I WOULDN’T WANT TO TALK TO EITHER: Crisis Hotline: Kamala Refusing To Answer Calls From Elizabeth Warren.

DEAL OF THE DAY: Vont 2 Pack LED Camping Lanterns. #CommissionEarned

I THOUGHT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO FOCUS ON WHAT OUR RIVALS ARE UP TO, BUT WHAT DO I KNOW? US Intel Agencies Need to Focus Intensely on ‘Diversity, Equity, Inclusion,’ Intelligence Chief Says.

Citing earlier comments from David Petraeus, former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, Carson contended that minorities were underrepresented in the IC.

“What are your organizations doing to improve diversity when it comes to recruiting and retaining your workforces?” Carson asked Haines and the other panelists. “Does the IC need to devote more resources to professional development? How do you all plan on tackling those very apparent issues?”

“I think there is no question that we have to do better on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility,” Haines replied promptly.

Haines pointed to recent budget requests in which her organization had requested more funding to carry out “more intense efforts” to increase the presence of minorities in the IC.

“I think you’ll see in our budget requests and our proposals in all of the work that we’re doing that … we see this as an area that we need to focus more intense resources and efforts,” Haines said.

There’s really nothing more to say aside from “We are so screwed.”

FORBES HASN’T BEEN A SERIOUS MAGAZINE FOR A DECADE: What the heck happened to Forbes?

MATT TAIBBI: In FBI Case, the First Amendment Takes Another Bizarre Hit: The same Democratic minority staff that trashed the First Amendment in last week’s Twitter Files hearings put something amazing in writing in a parallel case. “The style of the new anti-speech Democrat is clear: define all government critics as lacking standing to criticize, impugn their prior opinions and associations, imply that all their beliefs are conspiracy theory, define their lack of faith in the FBI’s judgment as treasonous, and declare their motivation to be financial. Lastly, when they invoke common constitutional rights, make a note that their activities exist in an uncovered carve-out. This is the playbook, and we all better get used to it.”

Make ’em eat it.

YET ANOTHER CRISIS BY DESIGN: As Military Recruiting Numbers Dip to Record Lows, Biden’s Woke Army Works to Destroy Morale.

ON SUNDAYS I RUN A BOOK PROMO FOR (MOSTLY) INDIE WRITERS:  Book Promo and Vignettes by Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike.

And on Sundays when I’m feeling sick, I only share it on Tuesday morning.

Oh, there’s also a fun vignette challenge.

CDR SALAMANDER: The long post-Cold War period of low defense spending – for serious nations – is coming to an end … at least those are the words and the vibe … but what are the actions? “It is one thing to say you want to do more, the United Kingdom is actually talking about putting its money where their theory is.”

OKAY, SO IGNORE CLIMATE CHANGE AND RUN THE DIRTIEST INDUSTRY IN THE WORLD?  Biden’s Secretary of Energy say’s U.S. can “learn” from China on Climate Change.

Note I do not believe “climate change” as human-caused is a) proven b)inimical to life on Earth c) anything but same old socialist boondoggle.  But I still think we don’t need the level of pollution China has.  In fact the only thing China has to teach us is “awful example of what not to do.

AH PRESENTISM AGAIN. THESE IDIOTS DON’T REALIZE SEXISM AND RACISM RULE NOW… ON THE LEFT:  TikTok’s viral ‘trad wife’ trend accused of ‘romanticizing an era where sexism and racism ruled’.

THE MSM WILL FIND A WAY TO BLAME GOV. DESANTIS IN 5 … 4 …   Huge seaweed bloom that can be seen from space threatens Florida beaches.

SO YOU’RE SAYING THEY HAD EXPERIENCE WITH FAILING BANKS?   Top Silicon Valley Bank execs worked at notoriously troubled Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Bank.

THEY GAVE A BOARD SEAT TO THE MAN WITH A HAND IN EVERY BANKING CRISES OF THE LAST 30 YEARS?  Barney Frank under fire over role on board of doomed Signature Bank.

Well, they had to do something to keep him from running prostitution rings from his basement again!

THE PROBLEM IS NOT THIS DEAN OF DIVERSITY. THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE POSITION EXISTS AT ALL:  Firing Diversity Dean Over Judge Shout-Down May Help Stanford Law School Escape Consequences Of Its Toxic DEI Culture.

No, there is no proof, scientific or otherwise that diversity helps or enhances anything. The only diversity that has the potential to do that is diversity of points of view, which is not what this “diversity” is.  And even diversity of points of view has limits. Astronomers shouldn’t be required to hire flat Earthers.

As it stands, right now “diversity” positions are political officer positions for the left. And that’s how they work. So, they’re the problem.

SURE IT COULD; AND FAUCI COULD BE AN HONEST MAN:  Straining Credulity, Dr. Fauci Asserts Covid Lab Leak Could Still be Considered a ‘Natural Occurrence’.

