U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTOGRAPHERS STRIKE AGAIN: This time it’s The Bomber Show. The new photo was snapped on May 6 — the bombers were participating in a fly-by honoring the 8th Air Force. Indeed, it’s literally another angle on that great USAF publicity photo, Bomber Trifecta. As the caption says, in August 2016 Global Strike Command conducted “integrated operations in the U.S. Pacific Command area of operations.” The senior airman who took the photo was documenting “integrated operations” — for the benefit of Kim Jong Un.

BACKGROUND: Beefing up the 8th Air Force.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: We Are Ready to Find and Prosecute Leakers.

But is it change you can believe in?

More from Michael Walsh here.

THAT’S AWFULLY NICE: They Just Met Last Week. She’s Giving Him a Kidney.

SUSAN RICE: Don’t ‘Allow Twitter Wars to Become Shooting Wars’. “Former national security adviser says Trump ‘looks at the world and sees only threats: Immigrants. Refugees. Muslims. Mexicans.'”

This, from the woman who claimed that a YouTube video incited an attack on the American consulate at Benghazi?

PROMOTION: Amazon Music Unlimited – Get $10 Toward Music.

OUT: MEN ARE UNNECESSARY. IN: MEN AND WOMEN ARE UNNECESSARY. Babies From Skin Cells? Prospect Is Unsettling to Some Experts.

Within a decade or two, researchers say, scientists will likely be able to create a baby from human skin cells that have been coaxed to grow into eggs and sperm and used to create embryos to implant in a womb.

The process, in vitro gametogenesis, or I.V.G., so far has been used only in mice. But stem cell biologists say it is only a matter of time before it could be used in human reproduction — opening up mind-boggling possibilities.

With I.V.G., two men could have a baby that was biologically related to both of them, by using skin cells from one to make an egg that would be fertilized by sperm from the other. Women with fertility problems could have eggs made from their skin cells, rather than go through the lengthy and expensive process of stimulating their ovaries to retrieve their eggs.

Or a man married to a robot could. . . .

VIDEO: Trey Gowdy Stops Just Short Of Calling Collusion On The Clintons And The DOJ.

From the clip:

“Jim Comey had access to additional information that I am convinced left him with no other choice but to make the decision he made in July,” Gowdy said.

McCallum asked if he was implying that Comey was pressured into clearing Clinton of all wrongdoing.

“No…he wanted to safeguard the integrity of the investigation, the integrity of the process, and I probably ought to just leave it right there,” Gowdy replied.

“Trust me when I tell you this, Martha — I know what it was and I have been a critic of James Comey in the past. But he made the only decision he could have made with respect to appropriating that decision away from the Department of Justice and making the decision himself.”

“I only take away from that that you are suggesting that there were more entanglements between the Clintons and perhaps the Justice Department than everyone understands,” McCallum guessed.

“You’re very perceptive,” Gowdy confirmed.

Comey did have other options, but perhaps no option more personally palatable. That aside, there is publicly-known evidence of collusion between the Clintons and the Obama DOJ, plus whatever Gowdy claims to know.

BAD THINGS: This is what would happen if North Korea launched a real attack.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Yale dean loves diversity except for ‘white trash.’ Note that she did not lose her job over these racist, classist comments.

SPOILER: IT ACTUALLY IS A TANK, GETTING READY FOR THE ALIEN INVASION’S BEACHHEAD ON MARS: This Futuristic Mars Rover Looks Like an Awesome NASA Tank.

CHANGE? ‘Performance enhancing drugs’ considered for Special Operations soldiers.

TYLER O’NEIL: 5 Things to Know About the Chelsea Manning Release.

ELIZABETH PRICE FOLEY IN THE NEW YORK TIMES: Trump’s Statements Are Not an Obstruction of Justice.

Widespread howls erupted, including by editors of this paper, asserting that President Trump obstructed justice. But as distasteful as the president’s statements may be, they do not constitute an obstruction of justice. Indeed, if they did, virtually every communication between criminal defense lawyers and investigators would be a crime. . . .

