YES, BUT IT GIVES ALL THE RIGHT PEOPLE ALL THE CORRECT FEELZ: Lab-grown meat is up to 25 times WORSE for the climate than beef, study claims.

NARRATIVES DON’T ESTABLISH THEMSELVES, YOU KNOW: The Left Continues to Rail Against ‘Book Bans’ That Aren’t Happening.

HMM: Catastrophic Success: What if the Ukrainian Counteroffensive Achieves More than Expected?

If the counteroffensive is surprisingly successful, Putin will be forced to respond in one of two ways—negotiation or escalation. Given Putin’s belief in the value of a long-game scenario, his willingness to absorb significant costs, and the potentially disastrous domestic political consequences of unfavorable negotiations, it is more likely than not that Putin would choose escalation. In a situation where Russian forces are routed, Putin would face only two realistic escalation options: throw more human bodies at the Ukrainians or use a nuclear weapon.

In the case of the former option, Russia already appears to be preparing new rounds of mobilizations, with the Wagner Group restarting troop recruitment from Russian prisons. However, as was recently seen in Bakhmut and elsewhere, new Russian soldiers are poorly trained. Conscripts are thus often killed in droves—and not even the Russians have an infinite supply of human lives. New recruits could slow the tide of a Ukrainian advance, but if momentum is on Ukraine’s side, it may be unlikely these new recruits could decisively weigh in Russia’s favor.

That leaves nuclear escalation.

It’s an thoughtful article and not at all scaremongering. Worth a read.

I HAD BEEN ASSURED WOMEN NEVER LIED ABOUT SUCH THINGS: Buffalo Bills Punter a Victim of False Rape Accusations.

UNEXPECTEDLY! Fed researchers: $15 minimum wage in Minneapolis and St. Paul boosted pay — but cost jobs.

The push to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in both Minneapolis and St. Paul has successfully boosted the average worker’s hourly pay in both cities, but it has also led to sharp drops in the numbers of available jobs and hours worked, new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has found.

Many economists have reached similar conclusions about minimum wage increases in the past. Still, the size of the impacts the researchers measured — by comparing Minneapolis and St. Paul to data culled from other Minnesota cities from 2017 through 2021 — were eye-popping, especially in low-wage industries.

Especially? Really? Minimum wage laws have always put the squeeze on the entry-level positions teens need to get their first taste of the real world.

OUCH: Fox News Fails With McEnany in Tucker’s Old Slot While Carlson Teases His Launch.

As sharp, feisty, and easy on the eyes as McEnany is, Fox viewers must not be in a forgiving mood over Tucker Carlson.

TEXAS: Three Cheers For The Death Star. “Left wing city councils that endanger their residents through stunts like defunding police and declaring themselves sanctuary cities had this coming.”

FOLLOW THE MONEY: Rep. Comer Reveals Trove of Evidence Against Biden Crime Family. “No one would legitimately believe it was mere coincidence that at least nine Biden family members were getting money from foreign nations while Joe Biden was vice president.”

Flashback: Hunter Biden Recorded Bragging His Presidential Father Will Push Any Political Issue He Wants.

BLUE CITY BLUES: T-Mobile Shutters ‘Flagship’ San Fran Store As Mass Exodus Escalates. “T-Mobile has joined the increasing number of businesses that have closed up shop in downtown San Francisco. This is due to the progressive city leadership’s inability to restore law and order amid skyrocketing crime.”

Meanwhile, San Francisco district five supervisor has a solution:

https://twitter.com/deanpreston/status/1656023543333933057

Open season on the city’s retailers will continue until morale improves.

GOP REP. GEORGE SANTOS ARRESTED: Where’s Hunter, Fat?

JOANNE JACOBS: Math wars: What does the ‘science of math’ say about what works? “Teaching methods that may work for very bright, motivated students — the ones who don’t need much teaching — may fail students who need structured lessons. They won’t figure it out on their own.”

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK: Biden Admin Offers Palestinian Orgs $100K to Promote ‘Diversity, Equity.’

THIS SETTLEMENT KEEPS GETTING WORSE ALL THE TIME: Carlson was told by a member of the Fox board that he was taken off the air as part of the Dominion settlement, per Tucker’s legal team.

The $787 million settlement reached by the two parties came less than a week after it was revealed that Carlson was off the air, with his final show being the Friday after the settlement was announced.

In a letter from Carlson’s lawyers to Fox News, they argue that Carlson’s noncompete clause in his contract, which runs through 2025, is no longer valid, alleging Fox employees, including “Rupert Murdoch himself,” broke promises to Carlson “intentionally and with reckless disregard for the truth.”

Developing…

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: The Tucker/Twitter Alliance Is the Best Liberal Tears Generator Since Trump’s Election. “It’s only been a couple of days since we last led with Tucker Carlson but — hey — the guy is a newsmaker. And he tends to get under the skin of a lot of people whose skin should be gotten under.”

HMM: California Gov. Newsom declines to back reparations checks, says slavery’s legacy is ‘more than cash payments.’

“The Reparations Task Force’s independent findings and recommendations are a milestone in our bipartisan effort to advance justice and promote healing. This has been an important process, and we should continue to work as a nation to reconcile our original sin of slavery and understand how that history has shaped our country,” Newsom said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

While the Democratic governor applauded the task force’s work, he declined to endorse any specific recommendations, though he pledged to continue to “advance systemic changes that ensure an inclusive and equitable future for all Californians.”

He’s dodging.

MEGAN FOX: Republicans Promise THIS TIME the Biden Crime Family Is Finished! “How many times can they do this to people and still retain any semblance of trust?”

EVEN CHRIS HAYES WON IN HIS PRIMETIME SLOT LAST WEEK: Jen Psaki Beats Fox News and CNN — Scores Weekend Ratings Win For MSNBC.

CRISIS BY DESIGN: Enough Illegals to Fill 3 Entire Countries Are Already in the U.S.—and Biden Is Throwing Open the Border.

GORGEOUS: See the moon in epic detail in stunning images taken by South Korea’s lunar orbiter.

I COULD DO WITHOUT THE LOLLIPOPS: Woman lost in the wilderness survived on bottle of wine and lollipops.

BREAKING: The Trump Defamation Verdict Is In.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: The DEI Rot At UT. “Christopher Rufo has obtained a cache of documents from the University of Texas, and if you’ve wondered how extensive the rot is at UT Austin, wonder no more.”

TALES FROM THE SWAMPLAND: Emails Prove Hunter Biden Arranged Meeting Between His Dad and a Client.

SKYNET SMILES: The Air Force is adding AI pilots to 6 F-16s. “The U.S. Air Force has announced plans to equip a small group of F-16 Fighting Falcons with artificial intelligence (AI) pilots, as part of the Project Viper Experimentation and Next-Gen Operations Mode, or VENOM. The news came just about a month after the branch announced an AI-piloted and heavily modified F-16 known as the X-62A successfully flew a variety of air-combat missions over the span of two weeks this past December.”

HEINLEIN’S CRAZY YEARS (CONT’D): You Knew This Was Coming: NYC Catholic Church Hosts ‘God Is Trans’ Exhibit.