DECLINE IS A CHOICE: U.S. Not Ready to Quickly Produce and Ship Weapon Systems, Panel Says. “The United States no longer has the capacity to quickly produce needed wartime assets, like 155 mm artillery shells, or to repair vital sophisticated systems, like radar, rapidly in theater, a panel of expert logisticians said last week.”

Better to discover this shortfall during somebody else’s shooting war, but the question remains whether we’re still serious enough to devote the resources to correct it.

BANANA REPUBLIC: Bombshell Docs Show Biden White House Directly Coordinated With FBI to Set up Trump Raid.

WITH LIES AND A COMPLIANT PRESS. NEXT QUESTION? Why Do Democrats Think They Can ‘Win’ the Crime Issue?

More seriously:

Research by John R. Lott Jr. highlights just how geographically concentrated the murder problem is in the United States. Of the more than 3,000 counties in the country, 52 percent had zero murders in 2020, while the 31 counties with the highest murder rates (the worst 1 percent) had 42 percent of the nation’s murders. Expand the focus to the worst 2 percent (62 counties), and these accounted for more than half (56 percent) of U.S. murders in 2020. Lott concluded: “Murder isn’t a nationwide problem. It’s a problem in a small set of urban areas …”

Yes, but what about “gun violence”? What about the inflammatory rhetoric of Democrats demonizing the National Rifle Association (NRA) as somehow to blame for America’s crime problem? Among other things, Lott took into account rates of firearm ownership, and found an inverse relationship between the prevalence of murder and rates of gun ownership: “According to a 2021 Pew Research Center survey, the household gun ownership rate in rural areas was 79% higher than in urban areas. Suburban households are 37.9% more likely to own guns than urban households. Despite lower gun ownership, urban areas experience much higher murder rates.”

So much for the correlation between gun ownership and crime. What do we know about the correlation between politics and crime? The five U.S. cities with the highest per capita murder rates are St. Louis (69.4 per 100,000 population), Baltimore (51.1), New Orleans (40.6), Detroit (39.7), and Cleveland (33.7). In the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden got 82 percent of the vote in St. Louis, 87 percent in Baltimore, 83 percent in New Orleans, 94 percent in Detroit and 80 percent in Cleveland. In other words, the most dangerous cities in America are all Democratic Party strongholds.

Plus: “These facts are not difficult to discover, if anyone is willing to do a few Google searches, but you would probably have no idea about any of this if your source for news was ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, PBS, the New York Times, the Washington Post or the Associated Press.”

As I said, Democrats will lie and the press will cover for them.

CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSATION: As number of women rises in higher ed, free speech declines on campuses: survey.

NO: Corporate Media Encourages COVID Slaves to ‘Forget Much of the Pandemic’

THIS WILL NOT END WELL: Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set to unveil proposed rules tomorrow that will effectively force automakers to sell internal combustion-powered vehicles to no more than one-third of their customers. The remaining two-thirds must be electric vehicles by 2032. Why? Because climate, according to The Washington Free Beacon’s Collin Anderson.

But what if two-thirds of the people buying new vehicles prefer an internal combustion engine under their shiny new hoods? The results of a recent survey for AP, NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the Energy Policy Institute show less than one in five Americans say they intend to buy an EV.

Apparently, EPA officials haven’t read this, which explains why America will never go EV.

REPORT FROM THE BLUE ZONES: Whole Foods to close San Francisco flagship store a year after opening. “Last November, the San Francisco Standard reported that the Whole Foods location at Trinity Place had limited its store hours following ‘high theft’ and ‘hostile people,’ according to a statement from a store manager who was granted anonymity by the outlet.”

I REMEMBER WHEN HIGHER EDUCATION WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A MATURING INFLUENCE: SF State admin sides with Riley Gaines’ attackers, blocks her on social media. “San Francisco State University’s VP of Student Affairs Jamilla Moore recently released a statement in support of the trans activists who ‘peacefully’ protested Riley Gaines’ event. The event in question ended in Gaines being attacked and trapped on campus for three hours. Gaines told Campus Reform, ‘We must have different definitions of peaceful.'”

