AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME? How to Regulate Facebook Like a Broadcaster.

Sure, television regulation was written to curb the big broadcasters’ monopoly on airwaves but, today, Facebook enjoys an even more powerful monopoly (even if the monopoly is not built on physical scarcity).

This leaves the question of whether the government is tech-savvy or competent enough to regulate Facebook in the first place. It’s a fair concern. The current TV laws—many of which were written in the era of antennas—would serve as clumsy tools to oversee an Internet company like Facebook, and could cause bureaucrats to run amok.

The good news is Congress and regulators have pulled off something like this before. In 1998, lawmakers wrote two landmark laws to address copyright and free speech concerns on the Internet, while helping to ensure web-based companies didn’t get smothered with lawsuits about user behavior. The laws are widely regarded as a success.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is quoted as one of those “successful” laws. If the DMCA is the measure of internet regulatory success, then perhaps more thought — much more thought — is needed before Congress takes any action.

WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW: Microsoft’s new coding language is made for quantum computers.

SOMEWHAT RELATED: A Rare Joint Interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Bill Gates.

That other former CEO, Steve Ballmer, was conspicuously absent, but Gates and Nadella were refreshingly honest about quantum computing:

SS: Can you explain in one sentence to my 72-year-old mother: What is quantum computing?

SN: I don’t think so. I wish I could. But in simple terms, I think we’re reaching some limits on the foundations that have helped us get all this computing power. And the question is, What’s the next breakthrough that will allow us to keep up this exponential growth in computing power and to solve problems—whether it’s about climate or food production or drug discovery? I think that’s where quantum plays a role. It’s a natural thing for us to be investing in because we are one of the biggest spenders on cloud computing, and we think of this as our next-generation cloud.

BG: I smiled when you suggested we should try to explain quantum. That’s the one part of Microsoft where they put up slides that I truly do not understand. I know a lot of physics and a lot of math. But the one place where they put up slides and it is hieroglyphics, it’s quantum.

When my 11-year-old asked me about quantum mechanics (after I’d made the mistake of mentioning it), the best I could come up with was, “Quantum is where things get deeply weird.”

I THOUGHT MONEY WAS A TOOL OF PHALLOCENTRIC OPPRESSION: Feminist group gives students $5K to ‘fight the patriarchy.

‘PROGRESSIVISM’ — WHERE TIME STANDS STILL: After 85 Years, The New York Times Is Still A Useful Idiot Hiding Communism’s Atrocities.

THE SCIENCE IS SETTLED IN FOR A SHORT NAP: Sleep Deprivation Could Shave Years Off Your Life.

JAMES ROBBINS IN USA TODAY: NFL commits suicide by Trump with politically correct protests.

A CAR FOR 2017: The Trolls Royce Is Better Than Any Car You’ll Ever Own.

ANTISOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook Bans Rohingya Terror Group Behind Current Myanmar Crisis, Twitter Not So Much.

BUT THEY KEEP THE CONSULTANTS EMPLOYED: A new study finds that the average effect of political campaign advertising is *zero*. Residents of Virginia this year may have already figured that out.

HARDBALL: GOP rep calls for McCain ‘recall’ amid cancer diagnosis, ObamaCare repeal fight.

There’s no such thing as a recall election for federal offices, as Gohmert must surely know. That aside, it sure looks as though McCain has allowed his personal animus towards President Trump to supersede his longstanding campaign promises to repeal ObamaCare.

1967: IN 50 YEARS WE’LL HAVE FLYING CARS!

2017: Scientists spent a month terrifying guppies to prove that fish have personalities.

LATE-STAGE SOCIALISM: Venezuelan families scavenge for food to survive hunger.

Many families are now forced to scavenge for food in what was once South America’s richest country.

At a soup kitchen run by the Catholic Church in Caracas, there are rarely any leftovers. It only serves 100 children every day, so the kitchen, which runs on donations, is forced to turn people away.

“Every day, more children come. Our crisis is such that, as they say, shame has been forgotten,” Judith Arcia, a cook at the soup kitchen told Al Jazeera.

“People would rather beg for a plate of food for their children, than watch them go hungry.”

