#JOURNALISM: “The real difference — don’t we all know? — is what Democrats did to Trump is entirely different from what Republicans do to Biden.”

Even in a fashion piece.

DISPATCHES FROM WEIMAR AMERICA: San Francisco Mulls Creating a Red-Light District.

Theoretically, the concept would make things safer for residents and those of legal age who are willingly involved in the sex trade. But for those who are underage, or who have been forced into prostitution, the problem of locating and rescuing them remains. And pimps and gang members are not exactly known for adhering to any laws, and can hardly be expected to respect the boundaries of a red-light district.

And what of Ronen’s desire to legalize sex work in California? I’m sure Gavin Newsom would be more than happy to sign such a bill into law, and not just because it would generate revenue through taxes and licenses or because it would add one more tourist attraction to the Golden State. But also because it is one more boundary to push. One more way to “lead” the nation. One more thing to legalize to keep California on the cutting edge. And while consenting adults will be allowed to do what they wish, the door will still be left open to victimize the young and the helpless. Perhaps before forging ahead, San Francisco could benefit from conversations with women who left the sex trade and with those who have been trafficked and exploited.

Earlier: Why San Francisco Is Nearly The Most Crime-Ridden City In The US.

San Francisco’s last Republican mayor left office at the beginning of 1964.

SHOCKER: Who knew? U.S. military says spy balloon was “spying.”

COMPETITION FOR STARLINK: Amazon gets key FCC approval for more than 3,000 LEO broadband satellites.

READER BOOK PLUG: From Stephen Krueger, Law Future.

ROGER SIMON: Game-Changer? Tennessee En Route to Reject Federal Education Money.

The Associated Press is reporting what well may be an earthquake in the relations between red states and the federal government—specifically, the Department of Education, whose decrees and even its existence are questioned by many conservatives, including former President Donald Trump:

“NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — One of Tennessee’s most influential Republican lawmakers says the state should stop accepting the nearly $1.8 billion of federal K-12 education dollars that help provide support for low-income students, English learners and students with disabilities.

“House Speaker Cameron Sexton told The Associated Press that he has introduced a bill to explore the idea during this year’s legislative session and has begun discussions with Gov. Bill Lee and other key GOP lawmakers.

“‘Basically, we’ll be able to educate the kids how Tennessee sees fit,’ Sexton said, pointing that rejecting the money would mean that Tennessee would no longer have ‘federal government interference.’”

What that doesn’t immediately say is that Tennessee would fully replace that $1.8 billion with the state’s own money, so that the low-income and other disadvantaged students the AP seems concerned about wouldn’t be affected.

I was on a radio interview with Sexton on Feb. 9, with Michael Patrick Leahy on his Tennessee Star Report, and can attest that this proposal—if not yet a done deal—is likely to be one in some form. Sexton said Lee and many other key “stakeholders,” including Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn, were already positively disposed to his idea.

At this point, as always, the devil will be in the details, including how long this would take to effectuate, given annual budget considerations. Sexton estimated 2024, but indicated it could take longer.

The state of Tennessee is fortunately on a solid-enough financial footing to able to do this. Other states, such as Oklahoma and South Carolina, also are exploring similar legislation.

If the measures pass, Beltway heads are likely to explode. You don’t want our money? Mon Dieu!

Tennessee, it’s worth noting, has a Senate with 27 Republicans and six Democrats and a General Assembly with 73 Republicans and 26 Democrats. Passage of such legislation in some form shouldn’t be overly difficult.

This could constitute the beginning of an epidemic, in which red states reject what many believe is serious unconstitutional overreach by the federal government in education and many other areas.

Such things are being examined actively in Tennessee as the state’s attorney general, Jonathan Skrmetti, explained at a luncheon of the Nashville Republican Women on Feb. 8. Skrmetti is forming a task force of lawyers potentially to sue the federal government over this overreach and possible attendant violations of the 10th Amendment.

Sexton, for his part, seems to be responding to an increasingly militant grassroots in his party that has been augmented by the great inflow of refugees (political migrants), many of whom are surprisingly activist, to Tennessee from blue states.

They have been demanding reforms in a system that has been infiltrated by critical race theory and also various versions of age-inappropriate sexual education. While these refugees had come to Tennessee to escape such things in blue states, they were deeply disappointed to find that at least in terms of the schools, they were running to stay in place, in great degree due to federal intervention.

This legislation, if it goes forward, will be a significant step in the right direction.

It also could be a baby step, possibly more, toward the rebirth of the federalism intended by the Founders. In the current environment, the only way that could happen would be via the states. The proper word, figuratively and literally, for the federal government is metastasis.

Yep. Looking forward to seeing this play out.

