THE NEW SPACE RACE: Chinese Lunar Rocks Suggest a Thirsty Far Side of the Moon.

Back on Earth with the Chang’e-6 samples in hand, the researchers sought mare basalts, or hardened grains of lava that erupted from within the lunar mantle. Some of these basalts, as much as 2.8 billion years old, contained olivine, a crystal that formed as ancient magma inside the moon cooled, preserving information about the composition of the mantle early on in lunar history.

The amount of hydrogen trapped in the olivine allowed the scientists to deduce the amount of water present in the mantle back then: between 1 and 1.5 grams of water for every million grams of lunar rock.

Prior measurements from samples collected on the near side of the moon — by the United States, the Soviet Union and more recently China — were as much as 200 times as wet.

The stark difference in the ranges of water content derived from lunar near and far side samples could suggest that the part of the moon invisible to us on Earth is much drier overall, Dr. Hu said.

Or maybe that’s what Beijing wants us to think.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: I’m Always Going to Be a Big Fan of Sticking It to China. “Beltway Tariff Theater continues to dominate the news. There is plenty of other stuff going on, but none of it is as gripping as watching President Trump continue to do president stuff that we’re not familiar with, especially the whole ‘carry out campaign promises’ thing.”

SLOUCHING TOWARD WORLD WAR III: China denies significant numbers of its citizens are fighting for Russia in Ukraine.

China has surged sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow in turn is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry for the war, according to a U.S. assessment last year.

The Kremlin has effectively rejected a U.S. proposal for an immediate and full 30-day halt in the fighting in Ukraine. The Kyiv government has consented to it. Both sides are believed to be readying spring-summer military campaigns.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in Beijing that China has played a “constructive role in politically resolving the Ukraine crisis.”

Lin told a daily news briefing Wednesday that “the Chinese government always asks Chinese citizens to stay away from conflict zones, avoid getting involved in any form of armed conflict, and especially refrain from participating in any party’s military operations.”

His comments appeared to indicate that the captured Chinese had joined Russia’s ranks on their own initiative. Both Russia and Ukraine allow foreign soldiers to enlist.

North Korea remains less circumspect: North Korea has sent 3,000 more soldiers to bolster Russia’s war on Ukraine, South Korea says.

A DESPERATE PLEA FOR SANITY: CAN WE PLEASE STOP TALKING ABOUT 2028 ALREADY???

WHO SAID THERE WAS JUST ONE? Who was the ‘decider’ within the Biden White House?

Mr. Klain, like others in Mr. Biden’s inner circle, urged him to run for a second term, knowing he wasn’t capable of serving. They and their allies in the media covered up his true condition and assured his party’s leaders and voters that he was up to the job and could win a second term. Even after the debate that would end Mr. Biden’s candidacy, Mr. Klain told Mr. Whipple that he believed Mr. Biden should have stayed in the race and could have defeated Mr. Trump.

Mr. Klain’s account confirms that Democratic operatives were planning to run Mr. Biden for a second term, in a disservice to the man they worked for and in betraying the duty they owed their country. Many justified their actions after the election by claiming they thought Mr. Biden, unlike Vice President Kamala Harris, would have defeated Mr. Trump.

That rationale pales compared with the constitutional negligence of the Biden administration. White House staff, the Cabinet and all their immediate staff, and mainstream media were aware that Mr. Biden had checked out, leaving the decisions he should have made in the hands of staffers and underlings. Being a White House staffer is a heady rush, but staffers must have been wildly elated not to have anyone nix their whims, say to draft an executive order and ship it off to the autopen. That they no doubt didn’t want to end might be understandable if the country were not at stake. They persuaded themselves to let the good times roll for another four years if they could prop up the boss for another run. After all, he won the race in 2020 from his basement.

My guess is that some days it was Klain, sometimes Jill Biden, Obama working the phones behind the scenes, etc. And on other days it was a scene out of “Veep,” with staffers fighting over the autopen to push their individual agendas.

THE ROT RUNS DEEP AND WIDE: Rubio Exposes Leftist Agenda and Corruption of USAID Programs.

GOOD LORD:

Soccer coach accused of murdering 13-year-old is illegal immigrant, officials say.

But it gets worse — he was arrested LAST YEAR for sexual assault of a teen boy but was not prosecuted & allowed to keep coaching. pic.twitter.com/lUVz24TZHZ

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) April 9, 2025

CHRISTIAN TOTO: John Lithgow Trashes Trump, Mum on Cancel Culture, Blacklist 2.0. “Google ‘John Lithgow Cancel Culture’ and nothing comes up, at least on the first few pages of said search. Why wasn’t Lithgow using his considerable clout to demand artists be able to tell their stories their way?”

THIS COULD BE YUGE, ASSUMING HE CAN GET THEM TO COMPLY:

*TRUMP SIGNS ACTION DIRECTING AGENCIES TO SUNSET OLD REGULATIONS

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 9, 2025

Without deregulation and tax cuts at home, tariffs are just a way to conserve inefficiencies. It’s good to see Trump working both sides of the equation.

A PRIMAL SCREAM INTO THE POLITICAL VOID: CAN WE PLEASE STOP TALKING ABOUT 2028 ALREADY???

