KAROL MARKOWICZ: Get rid of masks on planes.

Airlines have to fight back. They must be losing money, at minimum from families with small kids who can’t tolerate a face covering and so are not traveling. When a two-year-old has been yanked off an airplane for not complying with masking, that only happens in America and it only happens because our CDC is demented enough to recommend masking toddlers. Not a single other health agency in the world does this. It’s long past the time to stop listening to them and move on toward normalcy.

Read the whole thing.

FLASHBACK: The ‘cabal’ that bragged of foisting Joe Biden on us must answer for his failed presidency.

A TRILLION HERE AND A TRILLION THERE, AND SOONER OR LATER YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT REAL MONEY: The House Just Passed a $1.5 TRILLION Spending Bill. Almost Nobody Actually Read It.

Why bother? As Nancy says, you have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it.

NOT TOO IMPRESSIVE: Assessing the Russian Army’s Performance So Far. “Accounting for approximately a third of the Russian military force, conscripts are prohibited from serving abroad. However, in an attempt to fully man units deploying to the Ukrainian border, it appears that Russian officials fraudulently signed up conscripts as “kontraktniki,” or contract soldiers, which made them legally available to deploy outside the Russian Federation. With conscripts spread throughout the invasion force, this may be the first real visibility at how the Russian Army operates en masse compared to smaller expeditionary operations like Syria. This includes poor convoy procedures, vehicles breaking down or running out of fuel, and soldiers reportedly surrendering or damaging their vehicles to avoid combat. While this indicates an inadequate level of the individual soldier and small unit training, it may also indicate a morale issue among the junior officers responsible for leading these small units. This may help explain the lack of initiative, dearth of tactical proficiency, and low morale observed in combat arms and transportation units.”

SUPREME COURT OF TEXAS OVERRULES SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, to be fair, when it comes to interpreting Texas law the Supreme Court of Texas is, in fact, supreme. “Justice Gorsuch made an Erie guess. He guessed wrong.”

But really, it’s more about how the Supreme Court of the United States can’t help but hedge where abortion is concerned:

Justice Gorsuch took pains to not forcefully disagree with Justice Thomas, who determined that the licensing officials cannot enforce the statute.

On remand, the Fifth Circuit certified a question to the Texas Supreme Court: did the state licensing officials enforce the statute? Today, SCOTX answered the question no. Justice Boyd wrote the majority opinion for the unanimous Court.

There are many things I like about this opinion.

First, this case reaffirmed the principle that the United States Supreme Court is not supreme–at least with respect to the interpretation of state law. (You’re welcome, Judge Sutton.) It is rare that a state court formally disagrees with the United Supreme Court, but this is such a case. And contrary to the protestations in Judge Higginson’s dissents, I do not think the Supreme Court will revisit its decision. Justice Gorsuch made an Erie guess. He guessed wrong.

Second, Justice Thomas is vindicated. Thomas was the only Justice willing to adopt the most natural reading of S.B. 8. The cynic in me thinks that at least some of the Justices in the majority were unwilling to adopt a reading that foreclosed every possibility of relief. Better, the thinking goes, to at least signal that there may be some way for the abortion clinics to prevail, even if that relief was meaningless. You know, force the journalists to write about a “divided” ruling or some such pablum. Gorsuch’s hedged decision reflects an effort to keep a majority together. But Thomas, once again, was willing to speak truth to power.

Third, Chief Justice Roberts’s judicial supremacy was rebuked. It is very rare that Roberts gets overruled. It happened. He deserves it. Thank you, Justice Boyd.

Fourth, SCOTX reaffirmed that Jonathan Mitchell is in fact a genius. He wrote a statute that pre-empted every possible line of attack. Eight members of the Supreme Court thought they found a loophole. And the highest court of Texas said they were wrong.

However you feel about the underlying issue, it’s nice to see the temporizers brought up short.

BY EDMOND HAMILTON, WITH FOREWORD BY D. JASON FLEMING: The Prisoner of Mars (Annotated): A classic pulp science fiction planetary romance.

#CommissionEarned

Philip Crain always knew he was different, but it wasn’t until he discovered his dead father had been Martian Royalty that he knew just how different.

Now Philip has been caught up in a battle between Martian political factions, and must impersonate the head of state in order to save both Mars — and Earth!

This iktaPOP Media edition includes a foreword giving genre and historical context to the novel.

SHRINKFLATION IS A PART OF BIDENFLATION: How companies are hiding inflation without charging you more.

Shrinking product sizes to pad profits is not a new tactic but it grows in popularity during periods of shortages and inflation. Some consumers are noticing and documenting their shrinking groceries on the shrinkflation subreddit.

Even with today’s release of US inflation figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing prices increased 7.9% in the last 12 months, consumers may not realize they’re paying more for some of their regular purchases because companies are reducing sizes while keeping prices the same. . . .