Even assuming, for the sake of argument, that Mr. Trump intended an implied offer of continued employment in exchange for Mr. Comey’s dismissal of the Flynn investigation, it would be implausible for Mr. Comey to construe it as such. Mr. Comey was aware that he was an at-will employee who could be fired by the president at any time, for any reason. Indeed, when President Obama endorsed Hillary Clinton for president in June 2016 — during the height of the F.B.I.’s investigation into Secretary Clinton’s private email server — it would have been similarly implausible for Mr. Comey to construe Mr. Obama’s pro-Clinton remarks as an implicit offer of continued employment, in exchange for dropping the Clinton investigation. Even though Mr. Comey dropped the investigation one month later, he presumably knew that although it would please both Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton, it would not insulate him from being fired.

But even if one adopted an unprecedentedly broad conception of bribery, Mr. Trump’s purported statement still would not violate Section 1510. The statute is designed to preserve the free flow of information, prohibiting only acts that obstruct investigators’ access to information. Bribery of a potential witness, for example, is behavior prohibited by Section 1510. But telling the F.B.I. director that someone is a “good guy” and expressing the hope that an investigation will cease does not obstruct the free flow of information.

Another, broader federal obstruction statute is Section 1505 of Title 18, but even this statute does not fit. Specifically, Section 1505 declares that anyone who “corruptly” endeavors to obstruct the proper administration of law “under which any pending proceeding is being had before any department or agency of the United States” is guilty of a felony. Even putting aside the difficulty of proving, beyond a reasonable doubt, that President Trump’s brief and generalized words evinced the necessary “corrupt” mind-set, Section 1510 applies only to a “pending proceeding.”

Read the whole thing. Also note that the Obama Administration made sure that Lois Lerner — who ran a corrupt, political effort to target political opponents using the power of the federal government — didn’t face charges. This was not called obstruction of justice, but “prosecutorial discretion.”

Plus: “Principled objections to Mr. Trump’s policies and leadership style should not blind opponents to the dangers of repeated, knee-jerk calls for criminal prosecution of the president of the United States. Let the evidence unfold, and reserve serious charges if and when the evidence warrants it. Crying wolf undermines the credibility of the opposition, further divides an already deeply divided country and breeds cynicism about American institutions that is as dangerous to our republic, if not more, than outside meddling.”

The childish response of Democrats — and “NeverTrump” Republicans — to the 2016 election has done more damage to American politics and institutions than any foreign meddling could do.

IF IT WEREN’T FOR DOUBLE STANDARDS THEY’D HAVE NO STANDARDS AT ALL: Silence from Hill, Liz on Maher speaks volumes.

We just had a vivid, striking example of what Zoob and King were talking about, courtesy of two faux feminists who shamelessly masquerade as heroines of their gender and guardians of our culture.

Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren would have us see them as they see themselves, towering women whose values and principles cannot be compromised.

So it was not surprising that neither could contain her horror when Donald Trump was heard making vulgar, sexist comments in a private conversation.

Both had bully pulpits and wasted no time using them to clobber him.

Then HBO’s foul-mouthed Bill Maher, looking for new ways to tear down the president, reached to the bottom of the barrel to imply he was having an incestuous relationship with his daughter Ivanka.

Anyone with a modicum of decency understood Maher had crossed a line; ideologies notwithstanding, nothing could justify such depravity.

But because it was aimed at Trump, not a peep was heard from Hillary or Liz, suggesting Maher’s smuttiness didn’t ruffle their feathers a bit.

It also suggested they assume their constituents are too superficial to connect the dots and see them for who and what they really are.

Here’s hoping they’re wrong.

We’ll see.

UPDATE: Sen. Thom Tillis says he’s ‘doing well’ after collapsing during D.C. charity race.

CLAIM: U.S. Shale Is Immune To An Oil Price Crash In 2017.

Shale production has been gaining ‘significant momentum’, and there is a limited downside risk in the short run, Norway-based consultancy Rystad Energy said in a report last week.

Oil production in the Lower 48 excluding the Gulf of Mexico is expected to rise until the end of the year even if the price of oil plunges to US$40, Rystad’s analysis shows.

Since December 2016, oil output in the Lower 48 states, minus the Gulf of Mexico, has been on a continuous expansion, with 430,000 bpd growth so far. The growth from the average level in the fourth quarter of 2016 to May 2017 is around 340,000 bpd, Rystad said.

According to the EIA data, Lower 48 states’ field production of crude oil has been growing each week since early December, right after OPEC said it would curb supply to try to balance the market and lift the price of oil.

