AT AMAZON, save on Men’s Shoes.

MICHAEL WALSH: “The President is every bit as much the arbiter of the Constitution as is the Congress or the Supreme Court; if Trump’s ready to tackle the problem of the runaway federal judiciary, this would be a great test case. Because, sooner or later, it’s a battle that needs to be fought and won if the constitutional balance of power is to be protected. To paraphrase Andrew Jackson, ‘John Bates has made his decision — now let him enforce it.”

Read the whole thing.

BUT IT’S OKAY BECAUSE THEY’RE NOT WHITE WHICH MEANS — OH, SARAH JEONG CAN EXPLAIN IT I’M SURE: China is Treating Africa The Same Way European Colonists Did.

BLUE ON BLUE: A Bunch of Guys Running in Democratic Primaries Are Attacking EMILY’s List: A group that boosts female Democrats has a new group of critics this year: pro-choice Democratic men. Well, you can’t blame them for being annoyed at being targeted by an explicitly sexist campaign organization.

OPEN THREAD: The weekend’s not over yet.

SURPRISE, SURPRISE: New York City schools use a Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT) to determine which students get into its elite high schools and which do not. Mayor Bill de Blasio has opposed the test essentially on the ground that it lets in too many students of some races and not enough of others. But a just-made-public 2012 study shows that the test does indeed identify the students who are most likely to succeed at their studies.

As always, I remind everyone that you are not doing students any favors, no matter what their race, by admitting them to academic programs where their academic credentials put them toward the bottom of the class. Students learn more in programs where they are competitive with other students. See Want to Be a Doctor? A Scientist? An Engineer? An Affirmative Action Leg Up May Hurt Your Chances and A “Dubious Expediency”: How Race-Preferential Admissions Policies on Campus Hurt Minority Students.

AT AMAZON, Lightning Deal, BESTEK Surge Protector 8-Outlet and 40W 6-Port Smart USB Power Strip with 1500 Joules Surge Protection,ETL Listed.

WHY ARE DEMOCRATS SO VIOLENT? Man Arrested For Threatening Steve Scalise Had Ammo, Materials And Guides To Build Bombs.

Related: Bernie Bro James T. Hodgkinson, Attempted Assassin Of Steve Scalise, Already Being Erased From History.

THE 21ST CENTURY IS NOT TURNING OUT AS I’D HOPED: Face Tattoos Go Mainstream.

PAUL MIRENGOFF: Hate Has A Home At The New York Times.

LET’S TALK ABOUT MELANIA’S SHOES INSTEAD: I’m not one to say this sort of thing, but if this were happening in a white neighborhood it would lead the news. Every damned day. The Chicago Tribune reports:

At least 41 people were shot from 11 a.m. Saturday through Sunday morning, four fatally, police said. Three of those deaths happened since about midnight in a period when 35 people were shot. During one 2½-hour early-morning period alone, 25 people were shot — two fatally — in five multiple-injury shootings, police said.

One of the dead was a 17-year-old girl who was shot in the face.

If there is such a thing as “white privilege,” its the lower odds of being gunned down in a city run for decades by corrupt Democrats.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Related: Chicago Politicians Are In Bed With The Gangs.

AND NPR’S MARA LIASSON IS NOT OVERFLOWING WITH JOY: As Supreme Court Nears Solid Conservative Majority, GOP Reaps Reward From ‘Long Game.’

AT AMAZON, save on bestselling Pet Supplies.

Plus, deals in Safety and Security.

WHY ARE DEMOCRATS PROMOTING VIOLENCE AGAINST REPUBLICANS?

THE DANGERS OF “POST-HOSPITAL SYNDROME.”

But last September, Ms. Lewandowski entered a hospital after a compression fracture of her vertebra caused pain too intense to be managed at home. Over four days, she used nasal oxygen to help her breathe and received intravenous morphine for pain relief, later graduating to oxycodone tablets.

Even after her discharge, the stress and disruptions of hospitalization — interrupted sleep, weight loss, mild delirium, deconditioning caused by days in bed — left her disoriented and weakened, a vulnerable state some researchers call “post-hospital syndrome.”

They believe it underlies the stubbornly high rate of hospital readmissions among older patients. In 2016, about 18 percent of discharged Medicare beneficiaries returned to the hospital within 30 days, according to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Ms. Lewandowski, for example, was back within three weeks. She had developed a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in her lungs, probably resulting from inactivity. The clot exacerbated her heart failure, causing fluid buildup in her lungs and increased swelling in her legs. She also suffered another compression fracture. . . .

