LOTS: What the Pandemic Can Teach Us About Vulnerabilities in Our Defense Supply Chain.

America’s defense supply chain—that is, the large network of manufacturers who produce our weapons platforms and equipment—is neither reliable nor secure. Defense production is vital in maintaining a strong national defense, and such fragility in our supply chains is an enormous liability. It directly hinders our ability to win the next war.

Take for example, our supply chain for batteries. Numerous forms of military equipment are battery-powered, including night vision goggles, radios, and weapon optics. Complex platforms, from 5th generation stealth fighters to submarines, all use batteries.

Batteries will play an even bigger role in the future of military technology. The Army is considering adding electric vehicles into their fleet in order to reduce their dependency on fuel. The Marine Corps is testing miniature drones that can be launched from the underbelly of a rifle. The Air Force is looking to field a body-armor cooling system in order to combat extreme heat.

But all of these assets depend on batteries, and the production of batteries is currently dominated by China. The Chinese Communist Party has spent the last 20 years making investments to control every single stage of the advanced battery supply chain.

Read the whole thing.

THE QUESTION I’VE BEEN ASKING FOR 20 YEARS: What Happens When The Days Of Low Interest Rates And Strong Global Liquidity End?

According to an old Wall Street adage, when the winds are strong even turkeys fly. By this it is meant that when global money is ample, even those emerging market countries with highly impaired economic fundamentals have little difficulty in borrowing abroad to finance their wayward budget ways. However, when global liquidity dries up and interest rates rise, those same economies come crashing down to earth sending ripples through the world’s financial markets.

With the Federal Reserve poised soon to start dialing back its ultra-easy monetary policy, world economic policymakers would do well to keep the old Wall Street adage in mind. This would seem to be especially the case considering that the emerging market economies now constitute around half of the global economy. It would also seem to be the case considering how highly compromised many of these economies’ public finances have become in the Covid-19 pandemic’s wake.

Higher interest rates won’t be much fun here, either, since many of Washington’s borrowed trillions were borrowed short-term and will need to be refinanced at the higher rates.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Who Are the Idiots Who Still Think the CDC Has Any Credibility? “Even if I were in awe of physicians, Fauci is really a bureaucrat. He went to work for the National Institutes of Health when Richard Nixon was president. No doubt the guy is brilliant when it comes to filling out government forms, but he’s been a bumbling buffoon with this pandemic guru gig.”

HEY, BIG SPENDER: Jeff Bezos offers NASA $2 billion to get Blue Origin back in the moon race. “The world’s richest man appealed to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in an open letter Monday, offering to cover billions of dollars in the US space agency’s costs. In doing so, Bezos hopes Blue Origin can be reconsidered for a contract to build the vehicle that will land the next astronauts on the moon.”

Until (unless?) Blue Origin starts orbiting cargo — at the very least — it’s difficult to see NASA giving his moon lander another serious look.

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

Quick: Read This Study on Recovered Immunity Before It Gets Memory Holed. “So how long before Emory University gets canceled or has to retract its latest article on long-term recovered immunity?”

Plus: The Newspeak Dictionary From ‘1984’ Has Been Realized. “Recently, I subscribed to Grammarly Premium to help catch errors in my writing—of which there can be a lot. Upon upgrading my account, I learned that one of the features offered in the Grammarly Premium subscription was that the software would check your writing to provide suggestions for more “inclusive” language.”

And: Don’t Count Your 2022 Chickens Before They Hatch. “Republicans need to beware infighting and recriminations. Conservatives need to band together to form a united front against the Left’s threats to education, election integrity, peace on our streets, the value of our dollars, and basic sanity. The more the Democrats can focus on sideshows about the Capitol riot and Liz Cheney, the worse Republicans will look.”

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Here’s the full recovered immunity study.

JOE BIDEN’S RETURN TO DECENCY: Democrats have a massive opportunity with Capitol riot committee: Shove it down the GOP’s throat.

WE KNOW HOW THIS ENDS: The People Who Brought You CHAZ Get Their WA State Police Reform Wishes Granted and They’re a Hot Mess.

BREAKING: Gov. Ron DeSantis Responds to New CDC Masking Guidelines.

ANOTHER GHOSTBUSTERS? COLOR ME SKEPTICAL: Finally, A Reboot/Sequel I’m Excited About.

