25 35S: 25 USAF F-35A Lightnings prepare to takeoff from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. They are participating in Exercise Arctic Gold 21-2.

FREETHINKERS WHO DETEST THINKING FREELY: Atheist Group Excommunicates Richard Dawkins for Transgender Heresy.

HMM: EU regulator says warning should come with J&J COVID-19 vaccine.

2,000,000,000,000 OPPORTUNITIES FOR FRAUD AND GRIFT: ‘Green Infrastructure’ Backers Stand to Profit From Gov’t Spending Boost.

VODKAPUNDIT PRESENTS YOUR DAILY INSANITY WRAP: Did Jury Intimidation Play a Part in the Chauvin Verdict?

Insanity Wrap needs to know: When a big city newspaper comes this close to fully doxxing every juror in a very public trial, did they get the message?

Answer: We’ll only know for sure if a juror speaks up, which would seem… unwise.

Before we get to the sordid details, a quick preview of today’s Wrap.

• California (!) is not happy with BLM founder’s financial reports
• Teenagers get stabby, big deal
• When you find yourself on the side of the attacker…

Bonus Sanity: Did we mention California wants a better look at Patrisse Cullor’s finances?

And so much more at the link, you’d have to be crazy to miss it.

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Atheist Group Excommunicates Richard Dawkins for Transgender Heresy.

SAY ANYTHING: Nancy Pelosi Blasted for Thanking George Floyd for Being Killed.

PACKING THE COURT, THEN AND NOW: FDR’s court-packing efforts didn’t fail. He won by intimidating the sitting justices. But today’s Democrats are unlikely to have the same success.

That won’t stop them trying, though.

Related: Morning Consult: Opposition to court-packing near 2:1 … and growing. “The months-long campaign to pack the court has been an utter flop, even with the party base. Democrats’ support for the idea doesn’t even get to a majority.”

But do Democrats care what voters want?

GREAT MOMENTS IN KABUKI THEATER: AG Merrick Garland Opens Probe into ‘Unconstitutional’ Practices at Minneapolis Police Department.

With the exception of a GOP mayor who served for a day in 1973, Minneapolis’ last Republican mayor left office in 1961.

THAT’S BECAUSE TEXAS FOLLOWED THE SCIENCE: The COVID-19 Disaster That Did Not Happen in Texas: Cases are rising mainly in states with stricter disease control policies.

ANOTHER REASON TO ABOLISH THE FDA: The FDA’s War on Nicotine Will Encourage Americans to Smoke More Cigarettes. Having done its best to discourage smokers from from switching to vaping, the FDA’s new policy will directly promote more cigarette sales.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Chauvin Verdict Won’t End Left’s Race-Hatred Crusade. “Unless all of his convictions are overturned, Chauvin is going to jail for what he did that day. But the left-wing race hatred and the racialized destruction of institutions is going to be with us for a long time — especially because power-holders like George Davison refuse to defend what’s right. So, while I am grateful for what looks like closure in the Chauvin case, the leftists in this country who have taken over the institutions, and who have the media’s hot air in their sails, are going to continue pushing a narrative that is going to make people of all races fearful of and loathsome to each other. Guaranteed.”

What’s bad for the country is good for the Democrats, so they’ll continue hurting the country.

THEY GIVE THEIR CONSTITUENTS WHAT THEY VOTE FOR, GOOD AND HARD: Joe Biden Reacts to Chauvin Verdict and Describes a World That Doesn’t Exist – Except Where Democrats Rule.

JAMES LILEKS: This morning on the Op-Ed page:

A well-deserved Fisking follows. Read the whole thing.

EPIC POETRY AT MEDIA MATTERS: J. Christian Adams utilizes the Lefty outfit to illustrate the yawning gulf between fable and fact. This one is brutal and deservedly so. And, since we’re on the subject of media criticism today, you should also check out my case over at PJ Media for why the Old Grey Lady owes America an apology.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Ditch Google for good with these apps and gadgets.

But: Hotel Googlefornia — You Can Check Out Any Time You Like But You Can Never Leave.

SEGREGATION NOW, SEGREGATION TOMORROW, SEGREGATION FOREVER! ‘Student success’ conference at Michigan State to segregate participants by skin color.

EXCLUSIVE: Is the Woke Head of ‘Human Capital’ at the Veterans Health Administration Guilty of Résumé Fraud?

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Berkeley is looking for an employee to run ‘climate healing circles’ with ‘BIPOC’ activists.

NO ENEMIES TO THE LEFT: Democrats Nuke Censure Of Maxine Waters For Incitement Of Violence In Minnesota.

TWO ‘MONSTROUS LIES’ FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES: Issues & Insights has some, uh, questions. The I&I gang also has a “PAC” of concerns about the political contributions of James and Kathryn Murdoch.

“NEVER UNDERESTIMATE JOE’S ABILITY TO F*** THINGS UP”: White House on Damage Control After Biden Calls Border Situation a ‘Crisis.’

BLUE STATE BLUES: Illinois’ Pension Bomb Has a Short Fuse.

Those government retirement systems are sitting on mountains of debt. There’s $144 billion in debt just in the five statewide systems, by the state’s conservative estimate, or $261 billion by a more realistic, independent estimate. They average only 40% of the funds needed to pay out retiree benefits long-term.

If you add in local pension debt, Illinois’ unfunded pension liability totals more than $200 billion by the state’s measure, and that amount grows every year. Another shock such as the Great Recession could cause the first pension fund to run out of money by 2039, according to actuarial analysis.

That amounts to a broken promise not only to retirees who are banking on having their pensions to support them, but also to the taxpayers who continue getting hit with higher taxes just to keep things from tanking.

Illinois politicians have enhanced benefits without funding them and pushed off the financial reckoning for decades. As a result, pension costs, which took up just 4% of the state’s budget in the 1990s, have increased by more than 500% during the past 20 years, growing to consume more than 25% of budgets in recent years – rapidly approaching 30%.

Stein’s Law: “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.”

HUGO GURDON: John Kerry in Earth Day wonderland. “It is not encouraging to see John Kerry returning from talks in China and suggesting he’s achieved some sort of climate change breakthrough. The last time he trumpeted success on an allied diplomatic mission, he was touting the 2016 Paris Agreement, in which he weakly acquiesced in hobbling United States interests in favor of our main global rival while doing nothing real to deal with the hyped problem with which the world was supposedly grappling.”

To be fair, that’s pretty much his signature approach.

MICHAEL YON: Immigration Intelligence from Panama.