Any hospital patient, or hovering family member, knows those stresses: Disrupted sleep, as staff draw blood and take vital signs at 4 a.m. A distorted sense of day and night. Unappetizing meals often served at inopportune times.

I haven’t been hospitalized since I was 3. But from staying with the Insta-Wife I’ve observed that the lack of sleep in particular is terrible, even when you’re not the sick one; a few nights spent in the hospital and I was a wreck every time. I once proposed an experiment in which we’d check perfectly healthy students into a hospital for a week or two, then evaluate their condition for change. I think we’d find drastic deterioration, and it might have trouble getting past the IRB because of risk. . . .

LISTEN: CALLER THREATENS TO KILL CNN’S BRIAN STELTER AND DON LEMON IN LIVE C-SPAN BROADCAST.

[Stelter] did not address, though, what Mollie Hemingway addressed on Fox’s corresponding show, “Media Buzz.” Hemingway said the relationship between Trump and the press is “dysfunctional,” which is a good word because it correctly suggests all parties are wrong.

The media is not to blame for, has not invited, and should not be subject to, this “war” talk or threats of rape or murder. Seriously, that’s not just a disclaimer to throw out there. It’s outrageous and everyone should be outraged. It’s terrible. Stelter is absolutely right about that. They have not earned this. You cannot caveat that.

It doesn’t mean you can’t also address other issues, like how the press covers Trump. Hemingway is correct about that part, though similarly one-sided in her perspective.

Read the whole thing.

NEO-NEO-NEOCON: Neoneocon, who is often linked here, has changed sites. Look for her at thenewneo.com

WITHOUT GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, WHO WOULD PROTECT US FROM . . . OH, NEVER MIND. F.D.A. Did Not Intervene to Curb Risky Fentanyl Prescriptions. “The agency could have sharpened prescriber training programs and agreement forms, he said, or investigated prescribers. At the least, he and other researchers said, the agency could have made the data from the program public.” It’s okay, it’s not like anyone at the FDA will lose his or her job.

‘LET THE WHOREHOUSE BURN:’ The cynical rise and painful fall of the euro.

During the acute phase of the euro crisis in 2010, the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas exhorted Angela Merkel to be a true leader, one who “took domestic political risks for Europe.” Did he not see that European leaders were already taking the craziest risks for Europe, or at least in the name of Europe, and that they might actually be its problem? Or did he, too, forget that politics concerns not just those who take risks but also those who bear them?

Lengthy, but well worth a read.

AND AGAIN: “Last night, Twitter suspended Candace Owens, who has 663,000 Twitter followers, for 12 hours on account of an unspecified violation of the platform’s terms and conditions. Maybe it was because Candace tweeted this criticism of Sarah Jeong:”

Owens posted a series of tweets simply reversing the colors in Jeong’s multiyear jeremiad against whites. “There was no way Twitter could sustain the suspension, in view of the hateful trash that is constantly tweeted by leftists like Jeong. But some low-level employee evidently vented his or her hostility toward conservatism by arbitrarily suspending Owens.”

That does seem to be the ongoing pattern — unexpectedly.

UPDATE: The Daily Caller quotes Owens herself:

“The thing is, I wouldn’t have minded if I was locked out, because I actually agree with Twitter that that language is inappropriate,” Owens said.

“My point in tweeting that and replacing the word with black and Jewish yesterday was to show how different that mentality is when you see it in that context and you see talking about Jewish people and predisposed to burning under the sun or black people saying they should live underground,” she said.

“It’s horrifically racist, but somehow we’ve gotten to a point in society where it’s OK to say the exact same thing about white people, and that’s problematic.”

It’s been brewing for a very long time. As an American Thinker columnist notes, “Let’s all thank Sarah Jeong for showing us what liberals think of white people.”

GOOD GUY WITH A GUN: Police: Armed bystander takes down gunman at Titusville back to school event. “A flyer posted on Facebook and Instagram said a back to school event called ‘Peace in the City’ was going on at the park when the shooting happened.”

As Keith Laumer once wrote, there’s nothing more peaceful than a dead troublemaker. Though in this case, just wounded was enough.

AT AMAZON, Fit Simplify Resistance Loop Exercise Bands with Instruction Guide, Carry Bag, EBook and Online Workout Videos.

Plus, AstroAI Digital Tire Pressure Gauge 150 PSI 4 Settings for Car Truck Bicycle with Backlit LCD and Non-Slip Grip.

GALLERY: The Coolest Recent Concept Cars.

AT AMAZON, save in Oral Care.

Plus, deals on bestselling Office Products.

