YES, I ALWAYS FEEL LIKE CHUCK YEAGER WHEN SITTING IN THE BACK OF A 737: Gayle King insists she was like Alan Shepard on her space ‘joyride.’

It’s becoming clear that long-popular “CBS Mornings” co-anchor Gayle King and her famous friends Katy Perry and Lauren Sanchez have landed at the center of one of the most spectacular public backlashes against celebrity cluelessness and rich-people hubris in a long time.

The cluelessness, hubris and “audacious” display of power by “the billionaire class” came as these three wealthy celebrities made a big show about going on a “historic,” 11-minute, space-tourism ride Monday morning to the edge of Earth’s atmosphere — aboard a commercial Blue Origin space rocket owned by Sanchez’s billionaire fiancé Jeff Bezos.

On Tuesday, King continued to show cluelessness as she tried to defend herself and her friends from growing online ridicule and condemnation. One way she did so was by likening their trip to the truly historic 1961 flight taken by “Right Stuff” astronaut Alan Shepard. As a member of NASA’s original Mercury 7 astronauts in the early days of the Space Race, Shepard became the first American and second human in space.

That’s a particularly odd comparison, considering that CBS had Dr. Mae Jemison, a real former NASA astronaut (and the first black woman in space) covering the flight. And note that the above article is in the San Jose Mercury, not exactly a house organ of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, a reminder that the distaff suborbital flight is receiving well-deserved bipartisan mockery.

Also, quite unlike Shepard: Terrified Gayle King SOBS as she arrives for Blue Origin space flight.

WAR AND RUMORS OF WAR: Is Civil War Coming to Europe? Ordinary Europeans are starting to admit what their leaders won’t: civil unrest may be closer than anyone dares to say.

Nearly every educated English person I know under the age of forty is seeking to emigrate, having lost hope that their country has the wherewithal to pull out of its cultural and economic crisis. In Oxford recently, an American student told me, “If the ruling class here openly hated the British people, it’s hard to know what they would be doing differently.”

Spending a week in France last month, I recalled the scandalous open letter that 20 retired French generals and 1,000 active duty service members released in 2021, warning that their country was headed to civil war unless the government acted firmly against Islamic radicals in the suburbs, and turned away from divisive policies driven by so-called “anti-racism.”

In a number of private conversations with ordinary French people—this was before the Le Pen verdict—I brought up the Betz interview (none had heard about it), and asked them if they foresaw civil war coming to France. Nearly all of them said yes. They said so with an unnerving sense of calm, as if they accepted it as a matter of course. When I complimented one couple on their country, and told them that one day I would like to live in France, they responded in unison, “No!” Stay in Hungary, they said; you’ll be safe there.

You would never know from the mainstream media that this sort of sentiment is bubbling among the population of Europe and the UK.

It’s the media’s job to cover it up.

MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE: A HUGE Win for Free Speech: Rubio Shuts Down Controversial State Department Office.

CHANGE:

Post-Watergate Jimmy Carter was the best thing that happened for the Republican party for a generation. A version of that may be repeating with Biden playing the Carter role.

— The Translator (@October_Blue_2) April 16, 2025

THE ECHOES OF “CATCH AND RELEASE”: It turns out that “loving father and husband” Kilmar Abrego Garcia isn’t the poor victim the legacy media wants you to think he is. JustTheNews exposes this guy’s history:

“The deported El Salvadoran man at the center of an intense court battle was flagged in 2022 by the Biden administration as a “suspect alien” who was possibly involved in “human smuggling/trafficking” after a traffic stop hundreds of miles from his Maryland home, according to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) documents reviewed by Just the News.”

The details show that during a routine traffic stop, the van Garcia was driving was full of people with no documentation, and the state trooper noted there was no luggage in the vehicle, leading the encountering officer to suspect this was a human trafficking incident.

But wait, there’s more:

“On Wednesday, DHS released a court filing showing that Abrego Garcia’s wife sought a domestic violence restraining order against him a year before the traffic stop in May 2021 […] Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the deported El Salvadoran man at the center of an historic immigration case, admitted to authorities in 2019 when he was first detained that he entered the United States illegally and had no basis for seeking asylum […] Separate records released by Attorney General Pam Bondi show Abrego Garcia admitted to authorities in 2019 when he was first detained that he entered the United States illegally and had no basis for seeking asylum and that Maryland police positively identified him as member of the MS-13 criminal gang.”

Victimhood can be profitable, though:

“A “Go Fund Me” crowdsourcing campaign was reportedly set up by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), a charity that claims to provide assistance to immigrant workers. NDLON is partly funded through the left-wing ActBlue Charities, and their Facebook page displays images comparing ICE agents to Nazis capturing Jews. As of press time, the campaign has raised almost $200,000.”

OPEN THREAD: Hump Day.

MAYBE GET TANKS THAT WORK FIRST? Germany’s military wants its own Starlink-like satellite constellation.

