POSTMODERN WARFARE: A Developer Altered Open Source Software to Wipe Files in Russia. “Two weeks ago, the node.ipc author pushed a new version of the library that sabotaged computers in Russia and Belarus, the countries invading Ukraine and providing support for the invasion, respectively. The new release added a function that checked the IP address of developers who used the node.ipc in their own projects. When an IP address geolocated to either Russia or Belarus, the new version wiped files from the machine and replaced them with a heart emoji.”

THE SOURCE IS FRIENDLY, TOO: Canadian Official Offers the U.S Plenty of Oil From ‘Right Next Door.’

GAIL COLLINS KNOWS THAT HER JOB IS TO COVER FOR THE PARTY. Bret Stephens asks her:

Bret: … [W]hat really bothered me was the not-so-subtle media effort to bury the email story right before the election as some kind of “Russian disinformation” campaign. If someone had discovered that, say, Ivanka Trump had left a laptop at a repair shop stuffed with emails about 10 percent being held “for the big guy”— to use a reference that appears to be to Joe Biden, which comes from one of the emails found on Hunter’s computer — would the story have been treated with kid gloves?

Her non-reply reply: “Well, Ivanka is a much tidier person.”

#JOURNALISM.

WHEN YOU IGNORE THE TRUTH, IT DOESN’T GO AWAY: San Francisco’s out of control crime no longer deniable.

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: American Airlines pilots want customers to know how bad things have gotten.

As airlines boast of recovery, they’re also cancelling quite a lot of flights. Or, as United Airlines recently announced, turning some non-stop flights into one-stops.

Which all leads me to the pilots at American Airlines.

They’re suggesting that things are crumbling somewhat. No, they’re not doing it with the odd tweet here and the odd press release there.

Instead, the pilots union created a little film that reveals what they see as their own airline’s great mess.

An experienced male pilot meets up with the younger female co-pilot who’ll be joining him in the cockpit.

She’s enthusiastic. He’s as cheerful as your average Oakland A’s fan.

“Scheduling called you yet?” he snorts.

It seems they hadn’t. The pilot informs his co-pilot: “Well, we’ve got a schedule change.” This, he says, will work them both into their days off.

It’s ruined his family’s plans. His kids have got used to “this sort of thing.”

“By the way,” says the newer pilot. “Do we have a hotel assignment yet?”

“No, we’re going to have to call the hotel desk ourselves,” says Captain Weary.

He continues: “It didn’t used to be this way, and it should never have gotten to this point.”

Much more at the link.

SALENA ZITO ON AN INSTITUTION OF “ROOTED AMERICA.” “Youngstown State University geography Professor Emeritus Tom Maraffa, an expert on the rooted and the rootless in our culture and the impact of their differences, said he is surprised by the lack of these types of community-driven events in D.C. and New York. But, he added, it helps explain why their residents often don’t have a cultural understanding of the people in the middle of the country.”

Our political class keeps demonstrating the truth of Dana Loesch’s statement that it’s hard to run a country you’ve never been to. Not that that stops them from trying.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Is America’s Fauci Fatigue Nearing An End? “It’s mostly a big tease so far. Fauci is a government hack who doesn’t relinquish power easily. Those of us who haven’t been part of the leftist cult that grew around Fauci feel that he might be a vampire who will be there forever.”

ICYMI: Fed Judge Warns Against Hiring From Yale Law: Audio reveals loud attempts to drown out free speech panel, police involvement.

I’M A DECENT BRIEF-WRITER, BUT I’M NO DAVID MAMET:

AMICI BRIEFS FILED IN KEY WEB-CENSORSHIP CASE

The battle against censorship in America is taking place in the 5th Circuit in Netchoice v. Paxton, and amici for free speech have just filed their briefs. The case will decide the constitutionality of the Texas social media statute, which is the most promising response to Big Tech manipulation of the nation’s political, religious, cultural, and scientific debates.

The Texas statute:
• Designates the tech companies as common carriers.
• Bars them from censoring others on the basis of their viewpoints.
• Preserves the freedom of tech companies to restrict unlawful or unwholesome content.
• Provides only the mildest possible remedies—injunctive and declaratory relief, not damages.

The statute protects the free speech of Americans without limiting the free speech of the tech companies:
• The companies are common carriers, which provide conduits for the speech of others. So, when this statute bars them from viewpoint discrimination, it is only preventing them from censoring the speech of others. It is not limiting them in their own speech.
• This sort of anti-discrimination restriction on common carriers was traditionally imposed by both common law and statute. It has been applied to communications common carriers since the 19th century, without any question about its compatibility with the First Amendment.

Nonetheless, the social media companies successfully argued to Obama-appointee District Court Judge Robert Pitman that the Texas bill violated the First Amendment. In an opinion that completely ignored controlling common carrier law, Pitman ruled that, under Supreme Court precedents Tornillo and Hurley, social media platforms most closely resemble newspapers or parades. He distinguished Turner and Rumsfeld, the most relevant Supreme Court precedents, with a footnote each. Put succinctly, he treated the social media platforms as publishers, whereas in fact they are platforms for the speech of others.

