READER FAVORITE: BERCOL Rechargeable LED Flashlights. #CommissionEarned

DUMB, ANNOYING, AND EASY TO TURN OFF — ONCE YOU KNOW IT’S THERE: Apple iPhone’s Clean Energy feature angers users over charging times. “Apple introduced Clean Energy Charging with the release of iOS 16.1 on Oct. 24, 2022. The company claims that when the mode is enabled and a phone is connected to a charger, the iPhone gets a report of carbon emissions generated by the local energy grid and uses that information to determine when to charge the phone.”

Pure virtue signaling on Apple’s part, given how little energy it takes to charge a phone.

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Is Ron DeSantis Running for President Without Running for President? “To give you an idea of what I mean, watch the ‘Freedom Is Worth Fighting For’ video his non-campaign released on Sunday.”

HMM: Biden admin ‘pauses’ removal of contaminated waste from East Palestine after destination states complain.

SKYNET SMILES: Reaching like an octopus: A biology-inspired model opens the door to soft robot control.

CHANGE: DeSantis Declares Victory as Disney Is Stripped of Some 56-Year-Old Perks.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Researchers find several oceanic bottom circulation collapses in the past 4.7 million years. I blame prehistoric SUVs.

MICHAEL SHELLENBERGER: America’s Shadow Self. Ruinous policies have transformed California from a symbol of progress to a cautionary tale for the nation.

THE FREE PRESS: The Real Science on Masks: They Make No Difference. 

OUTSOURCING [VIP]: Biden ‘Outmaneuvered’ by Xi on Ukraine Peace Plan. “Thanks to Team Biden having a perfect 100% absent record on the peace process, it’s now possible to envision a peace deal with an anti-Western slant that would potentially move Ukraine into China’s orbit — after all of that cash and all of those weapons were sent to Kyiv from the West.”

Don’t forget that VODKAPUNDIT promo code if you’ve been thinking of joining us.

FASTER, PLEASE: In test, zaps to spine help 2 stroke survivors move arms.

THAT COULD JUST BE FROM ALL THE LYING AROUND AND EATING PIZZA THAT GOES WITH IT: Study: Daily marijuana use linked to heart disease.

“FOLLOW THE SCIENCE:” Health Research Must Be Anchored in Community Narratives — It’s the way forward to achieve health equity.

NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME: Electric vehicle drivers get candid about charging: ‘Logistical nightmare.’ “Longer trips bring up flaws with EVs. People are leery of taking them on long trips — that’s why older EVs don’t have 40,000 miles on them.”

THE RESULT OF THREE YEARS SPENT SHATTERING PUBLIC TRUST: No One in East Palestine Believes Anything the Biden Administration Is Telling Them.

DEAL OF THE DAY: ReadyWise Emergency Food Supply. #CommissionEarned

I CAN’T BELIEVE WE’RE ON THE EVE OF SELF-DESTRUCTION:

WE ARE FINALLY ROLLING OUT THE SITE UPGRADES TODAY. From your end it will (hopefully) be invisible, but if anything odd happens, don’t worry, our tech guys will be on it.

DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONES: ‘I felt safer in downtown Saigon during Vietnam’: Moment squatters terrorizing Portland family almost set their home on fire as city battles to deal with 6,600 homeless people across 700 encampments.

Jacob and Beth Adams live next door to an abandoned home that has been taken over by several homeless people.

The couple has caught the homeless people overdosing and stealing from their backyard – but said the final straw was when the group set their property on fire.

‘There are fires that have been happening off and on. Major ones. This recent one actually came and set our property on fire,’ Jacob told Fox12.

The Adams’ official neighbor, who is a Vietnam veteran, echoed his concern, adding that the squatters have made his living situation worse than his military deployment in Vietnam.

Plus: “Jacob has called police constantly to report his squatter neighbors, but it appears nothing has changed.”

I REMEMBER WHEN HIGHER EDUCATION WAS DEFENDED AS PROMOTING CRITICAL THOUGHT: Professor on not wearing a mask in 2023: still ‘racist, ableist and classist.’

DEMAND MORE: The Top Spending Cuts Republicans Must Demand Before Raising the Debt Ceiling.

SHOCKER: Florida universities under-reporting DEI spending.

UNEXPECTEDLY: Chicago’s pursuit of ‘criminal justice reform’ an utter failure: Windy City homicides top nation for 11th year in a row with crime still rising. “There were no police available in 2021 for more than 400,000 high-priority 911 dispatches. That included 15,000 assaults in progress, 1,300 instances of people shot, 14,000 instances of domestic battery, and many more serious crimes.”

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Score Another One for the Tinfoil Hat COVID ‘Disinformation’ Crowd. “Those of us over here on Fauci Skeptic Island are on a roll lately, aren’t we?”

ICYMI: My thoughts on Mike Pence and Dick Cheney and the special prosecutor.