BE PREPARED: BERCOL Rechargeable LED Flashlights. #CommissionEarned

“FORBIDDEN-WORD” LISTS ARE A SYMPTOM OF ADMINISTRATIVE BLOAT. “Rather than referring to the ‘low income and poor,’ the site advises, we should speak of “people whose self-reported income was in the lowest income bracket.” Way to go, phoney-baloney jobs people–that “self-reported” part just makes them sound like they are tax-dodgers. With a special appearance by Frederick Douglass(?!) as the first “Tarheel.”

DECOUPLING: Senators to launch bill that will help ban or prohibit foreign technology like TikTok.

IF THE WOKIES’ ARGUMENTS ARE SO STRONG, WHY DO THEY CONSTANTLY HAVE TO LIE ABOUT WHAT THEY OPPOSE? PhD student falsely claims U. Texas professors can be jailed for saying ‘racism.’

SOMETHING TO HIDE: Report Suggests Fauci Tried to Suppress Lab Leak Theory.

WHY IS HIGHER EDUCATION SUCH A CESSPIT OF RACISM? USF Student denied mental health access for being White.

THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO SHOW UP: Beijing in crisis as China faces a child-free future.

Advanced economies around the world have the same problem with ageing populations. However, the issue has been exacerbated by China’s one child policy, says Louise Loo, of Oxford Economics, which compelled couples to have only one child between 1980 and 2016.

Births have languished even after the policy was scrapped, falling to a record low of 6.77 births per 1000 people last year.

Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at SOAS, says: “It is easier to limit growth in population by repressive means. It is much more difficult to get people to have more children by the order of the Government.”

Officials last month urged regional chiefs to come up with “bold innovations” to boost the fertility rate, reflecting the growing panic about this demographic time bomb.

China also faces permanent scarring from Covid. Beijing’s zero Covid policy, which dragged on for far longer than the rest of the world, cost it 4.7 per cent of GDP, says Loo.

“Some of that is permanently lost,” she adds.

China’s population is expected to halve by 2100 — at best.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Finally — Trump Is Hitting the Right Notes Again. “He connected with people who desperately wanted to know that someone cared about their predicament, and he shamed this clown car administration into finally at least going through the motions.”

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: Blackstone Defaults: Subprime Meltdown 2?

Though off in Finland, this story should probably receive more notice due to the “mortgage-backed” angle.

Remember the 2008 Subprime Meltdown, fueled by easy taxpayer-backed Fannie Mae money and bundled subprime mortgage securities? And how all sorts of banking fatcats got bailed out and never paid a price for their shenanigans?

Well, mortgage backed assets never went away, they just moved into commercial real estate. There’s untold trillions of dollars in Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) across the world, and almost no one is keeping track of them. The average retail investor probably knows less about CMBS now than they did about subprime mortgages in 2008.

And you know one of the hardest-hit sectors following the Flu Manchu lockdowns? Commercial real estate.

Noted earlier today, San Francisco’s office vacancy rate hit a record high 27.6%, and New York City is also at a record 17%.

BREAKING: Antifa Thugs Firebomb Atlanta Public Training Facility Construction Site.

ROGER KIMBALL: The Passion of Scott Adams. “It is true, by the way, that ‘everyone agrees’ with the point that Adams made. Everyone knows it is true. But no one is supposed to admit that it is true. Adams made it all worse by observing that ‘There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps . . . then turn around and see somebody white and feel relieved.’ Oh, wait. I got my notes confused. That wasn’t Scott Adams. That was the professional black Jesse Jackson in 1993.”

IT IS IMPORTANT NOT TO FORGET THIS IS STILL COMING OUT:  Twitter files blacklists.

EDITH WILSON, CALL YOUR OFFICE: Jill Biden and Gisele Fetterman Really Are Two of a Kind.

SALENA ZITO: When duty calls, volunteers are ready — for now.

Of the 2,462 fire companies serving the more than 2,500 municipalities in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, over 90% of them are staffed by volunteers who fulfill a multitude of duties — not just when there’s a fire or a chemical spill, but also just to keep the equipment functional and their facility in working order.

Mike Mikus, 52, has been volunteering here for over 12 years. He said there are two challenges they face: “Getting people to step up and volunteer to serve and raising the monies needed so that our equipment is capable of handling whatever disaster we are called to.”

Mr. Mikus said he joined when he turned 40 and had come to a point in his life where he believed it was time to give back. “I really felt a calling. You always see stories that fire departments are short-staffed, and I wanted to serve my community,” he said. . . .

The original membership here consisted of 170 men and a ladies’ auxiliary, with 200 members — back then women weren’t “allowed” to be firemen, but their service was critical in coordinating events to support the company. Today, there are 28 active members serving the same area, which has grown robustly in population in the past two decades.

This decline in staffing is happening all across Pennsylvania. According to data maintained by the Pennsylvania Fire and Emergency Services Institute, the number of active volunteer firefighters has dropped from 300,000 in the mid-1970s to just under 38,000 in 2018.

The Long March continues.

BLUE CITY CITY BLUES: Salesforce seeks to cut office space at Salesforce Tower after mass layoff. “The company confirmed that it listed around 125,000 square feet across six floors for sublease in the city’s tallest building, adding another large chunk of vacant space to downtown. San Francisco’s vacancy rate hit a record high 27.6% at the end of last year, according to real estate brokerage CBRE.”

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Refighting the Vietnam War: Triumph Regained shows that America’s war in Vietnam could have been won earlier at far less cost, and in fact almost was, even belatedly by 1968.

FLASHBACK: Ari Fleischer is Wrong — the Media Are, in Fact, Your Enemy.

SAY ANYTHING: Biden Lies AGAIN: ‘I Was A Student Up North In the Civil Rights Movement.’

SHOT: Biden Marks Selma’s 1965 ‘Bloody Sunday’ With Eye on 2024 Race.

CHASER(S): Joe Biden didn’t just compromise with segregationists. He fought for their cause in schools, experts say.

Biden Voted to Protect Segregated Private Schools’ Tax-Exempt Status.

Joe Biden worried in 1977 that certain de-segregation policies would cause his children to grow up ‘in a racial jungle.’

Biden Touts Civility With Segregationists, Dems Slam Him for ‘Praising’ Racists Backed by the KKK.

EVERY SUNDAY I HAVE A PROMO POST MOSTLY FOR INDIE AUTHORS. THERE’S ALSO A VIGNETTE CHALLENGE:  Book Promo and Vignettes by by Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike.

SPEAKING SPANISH IS NOT AN ETHNICITY. IT’S A CULTURE. CULTURES AREN’T RACES. COME OFF IT:  Woman in viral pizza rant now facing ethnic harassment charges.

And I want to point out I agree with her. In America, speak English. Acculturate. F(it) I(n) (or) F(***) O(ff).  FIFO. FIFO already.

AND REMEMBER, AS WITH CARBON, YOU’RE THE ECONOMY THEY’RE TRYING TO DESTROY:  “Degrowth Communism”: Green Communism whose Explicit Goal is to Destroy the Economy.

AVOIDING TUMBRILS MIGHT BE A FORLORN HOPE:  Spying On Spending.