DECOUPLING, YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG: Federal government set to invest in Chinese firms called ‘enemies.’

CHINESE MOUTHPIECE OR USEFUL IDIOT? YOU DECIDE. University official says COVID-19 may have originated in the United States. “An official at the University of Washington suggested Wednesday that the coronavirus may have originated in the United States, a highly disputed theory that has been advanced by officials within the Chinese government. Rickey Hall, vice president for minority affairs and diversity at the University of Washington, made the comments during a Zoom panel discussion hosted by PEN America, a free expression nonprofit.”

LAND O’ WOKE: Land O’ Lakes Indian Maiden Bows to Political Correctness.

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MODIFIED LIMITED HANGOUT? China increases Wuhan’s coronavirus death toll by 50% but denies cover-up.

SO? IT WILL STOP US FROM SUBSIDIZING THEIR FAILURES: Trump’s Funding Cut Won’t Fix the WHO’s Problems.

REPORTING FROM CHINA: “It was supposed to be about life getting to normal, but we were followed by police, had interviewees intimidated, and then got a nice dose of xenophobic vitriol.” Long, not-encouraging, thread. Xi is a very bad man, doing tremendous damage to his nation and the world.

YAWN. FOR THEM, EVERYTHING IS. Feminist says coronavirus shows ‘it’s time to abolish the family.’

Or perhaps the family shows that it’s time to abolish feminism. Discuss.

NANCY PELOSI – LET THEM EAT ICE CREAM: The only element here more sickening than the Speaker’s tone deafness is James Corden’s bootlicking. Time for a revival of public shaming.

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SHE’S RIGHT: Condoleezza Rice: China Wants To Shift The Narrative On COVID-19, Don’t Let Them.

(Link was broken, fixed now. Sorry.)

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Is Gretchen Whitmer Satan, Stalin, or Both? “It is almost impossible to imagine that Michigan could have someone worse in charge at this critical time. Whitmer is one of those tedious Democrats in the Trump era who feel that their only job is to publicly spar with the president and make NBC News fall in love with them.”

SETH BARRETT TILLMAN: Judge Wyzanski on the Scope of the President’s Adjournment Power. “As Wyzanski’s opinion above indicates, President Trump’s position is not frivolous; rather, it is supported by some of our best parliamentary authority: Jeffferson’s Manual. In short, the merits of the President’s position remain unclear—the question remains one for the courts to decide. And if anyone tells you otherwise, and tells you the issue is clear, settled, or obvious ….”

PROMISING ISRAELI CORONAVIRUS TREATMENT TESTED ON 1ST U.S. PATIENT: Please, more testing quickly.

SHOT: Reopen California? That’s the toughest phase yet, Newsom says.

—CalMatters, Wednesday.

Chaser:

Related: Freedom Is Starting to Break Out.

WELL, GOOD: No, we’re not running out of food. It just looks that way. “Panic buying at supermarkets spiked in the first weeks of COVID-19 lockdowns. But the food supply chain has since adjusted, making further shortages unlikely.”

IT’S A CLEAN HIT: Pro-Trump PAC hits ‘Beijing Biden,’ cites China cheerleading.

SPACE TO DESTROY: Dysfunction In Baltimore Police Homicide Unit Went Unaddressed As Killings Hit Historic Levels.

Victims’ families say it is devastating to watch cases go unsolved, and resent that police officials haven’t focused more directly on the issue. The department declines to say how many cold cases it has on the books, but acknowledges it’s a large number.

From 2015 to 2019, a stunning 1,660 people were killed in Baltimore. Just 654 cases were solved, a five-year clearance rate of less than 40%.

The average clearance rate for similarly sized cities in 2018 was nearly 58%, according to the most recent FBI data. Baltimore’s was less than 43% that year.

And last year Baltimore’s clearance rate was a dismal 31%. The rate includes cases cleared for reasons other than arrests, such as when suspects are killed themselves. Only 89 people were actually arrested for homicide last year, when Baltimore had 348 homicides.

Meanwhile, convictions for murder in Baltimore Circuit Court were even fewer, with just 83 last year, according to data provided by Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s office.

Baltimore’s last Republican mayor left office over 50 years ago.

(Classical reference in headline.)

YES: China Is Bargain Hunting—and Western Security Is at Risk. “Beijing could use the coronavirus-induced economic crisis to go on a buying spree. The U.S. and European governments must restrict the purchasing of distressed companies in sensitive sectors.”