OBAMA’S IRAQ POLICY IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: Thousands of Iraqis flee as Islamic State makes gains in Sunni heartland.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: The Smartest People Are Opting Out of Law School. “As schools grapple with a persistent slump in young Americans’ interest in legal education, the programs seem to be compensating for their sudden unpopularity by taking in people who wouldn’t have made the cut five years ago. As of March 2015, about half as many students with scores of 165 and above on the LSAT have applied to law school as did in 2010, according to a new analysis of the latest numbers from the Law School Admission Council, which administers the test. LSAT scores range from 120 to 180. Applications from students with lower scores are falling, too, but not nearly as sharply, as the second chart below shows.”

JOHN BOLTON: Obama’s Iran deal greatest ‘appeasement’ in history.

Former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton on Friday bashed President Obama as having putting a nuclear arms deal with Iran above America’s safety.

Bolton, who is considering a run for the White House in 2016, blasted Obama’s negotiations with Tehran as “feckless” and “weak.”
“President Obama is engaging in what I believe is the greatest display of appeasement from a president in history,” Bolton told listeners at the New Hampshire Republican Party’s “First in the Nation” leadership summit in Nashua.

“The Obama administration has taken a position weaker than the U.N. Security Council.”

Appalling.

KEVIN WILLIAMSON: Jobs, And “Jobs.”

It’s a safe assumption that Uber’s PR weasels are the same species of mustelid as every other PR weasel, and I have no love for them. But setting aside the question of whether press releases ought to be obliged to follow the terminological practices of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the implicit Reich-Griswold view is an interesting illustration of the mindset of managerial progressivism, which holds that the normative state of affairs for the vast majority of people in the modern world is to be dependency, either as public wards or as employees. The assumption is that most people cannot be expected to take responsibility for their income, for their health care, for making arrangements for child care and retirement, etc., and so somebody—employers or government—must be deputized to do this for them. (Note Professor Reich’s formulation: We’re responsible/not responsible.) This is the classic progressive view of human beings as liabilities rather than assets, liabilities that are dealt with by the issuance of fortnightly checks and the maintenance of certain benefits packages. Independent contractor? Quelle horreur! . . .

The Left’s moral crusade against Uber is partly about protecting ancient Democrat-supporting fiefdoms—the local taxi cartels—but it is also an expression of the deeply ingrained belief that most people cannot handle independence and responsibility, that most people are best suited to punching clocks and saying “Thank you, sir, may I have another?” every two weeks. I very much doubt that that will be the normal situation 20 or 30 years hence, which is why I think of Professor Reich et al. as more reactionary than progressive.

And rightly so.

WAIT, MORE PREMATURE INTERNET OUTRAGE? SURELY NOT! Kyle Smith: ESPN was totally wrong to suspend Britt McHenry. “Several reviewers have complained that Advanced Towing brings in legally parked cars — and then, when you complain, simply insults you and holds the car hostage. We don’t even know what was said to McHenry, since the Advanced Towing employee’s remarks have been edited out of the video that went viral. And how do you feel about private companies with which you did not choose to do business making videos of you, then leaking them to the media for the purpose of humiliating you?”

POLITICO: Hillary Clinton’s Real Opponent: Barack Obama. “No retiring president below 50 percent job approval nationally has passed the White House to his party’s nominee in the 75 years of the polling era. Obama’s approval rating, as of this writing, is around 45 percent (give or take), and his disapproval is about 50 percent.”

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THE REASON FOR MOB VIOLENCE? “It’s fun.”

IN THE GAMING COMMUNITY, WOMEN ARE SUPPOSED TO KNOW THEIR PLACE: Honey Badgers: Go Home, Gamer girl: Press release on unjust banishment from Calgary Expo.

BRAD TORGERSEN: Tribalism Is As Tribalism Does. “One example that leaps to my mind: back when I was an NCO, I had a Small Group Leader (SGL) at one of the Army’s NCO schools who had emigrated out of central Africa, come to the U.S., and joined the U.S. military. He said that he found it very interesting, as a born African, trying to navigate among American blacks and whites alike. Based purely on how he looked, he would be treated one way — right up until he opened his mouth. At which point his accent identified him as something remarkably other than black American. Whites who had been cool to him (in the literal sense) would sometimes warm up. Blacks who had been warm, would cool down. Sometimes, even turn hostile? . . . Getting back to my SGL at the NCO school, something else he said struck me strongly: nobody in America really knows ethnic strife the way he saw it, because he literally witnessed portions of his family wiped out by what essentially amounted to tribal warfare. To white American eyes, there’d have been no discernible difference between the people killing each other. But the Africans themselves knew the difference, and considered it a difference worth murdering each other over. The SGL in question therefore found 21st century American racial tension to be both familiar, and also utterly foreign. Small potatoes, compared to his experience. So how do you overcome small-potatoes tribalism? Sometimes, by simply creating a new over-arching tribe from whole cloth.”

That’s what the military does, and that’s what the whole “melting pot” approach was supposed to do for America at large. But the political class thinks it’s more convenient to keep us divided into tribes.

ED DRISCOLL: Leftwing Website Commits Crimethink, Begs Leftwing Mob for Mercy.