NEWS YOU CAN USE: FBI comes right out and says it: Don’t plug your phone in at airports. “The reason for this is ‘juice jacking,’ a hacking method that uses illegally altered USB outlets to skim smartphone data. Today, an official FBI Twitter account tweeted out a warning to travelers: ‘Avoid using free charging stations in airports, hotels, or shopping centers.'”

I have a power brick I bring for travel, just big enough for one good top-off. But battery life on most phones is so good now that I can’t remember the last time I used it, or anyone asked to borrow it.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: AOC’s ‘Small Brain/Big Mouth’ Syndrome Gets Worse Every Day. “America’s Dumbest Bartender has been given a platform to espouse her commie nonsense and never be challenged. That reinforces in her mind that she’s right, which she never is. Her farther than far left ideology is a freedom-choking weed that keeps on growing no matter what the weather is like.”

HARSH BUT FAIR:

https://twitter.com/xenophonrocks/status/1645646644451368960

HMM: Russia posted a $29 billion deficit in the first quarter as energy revenue plummets — and it could spell trouble for the country’s military bills.

Russia’s finance ministry did not quantify the impact of the ban and price cap on Russian crude but the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a Finnish think tank, estimated in January that the ban and price cap was costing the Kremlin over $170 million a day.

In sharp contrast, Russia’s expenditure has seen a massive jump — the country’s spending jumped 34% to 8.1 trillion rubles over the same first quarter period, per the finance ministry data.

The Russian finance ministry did not explain why expenditures spiked so sharply, but the country’s defense spending went over budget by 54% in 2022, according to Gaidar Institute, an independent Moscow-based think tank, Reuters reported on April 4.

The country is likely to continue plowing money into defense and security, with combined spending expected to hit 9.4 trillion rubles in 2023, according to a Reuters budget analysis in November. That’s nearly one-third of the national budget.

But: Ukraine’s air defence could be ‘out of ammunition this week’ leaked US documents suggest.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): I believe there’s a line in Jim Dunnigan’s How To Make War about how the least-appreciated thing about modern warfare is how wildly, crushingly expensive it is.

And, from the comments: “Just think, it is very likely that had Donald Trump been reelected in 2020 our petroleum producers would have driven Russia bankrupt without sanctions or any other horse shit like them, but simply by out competing Putin. It would been glorious for the US economy and citizens, and could have conceivably prevented Putin from invading Ukraine due to lack of funds. All that money and war machinery we are pissing down a rat hole in Ukraine could be doing something more productive and useful.”

Yep. I think it’s worth funding Ukraine to weaken Putin, but we could have done a better job of it via deterrence and drilling.

DEAL OF THE DAY: Carhartt Men’s Loose Fit Heavyweight Short-Sleeve Pocket T-Shirt. #CommissionEarned

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: White House Report Card: Head in the sand no way to govern.

A SMALL VICTORY FOR THE RULE OF LAW: White House Rejects Calls To Ignore Abortion Pill Ruling, As FDA Seeks Emergency Stay From 5th Circuit.

HE REALLY DOES: Steven Van Zandt Is Bruce Springsteen’s Guitarist. He Hates You. He Wants You Dead.

IT’S TAKING US 8 YEARS TO MODERNIZE A CRUISER: The Chinese Are Building Two Per Year. “That is a formula for decline, deindustrialization, and defeat. That is what happens to a maritime power who forgets what it means to be a sea power.”

TARGETING AMERICANS BASED ON RELIGION: Documents Reveal FBI Sought to Develop Sources in Local Catholic Churches. “Today, Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) revealed that the FBI relied on information derived from at least one undercover employee and sought to use local religious organizations as ‘new avenues for tripwire and source development.’ This proposed outreach plan included contacting so-called ‘mainline Catholic parishes’ and the local ‘diocesan leadership.’ The documents reveal that the FBI also expressed an interest in ‘leverag[ing] existing sources and/or initiat[ing] Type 5 Assessments to develop new sources with the placement and access’ to report on suspicious activity. In light of this information and the serious consequences for the free exercise of Americans’ First Amendment rights, Chairman Jordan issued a subpoena today to FBI Director Wray for all documents related to the FBI’s actions.”