IRON HORSE CODY, WARD CHURCHILL, FAUXCAHONTAS: PIONEERING TRENDSETTERS! Dolezal ahead of her time? The “Pretendian” wave in Academia. “Even eight years ago, I point out, Dolezal justified her posturing as a black woman — who wound up running a local NAACP chapter in Washington — because, as she told Matt Lauer, she ‘identifies as black.’ Was she just ahead of her time? If biology has nothing to do with sexual identity, can anyone argue that it has a role in ethnic identity? And if so, what does that do to the entire edifice of affirmative action in both admissions and faculty hiring, especially in Academia?”

I THOUGHT I WAS SAVING TRANS KIDS. NOW I’M BLOWING THE WHISTLE:

I am a 42-year-old St. Louis native, a queer woman, and politically to the left of Bernie Sanders. My worldview has deeply shaped my career. I have spent my professional life providing counseling to vulnerable populations: children in foster care, sexual minorities, the poor.

For almost four years, I worked at The Washington University School of Medicine Division of Infectious Diseases with teens and young adults who were HIV positive. Many of them were trans or otherwise gender nonconforming, and I could relate: Through childhood and adolescence, I did a lot of gender questioning myself. I’m now married to a transman, and together we are raising my two biological children from a previous marriage and three foster children we hope to adopt.

All that led me to a job in 2018 as a case manager at The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, which had been established a year earlier.

The center’s working assumption was that the earlier you treat kids with gender dysphoria, the more anguish you can prevent later on. This premise was shared by the center’s doctors and therapists. Given their expertise, I assumed that abundant evidence backed this consensus.

During the four years I worked at the clinic as a case manager—I was responsible for patient intake and oversight—around a thousand distressed young people came through our doors. The majority of them received hormone prescriptions that can have life-altering consequences—including sterility.

I left the clinic in November of last year because I could no longer participate in what was happening there. By the time I departed, I was certain that the way the American medical system is treating these patients is the opposite of the promise we make to “do no harm.” Instead, we are permanently harming the vulnerable patients in our care.

Today I am speaking out. I am doing so knowing how toxic the public conversation is around this highly contentious issue—and the ways that my testimony might be misused. I am doing so knowing that I am putting myself at serious personal and professional risk.

Read the whole thing.

SPACE JUNK: BETTER PUT UP MY UMBRELLA. An Experimental Russian Satellite Is Breaking Up in Orbit Leaving a Trail of Debris.

SPACE: SpaceX completes a hot fire test of its massive Super Heavy rocket.

THOUGHTS ON PORCHES.

HERE’S THE PERFECT RESPONSE TO WOMAN WHO NOW REGRETS HER ‘HARRY POTTER’ TATTOOS:

THINGS I LEARNED TODAY, MCDONALD’S HACKS EDITION: The “Grand Mariner” — a Big Mac with filet-o-fish patties in place of burger patties and tartar sauce instead of Big Mac sauce.

The only hack I’ve shared is that you can get any McD’s sandwich with Big Mac sauce on it.

READER FAVORITE: GTHUNDER Digital Night Vision Goggles Binoculars for Total Darkness. #CommissionEarned

FLASHBACK: Don’t track me, bro! The perils of tax by GPS.

There’s some chatter about Tennessee considering this, though the reaction has been uniformly hostile. As it should be. Even proposing this should be a career-ender.

PROBABLY SOMEWHERE BETTER THAN THEY’D BEEN: Thousands of kids are missing from school. Where did they go? “An analysis by The Associated Press, Stanford University’s Big Local News project and Stanford education professor Thomas Dee found an estimated 240,000 students in 21 states whose absences could not be accounted for. These students didn’t move out of state, and they didn’t sign up for private school or home-school, according to publicly available data.”

I LIKE A STORY WITH A HAPPY ENDING: Don’t Mess With an Old Guy: 80-Year-Old Man Fights and Shoots a Pair of Younger Home Invaders.

I like this comment from a neighbor: “I’m glad that he protected himself. If someone breaks into my apartment, I’m going to do the same thing. Right?”

CHRISTIAN TOTO: Madonna Shrewdly Plays the Victim Card. “The superstar, globally adored and with all the resources western society can offer, is now a professional victim at the tender age of 64. She’s following in the footsteps of Meghan Markle, who proved you can claim victimhood status no matter your wealth, beauty or privilege.”

81 MILLION VOTES: Biden’s State of the Union Ratings Were Embarrassingly Bad.

DAVID STROM: Fauci: now he tells us. “What if I told you that Anthony Fauci knew all along that the COVID vaccine could not possibly prevent either infection with or transmission of COVID?”

SO FAR, THE ANSWER HAS BEEN “ALWAYS 20 YEARS AWAY:” Simple Answers for How Far Away is Tokomak Nuclear Fusion?

CHARMING: ‘Lia’ Thomas Exposed His Junk to Female Teammates.

START YOUR RESEARCH IN THE WHITE HOUSE: Study reveals that much still not known about cognitive decline.

MOLON LABE: China wants spy balloon back: ‘It belongs to China.’

MAYBE IF WE GIVE THEM RABIES AND HAVE THEM BITE GAIN-OF-FUNCTION RESEARCHERS: Secret weapon in preventing next pandemic: fruit bats.