USA TODAY EDITORIALIZES: Texas church massacre might have been stopped if Clinton, Obama administrations had heeded warnings.

THIS IS CNN? CNN takes a grandstanding Ted Lieu to task.

In reference to the congressman’s super slam-dunk tweets, Harlow asked Wednesday, “To prejudge [Sessions’] testimony, I mean, your tweets about him being a liar were before he even appeared in front of you. Why is that appropriate? Why prejudge him?”

“Because he lied to [the] U.S. Senate,” Lieu said. He continued his accusation that Sessions lied to Congress during his confirmation hearings, an accusation Sessions vehemently denied. Lieu also justified the words he used to describe Sessions by saying they were ones Trump had used.

The CNN anchors didn’t seem satisfied by that answer.

“But does that make it right?” Harlow continued. “Do you like seeing the president use words like that, like ‘lying Ted,’ so then you repeat them?”

“I am absolutely highlighting it, and until the president changes, I am going to keep doing it because I do want to highlight how ridiculous it is,” Lieu responded.

“Is that a grownup thing to do, congressman?” Berman pressed.

“Grownup” seems like a lot to expect from members of Congress these days.

SPENGLER: Trump’s Unsung Success In The Middle East. “President Trump’s Middle East policy is simple: Back our friends and scare the hell out of our enemies, and negotiate where possible with our competitors like Russia and China. By and large it’s working, unlike the catastrophically failed polices of the previous two administrations. Trump did what he said he would do and succeeded.”

Weird, I’m not hearing that from Tom Friedman.

CHUCK GANNON IS FUNDING A NEW PROJECT:  Lost Signals of the Terran Republic (Caine Riordan).

PORTUGAL IS KNOWN FOR FOSSILS.  LOOK AT ME:  A dinosaur-era shark with insane teeth was found swimming off the coast of Portugal.

‘CAUSE THE LADIES ALL WANT TO KNOW WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE WITHOUT THEIR MAKE-UP ON:  This beauty app will make you feel terrible about yourself.

AND NOW FLORIDA MAN IS JUST GOOFY:  Florida Man Identifies as Filipino Woman.

FLORIDA MAN IS ANTI-GOVERNMENT?  ‘Anti-Government’ Florida Man Arrested for Trying To Make Bomb.

COULDN’T HAPPEN TO A BETTER SOB:  Robert Mugabe Deposed (or At Least “Sidelined” By Military) After 37 Years of Tyrannical Rule.

SHOCKED, SHOCKED:  The Liberal Cult in Action.

CAN WE GIVE HIM TO SOMEONE ELSE?  Joe Biden: The Gift that Keeps on Giving.

FROM CELIA HAYES:  The quirky and wonderful…  A Fifth of Luna City (The Chronicles of Luna City Book 5).

WHEN DOES THE SOFA COVER BURKA BARBIE COME OUT?  Coming to a Toy Store Near You: Mattel’s Newest Doll, Hijab Barbie.

IF THEY ARE SO DETERMINED FOR HUMANS TO GO EXTINCT, THEY CAN GO FIRST:   VILE: Bioethicist Says Having Kids Is Bad For Planet Earth.

DID YOU MAKE YOUR BED THIS MORNING?  These 5 morning habits are making you fat.

DISPATCHES FROM THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE. Harvard Business School professor: Half of American colleges will be bankrupt in 10 to 15 years.

If only someone had tried to warn them.

AT AMAZON, deals on Bar Tools & Glasses.

A DEAL FOR INSTAPUNDIT READERS AT THE FORESIGHT VISION WEEKEND:

Foresight Institute’s Vision Weekend, Dec 2-3, SF

The Vision Weekend is a gathering dedicated to taking stock of the most compelling ideas of today, turn them into coherent visions for a better future, and get to work on them.

Saturday: Keynote panels @ Gray Area. Industry leaders deliver food for thought during panels, followed by private Q&A tables with your favorite speaker.
Sunday: Strategy sessions @ Laundry. What vision do you want to contribute to our future? Pick your topic, or apply to host a strategy session. Be bold – Sunday is off the record.

