NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT: King Charles will inherit millions and pay zero tax, thanks to this special exception for the royal family.

AT LEAST NO BEER WAS HARMED: Crash covers Georgia highway in Bud Light.

WAPO SAYS FETTERMAN HAS ‘SQUANDERED CREDIBILITY’ OVER HEALTH, URGES DEMOCRAT TO RELEASE MEDICAL RECORDS: “The scathing critique from a reliably liberal newspaper highlights the rising concern that Democrats have over Fetterman’s recovery. According to Reuters, several Pennsylvania Democratic officials privately expressed concern about Fetterman’s fitness for office. Last week, Fetterman’s hometown newspaper, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, questioned his ‘ability to serve.’”

Earlier: So we’ve finally seen Senate candidate John Fetterman’s neck since his stroke and the internet has questions … and a whole lotta memes.

FRAUD, BULLYING, INTIMIDATION: FBI Shows up on Trump Supporter’s Doorstep, and She Wasn’t Even at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): When this happens, the names of the agents in question need to be made public. Intimidating citizens is a public, official act. There’s no reason why they should be able to hide behind bureaucracy. Likewise the superiors who sent them, whose identities should also be made public.

MICROBIOME NEWS: Gum disease may increase risk for dementia.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Dearborn University Provost Drives Naked While Masturbating: Police. “Tew is listed as an Eastern Michigan University associate provost and associate vice president for academic programs and services. He was suspended indefinitely by the university, according to Walter Kraft, Vice President for Communications for the university.”

Related: “Why are you naked?” Truck driver catches EMU professor driving Jeep naked. “Tew worked as an associate provost and Associate Vice President for Academic Programs and Services and also previously served as Director of Equality, FOX 2 has learned.”

THANKS FOR NOTHING, MITT (REDUX): Mitt Romney Urged Biden to Run.

NEWS TO WARM THE HEARTS OF HEATHEN PHILOSOPHERS AND GRUMBLETONIANS EVERYWHERE: 50+ Old Fashioned Insults We Should Bring Back.

“POLITICS LIES DOWNSTREAM OF CULTURE,” THE WISE MAN ONCE SAID: Republicans Could Learn Something About Messaging From a Tattooed, Pierced Rapper.

CAFE HAYEK: Not a Promising Start for Liz Truss. “I’ve never encountered a clearer example of economic illogic than this scheme by Ms. Truss to shield Brits from high energy prices. High energy prices reflect the underlying reality that energy in Britain today is especially scarce. This reality is unfortunate, but as the economist Thomas Sowell reminds us, reality isn’t optional. Yet by reimbursing each household and business in Britain for energy that it uses above a certain amount, the government will encourage, not the energy efficiency for which Ms. Truss pleads, but energy inefficiency.”

Politics generally trumps economics, especially among politicians. But at least they’ve opened up fracking again. Never should have banned it, of course.

UPDATE: A more positive take on Liz Truss’s plan from WattsUpWithThat.

COLORADO: Thompson school board passes armed staff resolution; all district employees potentially eligible. “Although the arming of school staff is a topic with passionate views on both sides, the 4-2 vote came without public comment or board discussion. One of the longest tenured and most liberal members of the board, Pam Howard, made the motion to approve the resolution.”

More like this, please.

DEAL OF THE DAY: Portable Neck Fan. #CommissionEarned

VODKAPUNDIT PRESENTS YOUR WEEKLY INSANITY WRAP: The Fetterman Video That Could Destroy His Campaign.

Plus:

• Teaching kids not to judge pedos
• You’ll never believe what pollutes more than an oil refinery
• Biden’s gonna party like it’s 1979

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

JOANNE JACOBS: Do good citizens listen to leaders? “Ilya Somin was taken aback by the worksheet his seven-year-old daughter brought home from school, he writes on Facebook. ‘Some of these are highly dubious!'”

THE CRITICAL DRINKER: Why Modern Movies Suck — They Hate Their Own Fans (Video; NSFW language):

As Will Jordan notes in the above video, Disney in particular absolutely loves this tactic to both gin-up hype, and wave away large scale fan hatred of their latest reboot. QED: Disney’s The Little Mermaid Live Action Trailer Dropped, And Fans Are Getting Called Racist For Hating It.

