AS MY FRIEND, DAVE FREER, TOLD ME YEARS AGO, CHINA’S ECONOMY IS A BEAUTIFUL LACQUERED VASE, WITH THE LACQUER HIDING CRACKS AND ROT:  China’s Economy in Grave Danger as Growth Engines Stall, Options Dwindle.

PEOPLE IN HELL WANT ICE WATER:  House Republicans Want Answers From State Department About Suspended Iran Envoy Robert Malley.

THIS WAS A SURPRISE ONLY TO HIMSELF. OH, MAYBE THE OTHER 9 TOO:  Russian dissident Yevgeny Prigozhin dead after a plane crash outside Moscow: Wagner group.

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO MAKE DEATH THREATS:  Woman threatened to shoot Donald Trump, son Barron ‘straight in the face’: feds.

RIDING THE CREST OF MATCHING VIRAL PUBLIC OPINION AND SHOWING HOW OUT OF TOUCH “ELITES” ARE:  ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’ singer Oliver Anthony earning $40K per day after turning down $8M record deal.

AND THIS DOESN’T EVEN TOUCH SECURITY THEATER AT AIRPORTS:  Fourth Amendment Abuse.

INDEED:  Some bans are more equal than others.

And for the record, Handmaid’s Tail Tale is bad erotica masquerading as science fiction that has launched a thousand women costumed as ketchup bottles for no explicable reason. It belongs on no curriculum. Much like Wuthering Heights it just gives susceptibly emotional women the vapors. But it shouldn’t be banned.

I’M WITH HIM. WHAT HE SAID:  I will NOT wear a mask, part two.

I will not wear the mask. I will not pretend the panic is real. I will not take the shot (unless I can inject vinaigrette in the lefties of my choice). I will not move to the fifteen minute hell hole. I will not give up my car. I will not give up my gun. I will not eat the bugs. Molon Labe.

Also, while we’re at it:  mene mene tekel upharsin!

FOR PEOPLE WHO KEEP TALKING ABOUT WHAT THEIR EIGHT YEAR OLDS SAID THEY’RE SURE CRUSTY WHEN KIDS SPEAK:  Blacklisted 12-year-old appeals lower court decision saying he has no free speech rights.

UNEXPECTEDLY!  500,000 jobs could disappear in dramatic revision of US government data: report.

Bidenomics! Is there anything it can’t do?

BECAUSE IT PROFITS THE SOCIALISTS TO OBSCURE THE TRUTH:  Must-hear interview: Steve Koonin on why so much that people “know” about “climate change” is wrong.

I DON’T CARE HOW CRAZY A STORY THEY WANT TO TELL, BUT CAN THEY STOP CALLING IT BY THE NAME OF SOMETHING OLDER THAT WORKED?  Former Disney Designer Asserts Walt Disney Would “Very Much Disagree” With Rachel Zegler’s Vision For ‘Snow White’.

Also, for the record from the comments, it’s not just their vision being very odd, it’s that the world-building doesn’t work at all:

IF YOU TINKER WITH THIS STUFF:  Starting Points.

BECAUSE THE TRUTH MATTERS: Painting that covered up enslaved boy restored, set to hang in Met.

SO MUCH FOR LEARNING TO CODE?  Clerical workers most likely to suffer job losses from generative AI: study.

FRAUD ALLOWED TO STAND HAS CONSEQUENCES:  Open floodgates at Arizona border allow thousands of migrants to walk into the country.

WELL, HE’S TELLING ONE TRUTH:  Social Security Will Be Bankrupt in 11 Years: Chris Christie.

Though technically it’s bankrupt now, since all our government does is print money, and Social Security is part of a general slush fund.

THIS SHOULD BE THE BASELINE, NOT A CONSIDERATION:  More Southern California School Districts Considering Informing Parents of Child’s Gender Status.

THE ONES HE DOESN’T ADMIT TO WERE EVEN BIGGER FAILURES:  Actually, Joe, All Your ‘Objectives’ Were Failures.

SOME SANITY:  Uniparty’s Plan to Save ‘Our Democracy™’ Unfolds.

I AM NOWHERE AS OPTIMISTIC AS PEOPLE THINK. IT’S GOING TO HURT. BUT WE WON’T  LOSE: A Clearer Picture.

IT WAS TIME 20 YEARS AGO:  It is time to devalue the software research of climate models.

NOT REMOTELY READY FOR PRIME TIME:  Traveling with electric vehicles a non-starter, apparently.

You can’t rush real science, much less discovery.

ON SUNDAYS I DO A BOOK PROMO (MOSTLY) FOR INDIE WRITERS, AND THERE’S ALSO A VIGNETTE CHALLENGE: Book Promo and Vignettes by Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike.

FIRST UFOS THEN THIS. WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN WHEN THE DEMOCRATS ARE DOING THEIR LEVEL BEST TO DESTROY THE COUNTRY?  Skeptics stunned by resurfaced video of ‘Bigfoot’ in Mississippi woods: ‘Best footage ever recorded’.

What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath-of-God type stuff. Fire and brimstone coming down from the sky! Rivers and seas boiling! Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes… The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together – MASS HYSTERIA!