OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT, I’VE GOT THE RECEIPTS: Biden’s Inflation Is Crushing the Middle Class, No Matter What Stupid Lies He Tells. “That’s Joe Biden’s inflation tax making us all poorer, just trying to buy the same food, cars, and houses we could buy before his spending orgy began.”

GOOD GUY WITH A GUN: Legally Armed Civilian Shot El Paso Mall Shooter, Preventing More Casualties.

All the best people keep telling me this never happens.

WHOSE STUFF IS IT, ANYWAY? The Cameras Worked Fine. Their Maker Said They Had Reached Their End of Life.

In January, Arlo Technologies Inc. sent an email to customers of its internet-connected security cameras about a new “end-of-life policy.” Starting April 1, the company would no longer support models that included no-fee seven-day rolling storage of video clips—a well-advertised selling point.

End-of-life policies for tech products are becoming more common. Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. have similar ones. But Arlo’s abrupt announcement aggravated some customers. Forty days later, the company recanted, keeping the free video storage and extending software support.

Arlo highlights the trade-off that connected devices pose.

Back when we had CD players and VCRs, we could use them until they broke down, but our relationship with the company effectively ended on the day of the sale. Now that devices require an internet connection and software services, you are shackled to their makers, whether or not you pay for a monthly subscription.

Especially if they offer something free to entice customers before deciding it isn’t worth the expense.

MICHAEL WALSH: State of Fear.

READER FAVORITE: Surge Protector, Outlet Extender with Night Light. #CommissionEarned

JUSTICE? Alec Baldwin faces reduced prison sentence after charge dropped in fatal ‘Rust’ shooting.

VIRGINIA POSTREL ON the ethics of higher education. “The new character-building ideal is specifically left-wing. It seeks to develop students’ sensitivity to issues of social justice and environmental crisis. Its adherents’ sense of right and wrong trumps their devotion to the advancement and transmission of knowledge.”

SOLID ADVICE: Top 9/11 Lawyer: Don’t Trust the EPA.

PRIVACY: Germany raises red flags about Palantir’s big data dragnet.

PRIORITIES: DOD scorched for labeling diversity trainings a ‘strategic imperative’ of the agency: China’s ‘laughing at us.’

“Your strategic imperative is defending the United States,” Twitter CEO Elon Musk responded.

“Your entire mission is to deter an attack on the US homeland, and if there is a war, to effectively and efficiently destroy the enemies of the United States. That’s it,” Jeremy Redfern, deputy press secretary to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and retired explosive ordnance disposal technician in the U.S. Air Force, agreed.

“China will lay down their arms immediately when they see how inclusive the US military is,” a user known by the handle The Redheaded libertarian joked.

Blair Brandt, a political adviser and entrepreneur tweeted, “Absolutely ridiculous and totally unrelated to the quite significant national security threats we face. China and Russia are laughing at you/us and when we encounter big ticket problems, people will look at this moment and posts like this to see where our priorities went wrong.”

They’re doing a lot worse than just laughing at us. Deterrence- and credibility-destroying nonsense like this is part of the “window” China sees to take Taiwan.

HMM: New research links black holes to dark energy.

WHERE ARE THE HELPERS? Nowhere it seems. There is very little behavioral health help out there right now. “The National Council of Mental Wellbeing reports the average wait time to access behavioral health services is about six weeks. But if you’re looking for a specialist in a certain area or with specific attributes, wait times can stretch into months.”

As a psychologist myself, I have talked with people who have been on wait lists for months and who are often as frustrated about the process of finding help as they are about the issues they need help for. I guess this is why places like TalkSpace or BetterHelp are popular. At least they will match you with someone, but what if you need to see someone in person? Or the therapist they match you with is not effective?

And I worry about all the guys out there in need of services who already have few choices if they want someone who is skilled about men’s issues and concerns and is without the PC bias. Where are they getting help? The bias was bad before the pandemic, now it seems worse. Ever increasingly, Continuing Ed credits and training for mental health providers is less about learning a new skill than it is about indoctrinating psychological recruits into being advocates for the Democratic Party.

Do any Instapundit readers find that getting behavioral help for themselves or a family member or friend is frustrating or nonexistent? If so, share your concerns in the comments.