GREAT MOMENTS IN “FACT CHECKING.” WashPost Fact Check: ‘Wringing’ Sarah Sanders’ Neck Different from ‘Choking’ Her.

SOLAR ACTIVITY UPDATE: “Note that the peak for 24 was approximately half that of 23. Also note that we are currently already as low as the minimum that ended cycle 23, at approximately 8.5-9 years into an average-11-year cycle. Theoretically, we still have a couple of years to go before the actual minimum is reached, though 11 years IS an average. . . . Based on all this information, it is my considered opinion that we are about to enter an extended minimum, if we are not already in one.”

Fallen Angels is just a science fiction novel, right guys? Right? Guys?

INSIDE EVERY LIBERAL IS A TOTALITARIAN SCREAMING TO GET OUT: No Straw Man Here: The Mask Slips in Santa Barbara.

A little noticed detail in Santa Barbara’s recent drive to criminalize plastic straws, which culminated in the Santa Barbara city council taking testimony from a nine-year-old about the planetary menace, has come to light in recent days. During that council session, councilman Jesse Dominguez said to following in response to citizens who asked “what’s next?”:

“Unfortunately, common sense is just not common. We have to regulate every aspect of people’s lives.”

Take that one in for a moment, for it expresses the core impulse of liberalism today.

As a famous lady once said, “We’re going to take things from you on behalf of the common good.”

(Classical reference in headline.)

THIS IS GETTING REALLY OUT OF HAND:   Facebook blocks ad by Elizabeth Heng, GOP candidate for Congress.

UPDATE (by Charlie): This is the video:

THE SCIENCE IS SETTLED: NEW STUDY SAYS WATCHING THE KARDASHIANS ACTUALLY MAKES YOU A WORSE PERSON.

WAS THE MADURO ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT A ‘FALSE FLAG’ OPERATION?

The BBC quotes anonymous firefighters at the scene who say “the incident was actually a gas tank explosion inside an apartment, but did not provide further details.” Venezuelan authorities also said that 7 people had been arrested.

Put two and two together and the possibility exists that Maduro’s government, in the midst of a terrible economic crisis with inflation climbing toward one million percent and empty grocery store shelves, might have engineered a false security situation to give it an excuse to crack down on opponents.

Socialist regimes have no history whatsoever of doing stuff like that.

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY: A SIG Integral Eccentric Firearm Silencer Patent Has Been Approved.

THE NEW YORK TIMES ON “THE HIGH SCHOOL WE CAN’T LOG OFF FROM: Twitter rewards us for our mistakes. It isn’t designed to let us grow up.”

To be fair, that’s also true of the Times itself. She’s not mentioned by name in the above column, but it’s obvious that its subtext is the Gray Lady’s justification of hiring Sarah Jeong after years of racist tweets.

UPDATE: “The New York Times stealth-edited their article about Roseanne Barr to remove a header caption after being called out for hypocrisy over Sarah Jeong. This is journalism in 2018.”

The missing header said, “The network’s decision to cancel ‘Roseanne’ over a racist comment will cost it. But when people decide to let racism slide, it costs the rest of us.”

As the Times is learning the hard way.

Speaking of stealth-editing, Christina Hoff Sommers notes that there’s “No mention of Sarah Jeong’s demented tweets on her Wikipedia page. Why? A little group of activist editors won’t allow it. Amazing. See them in action here.”

THE MASK SLIPS IN SANTA BARBARA:  In dealing with the plastic straw crisis, city councilman states, “Unfortunately, common sense is just not common. We have to regulate every aspect of people’s lives.” 

DIVERSITY IS OUR STRENGTH: Forced marriage: Police ‘turn a blind eye’ to child brides. “Officials at the Home Office received more than 3,800 reports of forced marriages or victims being at risk of forced marriage in the past three years. Hundreds of the victims are children, with the youngest only four years old. However, The Times surveyed police forces and found that fewer than 80 suspects had been charged in this time. It became illegal to force someone to marry in 2014 but only three cases have resulted in convictions.”

NEWS YOU CAN USE: The greatest places in the world to drink beer.

THIS INVESTIGATION HAS ALWAYS SEEMED IFFY TO ME: Las Vegas Shooting Investigation Closed. No Motive Found.

PEOPLE MAGAZINE MORPHED INTO THE ONION SO SLOWLY, I HARDLY EVEN NOTICED: Maine Lobster Festival Strips Sea Goddess, 18, of Crown Over ‘Inappropriate’ Social Media Photos.

