MEGAN FOX: Let the Lawsuits Begin: Groomer School in Massachusetts Sued for Hiding ‘Gender Identity’ From Parents.

FALLOUT: Russia’s Artificial Intelligence Boom May Not Survive the War. “The last year was a busy one for Russia’s military and civilian artificial intelligence efforts. Moscow poured money into research and development, and Russia’s civil society debated the country’s place in the larger AI ecosystem. But Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February and the resulting sanctions have brought several of those efforts to a halt — and thrown into question just how many of its AI advancements Russia will be able to salvage and continue. “

GONE? Has Donna Brazile Gone Cuckoo? “According to Brazile, the GOP is ‘essentially running on fumes’ from allegations of voter fraud in 2020, while Democrats ‘are running on the economy that’s roaring back’ and ‘fighting inflation.'”

To be fair, life remains comfy for the inside-the-Beltway crowd.

BLUE CITY BLUES: Houston Crime: ‘Galleria Is The New Greenspoint.’ “This sort of broad daylight shooting at the Galleria would have been unthinkable thirty years ago. But it’s all too thinkable with the general rise in Harris County crime under Soros-backed DA Kim Ogg, Harris County judge Lina Hidalgo, and hard left activist judges. (Houston mayor Sylvester Turner is also a Democrat, but he notably rejected calls to defund the police back in 2020 and his policies don’t seem to have been a driver for the crime increase.) But it’s the Democrats in Harris County government whose policies are responsible for putting violent felons back on the streets.”

SPOILER: IT’S THE THING THEY KEEP VOTING FOR. You Won’t Believe What Californians Say They’re Sick Of.

SLS UPDATE: NASA to roll back its mega rocket after failing to complete countdown test.

NASA said that its contractors, as well as its agency’s, will use the next several weeks to address problems that cropped up during the fueling tests when the SLS rocket returns to the large Vehicle Assembly Building. For example, gaseous nitrogen system supplier Air Liquide will upgrade its capabilities. NASA will also replace a faulty check valve on the upper stage of the rocket, as well as fix a leak on the mobile launch tower’s “tail service mast umbilical,” a 10-meter-tall structure that provides propellant and electricity lines to the rocket on the pad.

The space agency announcement did not provide any information about schedule impacts. It seems probable that it will take a week or so to prepare and roll the SLS rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building. Work on the rocket at that location will probably take up most of the month of May, at least.

NASA will then have to make some difficult decisions. It could opt to roll the rocket and its mobile launch tower to the pad a second time and try again to complete the wet dress rehearsal test. Then, following its normal procedure, NASA would roll the rocket back to its assembly building to arm the “flight safety system,” before rolling for a third time to the launch pad for liftoff. It seems the absolute earliest the SLS rocket could launch in such a scenario would be August, but a fall liftoff may be more likely.

Scheduling a wet dress rehearsal usually indicates the rocket is basically ready to go but that doesn’t seem to be the case with SLS, after $23 billion and years of delays.

Also: “Agency officials are closely tracking the health of the fuel in the solid-rocket boosters, which were stacked about 16 months ago, among other issues.”

HEH: Jen Psaki Circles Back to Her Criticism of Peter Doocy — and Walks It Back.

OH: Suspect arrested in South Carolina mall shooting granted bond. “The man accused of opening fire during a mass shooting at the Columbiana Centre mall in Columbia has posted bail after a heading Sunday afternoon, WLTX-TV reported. A South Carolina judge announced that Jewayne M. Price, 22, would be granted a surety bond of $25,000 and be required to wear an ankle monitor.”

WHAT A RELIEF: Baskin-Robbins’ Shocking New Re-Branding Campaign. “In a shocking move, mega-ice cream seller Baskin-Robbins has re-branded itself for 2022 — and neglected to include any obnoxious, in-your-face woke themes in its new marketing.”

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: White House resumes flying migrant children after dark on charter flights.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: New York Times Takes a Swing at God, Misses Wildly. “They desperately don’t want us to have a singular authority. The moral relativism that leftists deal in thrives on a lack of absolutes. God is a most definitely inconvenient notion for those who would rather that society be buffeted about by the whims of the day.”

DURHAM INVESTIGATION: DOJ’s Special Counsel says CIA data that came from former Clinton lawyer claiming Trump had Russian connections is ‘not technically plausible’ and was ‘user-created.’

