IN THE MAIL: Counter Wokecraft: A Field Manual for Combatting the Woke in the University and Beyond. #CommissionEarned Glenn read this and said it was extremely helpful.

COLD WAR II: Why is China strengthening its military? It’s not all about war.

For some, the buildup alone provides reasons to fear conflict. Observers point to the rapid modernization as unambiguous evidence that China is preparing for war with the United States. In March 2021, Adm. Philip Davidson, then-head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, warned that China could take military action against Taiwan by 2027. Adm. Michael Gilday, the chief of naval operations, added that he can’t rule out a Chinese attempt to invade as early as 2023.

Preparation for war is one possibility for the PLA’s buildup, but it is not the only one. The military’s modernization goals serve a variety of political and military purposes, none of which imply any intent to actually start a war. A grasp of the myriad drivers could help observers more accurately assess the danger posed by the PLA’s modernization.

A first major reason Chinese leaders seek a powerful military owes to basic security. History matters greatly here: Chinese leaders are acutely aware of the downfall of past dynasties when a weak military permitted adversaries to bring the empire to its knees. Chinese leaders routinely invoke past humiliations, such as the Opium Wars, to remind the population of the dangers that weakness might pose. Maintaining a strong deterrence, including through a large nuclear arsenal, is a fundamental reason that China seeks a powerful military.

Second, a growing China requires a more capable military to handle a growing range of missions, including the possibility of a conflict with Taiwan. China faces a difficult geography, with many hostile and suspicious powers along its periphery. Defense whitepapers highlight a multitude of threats, including the dangers of Taiwan separatism, disputes in the East and South China seas, border disputes, and the dangers of great power rivalry with the United States.

I’m not sure what the author means about the “dangers of Taiwan separatism.” The Republic of China on Taiwan already is separate and merely wants to stay that way — any danger comes from Communist China on the mainland.

That aside, a potential rival needs to be judged on their capabilities, not on their intent — which can change in a heartbeat.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Stanford Law: These future lawyers are too fragile to handle opposing arguments.

WELL, YES: Don’t Believe the Hype: Woke Is Real and It’s Dangerous.

OH: Emergency Motion Claims FBI Didn’t Disclose Informant Inside Proud Boys Defense Team.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Professor: Stanford Law students were right to scream and yell at federal judge.

I remember when taxpayers were told that paying for higher education would help promote a civil society.

21ST CENTURY HEADLINES: You’ve Probably Never Been ‘Woman Of The Year,’ But These Men Have.

TURNING THE TABLES ON THOSE CLOWNS IS HIS CHIEF SKILL: Don Surber: How Trump Gamed the Media.

DEAL OF THE DAY: Dockers Men’s Classic Fit Easy Khaki Pants. #CommissionEarned

HAS EVERYTHING BECOME RACIST? Great and relevant question and The Lid’s Jeff Dunetz has the answer (Hint – Wokesters won’t like it).

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Libs of TikTok Is the Beating Heart of the Anti-Woke Movement. “The frothing, rabid Woke freaks have been incessantly harassing Raichik in an attempt to cancel her. She continues undaunted, and rather cheerful in the face of pressure that would make a lot of people quickly decide that none of it was worth the effort.”

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO . . . Oklahoma high school teacher arrested for allegedly stalking, grooming, sending sexual images to students.

CULTURAL VANDALISM: Agatha Christie’s Poirot, Miss Marple Classic Mysteries Rewritten For Modern Sensitivities.

OF COURSE THEY DID: ‘Friendly Fascism’: Biden White House Wanted To Censor Even Private Speech Over COVID Vax.

CONTROLLED OPPOSITION: The FBI had more people in the Proud Boys than the Proud Boys. “The trial of chapter leader Zach Rehl was preparing to call a witness this week, but ran into a problem. Their ‘witness’ turned out to be a confidential informant for the FBI who had been spying on the defense team. That brought the trial to a screeching halt ‘until these issues have been considered and resolved.’ That’s putting it mildly, to say the least.”

ANOTHER VICTORY FOR THE NCLA: In NCLA Amicus Win, en Banc Fifth Circuit Rules Against Biden’s Federal Employee Vaccine Mandate.

Reminder/disclosure: I’m on the New Civil Liberties Alliance’s advisory board.

BANZHAF GOES TO WAR ON STANFORD DISRUPTION: Activist lawprof John Banzhaf at George Washington University is unhappy with Stanford Law Dean Jenny Martinez’s decision not to discipline the student protesters who disrupted Judge Duncan’s speech, and to keep bar examiners from discovering those students’ identities, and is taking action himself: Law Prof To File Bar Complaint Against Stanford Students Who Heckled, Harassed Federal Judge.

An elite university law professor intends to file a complaint with the bar admission authorities to advise against accepting any student who participated in a protest against Federal Judge Kyle Duncan earlier this month, according to an email obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

John Banzhaf, professor of public interest law emeritus at George Washington University (GWU), wrote to Stanford Law School Dean Jenny Martinez on Monday to inform her of the complaint, the exchange read. The protesters heckled Duncan, who was invited to campus by the Federalist Society, during his March 9 speech and were encouraged by Stanford Law School Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Tirien Steinbach.

The complaint will include video of the protest “so that bar officials can judge the students’ conduct for themselves,” according to the email.

