JAMES PETHOKOUKIS: A Quick Q&A on nuclear regulation with … energy policy analyst Michael Giberson.

BLUE CITY BLUES: It Costs $155,000 to Leave Your Heart in San Francisco.

DICTATOR-IN-CHIEF: Biden: ‘Absolutely’ More ‘Executive Action’ Gun Control Measures Coming.

GLUT: EV prices drop up to 20% as new and used inventory surges. “Searches for new EVs on cars.com were up 14.9 percent year over year (14.7 percent month over month). And there are many more cars for buyers to pick from, with 107.7 percent more inventory than in March 2023 (or 8.8 percent more than this February). Those EVs are hanging around on lots longer than dealers might like, with an average of 91 days of inventory—the industry prefers to keep less than 60 days of inventory on hand and averaged 65 days for March 2024.”

VIDEO FROM FIRE: PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTOR INTERRUPTS DINNER AT BERKELEY DEAN ERWIN CHEMERINSKY’S HOUSE. Chemerinsky, a well-known First Amendment scholar, is also definitely a man of the left. Yet that hasn’t immunized him from the result of the endless “the personal is political” baloney the left has been pushing for my whole life. (Remember the glee over dinner interruptions during the Kavanaugh hearings?) Will there be any consequences for it, though? You know the answer…

TO-MAY-TO, TO-MAH-TO: Forget ‘Fundamental Transformation.’ Today’s Dems Want to End America.

BE PREPARED: ThermoPRO 3-in-1 Forehead, Ear, and Bottle Thermometer for Kids and Adults. #CommissionEarned

WE USED TO BE A PROPER COUNTRY:

I’ve discovered the computer commands to fire grenades from mortars on the moon*. (From the Apollo Flight Ops manual)

*This is literally true. https://t.co/EXiAiBdtNN pic.twitter.com/oqZtjF1D13

— Tim Hamilton (@TSHamiltonAstro) April 10, 2024

If the Soviets had made it to the Moon, it looks like we weren’t going to put up with any of their crap.

I HAVE SERIOUS DOUBTS THAT THE EPA’S CONTRIBUTION WILL TURN OUT TO BE POSITIVE: Beyond 18-wheelers: How the EPA wants to clean up trucking around the US.

HMM: The Film ‘Civil War’ Is Not Entirely What You Think It Is.

[Writer/director] Gartland, who’s English and whose work has included “Ex Machina” and “28 Days Later,” has a subtle eye and a quirky sense of drama. He never answers the question of how the war began or who the “good guys” are. The film opens with a news announcer saying that 19 states have seceded including Texas and California, which have formed themselves into the “WA|” or Western Alliance.

Yes, Texas and California are on the same side. As I mentioned, don’t apply your own personal political views to this film. If you do, you’ll miss the point. The film uses the “Civil War” as a backdrop to explain and expand on journalistic ethics.

The cast is made up mostly of B-list actors, with some familiar character actors. Reviews so far have been mixed largely because of frustration with Garland’s refusal to take a side or give much context to the fighting of the war.

Last week, I praised the trailer for being surprisingly apolitical, so it’s nice to see that maybe the movie delivers on that promise.

But there’s also this warning from Christian Toto:

Terrible timing:#CivilWarMovie is a love letter to journalism … while an NPR insider exposes just how corrupt the institution is… pic.twitter.com/xEZiZzjSqL

— Christian Toto (@HollywoodInToto) April 10, 2024

For Hollywood, it’s always 1973 and the noble journalists are always just about to take down the evil, warmonger president.

Assuming he’s a Republican, of course.

FASTER, PLEASE: Serious flu damage prevented by compound that blocks unnecessary cell death.

BIDENFLATION: ‘Serious possibility’ that Fed’s next rate move is a hike, warns Larry Summers.

That’s economist and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers highlighting the possibility that the Federal Reserve may not only have difficulty delivering previously expected interest-rate cuts, but could have yet to deliver its final rate hike of the current cycle.

Summers’ remarks, in an interview Wednesday with Bloomberg Television, came after the March consumer-price index showed a hotter-than-expected inflation reading for both the headline figure and the core rate, which strips out volatile food and energy prices.

Summers said that while circumstances can change between now and June, the current facts would make a June rate cut seem “a dangerous and egregious error comparable to the errors the Fed was making in the summer of 2021,” when policy makers left rate hikes on hold amid expectations that rising inflationary pressures would prove transitory.

For what it’s worth, Summers was the first — and to my recollection, only — big-name Democrat to warn three years ago that inflation was coming.

READER FAVORITE: 5-Minute Core Exercises for Seniors: Daily Routines to Build Balance and Boost Confidence. #CommissionEarned

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY UNDER THE “IF YOU VOTE REPUBLICAN YOU AIN’T BLACK” ADMINISTRATION: Deaths of despair skyrocket among Black and Native Americans.

THAT IS THE GOAL: Can America Survive if the Guilty Are Left Unpunished? Nah.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: “From the quality of the logic and writing in this article, suffice it to say that it’s evident she got into Harvard because she is Sheryl Sandberg’s niece.”

MY LATEST SUBSTACK ESSAY: Confessions of a Former Rocket Boy.

I’M PLEASANTLY SURPRISED THAT NBC PUT “HEROIC” IN THE HEADLINE: Idaho woman, 85, fatally shot home intruder in ‘heroic’ act of self-defense.

An 85-year-old Idaho woman shot and killed an intruder in her home in what a county prosecutor called “one of the most heroic acts of self-preservation I have ever heard of.”

Bingham County Prosecutor Ryan Jolley said in a case review that the woman, identified Wednesday as Christine Jenneiahn, acted in self-defense and ruled it was a case of justifiable homicide.

“That Christine survived this encounter is truly incredible,” Jolley wrote. “Her grit, determination, and will to live appear to be what saved her that night.”

Well, that and her .357 Magnum.

BREAKING: O.J. Simpson Has Died.

THINGS THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN OBVIOUS A DECADE AGO: Indiana Court Rejects Claim That Driver’s Licenses Must Include Third Gender Option.

TRAGIC: I Was Right About the Hostages Being Dead.

DIE FASTER, PLEASE, DEI: The Daily Chart: DEI is DIE-ing.

THERE’S GOLD IN THEM THAR CARTS: Costco selling $200 million in gold bars per month, says analyst.

An analyst note from Wells Fargo estimates sales of the company’s gold bars currently account for between $100 million and $200 million per month. Sales of the one-ounce bars, which are made of 24-karat gold began last October. The bars sell for about $2,000 each.

While the revenue numbers are significant, the research note suggests profits from these sales are low, at best. The real value, it says, is in how the price reinforces Costco’s value position. (The spot price of an ounce of gold, as of 11:15 a.m. Wednesday morning, stood at $2,332.)

It is, in one way, a high-end version of the company’s rotisserie chicken—a way to attract customer attention.

It couldn’t come at a better time, either. Gold has been on something of a rocket ride this year as the chances of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve look increasingly dim. Year to date, prices are up 13% (versus just an 8.6% increase in the S&P 500).

Just remember that gold bars aren’t a productive investment, but a hedge against government stupidity — and one that I can’t recall ever being sold in a big box chain store.

THAT’S NOT FUNNY: Was He Joking? Biden Warns Iran That His Support for Israel Is ‘Ironclad.’

READER FAVORITE: All-new Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet, built for relaxation. #CommissionEarned