night I’m just too close to my previous relationship to be in one right now.”

Another message, sent two months later, said: “Peter, I wanted to write to you to apologize for that night about two months ago, I have not been trying to avoid you since then.” She again apologized for the evening and said: “I did not treat you very well, it was disrespectful on my part to do what I did because I was drunk.” She also stated that she would like to remain friends and “I care about you and I never ever meant to hurt you and we were both drunk.”

The accuser, during the investigation a year later into whether a sexual assault occurred, claimed the messages “did not correctly reflect her feelings” due to her being in a state of “shock and disbelief” about the encounter.

Apparently, it’s now a matter of law that you can’t believe anything women say, even as you are required to believe everything women say.

GOVERNMENT IS JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR THE THINGS THAT WE CHOOSE TO DO TOGETHER: Teens Who Filmed Themselves Having Sex Charged as Child Pornographers ‘To Send a Message.’ Well, if the message is that the State Of Illinois, and Joliet Police Chief Brian Benton, is crazy and evil — message received!

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG. KILL THE PIZZA LADY! U.S. Navy alarmed at Beijing’s ‘Great Wall of sand’ in South China Sea.

China is building a “Great Wall of sand” through an unparalleled program of land reclamation in the South China Sea, raising concerns about the possibility of military confrontation in the disputed waters, according to the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

In one of the strongest and highest-level criticisms of the reclamation project to date, Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. told a naval conference in Australia late Tuesday that competing territorial claims by several nations in the South China Sea continue to stoke “regional tensions and the potential for miscalculation.”

“But what’s really drawing a lot of concern in the here and now is the unprecedented land reclamation currently being conducted by China,” he added.

Satellite images show rapid construction on various coral reefs and rocks controlled by China within the disputed Spratly Islands, including harbors, piers, helipads, buildings and potentially at least one airstrip, experts say. Last month, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki expressed concerns that the program was an attempt to “militarize outposts on disputed land features.”

But a pizza place nobody has heard of might not cater a gay wedding, if anybody were to ask.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: University of Albany President: Declining Enrollment A Major Concern. “He said enrollment has dropped by 1,000 students in the past 8 years.”

Who could have seen this coming?

UH HUH: Eleanor Holmes Norton Has History of Bad Parking Jobs.

Perusing the now-viral video HOH posted of the 13-term lawmaker struggling to negotiate an angled Capitol Hill parking spot jarred the memory of a tipster who recalled a more appalling run-in that happened nearly a decade earlier.

Per our source, a seemingly average winter day in 2006 took a turn for the worse once Norton showed up on the scene.

“I was standing on the corner waiting to cross the street of 12th and G St. NW in DC when a car pulled up and parked right in front of me,” the tipster recounted via email.

“The car didn’t just block me from crossing, it completely blocked the handicap ramp,” the stunned observer said of the brazen motorist who nonchalantly mounted the curb that February morning.

No longer able to continue along his intended path, the tipster stayed put until the driver emerged from the shoddily stationed vehicle.

“I recognized the person as soon as she came out and started to walk across the street,” the onlooker stated. He was rather shocked when Norton popped out and hustled across the way.

“As she continued walking several people recognized her and she waved back as she went inside the Hecht Co. which is now Macys,” the source said of the purported Presidents Day shopping trip (per the time stamp on the tipster’s vintage photos).

What was even more bizarre, at least to the tipster, was that no one else seemed to bat an eyelash.

“There was a female meter/ticket person standing near me and when I looked at her she shrugged and shook her head and did nothing,” our source said of the disinterest paid to the glaringly obvious parking violation.

Laws are for the little people.

LIFE IN THE ERA OF HOPE AND CHANGE: Leadership: Corruption In The American Military. “The U.S. Army has stopped trying to pretend that growing corruption among their officers does not exist and is not a serious problem.”

HOW CONVENIENT: Menendez charges put Iran legislation in doubt.

Sen. Robert Menendez’s (N.J.) decision to step aside temporarily as ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee following his indictment on Wednesday could jeopardize Congress’s chances of passing Iran legislation.

Menendez has co-authored legislation with Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) that would allow the Senate to weigh in on any nuclear deal with Iran, and a separate bill that would restore and impose tougher sanctions on Iran if it walks away from talks or violates a deal.

The Foreign Relations Committee is set to vote April 14 on the bill he co-authored with Corker calling for Senate review of an Iran deal. If Menendez is out of the picture long-term, it could sap Democratic support for legislation that the White House has already threatened to veto.

I’m sure this played no role in the Department of Justice’s decision to bring charges now. Because they’re thoroughgoing professionals without a politicized bone in their body.

KEVIN WILLIAMSON: The War On The Private Mind. Punch back twice as hard.

SO SPRAY PAINT YOUR OPINIONS ON THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, THEN: NC State Admin Wants Free Speech Tunnel Censored.

Officials at North Carolina State University are encouraging students to start censoring the school’s “Free Expression Tunnel” by purging it of speech that constitutes “social injustice,” reports Campus Reform.

NC State’s Free Expression Tunnel was created partly as a way to prevent graffiti from being sprayed on structures around the campus. Within the tunnel, the use of graffiti is allowed and encouraged, and students are given carte blanche to say whatever they like.

