MAILBAG: From longtime Instapundit/VodkaPundit reader Max Kohnke:

This is not a joke nor even an exaggeration. I just found out that my sister in law’s other brother-in-law was arrested in Venezuela at the airport while trying to leave the country. His crime, he was an employee for a company that went out of business. Waiting for more? There isn’t any. Maduro has decreed that any business that goes out of business has committed economic treason and its employees are subject to arrest. They had already arrested numerous owners and managers but this is the first time they went after rank and file worker bees.

Socialism is about caring.

BUT OF COURSE: Beyoncé, Jay Z to attend Obama birthday bash.

Obama is celebrating his 55th birthday Thursday with a star-studded celebration at the White House, with Beyoncé and Jay Z attending. Kendrick Lamar, the president’s favorite rapper, will also show up, according to the New York Post.

R&B star Usher will perform for the first couple and their guests.

It’s Obama’s last birthday as president, and he is planning to go out in style.

Several stars from the worlds of entertainment, sports and music have scored an invite. The guests include comedian Ellen DeGeneres, singer Stevie Wonder, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, singer and actress Jennifer Hudson and basketball legends Magic Johnson and Alonzo Mourning.

The Obamas have been known to throw private parties with A-list guests.

Last summer, Prince performed for a group of 500 people at the White House.

The party is taking place one day before the Obama family leaves for its annual vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

Solidarity with the workers!

WE MUST ABOLISH THE PEOPLE AND ELECT ANOTHER: Bloomberg, Murdoch-Led Immigration Group Has Eyes on 2017.

BUT OF COURSE: Clinton repeats debunked claim about FBI email investigation.

“As the FBI said, everything that I’ve said publicly has been consistent and truthful with what I’ve told them,” Clinton said in an interview with KUSA’s Brandon Rittiman on Wednesday.

Clinton made a similar claim — which was widely debunked — in an interview last weekend on “Fox News Sunday.”

“(FBI Director James Comey) said my answers were truthful, and what I’ve said is consistent with what I have told the American people, that there were decisions discussed and made to classify retroactively certain of the emails,” Clinton said.

The Washington Post’s fact checkers gave the statement “four Pinocchios,” their worst possible rating.

But can it be made to stick?

OUCH: Gold Star Mom: Obama Used The Death Of My Son For A Photo Op.

TYRONE WOODS’ WIDOW: Dorothy Navarez-Woods on Clinton: ‘she cannot fundamentally be our commander-in-chief.’

So I’m not going to tell anyone how to vote, but this is, I want to put it very simply. I realize sometimes that we all have the best intentions, and that we make mistakes. I teach my four year old son to admit when you’re wrong, to say you’re sorry, and how are you going to fix it. To be honest with you, Hugh, if Hillary Clinton had done these three things regarding Benghazi, I wouldn’t be talking to you today. But she is, but Hillary Clinton cannot do what parents all over the country do to teach their kids right versus wrong, so she cannot fundamentally be our commander-in-chief. You know, it’s that simple. It’s that empirical to me. I wouldn’t teach my son, you know, to treat other people like that. And now she wants to be in charge of other people’s sons? No.

Ouch.

A PLACE TO KEEP AN EYE ON THE SUN: (And you don’t need a darkened lens here.)  Dr. Stephanie Osborn’s Comet Tales.  Check out Solar/Geomagnetic Activity!

FOR THE TIMES, THEY ARE ACHANGING: Changing Spots.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH GIVING IT FREE REIN? Scientists Get Closer to Harnessing the Health Benefits of Red Wine.

WAIT WHAT?  YOU CAN’T BE A METHODIST IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE IN GLOBAL WARMING?

Energy Resources Utilization

The whole earth is God’s good creation and as such has inherent value. We are aware that the current utilization of energy resources threatens this creation at its very foundation. As members of The United Methodist Church we are committed to approaching creation, energy production, and especially creation’s resources in a responsible, careful and economic way. We call upon all to take measures to save energy. Everybody should adapt his or her lifestyle to the average consumption of energy that respects the limits of the planet earth. We encourage persons to limit CO2 emissions toward the goal of one tonne per person annually. We strongly advocate for the priority of the development of renewable energies. The deposits of carbon, oil, and gas resources are limited and their continuous utilization accelerates global warming. The use of nuclear power is no solution for avoiding CO2 emissions. Nuclear power plants are vulnerable, unsafe, and potential health risks. A safe, permanent storage of nuclear waste cannot be guaranteed. It is therefore not responsible to future generations to operate them. The production of agricultural fuels and the use of biomass plants rank lower than the provision of safe food supplies and the continued existence for small farming businesses.

Someone please remind them the scriptures of their faith are NOT supposed to be the Green Party’s platform.  Al Chakra Gore is nobody’s prophet, either.

HR AND OTHER FOLLIES: Death by HR: The Great Enrichment to the Great Slackening.

RIGHT.  HE’S ALSO KEEPING THEM OFF HIS LAWN: The hero who’s taking Pokémon Go fools to court.

AT THIS RATE, MY POOR SHOCKED FACE WILL GET WORN OUT: Clinton Foundation drug contracts intersected with State Department work.

THERE’S MY SHOCKED FACE, AGAIN: 3 of 4 NYT bestsellers are anti-Clinton books.

IT’S LIKE I’VE BEEN ON THIS PANEL A DOZEN TIMES: (Also similar ones about Heinlein.) In defense of Rudyard Kipling and ‘The Jungle Books’.

THIS IS MY SHOCKED FACE: GOP v. Democrats: Social Experiment Proves Republicans are Nicer.

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Plus, save in Sports & Fitness.

THIS ISN’T THE 21st CENTURY I WAS PROMISED: Toddler With ‘Worst Case of Chickenpox EVER Seen’ Turned Away From Doctors.

SHOCKER: While Protesting Guns, Anti-Gun Activist Accidentally Breaks Gun Laws He Supports. “The issue here is the amount of idiocy involved in restraining this constitutionally protected right. Lucas is accused of accidentally transferred a firearm illegally. There is no other constitutionally protected right where one can so easily find themselves charged with a felony by a simple mistake.”

JOURNALISM: The Washington Post and Jonathan Capehart are Eating Crow.

THE BIG DIFF BETWEEN HILLARY AND TRUMP: Her crimes damage US national security. Yes, Loose Lips Sink Ships. The Donald mouths off. Experts like Don Surber think Trump’ll learn. He’s a rookie candidate, Surber told me. Trump adapts. The Clinton Foundation? It sells off. It has sold off and sold out. And selling out America is dyed in its crooked wool.

WALKS LIKE A DUCK, QUACKS LIKE A DUCK: Yet Obama claims he doesn’t pay ransom.

THE RISE OF Sexual Advance Directives.

DOING AWFUL: “She commits a dreadful (and at times criminal) action with calculation and an unrestrained presumption of privilege.”

QUESTION ASKED: What Does a Beer Historian Do?

I don’t know, but I’m willing to find out.