Panels include:
Long-term thinking: So Much To Do, So Little Time
Blockchains: Master Key to Unlock The Future?
Longevity: Reaching Escape Velocity for Life-Extension
Intelligence 2.0: The Brain As Next Frontier?

Speakers include:
Joon Yun, Founder of Palo Alto Longevity Prize
Sonia Arrison, Author of 100 Plus
Tom Kalil, Senior Advisor to the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Group
David Eagleman, Host & Producer of The Brain with David Eagleman
Aubrey De Grey, President of SENS Research Foundation
Max More, President of Alcor
Zooko Wilcox, Founder of ZCash
Mark S. Miller, Senior Fellow at Foresight Institute
Will Marshall, Co-Founder & CEO, Planet Labs
Kevin Perrott, Founder & CEO, Aging Research Network
Melanie Swan, Founder of Institute for Blockchain Studies
Matt Bell, Co-Founder of Matterport
Randal Koene, Founder of NeuraLink

Check out the event website for more speakers, program, or buy your ticket. Share the event with your friends on Facebook.

You may apply the code “INSTAPUNDIT” for a 50% discount when purchasing your Vision Weekend ticket. (This is a Foresight member-only event, so if you’re not a member already, join when registering.)

What past participants say:
“It was an exhilarating experience to be with a large group of people who have sophisticated, enlightened, and thoughtful ideas about the future” – Ray Kurzweil
“A milestone in our journey to better understand our future” – Robin Hanson
“Had a great time and was exposed to fascinating ideas, and, more importantly, fascinating sources of ideas” – Vernor Vinge

I used to be on the Foresight Board of Directors, and I’m still on the advisory board. If you’re interested in this stuff, you’re sure to have a good time.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: Western Michigan-Cooley Law School Seeks TRO To Prevent ABA From Releasing A Letter About Its Accreditation Status.

JOURNALISM: The New York Times keeps whitewashing communism’s crimes.

DO TELL: The Great College Loan Swindle: How universities, banks and the government turned student debt into America’s next financial black hole.

If only someone, somewhere, had provided some sort of warning.

ROGER GOODELL’S COLLATERAL DAMAGE: NFL lays groundwork to potentially remove Jerry Jones as Dallas Cowboys owner after accusing him of ‘damaging the League’: report.

THIS IS A GOOD PRICE ON THESE Glencairn Whiskey Glasses. We have a set of these and they’re very nice.

FLASHBACK: Actress defends Weiner, says ‘everyone lies about sex.’ “During an appearance on HBO’s ‘Real Time with Bill Maher,’ Janeane Garofalo said, ‘Anthony Weiner deserves to be supported and hopefully he will be mayor of New York one day. I’m serious. He is a Democrat [who] actually fights for the things liberals and progressive and rational people care about.'”

SO HE’S BASICALLY AS BAD AS GEORGE H.W. BUSH HERE: New accuser claims she was groped by Roy Moore during legal meeting in 1991. Well, I wouldn’t vote for George H.W. Bush for Senator, so. . . .

Quick, call out the Groper’s Support Group!

UPDATE: So on the one hand I feel like I’m not taking this seriously enough, but on the other hand I find it impossible to take seriously. Based on what we know so far, what percentile of awfulness in the Senate would Roy Moore be? Would he be 99th Percentile — making him the worst person in the Senate? Seems doubtful given that there’s a secret slush fund paying victims of Congressional harassment already. He can’t compare to such past lions as Ted Kennedy or Robert Packwood, and it seems likely that there are other, current ones that we just haven’t hear about. So say he’s at the 90th percentile. That means there are 10 sitting Senators worse than him. How exercised should I be about the prospect of him joining them? And maybe he’s only, say, 75th percentile!

Jonathan Adler makes a persuasive case that Moore is a constitutional illiterate, but it’s not like that would set Moore apart much in the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body.

The truth is, the Senate is just awful — and the House is no better — because it’s full of politicians. The real travesty here isn’t that we might send another clown to join the clown show. It’s that the clown show has so much power, and so little accountability, when it’s doing things that are a lot more serious than groping.

And no, this isn’t good, it’s terrible. It’s more evidence of our decline. And I feel bad for having to point it out, again.