ANALYSIS: TRUE. Pathetic Bush Republicans Don’t Grasp That They’re Vestigial and Won’t Be Making a Comeback.

DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONES: Brazen NYC gangbanger who’s already racked up 9 arrests this year keeps getting cut loose due to woke bail reform. “Alleged Latin Kings member Emmanuel Santiago, 32, keeps ending up in cuffs even as he faces seven open cases in the Bronx on charges ranging from intent to sell dangerous drugs, grand larceny of cars, possession of weapons, and allegations of domestic violence, according to law enforcement sources.”

IT’S THE BRIBES, THREATS, AND LAWFARE ELECTION: Biden Announces New Plan to Bribe 25 Million Student Loan Borrowers.

FIRST, DENVER REINTRODUCED WOLVES OVER RURAL OBJECTIONS. THEN THEY DENIED RESPONSIBILITY: As Colorado wildlife agency claims it is not to blame for wolf kills, ranchers threaten future partnerships.

While CPW officials said they are not to blame for what has transpired since the wolves were reintroduced in Colorado, state ranchers have argued that is not entirely true.

Davis and his staff told the House Agriculture, Water and Natural Resources Committee last fall they would do everything possible not to bring “problem” wolves to Colorado.

In fact, the state of Oregon reported that half of the 10 wolves sent to Colorado came from packs that attacked livestock eight times in 2023 alone. Two of those attacks took place last May, killing one five-week-old calf and injuring two four-to-six-week-old calves.

As ranchers prepare for calving season, which will continue from March through June, Colorado Parks and Wildlife urges nonlethal options for dealing with problem wolves.

The agency has also pledged to hire range riders to patrol ranches.

However, with 1,800 square miles and 70 ranches in Grand County, questions have surfaced about whether those range riders would be in the same part of the county as the wolves and if the agency is notifying ranchers when wolves are nearby.

The agency’s black eye isn’t only about wolves.

Lawmakers have sharply criticized the agency over its failure to communicate plans with ranchers and continued delay in coming up with a definition of “chronic depredation.”

On April 3, the agency advocated for a bill to add rare plants and invertebrates to species that may be studied and conserved during a hearing before the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

In other words, they’re stalling.

LINCOLN BROWN: The Wheels Come Off the Woke Agenda in Massachusetts.

THE ONLY ROAD TO ENDING THIS WAR ON ACCEPTABLE TERMS RUNS THROUGH RAFAH: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares Israel WILL invade Rafah in the Southern Gaza strip declaring: ‘There is a date’ “Israel is purchasing 40,000 tents to prepare for the evacuation of Rafah, an Israel official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.”

THE DEMOCRATS WROTE THE NEW RULES, NOW MAKE THEM LIVE BY THEM: Joe Biden Could Be Indicted After He Leaves Office.

THE LEFT IS ASTROTURF, ALL THE WAY DOWN: Vandy Student Arrested After Pro-Hamas Sit-In Has Ties to the White House, Muslim Brotherhood-Linked Org.

One of the leaders of a group of students who held a sit-in at Vanderbilt University this week in support of Hamas is a long-time Democratic party activist with White House ties, as it turns out.

Florida native Jack Petocz is one of three students arrested by campus police after the incident on a charge of assaulting a security guard. Those arrested were also expelled by the university, while one student was suspended and 22 more put on probation. After his expulsion, Petocz penned a rambling, whiny, and bigoted Twitter/X thread about the ordeal, claiming that he was expelled “for the ultimate crime of caring as 33,000 people have been murdered.”

Earlier:

When the (manufactured) hubbub over Gov. Ron DeSantis’ alleged “Don’t Say Gay” bill erupted in Florida, Petocz jumped right into the fray, organizing a statewide walkout in Florida high schools (around 30 schools participated, according to an interview Petocz gave NBC News). On March 5, 2022, the day of the walkout, Petocz was escorted from his school, Flagler Palm Coast High School, by security and was suspended. According to the NBC News story, “Petocz said he was punished for distributing 200 pride flags for the rally after having been advised not to do so by the principal,” then claims his suspension was due to homophobia and bigotry.
…
He also received the 2022 Now Award for Youth Activism from “Them” magazine in June 2022 and was profiled in Teen Vogue.

