KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: DeSantis Should Sue His Campaign Consultants for Malpractice. “It’s no secret that I am not a fan of the grifters in the political consultant class. Consultants don’t even have to be good at their jobs — the political landscape is littered with scores of them who have track records that should make them want to bury their heads in the sand.”

FALLOUT: United Airlines forecasts first-quarter loss due to Boeing 737 Max 9 grounding. “United has 79 of the aircraft in its fleet, more than any other carrier, followed by Alaska. United said Monday it expects the planes to remain grounded through Jan. 26, though its forecast assumes it won’t be able to fly the planes at all this month.”

HMM: Chinese Illegal Numbers Still Spiking, Mostly Single Adults.

DECOUPLING CUTS BOTH WAYS: China Buys Near-Record $40 Billion of Chip Gear to Beat US Curbs.

Imports of the machinery used to make computer chips rose 14% in 2023 to almost $40 billion — the second largest amount by value on record in data going back to 2015, according to Bloomberg calculations based on official customs data. The increase came despite a 5.5% drop in total imports last year, underscoring the importance that the Chinese government and the nation’s chip industry have placed on becoming self-sufficient.

Chinese chip companies are rapidly investing in new semiconductor factories to try and advance the nation’s capabilities and get around export controls imposed by the US and its allies. Those curbs are making it harder for Chinese companies to get access to the machines needed to make the most powerful chips — and slowing the development of China’s high-tech sector, which is seen as a threat to the US.

Taiwan Semi is still showing the rest of the world how it’s done, which brings us to this next story: China is unable to invade Taiwan, most U.S. and Taiwanese experts say. “Most U.S. and Taiwanese experts polled in a new survey say China lacks the capabilities to effectively carry out an amphibious invasion of Taiwan but is well-positioned to execute a blockade.”

SHOCKER: Supreme Court Sides With Biden Admin on Texas Border Case.

BREAKING: Judge Unseals Records in Nathan Wade Divorce Case.

A FASCINATING VIP PIECE FROM CHARLIE MARTIN: Sunday Supplement Science: Misleading Climate Math, Good Science Videos, and a Programming Legend Passes.

THIS IS WHAT WE GET AFTER THE MURDER HORNETS FIZZLED: The Cicadapocalypse Is the Next Thing to End the World.

VEEPSTAKES: Some Solid Advice for Trump From His Former Press Secretary.

SHUT UP, THEY EXPLAINED: Russia Pushes For Law To Seize Property Of Citizens Who Criticise Putin’s Invasion Of Ukraine.

Criticising what Moscow calls its ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine has effectively been a crime in Russia from the day it began almost two years ago, but the new bill aims to make penalties for that even tougher.

The move has drawn comparisons with the witch hunts of the 1930s under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin with their ‘enemy of the state’ rhetoric and could affect thousands of Russians who have spoken out against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

According to Mail Online, the speaker of the State Duma lower house of parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, has dubbed the new bill ‘the scoundrel law’.

Volodin while announcing the submission of the new bill at the weekend also said everyone who tries to destroy the country must be punished accordingly and pay for the damage caused in the form of their property.

For all of Putin’s talk about Russia de-Nazifying Ukraine, there’s so much more re-Sovietizing going on in Russia.

GROOMING, STRAIGHT UP: Texas State University Library Pushes Graphic Trans Content for Teens, Kids.

WHEN CITY FOLK RUN ROUGHSHOD OVER RURAL DWELLERS: Colorado Parks and Wildlife announces plans to release up to 15 more wolves. “Under the wolf management plan, Parks and Wildlife could release another five wolves this season. But by holding off, the state agency says it will have more time to assess the releases in December and let staff adjust to any increased workload related to having wolves in Colorado.”

Gee, thanks, fellas.

DEMOCRATS CRUCIFIED NIXON FOR 18 MISSING MINUTES BUT THEY DELETED TWO TERABYTES: Republicans Recovered More Than 100 Encrypted Jan. 6 Files, but There’s a Catch

DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONES: In-N-Out To Close Crime-Plagued Oakland Location.

In a statement confirmed by an ABC7 reporter and obtained Sunday by The Standard, In-N-Out Chief Operating Officer Denny Warnick spoke plainly about the company’s “repeated steps to create safer conditions,” saying “our customers and Associates are regularly victimized by car break-ins, property damage, theft and armed robberies.”

The company said the store’s last day of business would be Sunday, March 24.

In-N-Out thanked the community for its 18 years of support before acknowledging the impact the sudden closure would have on workers and their families, stating that “this location remains a busy and profitable one for the company, but our top priority must be the safety and well- being of our Customers and Associates – we cannot ask them to visit or work in an unsafe environment.”