Despite the worries that cost inflation may slow down production growth, Rystad believes that completion activity is poised to surge for the rest of this year. At WTI price of US$50 per barrel, Lower 48 output is seen to be growing by an additional 390,000 bpd between May 2017 and December 2017, the consultancy noted.

It all sounds very nice, and frackers have done an impressive job of finding new efficiencies, but claims of immunity or “That can’t happen here” always set off my alarm bells.

Regardless of the fate of individual American suppliers however, “abundant supplies of oil and gas are now a fact of life.”

ENDGAME? Riot Police on Venezuela’s Front Lines Seek a Way Out.

When Ana, a five-year veteran of the national police, finishes her night shift patrolling this city’s dangerous slums, she often arrives home only to pick up her riot gear and head out again to confront rollicking protests against Venezuela’s embattled government.

On those front lines, she and her colleagues use tear gas and rubber bullets against increasingly desperate protesters armed with stones, Molotov cocktails and even bags of feces. The showdowns take place in scorching heat, and she says the authorities provide her with no food, water or overtime pay.

Ana, who along with others cited in this article asked that her last name not be used for fear of official retribution, is one of about 100,000 Venezuelan security officers, mostly in their 20s, shielding the government of increasingly unpopular President Nicolás Maduro from escalating unrest.

Contra to what I wrote this morning, perhaps the question is whether Venezuela’s security forces go full Ceaușescu — or go Galt.

ALLIES: With New ‘Dear Friend’ Trump, Erdoğan Decries Kurdish ‘Manipulation’ in Region. “Later, outside D.C. embassy, Turkish president’s security detail beat up Kurds.”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Private College Tuition Discounts Hit All-Time High Of 49%. If you’re paying full freight for college, you’re a sucker. Don’t be a sucker.

PROCUREMENT: New rifle, bigger bullets: Inside the Army’s plan to ditch the M4 and 5.56.

UNLESS YOU’RE A SAILOR: Autonomous Ships Will Be Great.

It sounds like a ghost story: A huge cargo vessel sails up and down the Norwegian coast, silently going about its business, without a captain or crew in sight. But if all goes as planned, it’s actually the future of shipping.

Last week, Kongsberg Gruppen ASA, a Norwegian maritime-technology firm, and Yara ASA, a fertilizer manufacturer, announced a partnership to build the world’s first fully autonomous cargo containership. Manned voyages will start in 2018, and in 2020 the Yara Birkeland will set sail all on its own. It’s the beginning of a revolution that should transform one of the world’s oldest and most conservative industries — and make global shipping safer, faster and cleaner than it’s ever been.

The commercial rationale for autonomous ships has long been clear. The U.S. Coast Guard has estimated that human error accounts for up to 96 percent of all marine casualties. A recent surge in piracy is a grim reminder that crews remain vulnerable (and valuable) targets for international criminals. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the industry is facing a chronic shortage of skilled workers who want a career at sea.

By one consultant’s estimate, moreover, carrying sailors accounts for 44 percent of a ship’s costs. That’s not just salaries: crew quarters, air-conditioning units, a bridge (which typically requires heavy ballast to ensure a ship’s balance) and other amenities take up valuable weight and space that might otherwise be used for cargo.

Hmm. I’m not convinced that this will put an end to piracy, though it may change its form.

CHANGE MORE OF THE SAME: Twitter co-founder Biz Stone returns to the company as other top staffers flee.

Stone posted his return to the social media company in a Medium post on Tuesday, writing that he’ll be “filling the ‘Biz-shaped hole'” he left there.

“My top focus will be to guide the company culture, that energy, that feeling,” Stone wrote, adding: “You might even say the job description includes being Biz Stone.”

Culture, energy, and feeling don’t seem to be what Twitter is lacking.

BRITISH PETROLEUM CEO: Abundant supplies of oil and gas are now a fact of life.

Well. I guess we drilled our way out of that problem.

JOURNALISM: “I usually wouldn’t give a post such a lurid headline, so full of Intriguingly Dangled Questions, but that’s what the media has taught me to do.”

Related: CNN Commentator David Gregory’s Wife Is The Attorney For Hillary’s Ex-Aides In Email Investigation.