The State of Texas appealed to the Fifth Circuit, and expedited oral argument is scheduled for the first week of May. Unlike Florida’s hastily drafted law, this social media statute was carefully framed to avoid constitutional difficulties. And unlike the Florida law, it has attracted strong support from a surprising coalition of amici. They include some small conservative think tanks (Center for Renewing America, Claremont Institute, Heartland Institute, and American Principles Project); a prominent constitutional law scholar, Philip Hamburger; Dr. Donald W. Landry—a Columbia University medical school professor and one of the country’s foremost nephrologists; the libertarian Institute for Free Speech; a group of students against censorship; and the renowned dramatist, David Mamet.

You can see the briefs here.

HMM: Russia’s Push for Self-Sufficient Economy Fails Before Western Sanctions.

Russia spent years trying to wean itself off imported goods to fortify its economy against Western sanctions.

Now, the impact of sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made it clear that Moscow’s efforts didn’t work. Russia’s continued dependence on imports means it is facing a painful economic readjustment.

Parts of Russia’s auto industry are shutting down for lack of foreign parts. The country’s flagship homemade passenger jet gets its engine and other key parts from overseas suppliers. Foreign pet food and medication have disappeared from store shelves.

“Import substitution has failed to achieve its goal of making Russia less vulnerable to sanctions like these,” said Janis Kluge, a specialist in the Russian economy at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. “The Russian ambitions were unrealistic to start with because a small economy like Russia’s isn’t able to produce complex and high-tech goods by itself. It’s just simply not possible.” Replacing the foreign products could take years, he added.

While relying on a strategic competitor for vital good is never a good idea — China for our manufacturing, Russia for fertilizer, etc. — I can’t think of a single example of outright autarky working anywhere.

A FRIEND COMMENTS: “Gee, this Alec Baldwin shooting incident investigation is coming along slowly…”

PUSHBACK: McConnell on SCOTUS nominee: She won’t answer this one basic question. “McConnell tipped his hand a little as he said that during the traditional introductory meeting with her in his office, she refused to say if she supports packing the Supreme Court by expanding the number of justices. He asked, he said, because both RBG and Justice Breyer, who provides the open seat with his retirement, gave their opinions on the subject. Both answered that they do not support expanding the Supreme Court. By not answering a pretty basic question, she likely will not get many Republican senators to vote in her favor.”

Plus: “What we won’t see, as McConnell pointed out this morning, is the kind of hearings that Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett endured at the hands of Democrat opponents. We won’t hear Senator Feinstein insult KBJ’s religious faith, as she did to ACB. Remember when Feinstein said, “When you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you,” of ACB’s Roman Catholic faith? I seriously doubt that Senate Republicans will go back to KBJ’s high school and college yearbooks and ask inane questions about college slang and party language as they did against Kavanaugh. Republicans will likely ask pointed and compelling questions of her, as they should, but probably will not make it personal.”

BETTER OFF TODAY THAN IN JANUARY 2021?: Uh, no, Americans say, by a 4-1 margin in the latest I&I/TIPP Poll. 

“Biden’s recent speeches have included references to the ‘best economic growth in the last four decades … We did it alone. Without one single solitary Republican vote. It was the Democrats — it was you — that brought us back,’” Biden told House Democrats during their recent Philadelphia retreat, Issues & Insights points out.

“If that’s the message, Americans don’t seem to be buying it. And a big reason for that is likely the sudden scary surge in inflation, which hits low- and middle-class Americans hardest of all,” Issues & Insights continues.

“While wage gains have averaged 5% or higher for four straight months, unfortunately, inflation during the same period has surged by an annual rate of over 7%, and looks likely to go even higher.”

WELL, SOMETIMES: Ronald Dworkin: In Science We Trust?

COMMIES LIE: Something Very Suspicious Is Happening With China’s Latest COVID Reporting. “The last time China recorded a COVID death was January 2021, and if you really believe China’s numbers, then you’re not a serious person.”

ICYMI: WHEN BIG FIRMS REPRESENTED AL QAEDA TERRORISTS, we were told that everyone has a right to representation.

Yet big firms were bullied into dropping Trump as a client, none of them appear to be offering pro bono representation to the January 6 defendants, and now we see this: Harvard, Yale, And Stanford Law Students And Faculty Pressure U.S. Law Firms To Cut Ties With Russian Clients.

So given that lawyers apparently are morally responsible for their choice of clients, I think it’s fair to criticize Ketanji Brown Jackson for representating accused terrorists.

IF YOU CAN READ THIS, THANK JESUS: That could easily be the message this morning on HillFaith from former NBC “Dateline” cold-case murder expert J. Warner Wallace. We’re not simply talking McGuffey’s Reader here, either.

It took centuries, and not without a lot of stumbling and bumbling along the way, but the fact education moved from an elitist privilege to our present expectation of common availability resulted from five characteristics of the faith movement He founded.