More: Is this the most dangerous square mile in America? Crime hotspot in Oakland where gas stations and In-N-Out are hit by brazen car thieves dozens of times EVERY DAY – but cops say they are powerless to stop it.

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE JOE’S ABILITY TO F*** THINGS UP: Here Comes the Houthi War (and How Biden Will Screw It Up).

JUST FOUR EASY PAYMENTS MANY PEOPLE NEVER PROPERLY ACCOUNTED FOR: The buy now, pay later holiday debt hangover has arrived, as consumers wonder how they’ll pay bills. “In an era where persistent inflation and record-high interest rates are shaping financial decisions for many shoppers, the service helped fuel a boom in overall online spending that topped out at $222 billion from Nov. 1 through the end of December. During the season, buy now, pay later usage hit an all-time high, rising a staggering 14% from the prior year and contributing $16.6 billion to online spending.”

And now comes the inevitable hangover.

2024: Trump’s Bid to Toss Colorado Disqualification Will Settle the ‘Insurrection’ Argument.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE METAVERSE BEING THE NEXT BIG THING? Mark Zuckerberg Shifts Focus to AI, Investing Billions in High-End Chips.

Zuckerberg’s plan entails a significant financial commitment, with Meta gearing up to acquire a staggering 350,000 of Nvidia’s high-end AI chips. These chips, notably expensive, play a pivotal role in powering large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT. Each Nvidia H100 chip carries a hefty price tag of approximately $30,000. Consequently, Meta’s procurement of these chips may translate into an expenditure exceeding $10.5 billion.

But the expenditure doesn’t stop there. In addition to the 350,000 Nvidia H100s, Zuckerberg also aims to obtain nearly 600,000 H100 equivalents, further amplifying the financial magnitude of this endeavor.

Rather than merely chasing after the next ChatGPT-like language model, Mark Zuckerberg has set his sights on a loftier goal – the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI). AGI represents a concept often discussed among Silicon Valley’s elite, signifying the hypothetical point where AI achieves human-level intelligence. While not everyone in the field is convinced that current AI technology can reach this level, Meta’s commitment to this vision positions the company as a significant player in the race for AGI, potentially overtaking rivals like OpenAI.
…
After enduring a staggering loss of $46.5 billion associated with the Metaverse, Zuckerberg’s decisive pivot towards AI demonstrates his determination to stay at the forefront of technology.

Meta shares have enjoyed a nice rebound due to cost-cutting — but now this?

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Democrats Say (and Do) the Dumbest Things. “Keep it up, Dems. The more you say and do dumb things, the more people will be hip to the truth behind your agenda.”

21ST CENTURY WARFARE: Russia Deploys Silok Jammers To Ground Ukraine’s Drones. Ukraine Hunts Down The Siloks With, You Guessed It, Drones.

HE REALLY SHOULD: Next Vacation For Biden: Dementia-Friendly Tourist Spot.

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY (CHINA EDITION): China’s Lackluster GDP Growth.

China’s reported economic growth of 5.2% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2023 might look like the envy of the world. But look closer, and worrying signs appear.

The data released Wednesday show a Chinese economy growing at its slowest pace since 1990, excluding the pandemic years. Growth in industrial production slowed from month to month in the quarter. Fixed-asset investment offers hope, but much of the growth was supported by government spending while housing continues to struggle.

Chinese officials have long said they’ll accept growth slower than the 8% or more a year of the 2000s if it’s higher quality, meaning derived from rising productivity and less dependent on rampant credit creation. That doesn’t appear to be happening. The struggling parts of the economy—such as consumption, measured by slowing retail sales—ought to be expanding if growth were more productive.

Instead China appears to be leaning again on easy credit.

For the last 20 years or so, this country relied on easy credit, too — right up until we couldn’t.

HE’S FINE, REALLY: Yikes! Did Biden Threaten To Use Military Jets Against American Citizens?

NOBODY CAN AFFORD TO BUY, NOBODY CAN AFFORD TO SELL: Home Sales Were the Lowest in Almost 30 Years in 2023. “Existing home sales, which make up most of the housing market, slid 19% in 2023 from the prior year to 4.09 million, the lowest full-year level since 1995, the National Association of Realtors said Friday.”

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT [VIP]: The Battle for Control of Disney Is On. “No wonder Disney+ is losing billions. And how is a movie, even a blockbuster, supposed to generate the returns that investors expect when budgets are completely out of control? Shareholders ought to be banging down Peltz’s door and demanding that he take over.”