BEEGE: Reviled ‘Right-Wing’ AfD Now Germany’s Most Popular Party. “Two days ago, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, led by Alice Weidel, was in a statistical tie with Chancellor-Elect Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU). AfD was, however, still iced out of any government participation, even as Merz lied and finagled his way in efforts to form a coalition government with anyone but them.”

For all the talk about saving democracy, what would Europe’s elites be doing any differently if they were trying to poison it?

FASTER, PLEASE: DoD Courts Service Members Wrongfully Discharged for Not Getting the COVID Jab.

PRIORITIES:

🚨Chuck Schumer is asked to denounce violence against Tesla — he REFUSES, then angrily attacks Elon Musk instead:

"I can't talk about Tesla, but Elon Musk is a disaster for America.” pic.twitter.com/TdeKPrAPBC

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) April 9, 2025

To be fair, Schumer is just parroting his party’s base.

GOVERNMENT-RUN FINANCIAL AID: California colleges detect more fraudsters stealing millions.

For years, scammers have targeted community colleges across the state, posing as students in order to steal money from scholarships or government financial aid.

Recent state reports suggest the problem is getting worse, and college leaders say they’re worried that the Trump administration’s cuts to the U.S. Department of Education could hamper fraud prevention and investigations.

In 2021, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office reported that about 20% of college applicants were likely fake. In January 2024, the state said it was up to about 25%.

Now it’s around 34%, according to the most recent data from the last calendar year. “Those are all the ones that are stopped,” said John Hetts, executive vice chancellor for the data team at the chancellor’s office.

The scammers that aren’t stopped have stolen millions in taxpayer dollars.

Another reason to take Glenn’s suggestion and put colleges at least partly on the hook for student loans.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Trump Is the Bull in China’s Shop.

CHANGE? Paxton Runs Against Cornyn. “As previously rumored, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is running against incumbent John Cornyn for the 2026 Republican senate nomination.”

CORRECTION: TARIFFS ARE ONE AMONG COUNTLESS REASONS TO CUT TAXES AND RED TAPE. Tariffs Are a Reason to Cut Taxes and Red Tape.

SHE FIGHTS:

Two years ago, @Riley_Gaines_ was ambushed at San Francisco State University for speaking the truth.

Tonight, she returned to the same campus—unshaken, unafraid, unapologetic.

A pro-trans protestor attempted to disrupt her speech but was quickly removed. The difference between… pic.twitter.com/bQb7RkNBsL

— Riley Gaines Center (@RileyGCenter) April 9, 2025

She’s also a she.

HMM: Cory Booker Gets Some Bad News on Multiple Fronts After ‘Marathon Speech’ Stunt. “An ethics watchdog group is accusing the failed 2020 presidential candidate of violating Senate ethics rules with actions they say he took before, during, and after his remarks.”

RUBIO: ‘We’re Not Doing Idiotic Things Anymore.’

HOW TO BUY AN ELECTION WITH OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY:

Surprise! – "They've been using their NGO's to dump fake voter registration forms utilizing the fake SS#'s on key county registrar's offices for the last 5-6 election cycles. Then using those fraudulent voter registrations to request ballots in the mail. Then they pay the NGO's… https://t.co/aCr6GHCEtV pic.twitter.com/Yt0iczNvyO

— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) April 3, 2025

Mail-in balloting allows for all kinds of shenanigans.

DOG BITES MAN: Democrats Deploy Disability Dodge. “Dozens of administrative law judges grant disability payments to almost everyone who appears before them, overriding Social Security staff who determined the people were not entitled to payments.”

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: You Want 2A Infringement? Colorado’s Got Your Infringement Right HERE, Buddy.

THE MARKETS ARE COMING DOWN OFF A 15-YEAR SUGAR HIGH AND THE HANGOVER WAS ALWAYS GOING TO SUCK:

The Americans who have the least are willing to say, maybe I don't need that extra piece of crap from China if it means my children will have a future. Meanwhile, people who will never not be rich are unwilling to sacrifice a single penny for the future of this country. Great… pic.twitter.com/d74EKnSdCG

— Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) April 9, 2025

GET THEM WHILE YOU CAN: Colorado background checks surge as gun rights restrictions advance.

For years, Colorado residents appear to race to secure new gun purchases during the latter part of the legislative session when majority Democrats are known to rapidly advance their anti-gun agenda.

To date the legislature has introduced 22 bills dealing with gun rights and restrictions in some fashion. Of those, 18 restrict rights, and many are awaiting the governor’s signature; four expanded rights, three of which have lost; and two others are relatively neutral and are awaiting hearings.

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is operated by the FBI and used to determine if someone is eligible to own a firearm.

According to data for the first quarter of 2025, background checks nearly doubled in March to 68,099 from what there were in January (37,519), with 42,109 checks ran in February.

Colorado had the 9th highest total of checks ran in March of all 50 states.

Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams said this is nothing new, and in addition to Colorado’s gun purchases going up every year during this time as legislators put more and more restrictions in place, so do concealed carry applications and renewals.

Both scenarios are what drive those background check numbers up.

Gov. Polis yes yet to say whether he’ll sign, veto, or allow to become law without his signature the severely infringe-y Senate Bill 25. The clock is ticking toward the April 13 deadline when the bill would become law without Polis signing.