WELL, NO POINT TRYING NOW. I GUESS I’LL JUST TUNE OUT ALL FURTHER DISCUSSION OF RACISM AND SEXISM. Prof: ‘ALL white people are racist,’ ‘ALL men are sexist.’

I’m not ready to say that ALL Georgetown University professors are idiots, but I’m beginning to develop a betting line.

VIRGINIA POSTREL: Stop with the Jetsons Nostalgia!

1) The Jetsons was not science fiction any more than The Flintstones was archeology. It was, like its Stone Age partner, a midcentury family sitcom—I Love Lucy/The Honeymooners/Father Knows Best with different backdrops and dumber jokes.1 The commentary (such as it is) about technology mostly consists of complaints about devices breaking down and costing too much. Automation also means George and Jane Jetson do nothing all day except push a few buttons. If real, their lives would incredibly boring. (The Feminine Mystique was a bestseller for a reason.) The show is definitely not Star Trek.

The Jetsons is graphically appealing, but it only works because we don’t take it literally as a portrait of the future. The Jetsons live in a world without trees, grass, or privacy. Anyone in a flying car can peer straight into their windows, which also appear to be open all the time. People live in the sky for no reason other than it makes for cool drawings. You can’t take a walk around the neighborhood. Ever wonder, What’s on the Ground in The Jetsons? (Spoiler: “Homeless people and walking birds.”)

2) Star Trek’s fundamental appeal was not about the future or technology per se. The show portrays a setting in which smart people have new experiences and learn new things, solve important problems, and forge deep friendships. Nobody worries about money or office politics. The show’s values are humane. Everyone’s job is important and the boss deserves respect. As I learned in a big survey I did while researching The Power of Glamour, for many of its fans Star Trek represents an ideal workplace.

Star Trek’s vision of a nerd-friendly universe made the future glamorous, but only to the select few for whom that vision resonated. When originally broadcast Star Trek had lousy ratings. Most people didn’t find it especially appealing.2 Its pop culture success dates to syndicated reruns in the 1970s, which is when I saw it. (The first fan convention was in 1972.) By then, its New Frontier spirit, complete with Cold War analogies, was already out of step with the times. The show attracted fanatical devotion partly because popular culture offered few (no?) other celebrations of earnest nerds and their values.

Fair enough; but the question must be asked at this point: Can we still get an electric car with a Jetsons-style bleebling sound?

IF THEY’D JUST GO BACK TO PRODUCING FAMILY-FRIENDLY, APOLITICAL CONTENT, THEY WOULDN’T HAVE TO KEEP CALLING THEIR FANS AND CRITICS RACISTS: Next Up on Disney’s ‘You’re a Racist if You Don’t Like This Reboot’ List…

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Academics have ‘professional duty’ to ‘denounce the GOP’: UMich professor.

Does this mean that the GOP has a professional duty to defund academia? And if academics are as smart as they think they are, have they considered the wisdom of making half of America into enemies?

UNEXPECTEDLY! Inflation soars despite drop in gas prices. “Economists had been expecting headline inflation to fall 0.1% and core to increase 0.3%, according to Dow Jones estimates.”

THE NEW SPACE RACE: China discovers new mineral – and a possible energy source – on the Moon.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Democrats Still Don’t Know Who the Real 9/11 Terrorists Were. “We’re now sending people to Washington to make laws who are outright terrorist sympathizers. Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and their idiot bartender queen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are all pro-jihad.”

NEW RELIGION: Forget the Bible, Listen to the IPCC.

CAN YOU OVERDOSE ON SCHADENFREUDE? “As of Monday, 1,316 Times workers had signed a pledge not to return to the office. This includes 879 members of the News Guild, but also members of the Times Tech Guild and the union for Wirecutter, the paper’s product-recommendation spinoff.”

Plus:

NYT video journalist Haley Willis tweeted today: “The @nytimes is giving employees branded lunch boxes this week as a return-to-office perk. We want respect and a fair contract instead — so I’m working from home this week along with 1,300 of my @NYTimesGuild and @NYTGuildTech colleagues, with support from @WirecutterUnion.”

One source said that the branded NYT lunch boxes did not have any sandwiches or other lunch food inside. “They were empty,” said one source. “And the lunch box had no handles.”

Metaphor alert!

DO TELL: CNN: ‘It feels like there was a rush to judgment’ on the Duke volleyball story.