THE MARITIME UNIONS WILL BE HAPPY, BUT I DON’T LIKE THIS: US not waiving foreign ship restrictions for PR. “The Trump administration says it is not planning to waive federal restrictions on foreign ships’ transportation of cargo to Puerto Rico and other areas affected by Hurricane Maria, as it did following hurricanes Harvey and Irma. A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security says officials believe there is sufficient capacity of U.S.-flagged vessels to move goods to Puerto Rico. Spokesman David Lapan said most of the humanitarian shipments to Puerto Rico will be through barges, which make up a significant portion of the U.S.-flagged cargo fleet.”

Of course, we should really just repeal the Jones Act.

SNAG: Elon Musk’s Plan to Girdle Earth With Satellites Hits Turbulence.

SpaceX, the rocket startup Musk runs, filed for permission for its constellation of refrigerator-sized satellites late last year. Selling broadband from orbit is a key part of how SpaceX plans to make money beyond its original rocket-launching service.

But the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is poised to deal the project a setback with a decision that could force power reductions on SpaceX satellites, and potentially limit the spectrum they can use, making them less effective.

The regulator will in part defer to the International Telecommunication Union, an agency of the United Nations, on how these new satellite systems need to coordinate and share spectrum, according to a draft set of rules set for a vote Tuesday. The package is likely to pass as it’s backed by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who leads the agency’s Republican majority.

I wonder if the expense and risk inherent to space launches might encourage Musk and his competitors to come up with a better self-regulatory scheme — and faster than the FCC and UN could.

NASHVILLE: ‘We ask … that he can repent of what he has done:’ Nashville churches hold vigils after shooting.

Weird how little attention this story has gotten.

CAN’T HE JUST IDENTIFY AS A WOMAN? 11th Circuit: Gay Man Cannot Deduct Costs To Father Children Through In Vitro Fertilization As Medical Expenses. Note this badthink:

Because the human reproductive process entails distinct male and female functions, because Mr. Morrissey’s body’s own function within that process is to produce and provide healthy sperm, and because Mr. Morrissey was and remains capable of performing that function without the aid of IVF-related treatments, those treatments did not “affect[]” any “function of [his] body” within the meaning of Section 213(d)—and accordingly do not qualify as deductible “medical care” within the meaning of Section 213(a). …

You could lose an academic job for such statements.

DAILY CALLER: What’s True, False And In-Between In The Trump Dossier?

I SUSPECT THESE WOULD MOSTLY BE CIVILIANS: Korean War Estimates 20,000 Deaths Daily in South Korea.

THE 21st CENTURY ISN’T TURNING OUT THE WAY I HAD HOPED: Dear doubters, Rapper B.o.B wants to prove the Earth is flat once and for all — and CNN is on it:

B.o.B.’s campaign says the plan is to “launch multiple satellites into space” in order to observe, and try to disprove, what centuries of science and technology have already confirmed. All he needs is a small investment of $200,000 dollars (and launch approval, of course).

OK, I’ll give him that — launching satellites into space to photograph the earth is an extremely good idea, and someone should get going on that project straight away.

MY USA TODAY COLUMN: It is time academics preach the virtues they practice: If we care about the poor, then we need to tell them the best way to improve their lives with middle class values.

ROCKET MAN ACCUSES TRUMP OF DECLARING WAR: Is North Korea trying to put China in a “war trap?”

THE USE OF “STEM” IN THIS HEADLINE IS PROBABLY SEXIST: Prof Claims Allegations of Sexual Harassment Against Him Stem from Disagreeing With Woman.

SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D-TEXAS) KNEELS DURING CONGRESSIONAL SPEECH ‘IN HONOR OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT.’

MUTUAL ASSURED DIGITAL DESTRUCTION: The Global Commons is a Great Good.

From an interview with former NSA Deputy Director Chris Inglis:

TCB: Is there a level of hypocrisy when countries who engage in offensive cyber operations abroad but then condemn it when others do it against them, calling it an infringement on their sovereignty?

Inglis: We need to understand that we live in a bit of a glass house, and therefore, the things we practice could become the norms for others who might practice those things against us. There is a certain symmetry here, which is that what we can do to others, can easily be done to us. There are very low barriers to entry – it doesn’t require extraordinary capabilities to do anything, frankly, in cyberspace. Any feature can be picked up, turned around, and used in the reverse direction. In that sense, the old adage, don’t through stones in a glass house because you live in that house and the impacts will come back to you, is true in cyberspace.