SHUT UP, PROLES: Very last week for German nuclear power enters, but most Germans consider nuclear exit a mistake. “No later than Saturday, April 15, the time has come: then Germany’s last three nuclear power plants will also close. This will make the nuclear exit decided in 2011 a reality. An opinion poll shows that the majority of Germans consider the exit a bad decision.”

AT THIS POINT, I’D BE SHOCKED IF THEY HADN’T: Explosive Revelation: Feds Potentially Instigated in Jan. 6 Capitol Riot Violence.

JEFFREY CARTER: The Wrong Take:

I am reading on Twitter, and in today’s Wall Street Journal that a Marxist was elected Mayor of Chicago because all the voters who would vote against him moved out. . . .

This is the exact wrong take.

A coalition of the Chicago Teacher’s Union, white Marxists, Blacks, and Marxist Hispanics elected a Marxist mayor. That should not be surprising to anyone.

I think Professor John McGinnis has a correct viewpoint. This election should be a bellwether, and wake up anyone that is a classical liberal or conservative.

First, it represents the triumph of the hard Left not on one of the coasts but in the heart of the Midwest, in a city known for its pragmatic, if machine-Democratic, politics. Second, it displays the raw power of public-sector unions in Illinois and in today’s Democratic Party. Johnson was not just supported by the unions; he is the paid agent of the most powerful and radical of them all—the Chicago Teachers Union. Third, Johnson’s victory will have national reverberations for years to come because his administration will test the Left’s attempt to transform urban policy.

Here is what really happened in Chicago. It didn’t happen overnight. My friend Matt Rosenberg has a nice expose on what it will take to change Chicago, but frankly, it’s not happening.

The Democratic Machine took power in the 1930s. They seized power over a Republican Machine. That Republican Machine elected Abe Lincoln. Chicago has been about Machine Politics and it’s been crooked since its founding.

Interestingly, Illinois is considered “The Land of Lincoln” but today the better moniker would be “The Land of Lenin”.

As the Democrats worked to exert power, they used the government as a cudgel over the head of the citizens. Get out of line, your garbage didn’t get picked up. Get out of line, a city inspector would visit your business and let you know it would be a shame for something to happen to your business.

They also stole lots of elections. As John Kass has expertly pointed out, who gets what office in Chicago isn’t competitive. It’s moving pieces around a chessboard. There are no surprises in the Chicago elections. The only drama is a faux drama created by the media and press. Today’s press in Chicago is merely a rubber stamp, a tool of the woke left. There are no true journalists in Chicago employed by the mainstream media. Not one.

It’s the model for the country as a whole, they hope.

ON SUNDAY NIGHT I NORMALLY DO A PROMO POST. LAST WEEK I WAS TOO SICK, YESTERDAY WAS EASTER, SO…  Hark, What is this Abomination Monday Two Weeks Late Book Promo and Vignettes by Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike.

Abominations happen!

THERE DOES APPEAR TO BE A VIOLATION, BUT I QUESTION ANY ACCOUNTABILITY: Mistrial? Will the Judge Presiding Over the Trump Case Face an Ethics Violation?

I ALWAYS ASSUMED ZED WAS A METAPHOR FOR COMMIES?  Apocaloptimist, part 3: zombies!

FORGET CLIMATE CHGANGE, THIS IS THE REAL THREAT TO MOTHER GAIA:  NASA warns of ‘runaway’ black hole: ‘Invisible monster on the loose’.

There’s a “runaway” black hole is tearing through the universe — and NASA is calling it an “invisible monster on the loose.”

“There’s an invisible monster on the loose, barreling through intergalactic space so fast that if it were in our solar system, it could travel from Earth to the moon in 14 minutes,” NASA wrote in a release.

The supermassive black hole created a never-before-seen trail of stars, leaving behind a 200,000-light-year-long “contrail” of newborn stars twice the diameter of the Milky Way.

It’s pushing into gas in front of it to create the new star formation in a narrow corridor rather than eating up the stars ahead of it.

“The black hole is streaking too fast to take time for a snack,” NASA quipped.

The remedy will, of course, be more socialism.