DISPATCHES FROM THE K-12 IMPLOSION: Get ready for elementary school Drag Queen Reading Hour (video)! “In other words, they want to soften up the kids’ thought patterns, overriding anything they might be learning at home before they advance too far and learn enough actual science to know that human beings are born into one of two genders. If you can confuse them enough in pre-school you have a much better chance of pushing this sort of misinformation on them when they approach adulthood.”

CHANGE: EXCLUSIVE: Pentagon To Start Creating Space Force — Even Before Congress Approves It.

IN THE MAIL: The Frozen Shoulder Workbook: Trigger Point Therapy for Overcoming Pain and Regaining Range of Motion.

Plus, Today’s Gold Box and Lightning Deals. There are new deals every hour!

FLASHBACK: Frenzied, Angry Mob Turns on Reporters in a Dangerous Physical Altercation. “You may not remember it. No president was asked about it. No Democrat candidate was made to disown it. It didn’t get much press. Not like this week’s mob.”

As Jim Treacher has said:

GREAT MOMENTS IN PHRASING: David Hogg’s vision: Each member of Congress will have a young person.

FIGHTING FOREIGN INFLUENCE: Trump expected to sign bill blocking money for Chinese Communist propaganda in colleges.

So-called Confucius Institutes hosted by American colleges and universities have long drawn concern from both lawmakers and academic groups for promoting Chinese Communist propaganda and squelching academic freedom.

Since few colleges have acted against this source of free and easy money, the U.S. government is playing its own part.

Under a massive defense authorization bill expected to be signed by President Trump, authorized funding would be blocked from supporting Chinese-language programs at colleges that host the Chinese government-operated institutes. It also blocks funding for programs at Confucius Institutes outside colleges.

China has been getting away with murder for years.

TOO GOOD TO CHECK: Russia Appointed Steven Seagal to Improve Relations with America.

And to think I knew him when…

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Reforming ‘Toxic Masculinity’ at University of Texas.

AT AMAZON, Today’s Kindle Deals.

Plus, Hot New Releases, Updated Every Hour.

And, save Big on Clearances, Overstocks, and Markdowns at the Amazon Outlet Store.

BYRON YORK: 12 times Christopher Steele fed Trump-Russia allegations to FBI after the election.

Congressional investigators know that Christopher Steele, the former British spy who compiled the Trump dossier on behalf of the Clinton campaign, kept supplying allegations to the FBI after the 2016 election — and even after he was terminated as a source by the bureau for giving confidential information to the media.

Because he had broken his agreement with the FBI, bureau procedure did not allow agents to keep using Steele as a source. But they did so anyway — by devising a system in which Steele spoke regularly with Bruce Ohr, a top Obama Justice Department official whose wife worked for Fusion GPS, which hired Steele to search for dirt on Donald Trump in Russia. Ohr then passed on Steele’s information to the FBI.

In a highly unusual arrangement, Ohr, who was the fourth-highest ranking official in the Justice Department, acted as an intermediary for a terminated source for the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe. His task was to deliver to the FBI what Steele told him, which effectively meant the bureau kept Steele as a source.

The FBI is a disgrace. It should probably be shut down.

THE TRAGIC BEGINNINGS OF MODERN FIRE SCIENCE: On this day in 1949, the infamous Mann Gulch Fire claimed the lives of 13 young firefighters.

Lewis & Clark had stopped by Mann Gulch and given it its name on their westward journey in 1805. One hundred and forty-four years later, its location in the wilds of Montana was almost as remote as it had been then.

The fire had been spotted by James O. Harrison, a college student working over the summer as a ranger and fire lookout for the National Forest Service. Harrison had been a smoke jumper—a firefighter who leaps out of airplanes to stop remote wildfires—the previous year, but he had decided the job was too dangerous. Once Harrison alerted the Forest Service, a crew of elite smoke jumpers was dispatched from Missoula to fight the fire.

At first, the fire didn’t seem that impressive. Fifteen smoke jumpers, led by 33-year-old Wagner “Wag” Dodge, parachuted out of a Douglas DC-3 into what had become one of the hottest days of the year. Harrison was already on the scene to help. Despite the wind and heat, with their backs to the Missouri River, their position seemed relatively safe as they moved in to bring the fire under control.

But the fire crowned. Now it was in two places. And suddenly, their escape route toward the river was cut off. To get away from the rapidly advancing flames they would have to run up a steep hill toward a rocky ridge. Fire runs much faster uphill than it does on level ground.

Only four made it to the top. Of those, only two—Walter B. Rumsey (21) and Robert W. Sallee (17)—managed to scramble through a crevice in the rocks to safety. Meanwhile, Wag Dodge had a different idea. Recognizing that he could never make it up the hill in time, he lit the grass around him in an effort to create a safe zone that the main fire would pass over. He yelled to the crew to lie down with him inside the zone. But they didn’t understand him. Or they thought him a fool. They kept running.

