YES, IT IS.

🤦‍♂️

Taxpayer-funded propaganda! https://t.co/XZLdMzXCuc

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 4, 2025

THE ONLY THING GREEN INNOVATIONS ALWAYS SUCCEED AT IS MAKING YOUR LIFE WORSE: Low-Flow Showerheads Actually Use More Water Than High Pressure Ones.

Intrepid researchers at the University of Surrey had placed sensors in 290 showers around campus, recording data for 39 weeks from 86,421 individual shower sessions. “Water consumption,” the study found, sensationally, “was reduced by up to 56% with high water pressure.”

The researchers, seeming puzzled by the results, recommended more study. But they also offered a theory along these lines: When a showerhead delivers a good, fizzing spray, people pop in and briskly get their business done, unlike when faced with a drizzle that prompts them to wonder if the Head & Shoulders will ever be adequately washed off their head and shoulders.

But then, making your life worse is the actual goal. Everything else is just marketing. Related:

SPACEX SCRUBBED THE STARSHIP LAUNCH YESTERDAY: “’Too many question marks about this flight and then we were 20 bar low on ground spin start pressure,’ SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk posted. ‘Best to destack, inspect both stages and try again in a day or two.'”

Absent some overriding urgency, you don’t want to launch in the face of known problems. In some ways, the worst outcome of that would be if everything still worked, because it would tend to make you sloppy in the future.

THE ROOTS OF TRUMP’S REALPOLITIK: “As often happens, Trump breaks with American presidential traditions more in style than in substance. In reality, the 45th and 47th president is in a tradition of realist presidents, going back to Theodore Roosevelt more than a century ago, who have viewed world politics as a great-power club, rather than an arena for idealism.”

UPDATE:

JUST IN: 🇮🇹🇺🇦 Italian Prime Minister Meloni rejects offers from France and UK to send troops to Ukraine.

"You can go—not with my soldiers." pic.twitter.com/npwoAAsgBk

— BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) March 4, 2025

ANOTHER UPDATE:

It's astounding to see EU President Ursula von der Leyen laugh when asked if one of her own children is in the military, quickly dismissing the idea with a "No, of course not"
Meanwhile, she's in London making decisions about sending other people's daughters and sons to die in… pic.twitter.com/RbYtuRgN74

— Richard (@ricwe123) March 2, 2025

HMM: US Manufacturing Expands For Second Month Under Trump, Driven by Stronger Demand and Policy Shifts.

JOEL KOTKIN: The Democrats’ coming civil war: Voters are tired of failed ‘progressive’ dogmas, even in the Democrats’ urban heartlands. But will the party listen?

MORONS PROLIFERATE: The Open Borders Crowd Attacks Elon Musk Because He is an Immigrant.

LIFE IN BLUE AMERICA: “Left,” “Right,” Zeleneskyy, and the Signals Inherent to Restoration Hardware Politics. “If you pick up a political science textbook and try to figure out what ‘left’ and ‘right’ are, right is the politics of the status quo, of existing relationships of power and status, and left is the politics of change, opposed to power and inclined toward social leveling. If you look at the actual political landscape of the country, the leftists are gathering with other private equity executives at their home in Ross to put a stop to all this agriculture that’s making their weekend playground less pleasing to the eye.”

Plus: “I’m pretty sure the split in America is between people who are firmly attached to institutions and the status quo, because they benefit from them, and people who think our institutions are broken. . . . mostly, I think, we’re having a culture war over status and rice bowls.”

JOHN LUCAS: No, Mr. Secretary, generals do not have civil service protection or tenure. They serve at the pleasure of the president. “Five of the ten living former Secretaries of Defense ratcheted up the warfare against President Trump when they signed what they called an ‘Appeal to Congress.’ . . . Their ‘Appeal’ is nonsense, but dangerous nonsense. It combines historical ignorance with their own partisan attempt to attack President Trump in a way that would weaken civilian control. If their “Appeal” were granted, it also would further the politicization of the military by plunging Congress into disputes relating to military matters that the Constitution entrusts to the President.”

