THIS MIGHT EXPLAIN WHY MOST TRUMP SUPPORTERS ARE UNCONCERNED ABOUT THE STOCK MARKET:   What is the Wealth of a Nation? aka GDP is a lie and the price of fuel and eggs is more important.

SCIENCE AND ARTS ARE NOT ENEMIES. BOTH ARE NEEDED: Not Of Bread Alone.

A CURIOUSLY ON POINT ESSAY:  American Strong Gods. Trump and the end of the Long Twentieth Century.

OPEN THREAD: Make me proud.

PRETTY MUCH WHAT I EXPECT FROM THE UN AND COLUMBIA THESE DAYS, TO BE HONEST: UN Judge, Onetime Columbia University Human Rights Fellow, Found Guilty of Slavery.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: China’s expanding footprint in geostationary orbit raises security concerns.

MY LATEST SUBSTACK ESSAY: The Rout Continues, But Be Ready for the Counterattacks. Plus, is Elon bringing machine intelligence to the fight?

HEY, IT’S NOT SO EASY FOR MEN, EITHER: PEOPLE FREAK OUT IF WE GET PREGNANT AT ANY AGE. Sienna Miller speaks out on double standard women face after having kids at older age.

NECROTWEETING:

We’ve known for decades that Democrats keep voting even after they’ve died. Now we know they tweet from the grave as well, as this guy’s staff just kept posting in his name hours after he died. https://t.co/i1iuHhSSr3

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) March 13, 2025

CHANGE: Schumer Caves In Shutdown Showdown.

BREAKING: Schumer Caves on CR, Blames Trump for His Own Surrender!

Translation: Trump wins again.

THAT’S DISTURBING: More than 1.2 million medical device side-effect reports not submitted within legal timeframe, analysis finds.

TOUGH WEEK:

The Mask is Off.

In the past week the corporate media desperately tried – and spectacularly FAILED – to astroturf fraudulent new woke personalities and products.

Rep. Al Green as a 'Civil Rights Hero' – FAIL
Michelle Obama Podcast Launch – BOMB
Dylan Mulvaney 'Biography' Launch… pic.twitter.com/j6pPnS3Lry

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 13, 2025

HUH:

Just got off the phone with a sales rep from Tesla.

She said today is one of the busiest days they’ve EVER had for sales.

— Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) March 12, 2025

THIS IS SO WEIRD: Peter Beinart Has Gone Full Antisemite: In his recent book and an oped column, he channels Nazi and other antisemitic propaganda about the Purim Holiday.

RIP: Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva dead at 77. “Grijalva, D-Ariz., died of lung cancer-related issues on Thursday morning, his office announced in a statement. In Congress, the southern Arizona Democrat was most known for his work on the House Natural Resources committee.”

FIVE THINGS TO REMEMBER AS THE MAHMOUD CASE DEVELOPS: The story is still developing and it’s complicated, but there are still concrete lessons to learn here.

COVID FIVE YEARS AGO TODAY: There’s Plenty of Toilet Paper in the U.S. So Why Are People Hoarding It?

Australia has also suffered from panic buying of toilet paper despite plentiful domestic supply. A risk expert in the country explained it this way: “Stocking up on toilet paper is … a relatively cheap action, and people like to think that they are ‘doing something’ when they feel at risk.”

This is an example of “zero risk bias,” in which people prefer to try to eliminate one type of possibly superficial risk entirely rather than do something that would reduce their total risk by a greater amount.

* * * * * * * * *

Americans aren’t alone in panic buying to ensure they have plenty of squares to spare. Venezuelans hoarded the commodity in 2013 as a result of a drop in production, leading the government to seize a toilet paper factory in an effort to ensure more supply. It failed to do the trick.

Unexpectedly — but as America’s Newspaper of Record “reported” five years ago today: Bernie Sanders: ‘We Must Seize The Means Of Toilet Paper Production!’

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT [VIP]: The Thursday Essay: America’s Postmodern Red Guards, Our Digital Brownshirts…

REVIEW: 2025 Volkswagen Golf R First Drive: More Power, But Can You Feel the Diff?

COVID FIVE YEARS AGO TODAY: On the beach, waiting for Wuhan coronavirus.

MAINTAIN YOUR CAR: Mobil 1 Advanced Fuel Economy Full Synthetic Motor Oil. #CommissionEarned

DECENT PRICE FOR BENELLI: First Look: Benelli Nova 3 Shotgun.

BARACK OBAMA HURT MOST: Iran Could Lose Iraq.

Iraq’s politicians also seem more eager than usual to appease the United States. Iraq’s government is led by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and his Coordination Framework, a coalition closely allied with Iran. But Sudani’s team made three compromises with U.S. officials in late January: removing an arrest warrant on U.S. President Donald Trump for ordering the killing of terrorists in Baghdad during his last administration; agreeing to release the Princeton researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who has been held hostage by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia; and passing a vital budget amendment that has long been sought by Iraq’s Kurds, the segment of Iraqi society that has the closest ties to Trump. These compromises indicate that Iran’s allies in Iraq are feeling vulnerable.

Washington should take advantage of this moment to permanently reduce the level of Iranian control in Iraq. It should do so not through wide-scale military action but with tough diplomacy, the threat of sanctions, and intelligence operations. Such measures would deprive Iran of a vital source of funding and give the United States leverage in any negotiations with the regime’s leaders. Most important, it would lead to better governance for Iraqis, who have suffered for too long under Iran’s thumb.

Stay tuned — and keep an eye on Marco Rubio.

READER FAVORITE: Etekcity Camping Lanterns for Power Outages 4 Pack. #CommissionnEarned