YUPPIES OF THE WORLD, UNITE! Matt Taibbi: In Highest Comedy, David Brooks, Arch-Priest of “Elites,” Calls for “Civic Uprising.”

It’s always a constitutional crisis justifying the abandonment of all norms when the establishment doesn’t get its way. Plus: “It’s genuinely touching to see Brooks, the AFLAC duck of elitism, a man who wrote an actual book on being a snob, forced to consider the question of raising mass support. Adding to the pathos is the fact that it’s mere months after this same coalition of academics, lawyers, ‘nonprofits,’ and scientists tried and failed at throwing up every legal and illegal obstacle to Trump’s election. In other words, ‘civic uprising’ flopped when the folks in whom Brooks places faith held every lever of authority. Now they’re going to lead a grassroots revolt? The irony in this is breathtaking, but you have to have lived through it to see it. . . . As for Brooks, he made news a few years ago by complaining about a $78 bill at the excellent Smoke House Barbecue at Newark Airport, neglecting to mention that 80% of his tab came from the bar.”

Flashback: How David Brooks Created Donald Trump.

FOLLOW THE “SCIENCE:” How the IPCC Buried the Medieval Warm Period.

IT’S NOT TREASON, BECAUSE THAT HAS A VERY SPECIFIC MEANING IN LAW, BUT IT IS INSANE AND IT IS EVIL:  Proof of the insanity of the Democrat Party.

AP BUT GOOD NEWS:  US Army engineers decide to fast-track Great Lakes tunnel permits under Trump energy emergency order.

OUT THIS WEEK FROM KURT SCHLICHTER & IRINA MOISES: Lost Angeles: Silver Bullets On The Sunset Strip.

OPEN THREAD: Monday, Monday.

PROGRESS SO AMAZING IT’S. BECOME ROUTINE: SpaceX launches its 32nd Dragon cargo mission to the ISS for NASA.

GOOD: Vagus Nerve Stimulation Has Lasting Effects in People With Severe Depression.

ICYMI: THE U.S.S. ROBERT HEINLEIN: A friend writes:

The U.S.S. Robert A. Heinlein Campaign!

We want the new Secretary of the Navy – John Phelan — to name a future DDG-51 Flight III
destroyer for Robert A. Heinlein.

************************
It is the prerogative of the Secretary of the Navy to name Navy vessels. Navy policy is to name destroyers for deceased members of the Navy.

We want the new Secretary of the Navy – John Phelan — to name a future DDG-51 Flight III destroyer for Robert A. Heinlein.

This would happen if lots of people write asking him to name a future Arleigh
Burke-class destroyer for Heinlein.

Phelan’s address is:
The Honorable John Phelan
Secretary of the Navy
Room 4E686
Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301

More information may be found at the Campaign website.

www.USSRobertAHeinlein.com.

Good idea. Endorsed.

STANDING UP? OR PROPPED UP? Elizabeth Warren Humiliates Herself Defending Biden’s Mental Acuity: ‘He Was on His Feet.’

POPULAR SUPPLEMENT: Toniiq Ultra High Strength 1500mg NAD+ Supplement. #CommissionEarned

10-MILE THICK DIAMOND LAYERS ARE ALWAYS IN THE LAST PLACE YOU LOOK: NASA Discovers 10-Mile-Thick Diamond Layer Beneath Mercury’s Surface.

FLASHBACK: The Smug Style in American Liberalism.

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Wife of former US Sen. Bob Menendez convicted in bribery scheme.

OOF: How Big Did ‘Snow White’ Really Bomb? THIS Big.

TIME FOR A REVOLUTION: Germany Is Revoking Gun Rights from AfD Supporters—and It’s a Warning Shot for the West.

21ST CENTURY CAREER DECISIONS: Actors who sold AI avatars stuck in Black Mirror-esque dystopia. “For actors, selling their AI likeness seems quick and painless—and perhaps increasingly more lucrative. All they have to do is show up and make a bunch of different facial expressions in front of a green screen, then collect their checks. But Alyssa Malchiodi, a lawyer who has advocated on behalf of actors, told the AFP that ‘the clients I’ve worked with didn’t fully understand what they were agreeing to at the time,’ blindly signing contracts with ‘clauses considered abusive,’ even sometimes granting ‘worldwide, unlimited, irrevocable exploitation, with no right of withdrawal.'”

ARE YOU AN AI ALARMIST OR ACCOMODATIONIST? I’m a bit of both when it comes to education, but I think having an infinitely patient tutor for those who do want to learn could be a huge blessing.

DOG BITES MAN: CCP-Tied Entity Bankrolled Anti-Trump Mayor.

MAKE THEM PAY: ATF wanted former sailor to serve an additional 10 years in prison for 100% legal MAC Flats.

DAVID MARCUS: These 3 are auditioning to be Democrats’ next George Floyd. “As we speak, the holy trinity of the supposedly oppressed that graces the altar of the progressive media ecosystem are alleged murderers Luigi Mangione and Karmelo Anthony as well as alleged MS-13 gang member and human trafficker in the country illegally, Kilmar Abrego Garcia.”

Look at who they venerate to understand where they want to take the country.

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: George Mason PhD Student Asks ‘When Must We Kill’ Trump, Hilarity Ensues.

REPLENISH YOUR SKIN: NutraVive Body Protect Cream – Anti-Aging Crepey Skin Moisturizer. #CommissionEarned

CALIFORNICATION: Colorado regulators raise emissions fees significantly, create new reporting requirements.

A Colorado regulatory panel agreed Friday to raise fees on industrial companies by as much as 67% and to implement a new system, beginning in 2027, under which those firms must report even small levels of emissions for 342 different toxic air contaminants.
…
However, groups such as the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, American Petroleum Institute Colorado and Colorado Utilities Coalition said they want the division to meet new performance standards focused on speeding permit review.

The average number of days between submission of permit applications and issuance of permits by CDPHE has risen by nearly 2-1/2 times, from 165 days in 2019 to 459 days in 2024, according to data that the state provided to the Joint Budget Committee. At the same time, addition and expansion of fees on the operations of emitters means Colorado businesses are paying $12,738 per ton of volatile organic compounds and nitrous oxides, said Christy Woodward, Colorado Chamber regulatory affairs advisor.

Kristen Derr, an environmental specialist for pipeline company Williams, said her company filed an application to upgrade a compressor station in 2022 — and waited 13 months for it to even get assigned to a permit reviewer before taking another 15 months to get approved. Julia Griffin, senior air permitting and compliance specialist with Kinder Morgan, described a permit application she filed to reduce fugitive emissions in March 2024 and noted that CDPHE has spent 308 hours on it and billed her $43,000 but hasn’t awarded a permit yet.

Message sent: Manufacturers not welcome here.

My libertarian friends keep telling me about Gov. Jared Polis’s light regulatory touch, but I keep reading stories like this one.

Previously: You traded the 1st and 2nd amendments for legal weed. Was it worth it?

ANALYSIS: TRUE.

This is what social contagion looks like.

When I was a kid, we had eating disorders, goths, Wiccans, and parents who forced kids to play a sport to vicariously fulfill some unmet dream of theirs.

Now, we have this: pic.twitter.com/lN2HpRnptb

— John LeFevre (@JohnLeFevre) April 20, 2025