UPDATE: I see that is possible to get a mental evaluation if you challenge the orthodoxy at Georgetown Law School. This system is really sick.

RULE OF LAW? For questioning Covid restrictions, Georgetown Law suspended me from campus, forced me to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, required me to waive my right to medical confidentiality, and threatened to report me to state bar associations.

This should get Georgetown Law reported to accreditors.

WATCH: Insufferable Twits Harry and Meghan Might Sue to Stop You from Seeing this South Park

IMPROVE PAY AND WORKING CONDITIONS? Senate examines ways to address nationwide nursing shortage.

Waste less time with stupid paperwork? Just spitballing here.

REPORT: James O’Keefe to leave Project Veritas following Board dispute.

CORN, POPPED: Speaker gives Tucker access to 41,000 hours of 1/6 tape. “Carlson TV producers were on Capitol Hill last week to begin digging through the trove, which includes multiple camera angles from all over Capitol grounds. Excerpts will begin airing in the coming weeks.”

BECAUSE NOTHING’S NORMAL ANYMORE? Tal Bachman: Why Can’t Grocery Store Checkout Be Normal Anymore?

IS ANYONE REALLY SURPRISED? Navy’s new “Health of the Force” survey finds an unhealthy navy. “Sailors increasingly think that the Navy isn’t committed to them? Even the surveyors agreed that ‘The negative trend for all four of these protective factors is statistically significant.’ But wait, it gets worse. When Sailors were directly asked if they would stay in or get out of the Navy, we get these numbers. . . . In the course of five years, we went from over 60% of young men intending to stay to retirement to just under 40%.”

Read the whole thing. And weep.

REALCLEAR INVESTIGATIONS: The Sudden Dominance of the Diversity Industrial Complex. 

Two decades ago, MIT professor Thomas Kochan estimated that diversity was already an $8 billion-a-year industry. Yet along with the addition of equity, inclusion, and like terms, the industry has surely grown an order of magnitude larger. Six years ago, McKinsey and Company estimated that American companies were spending $8 billion a year on diversity training alone. DEI hiring and training have only accelerated in the years since. 

“In the scope and rapidity of institutional embrace,” writes Marti Gurri, a former CIA analyst who studies media and politics,“nothing like it has transpired since the conversion of Constantine.” 

At Ohio State University, for example, the average DEI staff salary is $78,000, according to public information gathered by economist Mark J. Perry of the American Enterprise Institute – about $103,000 with fringe benefits. Not to be outdone by its Big Ten conference rival, the University of Michigan pays its diversity officers $94,000 on average – about $124,000 with benefits. Until he retired from the position last summer, Michigan’s chief diversity officer, Robert Sellers, was paid over $431,000 a year. His wife, Tabbye Chavous, now has the job, at the vice provost rank and a salary of $380,000. 

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): This is what happens when your institutions are controlled by a ruling-class monoculture.

BE PREPARED: The Prepper’s Survival Bible: The Tactical-Practical Guide to Survive to the Worst-Case Scenario. #CommissionEarned

THAT CRISIS WASN’T GOING TO DESIGN ITSELF, YOU KNOW: Now We Know Why Mayorkas Won’t Secure the Border.

HEATHER MAC DONALD: What Killed Tyre Nichols. His fatal torture was a tragic culmination—not of racism, but of the racism-in-policing narrative.

TELL ME THIS PART OF OHIO VOTES REPUBLICAN WITHOUT TELLING ME THIS PART OF OHIO VOTES REPUBLICAN: FEMA Deploys Team to Ohio Two Weeks After Chemical Disaster: Perhaps the optics of sending massive aid to Turkish earthquake victims and paying for Ukrainian pensions while Americans in Ohio suffer from chemical fallout wasn’t as good as originally thought.

#JOURNALISM: An Atlanta lawyer/reader emails:

60-year-old accused of spray painting vulgar language on Atlanta church, police say – WSB-TV Channel 2 – Atlanta

None of the Atlanta outlets reporting this so far offer a description or photo of the suspect. Hmmmm….

The easily-available answer is attached.

Lots of talk in the story about it being a “hate crime,” but nothing on who’s doing the hating. That seems relevant. The way the story’s written, a lot of people might get the wrong idea about who was behind it.