DONALD SENSING: “I stand with Ukraine” means what, exactly?

I’M BEGINNING TO QUESTION WHAT, EXACTLY, EUROPEAN VALUES CONSIST OF: EU Democracy Update: Looking to Strip Hungary of Its Veto In Order to ‘Defend European Values.’

Who am I kidding. I know exactly what European values consist of.

OPEN THREAD: Monday, Monday.

WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW: Air Force selects Pacific landing sites to test space cargo deliveries.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT:

Trump approval rating by age:

65+ – 45%
40-64 – 46%
18-39 – 60%

The next generation wants a country and a future; their parents don’t seem as concerned.

The kids are alright!

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 3, 2025

NOT EXACTLY A SURPRISE: Can Antidepressants Make You Gain Weight? A 6-Year Study Says Yes.

ONE SCAM OUT OF MANY BEING SHUT DOWN:

NBC San Antonio investigates nonprofit that got its $18 million/month contract ended by DOGE; finds empty facility & revenue of $1.1 billion in 2022 pic.twitter.com/8nOrD4AmEw

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 3, 2025

HARDBALL: BREAKING: Trump Makes a MAJOR Move on Ukraine. “This is not permanent termination of aid, it’s a pause.”

WELL, YES:

Many pundits apparently believe the Trump admin is pursuing ignorant, random goals. But while one may disagree with them, it seems obvious that MAGA is based on a new architecture of power in which national strength is based more on own assets than international agreements.

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) March 3, 2025

A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION SHOULD FOLLOW:

🚨BREAKING: Head of FBI field office in New York James Dennehy FORCED TO RESIGN following accusations from the Department of Justice in regards to his office hiding thousands of Epstein documents. pic.twitter.com/S4nRLP6RHf

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 3, 2025

CAPTAIN’S JOURNAL: First Look: Remington Core-Lokt Lever Gun Ammunition.

WELL, YES. Modern Feminism Makes Women Miserable.

PORSCHE, CHEVROLET AND CADILLAC MORE RELIABLE THAN HONDA? What Are the Most Reliable Car Brands?

SELF DEFENSE: Black Swans, Severity and Probability.

THIS IS A CHANGE FOR MARC THIESSEN: Zelensky must mend the breach with Trump — or resign: Zelensky’s stubbornness has badly hurt Ukraine.

Even after Zelensky refused a White House request to wear a suit, Trump praised his outfit, saying, “I think he’s dressed beautifully.” Trump extolled the minerals deal they had reached and said, “We look forward to getting in and digging, digging, digging.” He publicly pledged to continue military aid to Ukraine and even held out the possibility that he “could conceivably” commit U.S. troops alongside British and French troops to provide security after a peace deal was reached.

This should have been music to Zelensky’s ears. He should have taken the win. Instead, about 24 minutes in — long before his terse exchange with Vice President JD Vance — Zelensky started criticizing Trump in front of the assembled reporters. . . .

Zelensky should not have litigated any disagreements with Trump in front of the media. As retired Gen. Jack Keane noted on Fox News, “He should have understood going into the Oval Office today that when the cameras are on … the only answer to the questions should be, from Zelesnky’s point, ‘Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, America. I’m going to work with you to achieve a peaceful end to this war.’ Period.”

Keane is right. This should have been a backslapping, feel-good meeting celebrating the minerals deal. Instead, Zelensky hijacked the meeting, jumping in when he was not asked a question, looking for opportunities to interrupt and make his points. If he had kept quiet, the minerals deal would be signed, the United States would be financially invested in Ukraine’s independence, and he would be strategizing with Trump on how to get his territory back during negotiations. Instead, he has alienated the man on whom the fate of his country depends, a man who had just moments earlier been talking about the possibility of sending U.S. peacekeepers to Ukraine.

Even worse was Zelensky’s stubborn refusal to apologize and to fix the breach.

Thiessen has been a strong Ukraine supporter, so this stings more. Also, he’s right.

ANSWERING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Why can some people wiggle their ears?