A few days after the Teen Vogue profile, Petocz was up in Washington, DC to meet with Joe Biden about issues facing LGBTQ students and attend the signing ceremony for Biden’s “Executive Order on Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals,” snapping pictures with Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Pete Buttigieg, and more.

Read the whole thing.

The Left finds new talent, if that’s the word, then supports and promotes them.

Where is the Right?

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: A Refreshing Moment of Sanity in Women’s College Sports. “My daughter ran cross country and track in high school and college. Her collegiate career just ended in 2020. This kind of stuff wasn’t even on our radar then. She spent her high school years competing in Southern California, where one might expect to have encountered an early transgender infiltration into sports. It never came up.”

THIS MUST BE MORE OF THAT OBAMA-ERA “SMART DIPLOMACY” I REMEMBER SO FONDLY: Washington offers Tehran negotiations to avoid striking Israel.

Iranian diplomatic sources say the US is trying to convince Iran not to retaliate against Israel for its bombing of the Iranian embassy in Syria earlier this month, Al-Jarida newspaper reported on 8 April.

The Israeli strike targeted a building attached to the Iranian embassy in Damascus. It led to the killing of the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, his deputy, and five other IRGC officers.

A source in the Iranian foreign ministry told Al-Jarida that Washington offered Tehran direct negotiations with Tel Aviv to de-escalate the conflict.

According to the source, Washington will guarantee to persuade Tel Aviv to stop its military operations in Syria and Lebanon on the condition that Iran commit not to retaliate against Israel for the Damascus attack.

At the same time, a diplomatic source in Beirut told Al-Jarida that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected an American proposal to pledge to stop attacks in Syria.

The source added that Iranian leader Ali Khamenei is reviewing the US offer but is not expected to accept it if it does not include guarantees for a comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza and to stop all Israeli and US attacks on Iranian targets or those belonging to Iran’s allies in the Axis of Resistance.

Maybe we haven’t given them enough pallets of cash yet.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Hamas Just Begged Israel to Finish Them Off.

INFLATION, ONCE UNLEASHED, IS DIFFICULT AND PAINFUL TO REIN BACK IN: Doubts Creep In About a Fed Rate Cut This Year. “Traders started the year predicting up to seven rate cuts. Now, many are betting on one or two—or none.”

Plus: “Investors will get a new perspective on the outlook for rates this coming week with Wednesday’s release of the consumer-price index. Inflation has cooled significantly from 40-year highs, but two months of hotter-than-expected readings have helped reinforce the Fed’s wait-and-see approach to cuts.”

CHANGE (IT BACK): College Association Bans Trans Athletes From Women’s Sports.

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: How We Got to ‘Death to America’ in Dearborn (Hint: There’s an Obama Connection).

WHY IS THE RUM GONE? How Michigan Lost $1 Million of Liquor.

Michigan is writing the latest chapter in the government’s century-long saga of alcohol control embarrassments. According to a just-released audit of the Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC), the state’s complete inability to properly track its spirits inventory resulted in nearly a million dollars of liquor disappearing without a trace.

Michigan is one of 17 states that still operates as a control state. MLCC is the sole wholesaler of distilled spirits, meaning all liquor sold and distributed in the state must be originally purchased by the agency. Michigan law requires MLCC to exercise “complete control over alcoholic beverage traffic,” but it turns out that the agency lacks control over pretty much everything.

Since the 1990s, MLCC has outsourced the actual storage and warehousing of liquor to three “authorized distribution agents” (ADAs), who in turn use 11 warehouses to house the booze. The ADAs, which essentially act as a government-sanctioned oligopoly, are supposed to be operating as agents of the state. But the state code is silent about what the actual responsibilities of the ADAs entail, which results in a situation where everyone and no one is in charge at the same time.

The booze wasn’t “lost.” It was merely redistributed for sale outside of official channels.

HISTORY: 50 Years Ago Today: Hank Aaron’s Record-Setting Home Run.