“OFF THE PRESS”: Former Drudge Report Editor Launches Conservative Alternative.

Related (From Ed): Does founder Matt Drudge even work at The Drudge Report anymore?

DEFUND WHAT? Dallas Mayor Wants To Hire 275 More Police.

CRISIS BY DESIGN: ICE Snags 302 Illegal Immigrant Sex Offenders.

GOODER AND HARDER: ‘We won’t be coming’: Washington state police reform goes into effect, law enforcement warns of consequences.

Washington state legislators passed a series of new police reform bills that went into effect on Sunday, the most noteworthy being HB 1310 where law enforcement officers can only make arrests on the grounds of “probable cause” instead of “reasonable suspicion,” giving a green light for criminals to commit crimes without being held accountable.

Signed into law by Democratic Governor Jay Inslee without a vote from the people, HB 1310 also called the “use of force bill” drastically limits the way police officers respond to calls.

“It’s going to change the level of service we give to our citizens. Not because we want to, but because we have to,” Moses Lake Police Chief Fuhr said, according to Columbia Basin Herald.

“This is changing completely the way we’ve responded to some of these calls … and there will be some calls that we just absolutely don’t respond to from here on out,” Fuhr added.

Yet another Democrat crisis-by-design.

BIDEN, INC. IS A PARTLY-OWNED SUBSIDIARY OF THE CCP: Hunter Biden’s ‘Art’ Dealer Has Ties to China. Because Of Course He Does.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: It’s a Good Time to Purge the ‘Pelosi Republicans.’ “The Democrats and their flying monkeys in the media have been talking a lot this year about the Big Lie. The real big lie is the nonsense about Jan. 6, 2021 being an insurrection that was caused by President Trump, neither of which is true. Republicans feeding that lie deserve to be marginalized, weakened, and eventually replaced. These guys don’t deserve a second chance. They’re too far on the dark side for a shot at redemption.”

AGENDA FIRST, LAST, AND ALWAYS: For Democrats, the pain of inflation is no reason to stop spending.

PRIORITIES: DOJ Drops Charges Against 5 Possible Chinese Spies as FBI Focuses on January 6.

GLEICHSCHALTUNG: PayPal Teams Up With Left-Leaning Group to Combat ‘Hate’ Funding.

HARRISON BERGERON WAS JUST A CAUTIONARY TALE, RIGHT? RIGHT??? BLM Group Demands Parents Pledge to Hold Back Their Kids’ Education. “Parents in Dallas just got a wake-up call. The local Black Lives Matter group Dallas Justice Now launched a new campaign, urging white parents in wealthy Highland Park to sign a pledge to keep their children back from America’s top colleges — in the name of ‘equity.’ The organization’s letter to parents lays on the guilt thick.”

MATT MARGOLIS: Will Biden DOJ Allow Us to See the Durham Report? I’m Skeptical.

GET WOKE…: USA Men’s Basketball Team May Be Woke, But They Can’t Beat France at Olympics.

YOU DON’T SAY: Stagflation is ‘a legitimate risk’ that would be painful for U.S. markets. “‘Imagine how scary it would be for the market if we had stocks and bonds selling off together,’ she said. Stagflation could pose a ‘major problem because central banks can’t really come to the rescue and cut interest rates.'”

I WASN’T SHOCKED: A Shocking Number of College Grads Wish They Had Been Taught More Life Skills.

WOW: SpaceX to launch the Europa Clipper mission for a bargain price.

Slated to launch in October 2024, the $4.25 billion mission will spend much of the remainder of this decade flying to the Jovian system before entering an elongated orbit around Jupiter. The spacecraft will then make as many as 44 flybys of Europa, the intriguing, ice-encrusted Jovian moon that scientists believe harbors a vast ocean beneath the surface. It is possible that aquatic life exists there.

The total contract award amount for launch services is approximately $178 million, NASA said in a news release. This is a significant moment for SpaceX, as the company will be entrusted with one of NASA’s highest-priority exploration missions. The deal also saves NASA about $2 billion.

That’s about a 90% savings going SpaceX instead of SLS.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Let’s Cheer the Olympians Who Aren’t Pathetic, Woke Morons. “The Olympics are all about national pride and the celebration of the dedication of the athletes. They aren’t all anti-American pieces of uselessness like Megan Rapinoe. It’s sad that the modern media climate tends to spotlight the bad seeds. Today we will celebrate the good.”