“The Free Expression Tunnel gives students a venue for expressing their thoughts and feelings about anything — from “Happy Birthday” to announcing club and organization meetings. The tunnel never looks the same twice, as it is painted daily by various student groups.”

Now, however, director of student involvement Eileen Coombes wants to make it clear that “anything” shouldn’t be taken literally. The school, she said in an email to student group leaders, is launching a new “State Not Hate” campaign to help students cover up speech they consider icky. The campaign will supply students with stencils in order to make it easier for them to cover up objectionable content.

“If you see hate speech or offensive language in the Free Expression Tunnel, cover that speech with the stencil, indicating that you, as a member of this community of scholars, will not stand for any form of hate at NC State,” said Coombes.

Encouraging students to strike out at unapproved opinions is a major part of “student involvement” administration, it seems. I think those kinds of positions should be eliminated.

WHEN WILL APPLE BOYCOTT HOMOPHOBIC PLACES LIKE SAUDI ARABIA AND CHINA? Shikha Dalmia: The overblown hypocrisy of Tim Cook’s business boycott of Indiana.

The Indiana law goes farther, and also applies to disputes between private parties. This “would allow people to discriminate against their neighbors,” alleges Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has become a liberal hero by leading the corporate campaign to boycott Indiana.

This is a horrible caricature.

For starters, the Hoosier RFRA allows private individuals to discriminate only when that is absolutely necessary to avoid violating their core religious principles. A Christian restaurant owner’s refusal to serve gays wouldn’t fit the bill. However, a Jewish baker who refuses to make sacramental bread for a Catholic Mass or an Evangelical photographer who declines to photograph a gay wedding might — might, mind you, not will. That’s because the law provides merely an argument for courts to weigh when evaluating discrimination complaints against such individuals — not an automatic defense. Judges could still decide — in fact have decided — that equal treatment is a compelling enough government interest that such discriminatory actions against gays are prohibited.

Apple has stores in Saudi Arabia, where they behead gays.

WELL, THIS WAS AN UNFORTUNATE ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES: Troubled Ga. teen who received controversial heart transplant dead after crime spree ends in fatal wreck.

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“SMART DIPLOMACY,” EXPLAINED: “Clearing the way for Iran to get nuclear bombs may — probably will — be the most catastrophic decision in human history. And it can certainly change human history, irrevocably, for the worse.”

IT’S SAD, BUT IN THE OBAMA ERA I JUST ASSUME THAT STUFF LIKE THIS IS POLITICALLY MOTIVATED: Sen. Bob Menendez Charged With Corruption. Which isn’t to say that Menendez isn’t guilty, necessarily, only that even if he were guilty, he wouldn’t be facing prosecution if he’d played ball with the Obama White House.

Related: Justice Department Won’t Charge Lois Lerner With Contempt Over Missing Emails. “Holder has long resisted GOP calls to appoint a special prosecutor, saying the DOJ is able to handle the investigation.”

UPDATE: In a shocking coincidence, it turns out that Menendez will vote to confirm Loretta Lynch as AG. “The senator could be the deciding vote in her favor.” How convenient.

SARAH HOYT: All The Scarlet Letters.

POLITICAL SCIENCE: ‘Expert’ Report That Persuaded Doctors to Oppose Fracking Written by Activist.

Harry Reid told me that all these anti-fracking groups are funded by Putin anyway.

EUGENE VOLOKH: Many liberals’ (sensible) retreat from the old Justice Brennan/ACLU position on religious exemptions.

Many people, chiefly on the left, have criticized such laws, in large part on the grounds that RFRAs might let religious objectors claim exemptions from antidiscrimination law — especially with regard to state and local laws that ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.

That’s a plausible criticism, it seems to me, though I suspect a somewhat overstated one (and of course its merits turn on one’s views about just how important broad sexual orientation discrimination bans really are). And I agree that many backers of such RFRAs today support them in part because they sympathize with such religious objections, especially with regard to participation in same-sex weddings and commitment ceremonies.

But it’s helpful to note, I think, that, whatever the motivation of some backers of RFRA today, RFRAs largely implement the religious exemption rules that Justice Brennan and the ACLU had long argued for — and that Justice Brennan and the ACLU had sharply criticized Justice Scalia and others for overruling.

Maybe the ACLU and many in that movement have changed its mind on the subject. They are certainly entitled to do so. But it’s worth noting that there is something of a change of mind going on, and that perhaps some of the old criticisms of Justice Scalia — who wrote Employment Division v. Smith (1990), which largely overruled the religious exemption rules that Justice Brennan had advocated — should be retracted.

Yes, I’m so old that I can remember when all right-thinking people deplored Scalia’s Smith opinion and saw RFRA as a moral duty. But that was when cute, peyote-using Native Americans might benefit; now that it’s those beastly, mouth-breathing Christians in flyover country who might benefit, religious exemptions are obviously horrible.

HARRY POTTER: Someone Put Snape’s Scenes In Chronological Order And It Will Make You Feel Things. “Snape is a hero, and don’t say otherwise.”

MICHAEL Z. WILLIAMSON DISCOVERS that he is not a “real” science fiction fan.