EASING THE PAIN:  Science is increasingly revealing that commonly used pain relievers such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Motrin/Advil) can effect not only one’s perception of physical pain, but emotional pain as well.  A recent study shows that acetaminophen blunts positive emotions and emotional response generally.  Similar research has shown that ibuprofen (Motrin/Advil) reduces emotional stress among women but amplifies the emotional response of men.  So if you are feeling blue, some suggest trying a Tylenol or Advil before resorting to prescription anti-depressants or anti-anxiety drugs.

RELATED:  Staring into Fido’s eyes releases the feel-good brain chemical oxytocin, which creates feelings of love.  I knew that from staring into my dog, Thomas Jefferson’s, big brown eyes.  Somehow I don’t get the same emotions when I stare into my cat’s eyes, though she rarely stares back.  The sound of purring seems to make me happy, though.

WELL, SINCE THEY LIVE CLOSE TOGETHER, THEY PROBABLY SHARE A LOT OF GENES: Two Strangers Who Look Identical.

CAROLINE GLICK: American Jewry’s Moment Of Decision.

I’M NOT SURE I BUY THIS: Better Body Software Will Make People Less Equal. Like most innovations, it’ll be expensive and scarce at first, but if allowed to follow the normal path it will get steadily cheaper. People used to worry about a “digital divide,” but now Americans on welfare all seem to have smartphones.

GREETINGS FROM THE RADIO QUIET ZONE, where wi-fi is forbidden. “In 1958, the federal government created the National Radio Quiet Zone to shield the GBT and the nearby Sugar Grove listening post (now run by the National Security Agency) from electromagnetic interference. As a result, cellphone, television, and radio transmissions–all of which rely on electromagnetic waves–are heavily restricted within its 13,000-square-mile area and banned in a 10-mile radius around the GBT. Residents are not entirely cut off. They can access TV and Internet with cable.”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: Loyola-L.A. Law School Shrinks Enrollment By 20%, Taps $20 Million From University Endowment For Student Scholarships.

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Also in Tools & Home Improvement.

LAND-YACHT ROAD TEST: 2016 Mercedes-Maybach S600. “All the Maybach’s stretch translates into additional legroom for the two occupants in back, who are seated in thrones that look as if they were pulled from an executive jet. With separate power controls, pillow-style headrests, extendable legrests, and a perfectly coddling shape, they’re as good for napping as any bed in your house. Six-footers won’t be able to tap the front seatbacks with their feet. Add the rear-seat comfort package—it really should be called the insanely comfortable rear-seat package—and a hot-stone-massage system is included.”

Maybe if I had a driver. . . .

THE EPIC STORY OF how we got to Pluto.

THE COST OF HIGHER-ED CREDENTIALISM: A Yale Graduate Leaves a Trail of Ventures and Debts. “While the total amount in dispute appears to be relatively small — roughly a few million dollars — the way Mr. Newman has managed to raise money easily from sophisticated businessmen, many with a track record of investing in Internet start-ups, is a vivid reminder of how the right connections and a strong sales pitch can seduce investors, even after the financial crisis.”

K.C. JOHNSON AT COLUMBIA’S LAW AND LIBERTY CENTER: “Unlearning Due Process: Troubling Trends on Campus.”

THEY LIE A LOT, SO PROBABLY: Did FBI Director Comey Deliberately Mislead on ISIS Recruitment of Americans Before Mid-Term Elections?

MARIJUANA DEBATE HEATS UP:  After an extensive 5-day fact-finding hearing,  a federal judge in California yesterday ruled that it is not “irrational”–and thus does not offend the Constitution– for marijuana to be classified as a Schedule I drug (no legal uses) under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA).  It is a blow to pro-marijuana advocates, who’ve had remarkable success in getting pot approved for medicinal use, and–in four states–even recreational use.  Many legal experts anticipated that the judge, an Obama appointee, would take a “bold stand” and rule that marijuana cannot be completely banned under Schedule I. She suggested (showing remarkable restraint for an Obama appointee) that, as an unelected federal judge, it was not her place to effect such a substantial national policy change.

President Obama (technically, the Attorney General) could, consistent with the CSA, reschedule marijuana by executive order.  But for some reason, on this issue, the President has thus far refused to get out his infamous pen and phone, stating recently that he thinks Congress should amend the CSA to reschedule marijuana instead.

And in perhaps the ultimate irony, the Supreme Court ruled in its 2005 decision, Gonzales v. Raich, that individuals who used medical marijuana pursuant to state compassionate use laws were not entitled to a constitutional exemption from the CSA, as the CSA is the supreme law of the land.

Based on Gonzales, in late December, Oklahoma and Nebraska filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court against Colorado, asserting that Colorado’s legalization of recreational pot has forced such neighboring States to bear the brunt of increased criminal activity, such as transportation of pot into their jurisdictions, where pot remains illegal under State law.  The interesting legal questions posed by the Oklahoma/Nebraska suit is whether state pot legalization conflicts with the CSA and is thus preempted, and if relatedly, whether the executive branch has a constitutional obligation to enforce the CSA’s prohibition in such states.  Some argue yes; some argue no.

WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT ACADEMIC INEQUALITY! Moody’s: Rich Colleges and Universities Are Getting a Lot Richer. “The 10 richest universities in America hold nearly a third of the total wealth, in cash and investments, amassed by about 500 public and private institutions. The 40 richest hold almost two-thirds of the total wealth.”

Perhaps we need to tax “excess” endowment holdings, and earmark the money for Pell Grants.