THE ONES TO REALLY WORRY ABOUT ARE THE ONES THAT DELIBERATELY FAIL: A Chatbot Has Passed a Critical Test For Human-Like Intelligence. Now What?

SCIENCE, UNSETTLED: Thought To Be Impossible: Scientists Break Century-Old Physics Barrier.

WHEN I THINK OF JUDGE BOASBERG, I THINK OF CONTEMPT: Jeb Boasberg’s “Criminal Contempt” Finding Makes Mockery of Separation of Powers: After setting the contempt trap, Judge James Boasberg today snapped the trap shut with a wild 46-page opinion accusing Trump officials of “willful disregard” for his now vacated court orders.

Somebody sure wants to create a constitutional crisis. https://t.co/P7uZNtaBSb

— Randy Barnett (@RandyEBarnett) April 16, 2025

EVEN THEM? Guess Who Just Debunked the Myth of Trump Voter Regret.

IN A NATION OF 300 MILLION PEOPLE THAT DOESN’T SEEM LIKE MANY AT ALL, ACTUALLY: Emergency rooms treat a gunshot wound every half-hour. I’d guess they remove foreign objects from people’s anuses about that often.

A CRAZY IDEA: Mazda’s Rotary-Engined Sports Car Is Almost Ready.

A TRILLION HERE AND A TRILLION THERE…: ‘Massive Numbers’: Trump’s Economic Agenda Sparks $7 Trillion In Investment.

THE DEMAND FOR RIGHT-WING VIOLENCE IN AMERICA VASTLY EXCEEDS THE SUPPLY: “The man accused of setting fire to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence Sunday indicated he was motivated by his views on the Israel-Gaza war and believed Shapiro needed to stop the killing of Palestinians a newly unveiled search warrant says.”

FAIL, BRITANNIA: Once-Great Britain Took Another Big Step on the Road to Venezuela.

STAY SAFE: Headlamp Rechargeable 50000 Lumens Super Bright LED Head Lamp for Adults. #CommissionEarned

REVIEW: Lipsey’s Exclusive Ruger LCR 32 H&R Mag. Revolver.

HMM: Chinese factories are taking the trade war somewhere new.

Chinese suppliers have been flooding American social media this week, urging users to outflank President Donald Trump’s 145% tariffs on Beijing by buying directly from their factories.

One TikTok user, who goes by Wang Sen, claims that he is the original equipment manufacturer for most luxury brands, while standing in front of a wall of what appear to be ultra-spendy Birkin bags. OEMs work behind the scenes to make the products that another company then sells under its own brand.

“Why don’t you just contact us and buy from us? You won’t believe the prices we (will) give you,” he said in one clip.

His video was later taken down by the app. In the meantime, though, DHgate, an online wholesale store infamous for selling Chinese dupes of luxury goods, has shot to #2 on the US Apple app store. Another app, Taobao, China’s OG e-commerce site, is at #7.

It’s highly improbable that these are real suppliers for brands like Lululemon and Chanel, multiple experts told CNN. Legitimate manufacturers usually sign non-disclosure agreements, so it’s unlikely that these creators are selling the real thing.

Or they’re desperate enough to try, regardless. Who knows? So caveat emptor.

CUT THE RED TAPE WITH MILEI’S CHAINSAW: Restrictive and Sometimes Ludicrous Regulations Are Stifling the Revolution in Nuclear Reactors.

THIS IS WHAT “GLOBALIZE THE INTIFADA,” A FAVORITE SLOGAN OF HAMASNIKS, LOOKS LIKE: Suspect in Shapiro arson attack cited plight of Palestinians.

Nothing to see here, just a leftist loon taking campus Hamasnik rhetoric seriously and trying to murder a Jewish governor and his family on the first night of Passover.

CLEAN YOUR KEYBOARD: Solareye Compressed Air Duster – 180000RPM Electric Air Duster. #CommissionEarned

THIS IS NEWS? Dogs’ speech recognition: New study shows they listen beyond tone.

A new study conducted by animal behavior and mammalian cognition experts at the Universities of Lincoln and Sussex, and Jean Monnet University, reveals that dogs may be far better at understanding human speech than previously understood.

The group’s research paper, “Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) recognize meaningful content in monotonous streams of read speech,” published in Animal Cognition, explains that dogs actually “listen in” when we are speaking, even if the speech is not directed at them. According to the findings, dogs possess the neurological capacity to passively sift through information and commands relevant to them when humans are talking.

Humans and dogs have lived symbiotically for more than 14,000 years, yet despite our mutualistic bond, there remains a poor understanding of whether dogs do understand what we say.

My Golden knows what end credits music sounds like — any end credits music — and perks up because the movie is over and dinner is near.

HMM: Inflammation may be the link between chronic pain and depression.

EXTEND THE TAX CUTS: Georgians Send a Tax Day Message to Sen. Jon Ossoff.