UKRAINE: Ukrainian forces enter Kherson as Russia completes retreat from key southern city: Jubilant civilians flocked to the city’s central square to greet advancing soldiers after Moscow said that its troops had finalized a humiliating withdrawal across the Dnieper River.

Related: “The withdrawal is another humiliating setback for Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, and the most significant military moment in the war since Ukrainian forces swept through the northern Kharkiv region in September.”

SHOCKER: New State Business Tax Climate Index: Blue States Are Worst, Red States Are Best.

THIS IS UNDOUBTEDLY TRUE: Graham: They’re trying to destroy Walker to deter people of color from becoming conservative Republicans.

And if he were a Democrat all the networks would be quoting professors of anti-racism darkly inveighing against the racism inherent in criticising the sexual behavior of young black men.

HMM: An Empirical Analysis Of Racial Bias In The Uniform Bar Exam: A Law School’s First-Time Bar Pass Rate Decreases As Its Percentage Of Students Of Color Increases.

OPEN THREAD: Disport yourselves in the comments.

SNOWFLAKE NIGHT LIVE: Campus Culture Comes to SNL Over Chappelle Hosting Gig.

There’s unrest at 30 Rock, Page Six hears, over the decision to sign up Dave Chappelle to host “Saturday Night Live” this weekend.

We’re told that some staff writers are so furious that the comedy superstar — who has made transphobic and homophobic jokes — has been chosen to helm the iconic show that they’re sitting out the episode.

“They’re not going to do the show,” an insider told Page Six. “But none of the actors are boycotting.”

But Chappelle’s rep told us that there was nothing to suggest that there was a boycott when they attended writers’ meetings this week.

This completely gives away the left’s game at SNL. I have contended for years that SNL no longer functions as a comedy show, but rather as a Democrat super PAC. The show viciously mocks Republicans week after week, but when a comedian who has told a few trans jokes is set to host, staff writers are suddenly concerned about the danger of comedy.

One of the staffers who is ‘nonbinary’ reportedly said that transphobia is like “murder.”

Along similar lines, the number of comedy writers who would kill to write for SNL must be enormous. Why isn’t Lorne Michaels firing his writing staff, and bringing in writers who aren’t snowflakes?

THE NEW SPACE RACE: China wants to ramp up the launch rate of its Long March 5B rocket.

CIVIL RIGHTS STUMBLE: Oregon’s new gun control law punishes poor people. Poverty should not be a death sentence, and one’s rights should never be conditioned upon their ability to pay.

EVERYTHING SEEMINGLY IS SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL: AP thinks abortion was a constitutional right: Justices cheered at conservative group’s anniversary dinner.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Four of the five Supreme Court justices who overturned the constitutional right to abortion showed up at the conservative Federalist Society’s black-tie dinner marking its 40th anniversary.

Screen cap for if/when AP updates the lede:

(Classical reference in headline.)

GOOD: Feel-Good Friday: Justices Barrett and Alito receive standing ovations during gala event. Events like this are important. Lefties have endless awards ceremonies, etc., to reinforce the egos of the people they like. People on the right are barely in the game.

MARK JUDGE’S THE DEVIL’S TRIANGLE: MARK JUDGE VS THE NEW AMERICAN STASI IS NOW AVAILABLE AT AMAZON.

CHANGE: Multiple sources (including Decision Desk HQ) are projecting Republican Joe Lombardo elected governor of Nevada.

UPDATE: Democrat Gov. Steve Sisolak concedes.

CALL ME CYNICAL, BUT THIS SOUNDS LIKE AN EFFORT AT EXTRACTING GRAFT: WHO report decries inequality in global vaccine market.

SLEEP IS VITAL: If You Don’t Get Enough Sleep, Your Brain Literally Eats Itself.

NOAH CARL: Name-Calling, “Fact-Checking” and Censorship in the Covid Era. A new paper analyzes the tactics used to enforce Covid orthodoxy.

HEATHER MAC DONALD: The Other Imaginary Red Wave. Despite ceaseless warnings on the left, Election Day came and went without right-wing violence.

We have been through this hysteria before. Predictions of right-wing violence are now a standard feature of Democratic rhetoric. In the lead-up to January 6, 2022 (the one-year anniversary of the 2021 Capitol riot), the media, politicians, and the Biden national-security apparatus warned that “domestic violent extremists” were likely to strike again. Washington, D.C., was reportedly on edge in anticipation of the MAGA rebels. As it turned out, January 6, 2022, was notable only for the maudlin theatrics of newly patriotic Democrats, who softly sang “God Bless America” in a candlelight vigil on the Capitol steps, as calm engulfed them.

During the previous year, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Homeland Security had issued regular warnings about election-denying terrorism. The summer of 2021, August 2021, September 2021—all provoked a satisfying increase in alerts and in precautionary barricades and bollards. And still, the right-wing terrorists did not strike.

Read the whole thing.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Yes, China Really Grew a Plant on the Moon.

READER BOOK PLUG: From Steve Deace: Why Thanksgiving?

READER FAVORITE: Narcissus Electric Knife Sharpener. #CommissionEarned

RIP: Watermelon-smashing comedian Gallagher is dead at 76.

ONWARD AND UPWARD: Firearm Sales Poised to Eclipse Pre-Pandemic Records.

MAKE COOKING EASIER: Razor Sharp Meat Cleaver. #CommissionEarned

I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ANOTHER WORD ABOUT GLENN REYNOLDS’ CARBON FOOTPRINT: Four hundred private jets arrived in Egypt during COP27 as climate delegates are accused of ‘hypocrisy.’

I’ll believe global warming is a crisis when the people who tell me it’s a crisis start to act like it’s a crisis themselves, to coin an Insta-phrase.

PROBABLY: Will FTX crash bring a crypto winter?

I have some friends who made a lot in Bitcoin and who still trade crypto (I think they keep their nest egg elsewhere, though) and they see this as a buying opportunity. I’m skeptical, though I’m much too cautious as an investor.

XI’S GOTTA HAVE IT: Chinese incursions into India are increasing and are strategically planned, study finds. Color me unsurprised.