Dodge survived (only to die a few years later of cancer). But 13 died—including Robert J. Bennett (22), Eldon E. Diettert (19), James O. Harrison (20), William J. Hellman (24), Philip R. McVey (22), David R. Navon (28), Leonard L. Piper (23), Stanley J. Reba (25), Marvin L. Sherman (21), Joseph B. Sylvia (24), Henry J. Thol, Jr. (19), Newton R. Thompson (23), and Silas R. Thompson (21).  Many were WWII veterans who had survived the war, but not the peace.

There was a public outcry over the tragedy. We need to know a lot more about how fires behave and how to best control them, people argued. We need better training and better equipment. And, of course, they were right. We needed all those things; we’d always needed them.  And soon after Mann Gulch Fire, we started getting them. In that sense, the deaths of these young heroes were not in vain. Our willingness to study fire in a serious manner took a giant leap. So, in time, did our knowledge. While fighting wildfires remains frighteningly dangerous, no doubt lives have been saved as a result of that willingness to learn from tragedy.

(My gentleman friend knows that over the last couple of years I have become a bit obsessed with Cry, Cry, Cry’s song about the fire—entitled Cold Missouri Waters. I blame Powerline’s Scott Johnson for this. Scott posted a video of the song a couple of years ago. I’ve probably played it 150 times since them. The Mann Gulch Fire was also immortalized in Norman Maclean’s Young Men and Fire.)

REX MURPHY: Laurier, trading ‘free speech’ for ‘better speech,’ proves unspeakably clueless still: It’s only when progressives lose control of an issue that they agree to even have it discussed. This is then called a conversation.

AT AMAZON, Shoulder Brace by Vive – Rotator Cuff Support for Injury Prevention, Dislocated AC Joint, Labrum Tear, Frozen Shoulder Pain, Sprain, Soreness, Bursitis, Tendinitis – Compression Wrap Strap Band.

Plus, Deal of the Day, Etekcity 2 Pack Portable LED Camping Lantern Flashlights with 6 AA Batteries – Survival Kit for Emergency, Hurricane, Outage.

WELL, YES. Sarah Jeong Is A Warning Sign Of Something Wrong With The Left.

That really sums up what bothers me about this whole story. It’s the assumption that a public comment like “White men are bullshit” would get a shrug if not for conservatives seizing on it. It’s an admission from the Post that there is almost nothing you can say about white men that anyone on the left would deem problematic (to borrow a popular SJW term of art).

The reason why Jeong’s tweets didn’t really matter to anyone on the left is that they’ve nearly all accepted the idea that racism doesn’t mean what most people think it means. Andrew Sullivan points out how the left has redefined it. . . .

Jeong was just exploring the space of this privileged position, secure that she could say just about anything without fear of blowback. Indeed, she had many defenders who refused to even acknowledge the possibility of another point of view about what she’d said. When you start from the premise that one group of people can’t be offended, you naturally wind up at the conclusion that anyone who says otherwise is being dishonest.

I hope that Donald Trump reads her tweets aloud at rallies.

Plus: “That’s what really bothers me about this. It’s that one form of blatant bigotry gets a pass on the grounds that it won’t really hurt anyone. If the left thinks that’s true, I think they’re not paying attention.” Yep.

SAN FRANCISCO BANS EVERYTHING: “If you can think of something, San Francisco has already banned it. Or will be banning it soon.”

Why ban straws? Because straws, according to the San Francisco ordinance, “may threaten public health” and are bad for the environment? Piles of human waste in the street are great for public health and the environment. But a Chicago medical association disagreed and cancelled its planned conference.

When Chicago thinks your city is dirty and dangerous hellhole, you really have a problem.

Heh, indeed. Read the whole thing.™

(Via Maggie’s Farm.)

AMERICA IS AWFUL, BUT THEY KEEP COMING: Statue of Liberty climber spews anti-American chant outside court.

The immigrant rights activist who ruined July 4 for tourists visiting the Statue of Liberty when she scaled the green lady and forced the icon’s evacuation, was in Manhattan federal on Friday pushing for a no-jail guarantee from a judge — and then promptly spewed an anti-American message outside court.

Therese “Patricia” Okoumou climbed onto Lady Liberty’s right foot, causing an emergency evacuation of the monument on one of the busiest days of the year. . . .

Outside court dozens of supporters cheered on the Republic of Congo born woman – who is a naturalized citizen — and she chanted to the crowd, “America you mother f–kers! You drug addicts! You KKK! You fascist USA.”

