TYLER O’NEIL: Rachel Levine Enlists Doctors as Evangelists to Preach the Gospel of Transgenderism.

NICE FELLA: Meet the Merchant of Death, Viktor Bout. “This is the guy Presidentish Joe Biden just sprung from prison in exchange for a basketball player stupid enough to bring her personal stash of drugs into a country like Russia.”

PROGRESS: U of M male contraceptive grant focuses on access, affordability.

WE SHOULD HAVE SUNK IT: Iranian ship tries blinding 2 US Navy ships, gets ‘dangerously close’ to them.

SCHEDULED FOR 5:27 PM ET TODAY: Watch SpaceX launch 40 OneWeb internet satellites Thursday.

So routine it isn’t really news anymore, but that fact itself is noteworthy.

THE ESG SCAM IS BREAKING DOWN: Vanguard Group, One of ‘Big Three’ Index Fund Managers, Quits ESG-Oriented ‘Net Zero’ Group.

I was talking with a fund-manager friend recently who said that sales people in his shop all wanted ESG stuff, but the firm manager said ESG is a scam, and will end badly.

PUNCH BACK TWICE AS HARD: Incoming House Oversight Committee Chair Promises Investigation Into Biden Impeachable Offense.

ELON MUSK HITS SAN FRAN MAYOR WITH REALITY CHECK OVER CITY INVESTIGATION INTO HIS DECISION TO PUT BEDROOMS IN TWITTER HQ:

Musk responded on Tuesday by highlighting the irony of San Francisco wasting time inspecting Twitter’s headquarters when the city overall remains in disarray. He directed his response at Mayor London Breed (D).

“So city of SF attacks companies providing beds for tired employees instead of making sure kids are safe from fentanyl,” Musk responded. “Where are your priorities @LondonBreed!?”

Musk linked to a horrific story detailing how a 10-month-old baby died last week after having “suffered an accidental fentanyl overdose” while playing at a San Francisco park.

The baby’s tragic death remains under investigation.

Don’t underestimate the magnitude of Musk’s accomplishment:

WNBA’S BRITTNEY GRINER RELEASED BY RUSSIA IN 1-FOR-1 PRISONER SWAP FOR ARMS DEALER VIKTOR BOUT: “To secure Griner’s release, the president ordered Bout to be freed and returned to Russia. Mr. Biden signed the commutation order cutting short Bout’s 25-year federal prison sentence. Notably, the Griner-for-Bout exchange leaves retired U.S. Marine Paul Whelan imprisoned in Russia. Whelan has been in Russian custody for nearly four years. He was convicted on espionage charges that the U.S. has called false. ‘We’ve not forgotten about Paul Whelan,’ Mr. Biden said Thursday, adding ‘we will never give up’ on securing his release. U.S. officials told reporters that it became clear in talks with the Russians that the prospect of exchanging both Griner and Whelan for Bout was a nonstarter, with one saying the U.S. had was ‘a choice between bringing home one particular American — Brittney Griner — or bringing home none.’”

Jim Geraghty dubs the trade “A Terrible Concession to Putin’s Russia.” “It is likely that one of the reasons the Biden administration went ahead with this deal was their confidence that enough allies would choose to characterize it as a major diplomatic victory, not an epic concession to a hostile state that is likely to try to use the same strongarm tactics again in the future.”

KNOWN WOLF: FBI Confirms It Got Tip About Colorado ‘Nonbinary’ Mass Shooting Suspect.

The disclosure by the FBI creates a new timeline for when authorities were first notified about the suspect as it was believed that he only became known to officials after he made the threat in June of last year.

An FBI assessment is the lowest level, least intrusive, and most elementary stage of an FBI inquiry. Such assessments are routinely opened after agents receive a tip and investigators routinely face a challenge of sifting through which of the tens of thousands of tips received every year could yield a viable threat.

People hold a vigil at a makeshift memorial near the Club Q nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Nov. 20, 2022. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
It’s not clear why Colorado officials dropped charges against Aldrich after he threatened his family members. He was previously charged with felony kidnapping and menacing charges.

During the aforementioned incident, Aldrich had threatened to kill members of his family and allegedly had told them he wanted to be “the next mass killer.” He also said that if a police SWAT crew came inside his Colorado Springs home, he would blow the house up.

Local authorities are much more culpable than the FBI is for this screwup. Heads should roll, but I doubt they will.

FACEPALM: Karine Jean-Pierre Reads Wrong Answer During Press Briefing.

