MORE STRANGE RING NEWS: ‘Impossible’ new ring system discovered at the edge of the solar system, and scientists are baffled.

I hope the Impossible Ring is more satisfying than Impossible Meat.

THE WORLD IS NOT WAITING FOR PRESIDENT SUNUNU:

IT’S NOT A REAL RETRACTION UNLESS THE AUTHORS ARE AXED: FBI Retracts Leaked Document Orchestrating Investigation of Catholics.

IS THERE AN ALIEN SPACESHIP HIDING IN THEM? Saturn’s Rings Are Acting Strange – Hubble Captures Mysterious “Spokes.”

I’M GLAD THEY’RE GETTING PUSHBACK: Fighting Irish dean fighting mad when architecture department DEI hire dissed.

In classic alumni fashion, many of whom (especially at a place like Notre Dame) are heavily invested in the university with ongoing financial support, they felt free to speak up about the new position. As you can imagine, a grumble or two was heard from the crowd of graduates in the comments. After all, this is ostensively a school of architecture – buildings, math, and whatnot – and some alumni naturally questioned where DEI came into any of it. Some might have had a little more jaundiced view than others, but, hey. Free country! And nothing we’d think of as untoward was said from what’s been related.

Well. Didn’t use to think was rude or unreasonable, in the days of free expression. That seems not to be the case now.

I do so wish I had a Greta Thunberg How DARE you gif right now. How DARE this alumnus suggest that granting DEI sway over the department was going to somehow dilute the integrity of the course?!

Oddly enough, that’s exactly how Dean Polyzoides felt. Angry to the tips of his toes. SO mad and morally wounded, he scrawled out an aggrieved letter to be sent to all ND School of Architecture alumni. In it, he wails and gnashes his teeth about “horrific” and “deeply hurtful and hateful activity” by alumni online trying to “derail” their efforts.

Oh, this little gem is just jam-packed with all the race-baiting SJW hyperbolic dog whistles. Polyzoides didn’t choose those incendiary adjectives randomly.

Polyzoides should be replaced by someone who can engage in reasoned discussion, as academics are supposed to be able to do.

VIA LAST NIGHT’S OPEN THREAD, CZECH CHICKS APPROPRIATING MY CULTURE: But you know, I don’t mind.

SO WHY DIDN’T THEY DO THIS LAST TIME? US shoots down unknown ‘high-altitude object’ over Alaska, White House says. “President Joe Biden ordered the shootdown, spokesman John Kirby said, adding that the origin of the object has yet to be determined.”

What, Gen. Mark Milley didn’t overrule him?

But I hope we don’t start an interstellar war, because it sounds like a flying saucer:

ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz first reported that when fighters were scrambled, the pilots did visuals, got images and said there was no sign the object had propulsion.

It was described as “cylindrical and silver-ish gray” and seemed to be floating, a U.S. official said.

Asked if was “balloon-like,” the official said, “All I say is that it wasn’t ‘flying’ with any sort of propulsion, so if that is ‘balloon-like’ well — we just don’t have enough at this point.”

“It came in, inside our territorial waters, those waters right now are frozen, but inside territorial airspace and over territorial waters. Fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Northern Command took down the object within the last hour,” Kirby said.

Klaatu barada nikto.

UPDATE: From the comments: “So US government and Gibbering Joe shot an object out of the sky without first identifying what the object was? That’s highly irresponsible.”

FLASHBACK: Welcome To Our Crazy Years. “But you don’t get Hitler because of Hitler. There are always potential Hitlers out there. You get Hitler because of Weimar, and you get Weimar because the people charged with maintaining a liberal polity are too corrupt and incompetent — or crazy — to maintain a liberal polity.”

DEPLATFORMING AS DIGITAL HEMLOCK: The Twitter Files Saga Is a Story as Old as Socrates.

READER BOOK PLUG: From Stephen Krueger, Law Future.

ALSO, CRATERING SUPPORT FOR BIDEN: One Thing Biden Didn’t Mention During the SOTU – Cratering Support for Gun Control. “What President Biden didn’t tell the American public – and won’t – is what the rest of America is saying about any proposed ban. Over half the country doesn’t want it, according to a recent poll by ABC News/Washington Post. Respondents to the poll released just days before the State of the Union speech showed that 51 percent surveyed oppose any such ban. That’s a 10-point increase from 2019 when the same question was asked. Just 47 percent of those responding – a nine point drop – voiced support for banning MSRs, the second lowest percentage reported since the question was put forth in the polls starting in 1995.”

