RETIRED RUSSIAN GENERALS SAY NO TO UKRAINE INVASION: Jeff Dunetz at The Lid has Gen. (Ret.) Leonid Ivashov’s public letter opposing the seemingly imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine. Jeff is also mighty curious about the fact President Biden is at Camp David rather than the Situation Room below the White House.

WELCOME BACK, CARTER: Real Wages Have Declined By This Much Since Biden Took Office.

To be fair, not all the economic news is bad for President Biden.

For example, we did recently see very high levels of economic growth in 2021. However, that’s likely more of a “bounce back” from the massive pandemic dip in 2020 than a reflection of true growth from sound economic policy.

Similarly, the unemployment rate has ticked down to just 4%, which isn’t bad at all. Yet this only counts those seeking work. The Democrats’ massive welfare spending and continued closure of schools have led to millions of Americans dropping out of the labor force entirely, a key problem not captured by the decent-seeming unemployment rate.

Add this context to surging inflation and declining real wages and whatever spin the president has put on this economy quickly falls apart. Nonetheless, the president keeps insisting that “the Biden economic plan is working.”

Working for who, exactly?

It’s working great at continuing to bloat the federal government: ‘The midterm ads write themselves’: Biden says federal workforce will be getting 600,000 new electric vehicles.

As an Obama administration retread, it’s no wonder that Biden is reviving Barry’s style of crony corporatism.

YOU GET MORE OF WHAT YOU REWARD: San Francisco homeless man: ‘they pay you to be homeless here.’

MEN NEED ESTROGEN, WOMEN NEED TESTOSTERONE: Low testosterone levels in women associated with double the risk of cardiac events.

IF NO UNIVERSALS, THEN 2+2≠4: It’s Day Seven of Instapunditeer Lee Dise’s seven-part Lessons From History series on HillFaith and he brings it to a close with a bang. Well, actually, the Marxists, Nazis, and Fascists pull the triggers that go bang, and therein is one of Lee’s two chief lessons, with the other being infinitely more hopeful.

JEFF DUNETZ: Retired Russian Military Officers Object To Imminent Invasion Of Ukraine.

JOE BRANDON REJECTS YOUR REALITY AND SUBSTITUTES HIS OWN: ‘No One Told Me!’ Joe Biden Utterly Melts Down When Lester Holt Brings Up Afghanistan Disaster.

Earlier: Biden Downplays Question From NBC’s Lester Holt About Inflation: ‘You’re Being A Wise Guy.’

SO BASICALLY, THEY’RE SCREWED: Class counsel want to pay objector $25K to ditch appeal. Ted Frank is in their way.

TREATING YOUR OWN CITIZENS AS ENEMIES OF THE STATE MAY TURN THEM INTO SUCH: New Zealand deploys tactic used against Noriega on Freedom Convoy. “The protesters didn’t seem particularly fazed by these efforts. When the sprinklers came on they dug drainage trenches to channel the water off of the lawn and spread hay on the ground to absorb it. When the music began, some of them spontaneously broke into a dance in time with the tunes. Others turned up their own speakers and began blasting Twister Sister’s ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ back at the Parliament building. Few were reported as leaving the camp. . . . Of course, there’s a significant difference between Noriega and the Freedom Convoy participants. Noriega was the mastermind of years of rigged elections, massive drug trafficking, and an untold number of murders and disappearances. The convoy participants are demonstrating in front of their elected representatives in opposition to government policies with which they disagree.”

The West’s arrogant, entitled political class, however, seems to model its approach on the Bourbons, the Romanovs, and the Ceausescus.

OPEN THREAD: Check it out now.

Though I prefer this version for the chicks and the cars. And the bell bottoms.

HMM: SpaceX considers shifting Starship testing to Florida.

THAT’S BIG. An 85-Mile-Wide Comet Is Officially The Largest Comet Ever Observed.

IT’S COME TO THIS: Poland Opens Border To Americans Fleeing Ukraine As Fears Of Russian Invasion Rise — but: “To enter Poland through the land border with Ukraine, U.S. citizens must present a valid U.S. passport and proof of Covid-19 vaccination, the State Department said in a statement.”

YES, GUNS WORK IN A VACUUM, THOUGH IDEALLY YOU’D MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS: Astronauts Really Could Carry M16s on the Moon.

I’d prefer a recoil-operated gun to a gas-operated. Not that the latter couldn’t work, it would just probably take more fiddling. Lubricants would likely be an issue too.

YES:

ELECTRICITY: What’s Good For Generac Is Bad For America. “The reason why K. and so many other people in Texas and across the country are buying generators is obvious: the reliability of the electric grid is declining. According to data from the Department of Energy, between 2000 and 2020, the number of what the agency calls “major electric disturbances and unusual occurrences” (read: blackouts) on the U.S. electric grid jumped about 13-fold.”

MOVE TO TEXAS: Tesla sued by state of California over allegations of racial slurs, discrimination.

OF COURSE: Enforcement of Washington’s ‘High Capacity’ Magazine Ban is a Danger to Minority Communities.

DEAL OF THE DAY: Keurig K-Supreme Coffee Maker, Single Serve K-Cup Pod Coffee Brewer. #CommissionEarned