BREAKING: Russia Goes Kinetic With U.S. in Skies Over the Black Sea, and the USAF Response Is Unbelievable.

HE FIGHTS: Florida to revoke Hyatt Regency Miami license after ‘sexually explicit’ show with children.

SAY ANYTHING: Biden Claims He Had an ‘Epiphany’ on Same-Sex Marriage as a Teen, but We Have the Receipts.

COME SEE THE VIOLENCE INHERENT IN THE LEFTISM: Huge Brawl At Social Justice Warrior Middle School. “How huge? 200 people (including parents) were involved, and multiple cars of policemen had to break up the fight.”

MEGAN FOX: Muslim Comedian Under Attack for Calling Out Grooming Behavior by Non-binary Creep Jeffrey Marsh.

SARAH HOYT’S SHOCKED FACE IS IN A MEDICALLY INDUCED COMA: Open the Books Links Gov. Gavin Newsom and Silicon Valley Bank. “By Monday, Open the Books, which imposes transparency on those who refuse, ‘using forensic auditing and open records,’ found even deeper ties between Silicon Valley Bank and the Newsom’s: Silicon Valley Bank gave $100,000 ‘Behested’ gift to the Newsom’s nonprofit.”

YOU MIGHT NOT BE INTERESTED IN THE GLEICHSCHALTUNG BUT THE GLEICHSCHALTUNG IS INTERESTED IN YOU: We Were Censored for Reporting on Natural Immunity. What’s Next?

SAD: The Russia That Might Have Been.

In the 12 months since Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine, the war has turned into an accelerating disaster for Russia. Although Ukrainians are the primary victims of the Kremlin’s unprovoked aggression, the war has already left hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers dead or wounded. Unprecedented Western sanctions have squeezed the Russian economy, and Moscow’s large-scale mobilization and wartime crackdown on civil society have caused hundreds of thousands of the country’s high-skilled workers to flee abroad. Yet the greatest long-term cost of the war to Russia may be in permanently foreclosing the promise of Russia occupying a peaceful and prosperous place in the twenty-first-century world order.

The current trajectory of Russia’s foreign policy was not predestined, and there were many chances for the Kremlin to do things differently. For much of the last 20 years—even following the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014—Russia had a historic opening to build a dynamic new place for itself in the international system. When Putin was sworn in as president, in May 2000, Russia was entering a period of greater possibility—both within and beyond its borders—than at any other point in its history. Internally, Russia had survived the collapse of the USSR and the tumultuous 1990s to go from an empire to an influential nation-state in the making. Despite the horrendous wars in Chechnya, Russia was, by the turn of the century, largely stable and at peace. Its planned economy had given way to an adaptable market economy. It was an imperfect but vibrant democracy.

Read the whole thing.

VODKAPUNDIT PRESENTS YOUR WEEKLY INSANITY WRAP: Is Mark Kelly the Most Dangerous Man in the Senate? “This guy ran as a moderate — and got a way with it, too.”

Plus:

• Nikki Fried proves again she’s probably a GOP plant (or at least as dumb as one).
• Vivek Ramaswamy has the good news and the bad news about SVB.
• If Portlanders get any more gaslit, the EPA is going to have to shut them down.

So much more at the link, you’d have to be crazy to miss it.

HE’S HALF-EXPECTING AN EARTH-SHATTERING KABOOM: Elon Musk hints Starship rocket may explode on first orbital launch, predicting 50% chance of success and ‘guaranteeing excitement.’ “‘I think it’s got, I don’t know, hopefully about a 50% chance of reaching orbit,’ Musk said, adding that SpaceX is building multiple Starship rockets and that overall, there’s about an 80% chance one of them will reach orbit this year.”

The occasional rapid unscheduled disassembly followed by rapid iteration and improvement have taken SpaceX this far.

I’M NOT LAUGHING: Joe Biden Takes Things Seriously by… Going on Comedy Central?

BUILD BACK BROKEN: How Biden’s New Washing Machine Regulations Could Ruin Laundry Day.

The proposed washing machine rule marks the latest example of the administration turning to consumer regulations to advance its climate change goals. Last month, the Energy Department published an analysis of its proposed cooking appliance efficiency regulations, which it found would effectively ban half of all gas stoves on the U.S. market from being sold. The department has also proposed new efficiency standards for refrigerators, which could come into effect in 2027. “Collectively these energy efficiency actions … support President Biden’s ambitious clean energy agenda to combat the climate crisis,” the Energy Department said in February.

While the Energy Department—which did not return a request for comment—acknowledged in its proposal that “maintaining acceptable cleaning performance can be more difficult as energy and water levels are reduced,” it expressed confidence that Whirlpool and other appliance manufacturers can comply with its regulations without sacrificing stain removal and other performance standards. For the Heritage Foundation’s Travis Fisher, however, manufacturer concerns over the proposal are justified.

“When you’re squeezing all you can out of the efficiency in terms of electricity use and water … you by definition either make the appliance worse or slower,” said Fisher, who serves as a senior research fellow at the foundation’s Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment. “Why are we so focused on the energy output, as opposed to if it’s helping me wash my clothes? That standard has kind of gone off the rails.”

