THE SOURCE IS FRIENDLY, TOO: Canadian Official Offers the U.S Plenty of Oil From ‘Right Next Door.’

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: American Airlines pilots want customers to know how bad things have gotten.

As airlines boast of recovery, they’re also cancelling quite a lot of flights. Or, as United Airlines recently announced, turning some non-stop flights into one-stops.

Which all leads me to the pilots at American Airlines.

They’re suggesting that things are crumbling somewhat. No, they’re not doing it with the odd tweet here and the odd press release there.

Instead, the pilots union created a little film that reveals what they see as their own airline’s great mess.

An experienced male pilot meets up with the younger female co-pilot who’ll be joining him in the cockpit.

She’s enthusiastic. He’s as cheerful as your average Oakland A’s fan.

“Scheduling called you yet?” he snorts.

It seems they hadn’t. The pilot informs his co-pilot: “Well, we’ve got a schedule change.” This, he says, will work them both into their days off.

It’s ruined his family’s plans. His kids have got used to “this sort of thing.”

“By the way,” says the newer pilot. “Do we have a hotel assignment yet?”

“No, we’re going to have to call the hotel desk ourselves,” says Captain Weary.

He continues: “It didn’t used to be this way, and it should never have gotten to this point.”

Much more at the link.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Is America’s Fauci Fatigue Nearing An End? “It’s mostly a big tease so far. Fauci is a government hack who doesn’t relinquish power easily. Those of us who haven’t been part of the leftist cult that grew around Fauci feel that he might be a vampire who will be there forever.”

HMM: Russia’s Push for Self-Sufficient Economy Fails Before Western Sanctions.

Russia spent years trying to wean itself off imported goods to fortify its economy against Western sanctions.

Now, the impact of sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made it clear that Moscow’s efforts didn’t work. Russia’s continued dependence on imports means it is facing a painful economic readjustment.

Parts of Russia’s auto industry are shutting down for lack of foreign parts. The country’s flagship homemade passenger jet gets its engine and other key parts from overseas suppliers. Foreign pet food and medication have disappeared from store shelves.

“Import substitution has failed to achieve its goal of making Russia less vulnerable to sanctions like these,” said Janis Kluge, a specialist in the Russian economy at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. “The Russian ambitions were unrealistic to start with because a small economy like Russia’s isn’t able to produce complex and high-tech goods by itself. It’s just simply not possible.” Replacing the foreign products could take years, he added.

While relying on a strategic competitor for vital good is never a good idea — China for our manufacturing, Russia for fertilizer, etc. — I can’t think of a single example of outright autarky working anywhere.

COMMIES LIE: Something Very Suspicious Is Happening With China’s Latest COVID Reporting. “The last time China recorded a COVID death was January 2021, and if you really believe China’s numbers, then you’re not a serious person.”

IMPORTANT SAFETY TIP, THANKS, EGON: Please stop putting COVID-19 test solution in your eyes and nose, FDA says.

The Dominance Of The U.S. Dollar Is Fading Right Before Our Eyes.

It was just a couple of weeks ago that I wrote an article arguing that the economic sanctions we have cast upon in Russia, due to its invasion of Ukraine, likely mark the beginning of a period where China and Russia would bifurcate the global monetary system, leading them to eventually challenge the U.S. dollar’s reserve status.

Now, Saudi Arabia is joining the fray, further threatening to tip the balance of the global monetary scales that have kept the U.S. dollar afloat for decades.

The fact that predictions of a “new economy” and “new monetary system” only exist on fringe blogs like mine and haven’t gone mainstream given the current economic situation with Russia (even amidst our abuses of printing the dollar over the last several decades) is baffling to me.

It’s one of those stories the mainstream media prefers to cover with a pillow.

JUST GO: Did Fauci Just Hint He’ll Be Stepping Down Soon?

A VERY PUBLIC EDUCATION: Virginia School Covered Up Sexual Assault That Left Victim Hospitalized. “School boards, accustomed to operating without much democratic input and to winning elections with minuscule turnout, are reacting to the sudden spotlight by covering up the consequences of their decisions and hiding crucial information from parents, even when it concerns their children’s safety. In Loudoun County, Va., the district’s cover-up of a sexual assault in a school bathroom became a national story last year and arguably affected the state’s gubernatorial election. Now, a similar case is coming to light.”

HE ISN’T ALL THERE: Biden Declares ‘I’m Not Stupid’ Just Before Saying Something Stupid.

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: The neon shortage is a bad sign. “Neon, a colorless and odorless gas, is typically not as exciting as it sounds, but this unassuming molecule happens to play a critical role in making the tech we use every day. For years, this neon has also mostly come from Ukraine, where just two companies purify enough to produce devices for much of the world, usually with little issue. At least, they did until Russia invaded.”

MAKE AMERICA FLORIDA: Fla. Trafficking Sting Nets Wide Array of Alleged Pervs, Including 3 Disney Employees.

ERASING WOMANHOOD: WA Governor signs ‘inclusive’ abortion legislation, changes woman to ‘pregnant individual.’

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Pelosi Reads Terrible Bono Poem for St. Patrick’s Day, Ukraine. “Far be it from me to pick on an elderly woman twice in one week, but Nancy Pelosi just won’t leave the world alone for that long.”