FILM LADD ASKS (AND ANSWERS) THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: How could Darth Vader’s descent into evil been improved by George Lucas re-watching Lawrence of Arabia?

THIS IS OBVIOUSLY TRAGIC, BUT WE NEED TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT CRIME:  Social justice warrior/anarchist/baker Jen Angel was recently dragged to death by a smash-and-grab robber.  The victim was well known for her opposition to incarceration.

FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY [VIP]: Police Found His Personal Stash Stashed in a Most Personal Place. “This week we have the cop-killer wanna-be, the liquor theft that made me cry, and Colorado Man’s curious kissing booth.”

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

PUSHBACK: Senators Seek to Overturn U.S. Emission Rule for Heavy Trucks. “On Thursday, a number of Republican senators announced they would be attempting to overturn the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rules designed to cap emissions on heavy-duty trucks. Finalized by the EPA in December, under guidance from the Biden administration, the new rules are supposed to be 80 percent more stringent than the current standard. However, critics have alleged the updated limits effectively benefit large shipping companies by making it too difficult for smaller trucking companies or independent operators to comply.”

Not by accident.

VIDEO: American Business And Chinese Money. “Despite increasing sanctions and scrutiny on hostile Chinese business practices and intellectual property theft, private equity firms have previously managed to mostly evade scrutiny for taking Chinese money. That may finally be changing.”

If you don’t have the time or inclination to watch a video, Lawrence Person has done a great job of breaking out the bullet points.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Chinese astronauts complete first walk outside Tiangong space station.

READER FAVORITE: TurboTax Premier 2022 Tax Software. #CommissionEarned

POSTMODERN PARENTING:

Maine Mom Demands Investigation after School Counselor Secretly Gives Daughter a ‘Chest Binder.’It was early December when Amber Lavigne found her 13-year-old daughter’s chest binder.

The undergarment, used to flatten a female’s breasts to make her appear more like a male, looked like a tank top with a built-in bra, Lavigne said. And it smelled. Bad. In her efforts to hide it from her family, Lavigne’s daughter hadn’t put the binder in the laundry for weeks.

That night, when Lavigne picked her daughter up from a school dance, she asked if she was wearing a chest binder. She wasn’t, the girl said, but she admitted she had one. Where had she gotten it? From a friend, she claimed. Lavigne was skeptical.

“I want you to think long and hard if there’s anything else you want to share with me about this,” she said she told her daughter, “because I am going to reach out to your friend’s mom.”

Later that night, Lavigne’s daughter did have more to share. She hadn’t received the chest binder from a friend after all. “This came from my school,” she said, Lavigne recalled.

Read the whole thing.

COMCAST: Comcast gave false map data to FCC.

SEPSIS UPDATE: Single-dose antibiotic can prevent maternal sepsis and death.

BIG SHRINK AT BIG TECH: Yahoo to lay off 20% of its workforce. “A Yahoo spokesperson told CNN that the company’s legacy ad tech division, Yahoo for Business, will be overhauled and transformed into a new division called Yahoo Advertising. As part of that change, Yahoo plans to cut nearly 50% of the division this year, ‘including nearly 1,000 employees this week,’ the spokesperson said.”

FASTER, PLEASE: Antibiotic Breakthrough: The Power of a Plant-Derived Toxin.

A STUDY IN POLITICAL CONTRASTS: Yesterday’s initial hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government was full of examples, details, interpretations, denials, evasions and half-truths. Just another day in the nation’s capital, right?

Well, yes and no. There was one dominant underlying theme in much of the testimony from two different panels, as well as in the cross-examination of witnesses by Republican and Democratic members of the subcommittee. This theme, detailed here in my Epoch Times story on the hearing, will likely characterize most, if not all, of the House GOP’s investigations.

BECAUSE THEIR UNIONS OWN A BIG CHUNK OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY. NEXT QUESTION? Why Exactly Does Joe Biden Think Teachers Deserve a Raise?