SEEMS FAIR: Woman Sues Avis for Mistaken Stolen Vehicle Report That Ended With Her In Handcuffs.

READER FAVORITE: Merrell Men’s Encore Gust Slip-On Shoes. #CommissionEarned

THE LAMPS ARE GOING OUT: Germany bids farewell to its last nuclear plants, eyes hydrogen future.

For 35 years, the Emsland nuclear power plant in northwestern Germany has reliably provided millions of homes with electricity and many with well-paid jobs in what was once an agricultural backwater.

Now, it and the country’s two other remaining nuclear plants are being shut down. Germany long ago decided to phase out both fossil fuels and nuclear power over concerns that neither is a sustainable source of energy.

The final countdown Saturday — delayed for several months over feared energy shortages because of the Ukraine war — is seen with relief by Germans who have campaigned against nuclear power.

Yet with energy prices stubbornly high and climate change a growing concern, some in the country and abroad are branding the move reckless.

“Some”: Very last week for German nuclear power enters, but most Germans consider nuclear exit a mistake.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: The best 3D printers for beginners.

IT WOULD BE MORE ACCURATE TO SAY THAT HE (OR HIS HANDLERS) IS CAUSING A BOOK TO BE WRITTEN: Does He Have Enough Crayons? Joe Biden Says He’s Writing a Book.

THIS SEEMS PLAUSIBLE: Trendy “raw water” source under bird’s nest sparks diarrheal outbreak.

IT’S GOOD TO BE THE NOMENKLATURA: Ex-Biden official Sam Brinton accepts plea deal in Las Vegas luggage theft. “The former Biden administration official accused in two separate stolen-luggage cases in different states was ordered to pay one of their victims back — but given no jail time — Tuesday after they pleaded no contest to the bizarre theft.”

He… he pleaded.

HMM: Hearing aids may protect against a higher risk of dementia associated with hearing loss, study suggests. So, assuming this is true, is it because not hearing well reduces brain stimulation?

HEINLEIN’S CRAZY YEARS (CONT’D): State-Sponsored Kidnapping Will Soon Become Reality in Washington.

WELL, THE UPSIDE IS IT WILL CUT DOWN ON MIGRATION FROM BLUE STATES: Florida state senate passes 6-week abortion ban.

FOR THE NCLA, A WIN OVER THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE: Victory! U.S. Supreme Court Holds that Federal District Courts Have Jurisdiction to Hear Challenges to Unconstitutional Aspects of Federal Agencies’ Administrative Proceedings.

In an historic ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court this morning held that Texas Accountant Michelle Cochran has the right to challenge the constitutionality of her Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ) removal protections in federal court before undergoing an administrative adjudication. Writing unanimously for the Court, Justice Kagan’s opinion stated, “The statutory review schemes set out in the Securities Exchange Act and Federal Trade Commission Act do not displace a district court’s federal-question jurisdiction over claims challenging as uncon­stitutional the structure or existence of the SEC or FTC.” “The ordinary statutory review scheme,” she wrote, “does not preclude a district court from entertaining these extraordinary claims.”

The New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group, which represents Ms. Cochran in Securities and Exchange Commission, et al. v. Michelle Cochran, commends the court for a decision that will allow our client to plead her case before a real Article III federal court rather than be subjected to an endless series of unlawful agency hearings. Michelle Cochran’s path to the U.S. Supreme Court began when she filed suit in federal district court to enjoin the SEC’s second round of administrative enforcement proceedings against her. Though SEC fixed the appointment problem Lucia v. SEC addressed, Ms. Cochran’s ALJ remained unconstitutional because SEC ALJs still enjoy multiple layers of “for cause” removal protection, a problem Lucia declined to reach and that SEC could not fix on its own—because the insulations from removal are statutory. NCLA also asserted that SEC violated Ms. Cochran’s due process rights by failing to adhere to its own rules and procedures.

The Supreme Court held that Ms. Cochran’s removal power claim, wholly collateral to the Exchange Act’s statutory-review scheme, is outside the SEC’s “sphere of expertise.” Justice Kagan emphasized this point, highlighting that Ms. Cochran’s claims “cannot receive meaningful judi­cial review through the … Exchange Act.” Relying on the Supreme Court’s Thunder Basin Coal Co. v. Reich precedent, the Court held, “All three Thunder Basin factors thus point in the same direction—toward allowing district court review of Axon’s and Cochran’s claims that the structure, or even existence, of an agency violates the Constitution.”

In a strong concurring opinion, Justice Thomas wrote separately to express his “grave doubts about the constitutional propriety of Congress vesting administrative agencies with primary authority to adjudicate core private rights with only deferential judicial review on the back end.” Justice Thomas stated that if private rights are at stake—as they are in Ms. Cochran’s case—“the Con­stitution likely requires plenary Article III adjudication.” Justice Gorsuch wrote separately to say this case should have been decided solely on statutory grounds. He criticized the Court’s superimposing of a judicially created and hard to administer Thunder Basin balancing test on top of Congress’s text, and he pointed out how such a test had caused Ms. Cochran to suffer. Nonetheless, NCLA believes today’s unanimous ruling, strong concurrence from Justice Thomas and strong concurrence in the judgment from Justice Gorsuch, will protect the civil liberty of citizens, like Ms. Cochran, to access federal courts when federal administrative agencies violate constitutional constraints on their power.

Reminder/disclosure: I’m on the NCLA’s advisory board.

LAUGHING WOLF ASKS: Which Missile?