Arcia said many of the children are given a special formula after arriving, when they are found to be severely malnourished.

The parents – who are not entitled to a meal – are not so lucky.

“Sometimes my wife and I do without food so at least the children can eat twice a day,” a parent told Al Jazeera.

Chavez and Maduro love poor people so much that they made millions more of them.

RELATED: Venezuelan politicians seek refuge abroad.

VIDEO: Unaired pilot episode of The Beverly Hillbillies.

“A FIRST LOVE DIES HARD”: The New York Times Is Working Overtime to Rehab Communism and Socialism in 2017.

RUN, JOE, RUN! Joe Biden’s Platform for 2020: Anti-Populism. “By criticizing the views of both Berniecrats and Trumpites, Biden is positioning himself as the antidote to populism in all its forms and flavors.”

At this early stage, you could sum up the Democrats’ 2020 presidential hopefuls with the title of an old Adam Ant song: “Desperate But Not Serious.”

FASTER, PLEASE: New process opens drug development for new steroid class.

I’LL BET THIS REPORT IS RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA, TOO! Leaked Descriptions Of Infamous “Russia Ads” Derail Collusion Narrative “They Showed Support For Clinton.”

STEPHEN MILLER: Does the left ever want to win elections again?

I don’t need to debate the merits or the wisdom behind Kaepernick’s actions.There’s been too much of that already. But what is up for debate is the wisdom of the political left throwing in with a gesture that still, to this day and despite what you see on cable news and social media, remains largely unpopular with the voting public. In 2016, a Quinnipac poll found that only 38 percent of those supported NFL players kneeling during the National Anthem. A Reuters poll found that 72 percent found the protest to be unpatriotic but also that 64 percent agreed there should be no punishment or fine.

Thanks to Trump’s reinvigoration of the debate, it didn’t take long for pundits on the left to start suggesting that taking a knee during the national anthem is now a direct protest of Trump himself. D.C. Bureau chief for Mother Jones, David Corn outright stated “The kneel will now become a sign of opposition to Trump,” effectively hijacking the gesture from black activists. Washington Post social justice reporter Wesley Lowery called on colleagues to demand a reasoning from players who chose not to kneel. No word yet if Lowery chose to ask Pittsburgh Steelers tackle and former Army Ranger and Bronze Star recipient Alejandro Villanueva why he chose to stand for the anthem in the tunnel, the only player from the team to do so. Villanueva’s jersey sales have now skyrocketed in only a day. Jon Schwarz from the left leaning site The Intercept wrote “The National Anthem is a Celebration of Slavery”

The left has chosen to make kneeling for the national anthem now a referendum on Trump himself. A larger problem for them, and the NFL in general, is they picked this fight on a day meant to honor Gold Star mothers.

Dumb.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Should Student Evaluations Rate A Professor’s Inclusiveness?

OH, CANADA! Canada Refuses Entry to Chelsea Manning for Crime That Would ‘Equate’ to ‘Treason.’

You read that right: Canada’s Trudeau government is more sensible than the previous American administration.

BOOM: Iraq gives Kurdistan three days to hand over control of airports to avoid embargo.

RICHARD EPSTEIN: Farewell to Title IX’s Kangaroo Courts.

MISTY SCATTERED WORD PICTURES: “Look, we live in strange times.  It seems that every time I turn around I hear of another science fiction magazine being in trouble, and yet, wouldn’t you know it, the Puffington Host has decided to publish some and picked Barbra Streisand to write it.”

Hey, it’s 2017 — of course Barbra Streisand is writing about politics. Fortunately, Sarah Hoyt is fisking up a storm in response; read the whole thing.

PUERTO RICO’S GOVERNOR ON THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S HURRICANE RESPONSE:

The president has been very attentive to the situation, personally calling me several times. FEMA and the FEMA director have been here in Puerto Rico twice. As a matter of fact, they were here with us today, making sure that all the resources in FEMA were working in conjunction with the central government.

We have been working together. We have been getting results. The magnitude of this catastrophe is enormous. This is going to take a lot of help, a lot of collaboration. So, my call is to congressmen and congresswomen to take action quickly and conclusively with an aid package for Puerto Rico.

This should include an infrastructure upgrade.