Our own Sarah Hoyt told me years ago that she believes the real purpose is to condition people to things that are worse than they used to be, to lower our expectations. I’ve never seen anything to contradict her.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: China Is Probably Just Waiting for U.S. Military to Get More Woke. “When someone in our Army says that we’re experiencing a ‘national security concern’ because of our inability to recruit new people, you can bet that the news gets to Xi as soon as it does anyone here.”

LOCKDOWN FALLOUT: Dropout rate is up: Disrupted teens gave up on school. “I don’t think it’s a disaster if unmotivated, unprepared students choose work over college, but the prospects for high school dropouts are very grim.”

WON’T LET GO: Nancy Pelosi Is Still Pushing the Jan. 6 ‘Insurrection’ Hoax.

I THOUGHT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO FOCUS ON WHAT OUR RIVALS ARE UP TO, BUT WHAT DO I KNOW? US Intel Agencies Need to Focus Intensely on ‘Diversity, Equity, Inclusion,’ Intelligence Chief Says.

Citing earlier comments from David Petraeus, former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, Carson contended that minorities were underrepresented in the IC.

“What are your organizations doing to improve diversity when it comes to recruiting and retaining your workforces?” Carson asked Haines and the other panelists. “Does the IC need to devote more resources to professional development? How do you all plan on tackling those very apparent issues?”

“I think there is no question that we have to do better on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility,” Haines replied promptly.

Haines pointed to recent budget requests in which her organization had requested more funding to carry out “more intense efforts” to increase the presence of minorities in the IC.

“I think you’ll see in our budget requests and our proposals in all of the work that we’re doing that … we see this as an area that we need to focus more intense resources and efforts,” Haines said.

There’s really nothing more to say aside from “We are so screwed.”

YET ANOTHER CRISIS BY DESIGN: As Military Recruiting Numbers Dip to Record Lows, Biden’s Woke Army Works to Destroy Morale.

ROBERT SPENCER: Woke Pope Takes Right Turn, Hits ‘Gender Ideology’ as ‘Dangerous.’

HMM: Why regulators seized Signature Bank in third-biggest bank failure in U.S. history.

The sudden move shocked executives of Signature Bank, a New York-based institution with deep ties to the real estate and legal industries, said board member and former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank. Signature had 40 branches, assets of $110.36 billion and deposits of $88.59 billion at the end of 2022, according to a regulatory filing.

“We had no indication of problems until we got a deposit run late Friday, which was purely contagion from SVB,” Frank told CNBC in a phone interview.
…
According to Frank, Signature executives explored “all avenues” to shore up its situation, including finding more capital and gauging interest from potential acquirers. The deposit exodus had slowed by Sunday, he said, and executives believed they had stabilized the situation.

Instead, Signature’s top managers have been summarily removed and the bank was shuttered Sunday.
…
For his part, Frank, who helped draft the landmark Dodd-Frank Act after the 2008 financial crisis, said there was “no real objective reason” that Signature had to be seized.

“I think part of what happened was that regulators wanted to send a very strong anti-crypto message,” Frank said. “We became the poster boy because there was no insolvency based on the fundamentals.”

Frank would obviously want to put the best possible spin on a bank where he sat on the board, but I also wouldn’t put it past the Swamp to do everything in its power to kill off crypto.

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT [VIP]: Former White House Press Sec Jen Psaki: ‘Biden Does Nothing at 9 AM.’ “If Biden getting ready for the cameras by 9 a.m. shows how vital the banking crisis is, it’s fair to ask how vital the president is.”

NEWS YOU CAN USE? How AI can save you time: 5 skills you no longer need to learn.

THEY SHOULD BE: Are House Republicans Preparing Criminal Case Against Fauci?

SCIENCE! Greta Thunberg deletes 2018 tweet saying world will end in 2023 after world does not end.

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: The Biden Economy Is Falling Apart, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once.

CHANGE: Poland builds Europe’s largest land force to counter Russian threat.

To start with, it has placed orders for 1,000 K2 main battle tanks from South Korea, and 250 brand new M1A2 SEPv3 Abram tanks from the US. This will turn Poland into the owner of Europe’s biggest tank force, dwarfing the UK’s fleet of 227.

Its artillery will be bolstered by the arrival of 600 K9s, 18 HIMARS launchers with 9,000 rockets, and 288 K239 Chunmoo MRL systems from South Korea.

Over 1,000 Polish-made Borsuk infantry fighting vehicles will carry Polish troops into battle, while air cover will come from 96 AH-64E Apache helicopters bought from the US, and 48 FA-50 combat aircraft now on order from South Korea.

“We are changing our equipment very, very quickly,” said Captain Adamiak. “It really is revolution, not evolution.”

All of this will be underscored by plans to double the size of the Polish Army to 300,000, which would turn Poland into Europe’s biggest military power, in terms of manpower, west of Ukraine.

Interesting the role South Korea is playing in up-arming Poland.