Maybe Trump can use her in an ad.

STEVEN HAYWARD: THE VINDICATION OF CLARENCE THOMAS—AND THE LEFT’S FREAKOUT.

I’m gaining weight and running out of popcorn watching the left freak out about the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy. But beyond just the theatrics of the left’s primal screams and desperation tactics it is delightful to see the left begin to reckon with something more fundamental going on, which in one sentence I’ll assert is the growing vindication of the constitutional originalism of Justice Clarence Thomas.

It should be noted, as a placeholder, that constitutional originalism comes in several forms which differ considerably, but I won’t go into these myriad distinctions because it would take a long time. Interested readers might check out some of the helpful work on this by Lawrence Solum of Georgetown Law School. Some conservative jurists—one thinks of Rehnquist and Scalia in particular—were highly inconsistent in their originalist jurisprudence, but Thomas has been consistent from Day One on the Court. If the principles and reasoning of Thomas’s opinions are to be compared with a particular jurist of our past, it would have to be John Marshall.

Liberals have always dismissed Thomas as simply Scalia’s wingman, though no one who actually read with any care their separate opinions, concurrences, and dissents would think so. But the great thing about being a liberal is that you can just go with a cliche and skip the careful thinking part.

But now that the whole scene is in flux with the arrival of Justice Gorsuch—who, like Justice Thomas, believes that the natural law tradition in legal history stretching back to Roman times still has today what social scientists call “normative” value—the left is taking stock of things, and realizing that they are in a heap of trouble.

Read the whole thing.

FROM BLAKE SMITH:  In Pursuit of Justice (A novel of the Garia cycle.)

Garia and the East Morlans have been on increasingly rocky terms for years, and when Téo and Zara ran away together, they touched off the powder keg of war between their kingdoms. Now they have to fight for their lives while learning to live in a foreign land.
In the Morlans, Hanri and Alia are facing their own sets of problems. He must control and divert the single-minded vengeance of his father King Reynard, and she must sort the gold of information from the dross of gossip in a palace swarming with rumors. It could mean the difference between life and death for all of them.

BUT BUT BUT, AFFIRMATION AND NON-JUDGEMENT:  Excessive tattoos and mental health: Zombie Boy dies.

THIEVES THINK EVERYONE STEALS. VIOLENT PEOPLE THINK EVERYONE IS VIOLENT.  THE MALICIOUS SEE MALICE EVERYWHERE:  Malice Aforethought or Just Otto Correct?

WHAT IS MORE, WE’VE KNOWN THAT FOR SOME TIME NOW, BUT I STILL RUN INTO THE ALARMIST THEORIES IN THE POPULAR PRESS:  Bees are not in Danger.

THE DEMOCRATS TELL THEMSELVES FAIRYTALES, LIKE THAT REAGAN’S BOOM WAS THE RESULT OF CARTER’S PRESIDENCY.  BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? IF WE KEEP THE DEMS IN POWER THE BOOM NEVER MATERIALIZES.  AFTER ALL, WE WERE ON THE VERGE OF RECOVERY FOR 8 YEARS UNDER OBAMA.  AND NO, DON’T TELL US THE RECOVERY HAS BEEN GOING ON THAT LONG, BECAUSE WE DON’T CARE FOR DOCTORED NUMBERS.  WE’RE GOING TO GO WITH OUR LYING EYES:  Evaluating a president—any president.

OF COURSE THEY DID:  FBI continued to get info from Steele after terminating formal relationship.

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON:  In general, I am not a fan of royalty (being an American and all).  But I am willing to make a tiny exception for Elizabeth, the late queen mum.  Today, August 4 (at least it’s still August 4 here on the West Coast), would be her 118th birthday.

The reason for my willingness to make an exception is her statement during the London Blitz.  Asked whether she was going to have the princesses removed from London for their safety, she is said to have replied:  “The girls will not leave unless I do. I will not leave unless the King does. And the King will not leave under any circumstances whatsoever.“

AT THIS RATE, I’M GOING TO WISH I’D BOUGHT POPCORN FUTURES:  The Vindication of Clarence Thomas—and the Left’s Freakout.

THE LITIGIOUS LEFT: Transgender employee sues the University of Georgia, because insurance doesn’t cover “gender affirmation” surgery.

FROM RICHARD BLEDSOE:  The Cthulhu Blues and Other Stories.

The sinister legend of a mysterious blues man. A fateful encounter with a dangerous work of art. A horrible visitor enters a humble pub. In the spirit of H.P. Lovecraft, comes this morbid collection of short stories; a terrifying trio of Eldritch tales.