The Justice Department’s Special Counsel’s Office has said that CIA data alleging a relationship between Donald Trump and Russia is ‘not technically plausible.’

In a court filing on Friday, Special Counsel John Durham asserted that the alleged relationship with the former President and Russia – which Clinton lawyer Michael Sussmann concluded – was ‘user-created.’

Sussmann is accused of lying to the FBI in September 2016 saying he didn’t work for the Clintons when he presented the ‘purported data and “white papers” that allegedly demonstrated a covert communications channel’ between former president Trump and Kremlin-tied Alfa Bank.

Durham also alleged Sussmann gave the CIA information about Trump in February 2017. He said the agency concluded the information wasn’t true.

‘While the FBI did not reach an ultimate conclusion regarding the data’s accuracy or whether it might have been in whole or in part genuine, spoofed, altered, or fabricated, [the CIA] concluded in early 2017 that the Russian Bank 1 data and Russian Phone Provider 1 data was not “technically plausible,” did not “withstand technical scrutiny,” “contained gaps,” “conflicted with [itself]” and was “user-created and not machine/tool generated,”‘ he wrote in the court documents filed Friday.

He did, however, say the Special Counsel’s Office ‘has not reached a definitive conclusion in this regard.’

More to come…

ROBERT SPENCER: Leading Into Passover and Easter Weekend, The New York Times Calls on Readers to Kill God.

UGLY: Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 17.

Russian forces likely captured the Port of Mariupol on April 16 despite Ukrainian General Staff denials, reducing organized Ukrainian resistance in the city to the Azovstal factory in eastern Mariupol. Russian and DNR forces released footage on April 16 confirming their presence in several key locations in southwestern Mariupol, including the port itself. Isolated groups of Ukrainian troops may remain active in Mariupol outside of the Azovstal factory, but they will likely be cleared out by Russian forces in the coming days. Russian forces likely seek to force the remaining defenders of the Azovstal factory to capitulate through overwhelming firepower to avoid costly clearing operations, but remaining Ukrainian defenders appear intent on staging a final stand. Russian forces will likely complete the capture of Mariupol in the coming week, but final assaults will likely continue to cost them dearly.

Much more at the link.

IT SURE LOOKED THAT WAY TO ME: ‘Fact Checkers’ Claim Biden Wasn’t ‘Shaking Hands With Thin Air.’ Oh, Really?

TALES FROM THE REALITY-BASED COMMUNITY: Lady Glues Herself to the Court During an NBA Game, Because That’s How You Save Chickens.

CHANGE? Pennsylvania state Senate passes bills banning ballot drop boxes, Zuckerbucks. “Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) opposes both Senate bills, but his office did not indicate whether he would veto them, according to Pittsburgh’s NPR News Station. He previously vetoed a bill that allowed only the secretary of the commonwealth to receive the funds and distribute them equally across counties.”

IT’S GOOD TO BE THE NOMENKLATURA: Maxine Waters pays daughter another $24,000 in campaign cash, adding to $1.2M in previous payments.

SMOKING GUN: Hunter Biden Paid Joe’s Bills, Joe Benefited From Shady Business Dealings.

VIDEO: Is China Screwed?

A few highlights:

They were going shrink in half by 2100. “Then they realized that they had been overcounting people for some time.” Then new data moved the date moved up to 2070.

And now they’re saying it will be 2050. “For that to be true, the Chinese would have overcounted the population by 100 million.” And all of those missing people are of childbearing age.

Their population actually peaked 15 years ago.

Much more at the link.

HE ISN’T ALL THERE: Confused Joe Biden Appears to Shake Hands With Thin Air, and It’s Kind of Terrifying.

TIMING:

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Via a friend:

Heh. That’s one way to put out the fires.

AT THE VERY LEAST, A LOT OF PEOPLE MOST EVERYWHERE ARE SHIFTING AWAY FROM BIDEN: Is New York Shifting Red?

DOING THE JOB MOST AMERICAN PRESIDENTS WON’T DO: Abbott, Mexican governor reach agreement to secure part of Texas-Mexico border.

THE REVOLT AGAINST THE MASSES: The Leftist Media Is Unglued Over Possible Elon Musk ‘Free Speech’ Twitter Takeover.