Mutual Assured Destruction was never good policy — it was just a Cold War acknowledgement that both sides could build enough nukes to destroy the other, and that there was no way, with the technology of the time, for either side to defend itself.

Since the barriers to entry are far, far lower in digital warfare than in nuclear warfare, you would think that we would take digital defense much more seriously than we seem to do.

SNAP ELECTIONS WORKED SO WELL FOR THERESA MAY: Japan’s Abe Triggers Early Elections.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called early elections for next month, invoking the North Korean threat to argue for a renewed mandate. . . .

For Abe, the snap elections may look like an opportunity amid crisis. With North Korea’s missiles now regularly overflying Japan, the Prime Minister sees a chance for a rattled populace to embrace his long-sought revisions to the pacifist constitution. For now, Abe is publicly proceeding with caution on that front; his announcement speech did not explicitly mention changing the constitution, which remains a controversial proposition. But his rhetorical focus on the North Korea threat was clearly meant to bolster his image as a trusted defender of Japan’s security, a vigilant leader who will do what it takes to keep Japan safe.

Abe is also running on his economic track record, at a moment when Japan has hit its longest growth streak in 11 years and his Abenomics agenda seems to have finally turned a corner. His announcement speech touted a new $18 billion package to help subsidize education and childcare—just the kind of economic stimulus that may prove popular with voters. With the economy on the upswing, public support for a tougher defense posture growing, and Abe’s approval rating climbing, he has some reason to believe that he has a winning message. The latest poll numbers are on his side, too: Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) currently enjoys 44% support over a frayed and divided opposition.

But snap elections are also a riskier proposition than they might initially seem. Abe has only recently recovered from a summer that saw his approval ratings plummet amid an influence-peddling scandal. He may also face a stronger-than-expected challenge from Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, an ex-LDP member who delivered Abe an electoral drubbing in Tokyo’s regional elections this summer.

Well, stay tuned.

IS MERKEL SAFE?: That’s now a QTWTAIN, according to John O’Sullivan. He concludes:

Not only is Merkel seriously wounded today, therefore, but the sense that Germany is the solid reliable rock on which European unity can rest securely is shaken, too. As Cas Mudde pointed out yesterday in a superb analysis of the results in the Guardian, the election has reversed the impact of Macron’s presidential success. Where Macron’s victory was hailed (by, among others, Jean-Claude Junker) as the defeat of populism, the German results show that populism has now spread to regions thought immune to the virus. Though the populist parties in both countries are very far from winning office, they are still around and their rise is shaping (or reflecting) massive changes in political structures and party loyalties. And it’s not over.

Read the whole thing.

SPORTS ARE HAVING A BAD YEAR: FBI Arrests 4 NCAA Basketball Coaches Connected to Fraud and Corruption.

WELL, GOVERNMENT HEALTH ADVICE HAS HAD A BAD DECADE: “People just don’t want to listen to the government when it comes to alcohol advice anymore.”

SALENA ZITO: NFL anthem protests leave Pittsburgh fans conflicted about game they love.

Read the whole thing.

CHANGE: Enormous Turnout for Kurdish Independence Referendum. “Nearly 80% turnout as tensions escalate with Turkey and Iran.”

REGULATORY DARK MATTER: My colleague Wayne Crews has a new video out explaining just how the administrative state has become so dominant – through the use of guidance, memos, interpretations and so on that have the effect of law without any of the approval process the law supposedly demands. More here, with links to Wayne’s longer-form work.

2017 IN A NUTSHELL: ‘Free Speech Week’ ends early amidst potential lawsuit.

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MY USA TODAY COLUMN: It is time academics preach the virtues they practice: If we care about the poor, then we need to tell them the best way to improve their lives with middle class values.

ROCKET MAN’S REGIME THREATENS TO SHOOT DOWN U.S. AIRCRAFT “ANYTIME”: That’s what North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said yesterday. Last Saturday North Korea said a missile attack on the U.S. mainland was inevitable because Trump had insulted North Korea’s “dignity.” That comment tells us Trump’s latest taunts struck their target: dictator Kim Jong Un.

SALENA ZITO ON STEELERS FANS AND THE NFL ANTHEM PROTESTS.