But let’s not bother with hypotheticals and stick to reality. In this reality Fauci is a crook and the covid lab leak was not natural.

I’VE NOTICED A LOT OF ADS FOR HOW TO GET YOUR CLOTHES TO NOT STINK AGAIN:  Manufacturers, Customers Lash Out at Biden’s ‘Climate Friendly’ Washing Machine Regulations.

I want our government to stop its war on things that work.

TO BE FAIR WE’RE NOT MAD. WE’RE FURIOUS:  Fauci Has No Idea Why People Are Mad At Him.

Lying, imposing his psychosis on the whole nation, helping destroy the economy and falsify our elections, giving money to China, gain of function….  Shall I go on? Because I’m going to get to puppies and sandflies really quick, and then I’m going to start screaming and reaching for the ax, and no one wants that.

NO. NOT CLOSE TO SINFUL. SINFUL. TREATING CHILDREN LIKE OBJECTS TO ADVANCE A POLITICAL VIEW. ATROCITY:  “Close To Sinful” Transgender Laws Per Biden.

SELLING US THE ROPE TO HANG US WITH: TWICE!  China May Have Double-Billed U.S. For Wuhan Lab Projects.

OH YES, WE HAVE BANANAS:  Welcome to the banana republic.

OPEN THREAD: Same old same old.

THE LID: Dems Soil Their Undies As House GOP Subpoenas Banking Records Of Hunter And Friends.

JENNIFER SEY: The predictable economic fallout of lockdown policy.

Widespread business closures due to lockdowns caused mass layoffs of, primarily, hourly wage workers with little to no savings. Then the government spent money that we did not have so people could pay their rent and not starve. And then they did it again.

Of course, this caused inflation. Then the Fed raised interest rates to halt the inflation.

And now we are experiencing the ensuing disaster that is unfolding in real time. And the little guy is left holding the bag whether through exorbitant pricing of basic necessities like milk and eggs or small business investors wondering when and if they’ll be able to extract their money from SVB to pay their employees and vendors.

No, I’m not a banker. But it’s easy to see what happened and that’s the rough outline in the simplest possible terms.

You can’t shut the world down and think there will not be consequences. You just can’t.

All of this happened — lockdowns forcing small business closures — while corporate employees worked from home and screeched “we’re all in this together” while ordering Uber Eats, watching Netflix and working kinda, sorta sometimes. And of course, while continuing to take their salaries and bonuses and stock payouts. And continuing to do so to this day.

No company dared speak out against lockdowns. I can’t think of a single one. Instead, they laid people off with “empathy”, gave them two weeks salary and continued advocating in support of lockdowns — or at the very least going along with them, staying silent — knowing that the bill was coming.

Earlier: “The Democrats saw an opportunity with the emergence of Covid to crush a roaring economy under a president they didn’t like. So they, & their base, did everything in their power to impose crushing restrictions on small businesses…Locking people up at home not only tanked the economy & drove up prices, it completely disrupted the global manufacturing & supply chain that was in place. You can’t just flip that on and off like a light switch.”

Read the whole thing; it’s tough to argue with, based on the healthcare profession’s pivot in the summer of 2020…

● NPR: Dozens of public health and disease experts have signed an open letter in support of the nationwide anti-racism protests. “White supremacy is a lethal public health issue that predates and contributes to COVID-19,” they wrote.

● ‘Did I miss the memo?’: Hospital workers in full PPE applaud George Floyd protesters as they march past.

…And the more recent pivot by the DNC-MSM, such at the Atlantic. The change is subtle, but see if you can spot the difference in tone between the first two and last two headlines:

● Parents Are Losing Their Minds Over Masks in Schools.

—Atlantic headline, August 18th, 2021.

● Mask Mandates Don’t Need to Make Sense.

—Atlantic headline, February 20, 2022.

● Now Is as Good a Time as There’ll Ever Be to Leave Your Pandemic Bubble.

—Atlantic headline, March 3rd, 2022.

● Speech Therapy Shows the Difficult Tradeoffs of Wearing Masks.

—Atlantic headline, March 2, 2022.

As Ace of Spades writes, at the start of a lengthy post on that last headline, “The masking mandates that the corrupt US and state and local governments forced on children, under pressure from the corrupt teachers unions have imposed developmental disorders on children that they may never recover from. The early years of development are critical ones. You don’t get those back. These are critical years of development in which children’s brains are wired to rewire themselves like crazy. Their brains will reconfigure themselves during these years like in no other point in their lives, ever. There is no ‘Do Over’ switch on a child’s formative years.”

SPACE JUNK: NASA study assesses costs and benefits of orbital debris removal.

THERE WAS A TIME WHEN THIS WOULD HAVE SEEMED OBVIOUS TO EVERYONE. NOW YOU HAVE TO ARGUE IT. Blowing up the American tech sector would be bad.