“I have advised Stanford Law School that I am planning to file complaints with the appropriate bar admission authorities regarding the violations of its own free speech rules by some of its law students because, like many others, I feel that their actions in deliberately preventing a federal judge from speaking to law students who wanted to hear his views and perhaps question him about them reflects adversely on their character and fitness, and, perhaps most importantly, because the Law School – which actually encouraged the wrongful behavior – is apparently refusing to take any actions regarding the disruptive students,” Banzhaf told the DCNF.

Banzhalf cited several opinion articles that offered recommendations on how the law school could respond to the students who violated the code of conduct including sending a message to character & fitness review boards or imposing suspensions and expulsions. Complaints to bar officials can be filed anonymously and can delay or deny student admission, he said in a ValueWalk article titled “A Remedy For Stanford Law School’s Free Speech Thugs.”

“I have long believed that one important role law professors can play is to file legal complaints where appropriate since doing so effectively often requires being a lawyer; yet many lawyers in private practice are reluctant to take controversial actions for fear of losing existing clients or alienating prospective ones – a risk law professors do not face,” he told the DCNF.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: More Commentary On The Disruption Of A Federal Judge’s Speech At Stanford Law School (Part 3).

ELIZABETH WARREN SYNDROME IS REAL: Prominent Hollywood Native American Turns Out Not to Be Native American at All.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Again, if “white supremacy” is a thing, why are so many white people pretending to be nonwhite?

BECAUSE HE’S ELON MUSK, AND THUS ON THE OUTS WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT, WHICH SHE CARRIES WATER FOR PROFESSIONALLY: “And there really is a terrible problem of unaffordable housing in Austin, so why does Applebaum want to kick him around for building homes for the workers he’s bringing into the area?”

80% of “journalism” — 90% at the WaPo or NYT — involves fellating or kicking those who are in or out of favor with the establishment. This is Anne Applebaum doing the kicking part.

I LEAVE THAT TO THE PROGRESSIVES: No, I’m not a eugenicist.

DID ANYONE ACTUALLY THINK THAT IT WAS? Meltdown in Deutsche Bank Shares Shows Banking Crisis Is Not Yet Over.

The volatility in the markets reflects the delicate state the U.S. economy is in. On Wednesday, the Fed raised interest rates by a quarter point – less than had been expected as recently as a week before its meeting – as it battles inflation that is still running at levels twice its annual average target of 2%. But, at the same time, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell warned that a credit crunch from the banking crisis could slow the economy in the weeks to come.

At the same time, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was telling Congress that not all bank deposits were going to be protected, a statement she later amended to say the government would take “additional steps” if needed to address stability in the banking system.

The Dow fell more than 500 points on Wednesday. The sudden drop in bond yields also suggests that the market believes the next move from the Fed will be to cut rates to spur the economy should a recession occur.

The Fed can fight inflation or it can fight recession but it can’t do both at once. Recessions are supposed to crush demand enough to tame inflation, but there’s still so much stimulus money out there and Washington has no taste for reining in debt-financed borrowing — so who knows.

UNSEALING VIDEOS MAY PUT OFFICERS AT RISK? WHAT ABOUT THE AMERICAN CITIZENS’ RIGHTS PUT AT RISK!  Prosecutor Admits DC Police Officers Acted as Provocateurs at US Capitol on Jan. 6.

If you’re afraid of the wrath of the populace, I encourage you to say orders are orders. It worked so well for your spiritual predecessors!

FIFTH CIRCUIT: Biden Can’t Mandate Vaccines for Fed Employees, Court Rules.

JOSH BLACKMAN: Democracy Died in Darkness in Harvard Trial Sidebars: Judge Allison Burroughs refused to unseal an anti-Asian joke shared by a federal employee to Harvard’s Dean of Admissions. “A particularly egregious exercise of sidebar-redaction came during the Harvard affirmative action trial in Boston federal district court. Jannie Suk Gersen, a professor at Harvard, writes about what happened in Judge Allison Burroughs courtroom. During the trial, the judge held lengthy sidebar discussions with counsel, and declined to release those matters in the public transcript. Indeed, those sidebars were not initially included in the record that was transmitted to the United States Supreme Court!”

LESSONS FROM STANFORD LAW’S PRO-PEDOPHILE RIOT:

We might understand the zeal of young, idealist students in reacting that way to a judge who’d affirmed chattel slavery, or legal abortion — even as we lectured them on the importance of free speech.

But what was the ruling, and what was the case, on which Judge Duncan ruled? What are the high principles, sacred causes, and fundamental loyalties that motivated the angry mob at Stanford? Knowing that is important, because it’s a spiritual biopsy of America’s elite. …

So what are their fighting issues? The Daily Mail helpfully tells us. Here’s the case where Judge Duncan’s ruling touched the protestors’ deepest values. Underneath a police mugshot of a biological male (don’t be confused by the PC use of female pronouns below) the Mail reports: “This is the transgender pedophile at the center of a mass protest at Stanford University against a Trump-appointed Judge who refused to allow the felon to change her name on conviction records. DailyMail.com can reveal the mugshot of Norman Keith Varner, 42, who failed in her bid to change her name to Kathrine Nicole Jett, 42, on court records.”

So “deadnaming” a pedophile can spark a riot at Stanford Law. Good to know.

More here.