And he made a blog post about it, too.

ONLY A MARXIST OR SOMEONE VIRGINAL OF ANY KNOWLEDGE OF HISTORY WOULD THINK THEY ARE:  Opinion: 3D printable guns aren’t the end of life as we know it.

PEOPLE WHO CAN EVEN THINK OF THIS ARE NOT JUST IGNORANT, THEY’RE EVIL.  THEIR DISGUSTING PARODY OF ART CHEAPENS BOTH HORROR AND CIVILIZATION SPLINTERED BY THAT HORROR:  Anne Frank Reimagined: Repulsive in Every Way.  They are also the ones paving the way for the repetition of these horrors.

SURE.  FOUR YEARS AGO I FOUND BLOCKING RUSSIAN IPS ON MY BLOG GOT RID OF MOST OF THE CRAZY TROLLS FROM THE ALLEGED RIGHT AND FROM THE CRAZY LEFT.  IT WAS EDUCATIONAL:  Russia: Active Measures Continue to Target and Threaten America.

THE DOGS ARE FINDING THEIR OWN FOOD.  ALL THE TRAD MEDIA CAN DO IS HURT THEMSELVES.  AND MOST OF US DON’T CARE, ANYMORE:  The Dogs Don’t Like It.

AT AMAZON, bestsellers in Toys & Games.

WELL, YES: Twitter is run by Democratic donors and activists.

THE BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE: Acosta faces down Granny in near death experience. Hey, she might be packing Werther’s Originals, and that’s ASSAULT CANDY.

Do. Not. Mess. With. Granny.

Related (From Ed): CNN’s April Ryan Is Shown to Lie About Trump’s Tampa Rally By a Most Amazing Person — Jim Acosta.

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: New FBI Docs Reveal Agency Paid Steele, Admonished Him, And Strzok Sat On Weiner Probe.

LATE STAGE SOCIALISM: VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT NICOLAS MADURO SURVIVES DRONE ASSASSINATION ATTACK.

Well, these things tend to happen when your inflation rate is approaching one meeeeeelllllion percent.

I blame Fielding Mellish for the assassination attempt.

OPEN THREAD: You know what to do.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: EUROPE ADRIFT.

We often refer to the “West” of nearly 1.5 billion people without really defining it or appreciating just how predominant Europe should be in all matters Western. In terms of population, the contemporary West consists of mainland Europe (circa 500 million — depending on how the borders of Europe are defined), the United States (325 million), the Anglosphere of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (130 million), and major Westernized, industrial, and democratic countries in Asia, most notably Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea (200 million), along perhaps with South American nations such as Argentina, Chile, and Brazil (265 million).

Of all these kindred regions, Europe logically should be the cornerstone of the West, given its vast population and size. It is home to both NATO and the European Union. The euro was birthed as a rival to the dollar for international primacy. The Mediterranean connects three continents. Rome remains the center of Christianity. Historically, Europe has been the font of international humanitarian work from the Red Cross to the Geneva Conventions. Europe was the birthplace of the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the industrial revolution — and the igniter of the two most destructive wars in human history.

Yet the global influence of Europe continues to wane, at least as defined by demographic robustness, technological innovation, the quality of higher education, and the ability to defend its interests.

This is what happen when countries are ruled by people who don’t much like the people they rule over.

LAURENCE HARVEY, CALL YOUR OFFICE: Dianne Feinstein had a Chinese spy connection she didn’t know about — her driver.

As Sean Davis of the Federalist tweets, “Imagine the Democrat reaction if it turned out Trump’s personal driver and consigliere for 20 years was a Russian spy. Now ask yourself why they’re not reacting the same way to news that the former head of the Senate Intelligence Committee was infiltrated.”

(Classical reference in headline.)

“MUSICAL AUTEURS OF SORTS, BUT MADE FINISHING A RECORD NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE:” How Steely Dan Went Through Seven Guitarists and Dozens of Hours of Tape to Get the Perfect Guitar Solo on “Peg.”

TODAY’S SATIRE. TOMORROW’S NEWS? Texas Constructs Border Wall To Keep Out Unwanted Refugees From California.

It’s like a Kurt Schlichter novel or something.

AT AMAZON: save on Bestselling Jewelry.

Plus, summer deals on Pet Supplies.

I THINK IT WOULD BE RACIST TO SUPPORT HIS RICH-WHITE-GUY OPPONENT. THAT’S HOW THIS WORKS, RIGHT? John James, Black and Republican, Thinks He Can Crack the ‘Blue Wall’ in Michigan.