BE PREPARED: Tactical Portable LED Flashlight. #CommissionEarned

PRIVACY: Apple announces plans to encrypt iCloud backups.

Apple announced that it plans to encrypt additional iCloud data on its servers, including full backups, photos and notes.

The feature, called Advanced Data Protection, will prevent Apple from seeing the contents of some of the most sensitive user data stored on its servers.

The move will please security advocates, but it may upset law enforcement, since it will be impossible for Apple to provide authorities with the content of an encrypted backup.

But: iOS 16.2 implements 10-minute AirDrop time limit globally.

Before 16.2, AirDrop had no time limit and was a favorite tool to share information among protestors in places like Communist China. But instead of restoring full functionality to China after getting busted for it last week, Apple extended the time-out globally.

I WAS TOLD THIS WAS ONLY ABOUT CONFEDERATE GENERALS: Lincoln statue must go, article in Syracuse student newspaper argues. “The author writes that ‘the ironic placement of Lincoln, cradled by a school that values citizenship, ethics and justice to promote the public good, is indeed, contradictory.'”

HMM: Feds Link Attack on North Carolina Substations to Attacks on Oregon, Washington Power Stations.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: 87% of students say college is ‘too difficult’ but refuse to study more.

GEORGE FRIEDMAN: Peace Accords.

All of this suggests a war of attrition. Think World War I but without trenches. The Russians initiated combat, and any admission of failure would threaten the government. Ukrainian concessions would be tantamount to an end of the country, or at least an abdication of its independence. From the American point of view, continuing the war is better than defeat, since U.S. security guarantees to other allies would be on the line. (For this reason, I don’t think Washington will involve itself too much in the fine print.)

Under these circumstances, it would appear that the war cannot end. But each country has an imperative not to be broken and not to capitulate. And no one, save the Americans, can walk away. Reality is the ultimate gut check. Ukraine and Russia will posture until the end, even if neither knows exactly what its breaking point is. Each hopes the other is approaching that breaking point, and each wants to avoid reaching it first.

It is this mutual fear of failure that drives each to a negotiated settlement, however contemptible and belligerent that process will be. The opening gut check is followed by an emerging reality of how much you can play and how much your enemy can play, two variables that are considered every day by leaders and soldiers alike. Unthinkable concessions then become thinkable. The hazier this is, the more each side will be frightened that they will suddenly break.

Jaw, jaw really is better than war, war. The trouble is getting the leadership to publicly admit it and come to the table.

It’s even more troublesome for Russia, where a losing war usually leads to political turmoil — or worse.

LIKE MOST SPLASHY UNDERTAKINGS OF THE CHATTERING CLASS: U.S. News Law School Rankings Boycott Is A Big Nothing Burger. “Elite law schools opting out of the U.S. News ranking won’t change a damn thing. If anything, it highlights the big class divide among law schools.”

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Squeaky in the Doghouse — AOC Gets Some Ethics Scrutiny. “This ain’t my first rodeo, so I’m not naive enough to think that members of Congress are called to the carpet every time they receive gifts that are related to their positions. What, pray tell, could our girl Squeaks have done that would make the committee announce this during the last month that the Democrats were chairing it? They could have made it look like a petty Republican hit job if they’d waited another month.”

#METOO WAS ALWAYS A SCAM: Allegation: NY AG Letitia James protected top aide from harassment allegations.

PEOPLE WHO REFUSE TO DO THEIR JOBS OUGHT TO BE FIRED, PERIOD: California English teacher says proper grammar is ‘white supremacist,’ refuses to teach it.

I WONDER IF SHE’LL BE GLAD TO HEAR THE NATIONAL ANTHEM NOW? Brittany Griner swapped for Russian arms dealer, on way back to US.

JONATHAN TURLEY: An End to the Deep Twitter State? “Conservatives often cite Baker as part of a ‘deep state’ committed to opposing former President Donald Trump and working closely with Democratic interests. Now he is accused of essentially being part of a deep state at Twitter sabotaging or obstructing efforts of Musk to release information.”

Plus: “What is also clear is that, despite the full mobilization of Washington against Musk, the billionaire is undeterred. Once again, the normally unstoppable forces of Washington may have met their first immovable object.”

RISE OF A PRIVILEGED CLASS: Los Angeles doesn’t want to prosecute criminals if they are illegal immigrants.

YOU’RE NOT BEING PARANOID WHEN GROOMERS ARE VIRTUALLY EVERYWHERE: American Girl Uses Body Positivity Guide to Groom Girls for Transgenderism.