WHERE’S THE WORLD’S SMALLEST VIOLIN WHEN YOU NEED IT? The sky is falling on print newspapers faster than you think:

Nearly everyone in publishing with whom I shared the 2015 paid figures found them surprisingly low. There is no question that they are dramatically lower than the widely available 2013 numbers.

Unexpectedly!

Yet another reminder, that as Reason’s Matt Welch noted in 2012, when it comes to the first draft of history, it’s largely being written by the losers.

GEORGE SOROS: ‘Donald Trump Is Doing The Work Of ISIS.’

A slight case of projection, perhaps?

HERE COMES SNOWZILLA:

Washington and Baltimore may get 2 feet of snow (61 centimeters) by Saturday, and Philadelphia could see almost as much. New York may get buried in 6 to 10 inches. Blizzard warnings and watches stretch from Virginia to Long Island, including New York and Washington.

“It has the potential to be an extremely dangerous storm,” Louis Uccellini, director of the National Weather Service, said Thursday in a conference call with reporters. “It is a potentially paralyzing storm.”

Almost 5,000 flights have already been canceled for Friday and Saturday in the U.S., according to Houston-based FlightAware. Everything from schools to rail lines were planning closures in Washington. Snow will start in the Mid-Atlantic late Friday afternoon or evening and then move up the East Coast, arriving in New York by Saturday morning, Uccellini said.

Major snowstorms are a decent barometer for the basic competency of local government, so right now might not be too soon to send thoughts and prayers to the people of the Northeast.

ALL IS PROCEEDING AS I HAVE FORESEEN: Penguin Scraps Degree Requirement. “Publisher Penguin Random House says job applicants will no longer be required to have a university degree. The firm wants to have a more varied intake of staff and suggests there is no clear link between holding a degree and performance in a job. This announcement follows a series of financial companies dropping academic requirements for applicants.”

BRUCE KESLER OF MAGGIE’S FARM: “I almost can’t believe I’m saying this, but I am declaring myself for Ted Cruz, because I have always leaned toward the moderate wing of the Republican Party and have always been first and foremost a foreign affairs conservative:”

At National Review some of the leading principled conservatives, none of them sycophants of big government-big business, set out their reasoned opposition to Donald Trump. In doing so they actually set out the case for a real, principled, knowledgeable, brave conservative. The only one on the field who lives up to that standard is Ted Cruz.

Sober reflections by Allahpundit.  The NYT quote is worth considering:

[T]he cadre of Republican lobbyists, operatives and elected officials based in Washington are much more unnerved by Mr. Cruz, a go-it-alone, hard-right crusader who campaigns against the political establishment and could curtail their influence and access, building his own Republican machine to essentially replace them…
“We can live with Trump.” …

Read the whole thing.

BEFORE SUNRISE: For the love of heaven, I’m a writer! Look Up Before Sunrise for the Next Month to See 5 Planets at Once.

YOU KNOW YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT: Man stabbed and bitten after stirring someone else’s chili.

PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING: What Bernie Sanders misses about the rise in campaign cash.

IF IT WORKS YOU KEEP DOING IT: Why Iran’s thugs just took more hostages.

BIG ENOUGH: The issue so big it has religious voters cheering Trump. Now if we could trust anything Trump says…

THE ADMINISTRATION IS TRYING TO KILL THE ECONOMY IT TAKES CREDIT FOR IMPROVING: The Administration Is Ruling by Decree.

UNTIL SOMEONE EATS THE DOG: The dog keeps eating IRS hard drives.

EVEN STARS CAN’T ENDORSE REPUBLICANS WITHOUT PAYING THE PRICE: Why reality star Rick Harrison’s ad for Marco Rubio speaks volumes.

ON THE OTHER HAND, ELECTRONIC BOOKS DON’T COLLECT DUST: Why Books are the Best Furniture.

BUT BILL SAID THEY’D LOVE ME FOR STANDING BY HIM: Sorry, Hillary: Women care more about their president than his (or her) agenda.

THAT WORD DOESN’T MEAN WHAT THEY THINK IT MEANS: But it be honest, it also doesn’t mean what the Feds meant, mean or will mean. No food is healthy. Not even kale.

SO, THIS IS MY SHOCKED FACE: Putin ‘Probably’ Approved Litvinenko Poisoning, U.K. Inquiry Says.

IT’S ONLY BORING IF YOU DON’T DO IT RIGHT: Elite Women Discover Parenthood Can Sometimes Be Boring.

EVERYONE LOVES THE BEAUTIFUL: So the Aristos must love the ugly, to be different. The Cult of Ugliness: America’s Celebrity Fashion Crisis.

ER… WHAT? New York women’s dirty little sex secret.

DON SURBER: Thank You, Ted Cruz, For Helping Flint Out. How many bottles of water did Bernie Sanders send?

Well, none, but he has a new ad with Simon and Garfunkel music.

AT AMAZON, up to 85% off on Kindle books.

Plus, Year-end Deals.

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SO NATIONAL REVIEW IS COMING OUT AGAINST TRUMP IN A BIG WAY.

I’d prefer to see President Cruz, personally, for most of the reasons that the K Street crowd hates him. I’ll vote for anybody over Hillary, though, and be pretty happy about it.

21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: The Real Instagram Husbands of Washington, DC.

WELL, THEN OBAMA IS DOING TRUMP’S JOB FOR HIM: The Key to Deterring Migrants is to Blow Up the Economy. If Obama had 2 more terms, he’d have to build a wall to keep Americans in.