USA TODAY EDITORIALIZES: Obama’s immigration order overreaches: If this president is allowed to reinterpret the law, what about the next one?

AT AMAZON: deals in Outdoor Decor. Also, metal detectors.

Plus, deals in Toys & Games.

SOMEONE SHOULD BE FIRED OVER THIS. OR AT LEAST DEMOTED: University of South Alabama admits citing student for empty holster was a mistake. But this isn’t bad, really: “DJ Parten, the student who received the citation, was also contacted [by] the chief of campus police, who invited him to come to the station for a personal apology from the officers involved in the incident.”

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE! (CONT’D): Louisiana Woman, 38, Accused of Weeks-Long Sexual Relationship with Boy, 16, and Threatening Him to Keep Quiet.

I READ THE NEWS TODAY, OH BOY CISGENDERED MALE: Is Ringo Starr Offended by the Lyrics to ‘Get Back’?

It occurred to me the other day after I read that Ringo Starr is refusing to play a show in North Carolina because he wants to make himself relevant is feeling put out by the so-called bathroom bill banning men from women’s rooms: he must really regret having played drums on “Get Back.”

I was surprised this morning to see that no has pointed this out yet.

Ahem.

I FIND THAT WORKING OUT MAKES ME HUNGRIER AT FIRST, BUT IT’S TRANSITORY: Exercise Isn’t Making You Overeat, Says Science.

AT AMAZON, make it personal with Amazon Custom.

Plus, Anker Lumos LED Desk Lamp / Table Lamp with USB Charging Port, $33.99 (51% off).

And: TV, Cable & Internet at the Amazon Cable Store. The real selling point: Dedicated customer service exclusively for Amazon customers.

WHITE PRIVILEGE. IS THERE ANYTHING IT CAN’T DO? Black students blame America for black girl who attacked white guy with dreadlocks. Of course, given that complaining about “cultural appropriation” falls into the category of Stuff White People Like, I guess they’ve got a point, really.

LIFE IN THE 21ST CENTURY: Meet Jia Jia the ‘robot goddess’: Chinese inventor claims AI humanoid is the most realistic ever made (and has programmed it to refer to him as ‘my lord’).

It took the team three years to complete the robot, which can speak, show micro-expressions, move its lips and body, yet seems to hold its head in a submissive manner.

The humanoid is programmed to recognize human/machine interaction, has autonomous position, navigation and offers services based on cloud technology.

I predict very rapid progress on sexbot technology, driven by China’s extreme gender imbalance.

APPARENTLY, IT WAS A HOAX: Did IT guy really ‘delete entire company’ with wrong bit of code?

FORD MAKES SOME EXCELLENT CARS NOWADAYS: Why European Carmakers Should Take the Mustang’s Huge Popularity in Germany Seriously: ​This March the Ford Mustang outsold many of Germany’s best performance cars. A coincidence, or a sign of the times? “The Mustang isn’t a lightweight, but the GT350R comes within a hundred pounds or so of a BMW M4. The steering in the new car is almost sublime, and if you aren’t satisfied with the available Brembo brakes, the aftermarket will bring you all the way up to IMSA standards for less than half the cost of a single replacement OEM Porsche ceramic brake disc. Every model in the current lineup handles remarkably well, and the GT350 is almost in a class of its own among four-seat performance cars. As far as it being a tail-happy crash magnet . . . well, it kind of is, but you can authentically apply the same sobriquet to the M4, the 911 GT3, and the AMG-fettled two-door Benzes. . . . In fact, if I can be slightly heretical for a moment, the only real differences between the current Mustang and the best of the current BMW lineup are the high door sills . . . and the availability of a manual transmission with all the engine choices. Oh, snap!”

DID LED ZEPPELIN RIP OFF SPIRIT IN “STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN?”

Note that Spirit’s chord progression in “Taurus” doesn’t have the simultaneous upwards voice leading that Jimmy Page plays in the opening of “Stairway.” If that last sentence makes no sense, this fellow plays both progressions and explains their differences well:

Also, as rock journalist Mick Wall noted in When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of Led Zeppelin, a somewhat similar progression can be found about 3:00 minutes into another obscure late ‘60s song, this one called “And She’s Lonely,” performed by the Chocolate Watch Band, whom Page once shared a concert date with during his days in Led Zeppelin’s predecessor band, the  Yardbirds:

AND THEY’RE MOSTLY HIPSTERS: Binge-watchers are responsible for one-third of all TV electricity usage. Only the headline isn’t really right, because these people don’t sound like “binge watchers,” but more like lonely folks who just want some friendly noise in the house: “According to the researchers, the heavy watchers come from a range of different demographic groups, but they’re often older than 65 and are primarily unemployed or working part-time, and are less educated. In other words, they’re more likely to leave their TV running for a lot of the day, and often from the early afternoon into the evening.”

10 SECRETS YOUR I.T. GUY WON’T TELL YOU.

NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: The Single-Atom Engine Is A Reality, And It Works. “The engine has the same working principles as the well-known [combustion] car engine.”

VIDEOGAME NEWS YOU CAN USE: Mods, Immersion and You: How To Really get into Your Computer RPG Experience, from Moe Lane at the PJ Lifestyle section.

AT AMAZON: Up to 50% Off Select Remington Airguns & Targets.

WELL, WITH TRUDEAU’S PARTY IN CHARGE, IT’LL BE POPULAR: Justin Trudeau Seeks to Legalize Assisted Suicide in Canada.

IF ONLY SOMEONE HAD WARNED THEM: How the Minimum Wage Helped Wreck Puerto Rico’s Economy.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Schools nationwide spiral into mass hysteria over pro-Trump messages.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: 6 Controversial Bible Verses the Skeptics Love to Hate—Part 2.

AT FIRST, I WAS REALLY EXCITED when I heard that Knoxville was hosting a models convention.

TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 1074.

CONTACTS AND CRONYISM:

The intensity with which some American companies try to use the government to trick or deceive consumers is astonishing, yet the extent to which lawmakers seem content to cater to these crony pursuits never disappoints, either.

Case in point: the current attempt to protect contact lens sellers from competition at the expense of consumers.

An estimated 40 million Americans wear contact lenses. That’s a $4 billion industry.

Thanks to the heavy-handed government regulation of all things health care, contacts already cost more than they should. However, if an ongoing effort to reduce competition through government cronyism were to succeed, costs might soon rise even more.

What makes the contact lens market unique — and also leaves it extra vulnerable to crony intervention — is the fact that customers are required by federal law to obtain a prescription from a licensed optometrist in order to purchase lenses.

It is a rare instance where prescribers are also sellers, which leads to a cozy relationship between manufacturers and the doctors who can steer patients toward their brand.

Prescriptions are brand-specific, which makes it difficult for consumers to shop around. Choosing a different brand would require paying for another exam in order to obtain a new prescription.

The simplest solution would be to do away with the gatekeepers altogether and allow the purchase of contact lenses without a prescription.

It works just fine that way in Europe and Japan, but manufacturers and doctors nevertheless protect their legal mandate through lobbying by citing health concerns, even as the same manufacturers happily sell to overseas markets without the same requirements.

Culture of corruption.