BURIED LEDE: Google reveals sky-high Gemini usage numbers in antitrust case.
The one truly interesting item in this report is buried in the final graf: “Google doesn’t talk about how much it earns (more likely loses) from Gemini subscriptions, but OpenAI has noted that it loses money even on its $200 monthly plan.”
If OpenAI can’t make money on its highest-priced plan, AI has a long way to go before it becomes profitable — and the shakeout is going to be brutal.
A TYPICAL WASHINGTON MANEUVER, TBH: Jon Ossoff Voted for Military Pay Raises — Then Voted Against Funding Them.
I WILL NOT EAT THE BUGS: Eat The Bugs, Pay For The Water. “Is this any way to run an evil organization bent on world domination? Did Ernst Stavro Blofeld ever have to justify the expense of a volcano base to a SPECTRE audit committee?”
MY NEW YORK POST COLUMN IS UP: Alito’s right to warn: Court’s knee-jerk habit of slapping Trump will cost it dearly.
SETH BARRETT TILLMAN on “Corruption” in a Free Speech Case.
THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC CALLED AND SUGGESTED THAT 2025 DIAL IT BACK A NOTCH OR TWENTY:
In 2025, an attorney for a government school district is able to make it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court defending exposing children as young as three years old to books about sexuality. Imagine going back in time to any point—even just a few years ago—and explaining that… pic.twitter.com/mMA3ZslRvs
— Laura Powell (@LauraPowellEsq) April 23, 2025
Here’s the rest of the text:
Imagine going back in time to any point—even just a few years ago—and explaining that this is considered a serious argument. What I find most remarkable about the exchange is the attorney’s acknowledgment that their intent is to “influence” children. He begins to explain that the goal is to install “civility,” which is the “natural consequence of being exposed to—” before he is cut off. Was he going to say that “civility” results from exposure to sexual content at a very young age? What could “civility” possibly mean here?
MR. SCHOENFELD: Pride Puppy was the book that was used for the pre-kindergarten curriculum. That’s no longer in the curriculum.
JUSTICE GORSUCH: That’s the one where they’re supposed to look for the leather and things—bondage, things like that, right?
MR. SCHOENFELD: It’s not bondage. It’s a woman in a leather—
JUSTICE GORSUCH: Sex worker, right?
MR. SCHOENFELD: No. That’s not correct. No.
JUSTICE GORSUCH: I thought—gosh, I read it.
JUSTICE BARRETT: It’s a drag queen in drag.
JUSTICE GORSUCH: Drag queen in—drag queen?
MR. SCHOENFELD: So, correct. The leather that they’re pointing to is a woman in a leather jacket, and one of the words is drag queen in this—
JUSTICE GORSUCH: And they’re supposed to look for those?
MR. SCHOENFELD: It is an option at the end of the book, correct.
JUSTICE GORSUCH: Yeah. Okay. And you’ve included these in the English language curriculum rather than the human sexuality curriculum to influence students, is that fair? That’s what the district court found. Do you agree with that?
MR. SCHOENFELD: I think, to the extent the district court found that it was to influence, it was to influence them towards civility, the natural consequence of being exposed to—
JUSTICE GORSUCH: Whatever, but to influence them.
MR. SCHOENFELD: In the manner that I just mentioned, yes.
My God. More details (and a Republicans pounce! moment) here: Supreme Court Leans Toward Parents on Opt-Outs for LGBTQ+ Lessons.
The argument tended to keep returning to the books.
Jackson said it was her understanding that the Montgomery County district was explicit that the LGBTQ+ storybooks “were to be used only to supplement the English/language arts curriculum as reading instruction and not to teach about gender or sexuality.”
She said it seemed “infeasible” in elementary school English lessons that “every time this particular kind of book comes out, we have to start letting people leave the classroom.”
Throughout the long argument, none of the justices or the lawyers representing the parents and the Trump administration had mentioned two books that were initially part of the Montgomery County program but were later pulled, My Rainbow and Pride Puppy!
So it was a bit of a surprise when Schoenfeld, the district’s lawyer, brought up Pride Puppy!, a book aimed at 3- and 4-year-olds which has drawn controversy from some quarters for asking readers to search, on pages of an LGBTQ+ pride parade, for images including “underwear,” “leather,” “lip ring,” and “[drag] queen.”