WHEW: NASA knows what knocked Voyager 1 offline, but it will take a while to fix.

Voyager 1’s distance from Earth complicates the troubleshooting effort. The one-way travel time for a radio signal to reach Voyager 1 from Earth is about 22.5 hours, meaning it takes roughly 45 hours for engineers on the ground to learn how the spacecraft responded to their commands.

NASA also must use its largest communications antennas to contact Voyager 1. These 230-foot-diameter (70-meter) antennas are in high demand by many other NASA spacecraft, so the Voyager team has to compete with other missions to secure time for troubleshooting. This means it will take time to get Voyager 1 back to normal operations.

“Although it may take weeks or months, engineers are optimistic they can find a way for the FDS to operate normally without the unusable memory hardware, which would enable Voyager 1 to begin returning science and engineering data again,” NASA said.

What a testament to the people who built Voyager 1 that it’s still operating at all after five decades and 15 billion miles.

FASCISM, STRAIGHT UP: Letitia James to Start Seizing Trump’s Properties. “On April 1, Trump submitted a $175 million bond to prevent the seizure of his assets by New York Attorney General Letitia James during his appeal of a civil fraud ruling. However, the court’s filing system rejected the bond shortly afterward due to missing paperwork, including a ‘current financial statement.'”

Seizing properties on a technicality ought to do wonders for New York’s business climate.

GOOD ADVICE: Be Alert.

A young male came into the Church during the service, wearing dark clothing that had the air of a delivery uniform, with one of those urban draw-string backpacks on. Under one arm he was carrying what looked like a (decent sized) cardboard box with a delivery label on it. He came in and sat down (most were standing at the time) and stayed a while.

My first thought was ‘heck of a time for a delivery’ and the second thought was ‘uh oh.’ I kept a discrete eye on him, and it turns out the friend sitting next to me was keeping an even stronger eye on him. He got up and left, and my friend went to be sure he was leaving and see where he went — which was to the church across the street.

Now, this could be entirely innocent, however… The box was more than large enough to have held a single SMG or multiple regular pistols with spare mags. It could have held one or more explosive devices (may have walked over to be sure nothing left on the floor or secured under a pew despite not seeing any indication he had tried to access the box). My friend’s thought was to be sure he wasn’t going out to arm up before coming back in. Both of us, I think, have a concern he was casing churches in the area.

Could be innocent. Could be recon. Know I’m going to have an eye out and am inclined to see about giving an unofficial heads up to some LE types.

Read the whole thing — and be alert.

BRINGING COMPETENCE BACK TO THE WHITE HOUSE: Biden Not Might Even Be on the Ballot in Ohio, and I Can’t Stop Laughing.

I WOULDN’T EXACTLY CALL IT A SHOCK STUDY: Shock Study: Lockdowns Worsened Mental Health Outcomes.

YUGE: Trump Campaign Fundraiser Crushes Biden’s… And It Wasn’t Even Close.

I HAD BEEN ASSURED THAT MOUTH-BREATHING RED-STATERS DIDN’T HAVE THE ATTENTION SPAN TO MAINTAIN A BOYCOTT: On National Beer Day 2024, the US is drinking more Modelo than Bud Light as NA brews rise. “Modelo Especial overtook Bud Light in May 2023 amidst a backlash from conservative consumers after the Bud Light brand’s collaboration with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney to promote a contest for March Madness. This year, Bud Light sales are down 28% from a year ago.”

SEVEN MORE MONTHS OF THIS: Dems Realize They Can’t Win on Biden’s Record, Stake Everything on Trump-Hate.

BIDENOMICS IN ONE LESSON: From skipping meals to working more to even moving in with Mom and Dad: Here’s how Americans are trying to afford housing. “More than 42 million households spent more than 30% of their income on housing in 2022, the latest available data shows, making them what many call “cost-burdened.” It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Home prices and rents skyrocketed during the pandemic-fueled housing boom; the former are still setting all-time highs, while the latter have fallen slightly. Mortgage rates reached a more than two-decade high last year, but have come down too. Incomes, on the other hand, haven’t kept up. So people are making sacrifices.”