YES. NEXT QUESTION? Do parents have right to know kids’ identities? “‘Parents are not entitled to know their kids’ identities,’ Wisconsin teachers were told in a February training session. ‘That knowledge must be earned.'”

SEAHAWK PETE CARROLL: I’ve Talked With Kaepernick, and He Deserves Another Chance to Be an NFL Slave.

SAY ANYTHING: Biden Declared Putin a War Criminal – Then Came Some WH Backpedaling.

FJB: Alabama Apologizes for Recalling ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ Vanity License Plate.

YOU’LL KNOW WHAT YOU’RE ALLOWED TO KNOW: Facebook ‘Fact-Check’ Claims Video Citing Biden’s Own Words on Oil Drilling ‘Could Mislead.’

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Reminder — Colin Kaepernick Can’t Throw a Football. “The only reason Kaepernick is ever in the conversation is because of the woke plague. He wasn’t a good quarterback when he was booted out of the NFL but he managed to turn his perpetual victimhood into the reason that he was out of work.”

COLORADO: Conservative moms fed up with the past two years started organizing. Now they’re winning — and they don’t plan to stop.

Loveland grandmother Mickie Nuffer grew more concerned by the day as she watched people on television shouting about “defunding the police” and later, in her own county, when businesses required proof of vaccination to enter.

In Highlands Ranch, mom and former teacher’s aide Donna Jo Tompkins was growing increasingly frustrated with mask mandates, last-minute school quarantines and the latest curriculum controversy: critical race theory.

And in Arvada, Angela Marriott was alarmed by the way people on Nextdoor pounced on any conservative sentiment, especially against masks, and was exasperated pretty much every time she watched the news. “I would turn on the news and just be enraged within minutes, watching our police being abused, properties being destroyed and trying to erase our history with tearing down and damaging statues,” she said.

“I just decided one day I had had it. I was going to take this negative energy and put it into something constructive, to fight for freedom and my children’s future.”

None of the three women had ever been political, but said they were compelled by the 2020 COVID shutdown and other government policies of the past two years to get involved. Similar to the way Democratic women mobilized after the election of former President Donald Trump, conservative women who never before attended a caucus or canvassed a neighborhood are organizing in living rooms across Colorado.

Read the whole thing.

PJ MEDIA VIP ROUNDUP: Don’t forget that VODKAPUNDIT promo code if you’ve been thinking of joining us.

Megan Fox: Idaho on Fire: Alleged Medical Kidnapping of Baby Cyrus Sparks Political Showdown. “A case involving the seizure of a 10-month-old called Baby Cyrus by child welfare officials and St. Jude Hospital in Idaho after a cancelled appointment has ignited a major political storm that has reached the governor’s office.”

Kevin Downey Jr: 5 Insane Lies Liberals Really Believe. “Why do die-hard libs always take the crazy bait? Because they need to believe they are better than you, you bigoty trans-homo-Islamo-Beto-phobe. They chomp on the insanity because if they don’t, they will be booted from the Kool-aid kids club, just like any other cult.”

Yours Truly with an open letter for Biden: The Things You Can and Cannot Get Done with a 50/50 Senate, You Dumb*ss.

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, MARCH 17:

Russian forces did not make any major advances and Ukrainian forces carried out several local counterattacks on March 17.[1] Russian forces made little territorial progress and continued to deploy reserve elements—including from the 1st Guards Tank Army and 810th Naval Infantry Brigade—in small force packets that are unlikely to prove decisive. Russian forces continue to suffer heavy casualties around Kharkiv, and Russian attempts to bypass the city of Izyum are unlikely to succeed. Russian forces continued assaults on Mariupol on March 17 but did not conduct any other successful advances from Crimea.

Key Takeaways

Russian forces continue to make steady territorial gains around Mariupol and are increasingly targeting residential areas of the city.

Ukrainian forces northwest of Kyiv launched several local counterattacks and inflicted heavy damage on Russian forces.

Ukrainian forces repelled Russian operations around Kharkiv and reported killing a regimental commander.

Ukrainian intelligence reports that Russia may have expended nearly its entire store of precision cruise missiles in the first twenty days of its invasion.

Russian forces deployed unspecified reserve elements of the 1st Guards Tank Army and Baltic Fleet Naval Infantry to northeastern Ukraine on March 17.

Russia may be parceling out elements of the reserve force that could conduct an amphibious operation along the Black Sea coast to support ongoing assaults on Mariupol, further reducing the likelihood of a Russian amphibious assault on Odesa.

Ukrainian forces shot down 10 Russian aircraft—including five jets, three helicopters, and two UAVs—on March 16, and Ukrainian forces continue to successfully contest Russian air operations.

That’s just yesterday evening’s executive summary from ISW. There’s much more at the link, daily.

JEFF REYNOLDS: Earth to Merrick Garland: U.S. Civil Rights Commissioners Demand Action on Skyrocketing Crime Rates.

LIVE AT 4:00PM EASTERN: ‘Five O’Clock Somewhere’ with Kruiser, VodkaPundit, Special Guest Megan Fox.