Frito-Lay confirmed Doritos shrunk their bags due to pandemic pressures. “Inflation is hitting everyone…we took just a little bit out of the bag so we can give you the same price and you can keep enjoying your chips,” said a representative. Representatives at Proctor & Gamble which makes Crest toothpaste, and at Mondelez—which makes Nabisco Wheat Thins, confirmed reductions in their products’ volumes but did not disclose the reasons why. While Crest 3D White does now sell a 5 oz tube, its 4.1 oz tube shrunk to 3.8 oz.

It’s everywhere. I wrote about it here.

DECENTRALIZE, DECENTRALIZE, DECENTRALIZE: Cargo Cults and Technocracies.

SWEEP, DISINFECT AND BLOW TORCH: Niall Ferguson on current Ukraine events; where it comes to “denazification”, Putin had better sweep in front of his own doorstep.

THIS IS NOW PLAYMONEY. THEY ALREADY GAVE ALL OUR MONEY TO THE TALIBAN:   Senate Passes $1.5 Trillion Omnibus Bill With Ukraine.

THAT’S FINE. THE HO IS STUPID, AND THE VIEW IS INSANE:  Criticize Kamala Harris? RACIST, Says The View.

And stupid. And liars. And narcissistic morons.

Also, in the interests of completeness, Commie La Whorish is stupid and insane and malevolent.

Okay, I think it’s complete now. Though I could think of a few more things to call them.

MITT CAN DO ANYTHING. EXCEPT SHUT UP AND GO AWAY:  Mitt Romney: “Send These MiGs… Enough Talk. People Are Dying. Send Them The Planes That They Need. They Say They Need MiGs… They Want MiGs. Get Them the MiGs.”

We gave you a chance Mitt. You threw it all away talking about how Obama would do a fine job. Go away, Mitt. Soonest.

ROBERT ZIMMERMAN IS HAVING A FUNDRAISER:  Pioneer 2140CC – The 1980’s Sci-Fi Novel Turned Video Game!

A stunning sci-fi, visual novel video game based on the 1983 novel “Pioneer” by famed space historian & cave explorer Robert Zimmerman.

THE ROLLING STONE, WHERE THE ENTIRE STUFF HAS INHALED A LOT OF DRUGS:  Rolling Stone: “there are better, cheaper ways of powering our world with oil, gas, and coal”.  

Just because drugs light up their world, it doesn’t mean we can power ours with unicorn farts.

OR THEY DON’T WANT TO SOLVE THEM, BECAUSE THEY WANT TO DESTROY CIVILIZATION:  Climate Change Weekly #428: Democrats Can’t Solve Energy-Related Problems Because They Don’t Understand They Are Causing Them.

COCKROACHES WHEN THE LIGHTS GO ON:  BLM At School And Other Videos Scrubbed From National Association of Independent Schools After Legal Insurrection Exposé.

THE TIES WERE ALWAYS A BAD IDEA:  Russia Snips Ties with U.S. and European Space Projects.

Russia is always Russia. And in Russia things always get worse.

THEY NEED TO STOP WALT TURNING SO FAST IN HIS GRAVE:  DeSantis Puts ‘Woke’ Disney On Notice: I Won’t ‘Back Down’ From Defending Parents’ Rights Bill.

It’s getting dangerous.

ANALYSIS: TRUE:

But just because she’s useless doesn’t mean everyone is: Congressional delegation did what Kamala did not do – they went to the border of Poland and Ukraine.

CURIOUSLY, IN A SANE WORLD, THIS WOULD DISQUALIFY THE LEFTISTS:  Liberals Launch Another Attempt to Disqualify Republicans From Office Over January 6th.

OKAY, GROOMER:

WELL, GOOD, IT WAS ALWAYS A TREACHEROUS SELLOUT: Revival of Iran nuclear deal in doubt after Russia issues new demands.

THAT’S OKAY, SPACEX WILL RESCUE HIM WHILE NASA FOCUSES ON PRONOUNS AND MUSLIM OUTREACH: Russia Might Abandon a U.S. Astronaut on ISS, but NASA Is Worried About Pronouns.

MY NEW YORK POST COLUMN: Don’t pretend that high prices and American suffering are a ‘bug’ for the establishment — it’s a historic feature. “Yes, the record of those establishment hacks seems pretty bad. Of course, that assumes they want cheap gas, cheap food, energy independence and to promote America’s interests. There’s every reason to think the opposite: We’re not getting cheap gas, cheap food, energy independence, etc. because that’s not what the establishment wants. What we’re getting is what the establishment does want; if we don’t like it, tough. Don’t take my word for it, ask the establishment.”

WE’RE SUPER SERIOUS ABOUT THE THREAT OF WAR: Marine Corps Exceeds 1,000 COVID-19 Vaccine Separations.