When Gorsuch asked about what kind of lessons were being offered to pre-K students as young as three, Schoenfeld noted Pride Puppy! and that it was no longer part of the curriculum.
Gorsuch pounced.
“That’s the one where they are supposed to look for the leather and things, and bondage—things like that, right?” he said, adding “a sex worker?”
Schoenfeld suggested some of those descriptions were inaccurate and that even Pride Puppy! helped influence students “towards civility.”
A decision in the case is expected by late June or early July.
Earlier:
The left doesn’t have enough kids to win.
That’s why they’re so insistent on controlling your kid’s education.
So maybe…just don’t voluntarily hand over your kids, and we win this whole thing in a generation.
— Nick Freitas (@NickJFreitas) April 21, 2025
UPDATE:
"You don’t have to send your kid to that school."
From the people who spent a decade suing the only baker in Colorado who wouldn't cater a gay wedding. https://t.co/4x3L1MM5IN
— Holden (@Holden114) April 24, 2025
MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE: It’s Amazing What a Little White House Browbeating of Schools Will Do to Address Antisemitism.
HENRY GAO: China Can’t Go It Alone.
As demonstrated above, China’s options are limited, and where it does have some initiative, its deteriorating economy makes it difficult to mount an effective response to the United States. Even if China does take action, the consequences are likely to backfire. So, can any other country come to China’s rescue?
The most obvious candidate is the European Union, which has made some noises to that effect. But the European Union is also caught in a bind. While it shares China’s discontent with the United States’ aggressive tariff policies, it is not about to embrace a flood of cheap Chinese imports rejected by the United States. While the European Union is indeed negotiating a deal on electric vehicles with China, this deal is less about solidarity against the United States — as some news outlets have suggested — and more about preemptively limiting Chinese imports. In exchange for suspending trade remedy measures, Chinese exporters are agreeing to a minimum price for electric vehicles in the European Union — which hardly seems likely to further boost sales.
Recognizing this, China has made efforts to rally support from neighboring countries, as seen in Xi Jinping’s recent visits to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia. However, these countries are hardly enthusiastic partners with China either. In 2024, Vietnam exported 42 percent of what it imported from China, and Cambodia’s trade deficit with China accounted for 30 percent of its GDP. All three nations enjoy trade surpluses with the United States, making it highly unlikely they would side with China over the United States. As a result, despite China’s diplomatic push, it has failed to secure major concessions from other Asian nations, including Vietnam.
Ultimately, China likely understands its true position.
This is a lengthy article, but worth your time.
Trump really couldn’t have found a better time or a better tool for dealing with the CCP.
SUDDENLY PEOPLE ARE NOTICING THAT CIVIL RIGHTS LAW CAN BE INTRUSIVE AND COERCIVE:
The Civil Rights Act bans entities receiving federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race.
If Harvard is discriminating on the basis of race, what should happen? https://t.co/AAfRkUa4eL
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) April 23, 2025
SARAH HOYT’S SHOCKED FACE IS STUCK LIKE THAT: Deported El Salvadoran stopped in car owned by alien who pleaded guilty to human smuggling charges.
PRECISELY:
"Don't open Pandora's box!" the WSJ editorial board exclaims, as the rest of us stare at a box that has been opened for twenty years unleashing nonstop law fare https://t.co/m0KnRsifRJ
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) April 24, 2025
The Democrats’ MO, going back at least to Obama, is to engineer (or at least take advantage of) a crisis. They then permanently lock in their political gains by using the courts to thwart the will of the people.
It’s easy to illegally let in 10 million “migrants” and lavish them with taxpayer money. It’s impossible to undo the damage when the courts insist that illegal government actions can only be undone if the new government submits to unprecedented court scrutiny and control.
TO BE FAIR, THE RUSSIANS ARE EVEN LESS COOPERATIVE: ‘GET IT DONE’: Trump Lets Into Zelensky for Complicating Peace Negotiations.
STAY SAFE: Headlamp Rechargeable 990,000 Lumens Super Bright LED Head Lamp for Adults. #CommissionEarned
GOOD LUCK, I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW WE’RE ALL COUNTING ON YOU:
Do you all realize how good we have it?
-Trump is cancelling WW3, while trying to reset global trade, and get rid of income tax.
-RFK Jr. is taking chemicals out of our food and combating big pharma.
