OPEN THREAD: Sometimes I feel so deserted.

SPACE: Axiom’s 1st private astronaut crew is ready to fly to space.

STUPID HYGIENE THEATER: What’s the deal with masks on planes?

I THINK A LOT OF THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES ARE GOING TO WIND UP STIFFING CHINA, AND I’M NOT SURE WHAT CHINA CAN DO ABOUT IT:

Of course, Sri Lanka’s organic farming Green debacle didn’t help here.

Also: Sri Lanka to pay $200m compensation for failed organic farm drive. “A million farmers whose crops failed under a botched scheme to establish the world’s first 100-percent organic farming nation will be compensated.”

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: Everyone is worried about gas prices, but diesel is driving inflation more than you think.

EU, MSM HARDEST HIT: Hungary’s Viktor Orban scores crushing victory as Ukraine war solidifies support.

Background here: All Eyes on Hungary at This Hour (Updated Throughout Today).

Flashback: Viktor Orbán is winning his culture war.

FROM SARAH A. HOYT: ODD MAGICS: TALES FOR THE LOST. #CommissionEarned

Odd Magics
This is a very strange collection of fairytales, recast for modern life. In it the prize isn’t always to the fairest, the
magic is rarely to the strongest.
But lonely introverts do find love, women who never gave it a thought find themselves at the center of romance.
Doing what’s right will see you to the happily ever after.
And sometimes you have to kiss an accountant to find your prince.

This should be available in paper soon (it’s in process) and I’ll try to get it in other online stores over the week (it’s just a matter of time.)

PEPPERMINT PSAKI’S SUBSTITUTE: Which Leftist Will Replace Jen Psaki As Press Secretary?

SELF DEFENSE: Making Quick Decisions: Having a plan in place, even if it isn’t perfect, is a lot better than making it up on the spot when lives are on the line.

SUMMER’S COMING: Polarized Sunglasses for Men. #CommissionEarned

DISPATCHES FROM THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE: UCLA’s race and equity officer who wished death upon Clarence Thomas once admitted to staging a race hoax.

MICROBIOME NEWS: Microbiome experts warn of an ‘invisible extinction’ that’s harming human health.

DISNEY SHAREHOLDER WARNS THE COMPANY: Stop Wasting Money on Political Crusades.

Related: Democrats only have themselves to blame for the rise of Ron DeSantis.

RICHARD FERNANDEZ: What We Can Learn From Russia’s Debacle. “If Putin had followed the advice offered in the Belmont Club just before the Ukraine War, Russia might still be a first-rank power. On Feb 21, 2022, I argued that he had no chance of conquering Ukraine and would be crazy to try.”

Plus: “If there’s any lesson in this for Washington, it must be to ask: how much of America’s power is a myth, like Russia’s? Dare we collapse the wave function?”

OLD AND BUSTED: Follow the Science!

The New Hotness? New York City Will Continue Forced Masking of Children Under 5 Years Old:

Last month, everyone in New York City was allowed to stop wearing masks – except for children under five years old, even though they have one of the lowest risks for contracting and spreading COVID-19.

On Friday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that the city would continue to force children aged two to four to continue wearing masks, claiming the decision was about “children’s health and safety.” Earlier that same day, a judge on Staten Island had issued an order to invalidate the mandate, which the city appealed. Adams announced later on Friday that an appellate judge had ruled in the city’s favor.

Adams then took to Twitter to say that “Children between 2 and 4 should continue to wear their masks in school and daycare come Monday.”

There’s a lot of leftist wine moms in Manhattan whom Adams owes his job to, who get a serious case of the vapors over the idea of masking their kids coming to an end: “Jill Filipovic is a progressive writer who’s pro-mask but looking for an off-ramp from having to mask forever. She’s learned the hard way what happens when you share that view with a liberal crowd:”

FROM THIS STATEMENT — FROM THE U.S. GOVERNMENT, NO LESS — WE CAN CONCLUDE THAT ENERGY RELIABILITY ISN’T A PRIORITY EVEN FOR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. Nuclear Power is the Most Reliable Energy Source and It’s Not Even Close.

LISTEN, SUG: DON’T FORGET TO SAY YOUR PRAYERS — AND WEAR A MASK: “Putin’s Armageddon Weapon,” new video from historian Mark Felton:

Related:

Here’s a link to the referenced document if you want to see it for yourself.

Flashback: The Unexpected Return of Duck and Cover.

(Classical allusion in headline.)

SADLY UNSURPRISING: Most teens with substance use disorder still have it as adults, study finds.

LET’S PLAY ANOTHER ROUND OF “A DAY LATE AND A DOLLAR SHORT:” Most media observers last week were either timidly admitting (or boasting, depending on their posture) that yes, conservative and right-leaning or oriented news organizations were right all along about Hunter Biden’s laptop.

The NY Post had the story (as did others) and summed it up nicely:

[The Washington Post and New York Times] (Mottos: “All the news that’s fit to print” and “Democracy dies in darkness”) joined in the drive to suppress The Post’s reporting off the laptop, playing up bogus, clearly partisan claims that it was somehow “Russian disinformation.”

It turns out that another media walk-back (or crawl-back, given the time it took) happened last week, though with much less fanfare. The Hill finally admitted sub rosa (by adding corrections to many stories) that investigative reporter John Solomon of JustTheNews did not make any errors in his reports about Ukraine and other stories, and finally (this began in 2017!) their newsroom review did not find any unethical behavior as they had previously asserted. Solomon published a succinct statement, saying in part:

“Although the review ultimately did not undermine what I reported, I remain disappointed that The Hill did not seek to interview me. The criticism of my work in the newsroom’s review involved a determination that my columns departed from standard opinion content because they contained too many facts and revelations. To that, I plead guilty. For over a century of great journalism, opinion columnists from Jack Anderson to David Broder to Robert Novak broke enormous stories, factually documented, on the opinion pages of their publications, just like I did at The Hill. I feel no need to apologize for trying to follow in that tradition or to inform the American public.”

Of course, a lie travels around the world before the truth is out of bed, and Solomon has been subjected to a lot of unfair and disrespectful treatment as The Hill’s initial condemnation began to take root.

“Which office do I go to to get my reputation back?” — Raymond Donovan

** Disclosure: I often perform legal review of stories published by JTN.**

IT KEEPS MUTATING: Howie Carr: Latest variant of Trump Derangement Syndrome on the rise.

BLUE-ANON: Here’s a journo linking the fascist ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law to QAnon, religion, and ‘patriarchal & anti-urbanist narratives.’

QUESTION ASKED: Is Conservative Commentary Getting Too Cocky About the Midterms?

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS:

● Shot: Madison Cawthorn: People in politics in D.C. who I’ve looked up to have invited me to orgies.

—Hot Air, Monday.

● Chaser: “Look, I’m just going to say what we’re all thinking: why would someone invite someone in a wheelchair to an orgy?”

—Twitter thread by Ben Dreyfuss, Friday. (Found via Iowahawk, who writes, “IMO the finest Twitter thread ever crafted.”)

STILL POPULAR: Carhartt Men’s Loose Fit Heavyweight Short-Sleeve Pocket T-Shirt. #CommissionEarned

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Catholic university speaker: ‘crucify whiteness,’ embrace ‘hopelessness,’ ‘ethically lie.’