My search-fu is off today as I can’t find the link, but a while back Glenn Reynolds was — I think — the first to openly comment on the twenty percent concept. At the height of the Cold War, the Brass was pushing the concept of 100 percent EWO (Emergency War Orders) ready. If the brass asked ‘Are you EWO ready?’ the answer better be ‘Sir, yes Sir! I am EWO ready Sir!’ Anyone with a brain knew that this was impossible, but it ensured that we could make the 80 percent threshold. That is, with all those complex systems, 80 percent of them would work. I suspect that 90 percent really was the goal, but…

Anyway, if the codes went out, at least 80 percent of the bombers would take off, 80 percent of the missiles would launch, 80 percent of the bombs would explode, etc.

Glenn was the first to say, in effect, that we would be lucky if twenty percent worked. The old equation has been stood on its head. I hope and pray we never find out, but I’m hitting a point where I think that if 10 percent worked I would be surprised. Complex systems require maintenance, testing, and upgrades. What’s the first thing that gets cut when Gen. Cyrus wants to have another struggle session on white rage during one of the lowest budgets in decades? Or, your newly minted “officer” who is really a civilian there to loot so he can maybe become a true oligarch, looks for easy money? Old story, on pretty much every side out there. Sigh.

Read the whole thing.

WOKE MIND-VIRUS SPREADS: Hans Bader of Liberty Unyielding says courses based on Critical Race Theory (CRT) are increasingly mandatory on campuses.

SHAKEN, NOT STIRRING: Young Actors Lack ‘Mental Capacity’ to Play James Bond Says Bond Casting Director.

WHY NOT, THEY CONTINUE TO GET AWAY WITH IT: Mark Judge: The Left continues to whitewash its crazy, violent, and authoritarian history.

THE CALIFORNICATION OF EVERYWHERE: California’s Cautionary Clean Energy.

California and clean energy seem like a natural fit. The state’s sunny coastlines, bright deserts, windy mountain passes, and deep river valleys should offer bountiful sources of cheap, all-natural solar, wind, and hydropower. Unfortunately, they don’t. Nightfall, droughts, and windless days take these renewable power sources offline. And when intermittent clean energy sources cannot keep up with demand, California power providers turn to natural gas and electricity imports that backstop the state’s grid, but which are now more expensive due to the insufficient storage and pipeline capacity created by the idealized rush to “cheap” clean energy.

Inefficient energy markets, unpredictable price spikes, unreliable power sources, and a hostile regulatory environment have all contributed to a 40 percent increase in the average California electric bill over the last five years. Retirees, low-income households, and middle-class families bear the brunt of the higher prices. Millions of Californians now stretch their already strained budgets just to cover food, fuel, shelter, and an ever-rising electricity bill.

President Biden’s new clean power proposal for a pollution-free power sector by 2035 threatens to make this California experience one that every state may soon enjoy. Under the president’s plan, natural gas has virtually no future in America. California and the rest of the country will be forced to replace natural gas power plants with renewable sources that will make electricity production unreliable and therefore more expensive.

By design.

GET HIM BACK ON THE PROMPTER, STAT: Too Much Ice Cream: Biden Tells Irish to ‘Lick the World.’

DEAL OF THE DAY: Namibagata Japanese Stainless Steel Weeding Knife. #CommissionEarned

MY LITTLE TOWN: Monument pushes back against Polis’ plan for more affordable housing.

The plan was introduced in the State Senate two weeks ago and allows the state to control more zoning laws and holds local governments to a statewide land-use standard.

Governor Polis thinks that more density and availability is the way to fix the affordable housing issue in Colorado, but not everybody agrees.

In Monument, the mayor says this is a ‘one size fits all’ plan that doesn’t fit his town.

Monument Mayor Mitch LaKind and the six members of the town council are not on board with the high-density zoning plan laid out by Governor Polis.

“The increased density that would be allowed if this were to pass would be catastrophic to Monument’s culture,” LaKind said.

LaKind and Mayor pro-tem Steve King believe Monument’s current infrastructure can’t handle more people. They say that there are not enough roads, water, parking, or schools to accommodate an increase in population.

“There is no affordability mechanism in this bill,” King adds.

That’s because takeovers like this one aren’t about affordability. They’re about the left’s war on suburban and exurban life in general, and single-family dwellings in particular.

SCIENCE: Harvard scholars: Marriage makes women happier and healthier.

HMM: White House Insider Says He Can Prove ‘Conspiracy’ Between Joe, Hunter, and Ukraine.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Bates College mandates ‘Race, Power, Privilege and Colonialism’ curriculum.

OH, FER CRYIN’ OUT LOUD: FAA Blows Out Candle On Historic Launch Of Giant SpaceX Starship.

Enthusiasm waned among fans of space flight and Elon Musk Thursday as the Federal Aviation Administration shot down plans by Musk’s SpaceX for the maiden flight of its giant two-stage rocket called Starship.

On Twitter, Musk indicated the space vehicle might launch this week. However, it ended up being the fourth time the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation blew out the launch plan.

The agency still has yet to complete an environmental review, which began in November 2020. It now plans to release the assessment on May 31.

Maybe Musk should let it be quietly known that SpaceX might develop delays in military, intelligence, or ISS supply launches if the administration doesn’t stop dragging its feet.

UPDATE: Charlie Martin tells me IBD has retracted their story. Stay tuned…

ANOTHER UPDATE: This NOTAM (hat tip, Marcus House) indicates a Starship test flight set for April 17.

Fingers crossed.

THEY SEEM TO GLORY IN THE ROLE THESE DAYS: Lisa Schiffren: When Journalists Become Big Brother. “Presumably this search engine is being developed for that time when Facebook or Twitter cannot be relied upon to censor views that are at odds with the preferred establishment narrative.”

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Biden’s Public Warmup for Campaign ’24 Is a Pathetic Trainwreck. “Barring a manufactured health crisis for Biden, he’s going to have to get out and campaign this time around. That is, of course, unless he starts World War III just to have an excuse to stay home.”