WHAT, NO ALL-FEMALE REBOOT? Patrick Stewart To Star In New ‘Star Trek’ Series As Jean-Luc Picard On CBS All Access.

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: The Obamas are worth 30 times more than when they entered the White House in 2008.

Yet another argument for my revolving-door surtax.

#JOURNALISM: It was cowardly of the NYT not to include a comments section on this one.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Socialism Can’t Flourish Without Ignorance.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: How to Read the News Like a Pro.

From fellow Insta-co-blogger Steve Green, at the PJ mothership.

MICHAEL BARONE: Liberals against freedom of conscience.

Read the whole thing.

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE! (CONT’D): A Bronx high school teacher charged with performing oral sex on a 14-year-old student will get a jail-free sentence after pleading guilty to criminal sex act. She keeps her teaching certificate, too. Now imagine if the genders were reversed.

THAT WAS FAST:

● Old and Busted: Journalistic Institutions Shouldn’t Cave to Outrage Mobs*.

● The New Hotness? Newseum caves to outraged mob of news reporters, removes “Fake News” T-shirts from gift shop.

As “Comfortably Smug” tweets, “Tricking them into cutting off the journo museum’s only source of revenue to own the libs.”

Meanwhile, Stephen Miller wonders if CNN has “doxxed the creator of that T-Shirt yet?”

* Offer still valid whenever conservative journalists are hired, of course.

UPDATE: “Liberal defenders of the press were angrier about a dumb t-shirt being sold at Newseum than a racist being hired by the nation’s preeminent newspaper. And we wonder why public trust in journalism is at an all time low,” conservative radiologist/journalist Pradheep J. Shanker tweets.

ZOMBIE BOY* KILLS HIMSELF: The meaning of a man who tattooed his head to resemble a skeleton’s.

Ayn Rand didn’t intend for The Return of the Primitive to be a how-to guide for life.

* No relation, I believe, to the veteran Bay Area blogger.

AT AMAZON, Tactical Sling Bag Pack Military Shoulder Sling Backpack Small Range Bag Pack Black.

Plus, Instant Pot DUO60 6 Qt 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Steamer, Sauté, Yogurt Maker and Warmer.

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Whoopi Slams Jake Tapper for Mocking Obama’s DNC Damage Toll.

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Law Professor Amicus Brief Filed in Support of NY Assisted Opener Case.

AT AMAZON, save in Arts, Crafts, and Sewing.

Plus, deals on Herbs, Spices, and Seasonings.

ANDREA RICH, RIP: The longtime operator of Laissez Faire Books was one of America’s most tireless and effective promoters of libertarian thought.

WAIT, I THOUGHT IT WAS ALL “ON US:” Kirsten Gillibrand Pays The Price For Speaking Out Against Al Franken.

Gillibrand wasn’t the only senator to publicly call on Franken to step down, but she was the first (but only by minutes) in a wave of female senators ― who were eventually joined by many of their male colleagues on the same day, Dec. 6 ― to do so. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), however, reportedly told Franken in private that he needed to go beforehand.

But Gillibrand has received the brunt of the blame for what happened, with many of her detractors saying the reason she came out against Franken was that she’s an “opportunist” who was positioning herself for a presidential run in 2020. Some Democratic Party donors have been reconsidering whether they would support her in a primary.

Most prominently, Gillibrand has attracted the ire of billionaire George Soros, who has long funded Democratic candidates and causes. Soros recently said he wasn’t sure whom he was supporting for 2020, but that it absolutely wouldn’t be Gillibrand. He accused her of going after Franken, “whom I admire,” to “improve her chances” for president.

Flashback to 2014: President Obama Launches the “It’s On Us” Campaign to End Sexual Assault on Campus. But apparently not Capitol Hill or Hollywood.

MY STRATEGY IS TO NOT GET OUT OF BED: How the elderly can prevent potentially deadly falls. “Vitamin D, gained through sun exposure, can be protective – but aged care residents often don’t get outside enough.” Plus, the value of exercise, though I’d go a bit more Rippetoe if it were up to me.

MOVE ALONG, NOTHING TO SEE HERE, CITIZEN: Reports: Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Personal Driver For 20 Years Was A Chinese Spy.

I WAS EXPECTING MOONBASES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY. INSTEAD: New bikini wax trend set to shake things up down there – everything you need to know about the Dirty Martini.

IT’S COME TO THIS: Rihanna’s Skinny Eyebrows Called ‘Cultural Appropriation.’

But isn’t everything?

FASTER, PLEASE: Naked mole-rats may help scientists understand human longevity.