-Tulsi is releasing files and catching leakers.
-Hegseth is reinstating… pic.twitter.com/htIGbXyZCs
— Clandestine (@WarClandestine) April 23, 2025
DECOUPLING CUTS BOTH WAYS: China sends Boeing planes back to US over tariffs.
Kelly Ortberg said two planes had already been returned and another would follow after trade tensions between the two countries escalated.
Boeing’s chief executive told CNBC that 50 more planes were due to go to China this year but their customers had indicated they will not take delivery of them.
The US put 145% tariffs on imports from China and it hit back with a 125% tax on US products.
Speaking in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said he was optimistic about improving trade relations with China, saying the level of tariffs he had imposed would “come down substantially, but it won’t be zero”.
However, Mr Ortberg said China “have in fact stopped taking delivery of aircraft because of tariff environment”.
Boeing is America’s largest exporter with about 70% of its commercial aircraft sales outside of the US.
Mr Ortberg said Boeing was assessing options to re-market 41 of the already built planes to other customers as there was high demand from other airlines.
Left unanswered: What Chinese airlines will do without their American jets. It isn’t like Airbus can suddenly summon up an extra three dozen.
SOMETIMES A STORY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF: New Evidence Against Kilmar Abrego Garcia Drops… And It’s Bad.
WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?
This is scary AF! We’re technically still in an ice age, and these psychopaths want to block the main source of life — THE SUN? Way more people die from cold than heat, and they want less sunlight? Genocidal death cult! pic.twitter.com/obrsdHVht9
— Dr. Simon Goddek (@goddeketal) April 23, 2025
UPDATE (From Ed): Why are the Brits trying something so crazy that Barry O. himself refused to implement it, even at the height of Hopenchange fever, when his administration could have done pretty much anything they wanted to do?
Still though, could be worse:
James Lileks writes, “I was somewhat alarmed by this story:”
“Experiments to dim the SUN in bid to curb global warming will be approved by the UK government within weeks.” (Daily Fail, but they’re quoting a Telegraph story.) Of all the countries to come up with the idea of reducing the amount of sun its residents get, England would seem to be last on the list. Also, this is how the Matrix got started. Also, I think a poll of most of England outside of the government, universities, and tanks of Cogitating Boffins would regard the idea as utter tosh, because Climate Dread is quite low on the list of concerns for most UK residents. I’m sure there are plenty of people who have it so good they can devote all their mental activities to appeasing the contentious relationship between the Sun God and the Earth Mother, with an hour set aside each day to worry about Knife Crime (blades are just jumping up from the gutter into the hands of people and wiping away their entire personal moral construct, forcing them to stab without thought) and the Growing Peril of the millions of proto-Adolescent young men who are being drawn to the dark side by gormless dorks such as Andrew Tate, but outside of these types, maybe there’s a general assumption that the government should not muck about with the Sun.
Or to put it another way: Democrats Move to Destroy the Earth.
To paraphrase Peter Arnett, it was necessary to destroy the Global Village in order to save it.
STATES PROBABLY SHOULDN’T RUN LOTTERIES ANYWAY: Texas Lawmakers Threaten to Shut Down the State Lottery Over Possible Gaming of the System.
Update: The intro originally read “should” instead of “shouldn’t.” Fixed now.
CHANGE, PART I: Jordan bans Muslim Brotherhood after alleged sabotage plot against Hashemite Kingdom.
Jordanian Interior Minister Mazen Fraya said all Muslim Brotherhood activities would be banned in the country and anyone promoting the group’s ideology would be held accountable by law. The ban includes publishing anything by the group and closure and confiscation of all its offices and property, he added.
Fraya said Muslim Brotherhood members had planned attacks on security targets and sensitive locations in the kingdom, aiming to destabilize the country, but did not disclose what these targets were.
Faraya told reporters that “members of the so-called Muslim Brotherhood… are operating in the shadows and engage in activities that could undermine stability and security.”
Change, Part II: Abbas calls Hamas ‘sons of dogs’ and demands release of Gaza hostages.
The president of the Palestinian Authority told a meeting in the occupied West Bank that Hamas had given Israel “excuses” to continue its attacks on Gaza, and told it to “release the hostages and be done with it”.
The remarks were the strongest against the group that the president has delivered since the war began 18 months ago.
Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, and it looks like more and more of the locals are sick of them both.
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