SENATOR WARREN IS LYING: Elizabeth Warren denies using Native American heritage to ‘get ahead’. If Warren or her defenders have a plausible explanation as to why she listed herself as a “minority” law professor until she got her job at Harvard, and then removed herself from that list, I’ve yet to hear it.

Related: It’s time for Elizabeth Warren to apologize for her Native American deception: “The details of what Warren did, and how she tried to conceal it, are set forth at Elizabeth Warren Wiki, a website we created to put in one place the research documenting Warren’s deception. It’s all there, including the rundown of her highly questionable, if not downright debunked, family lore stories.”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, PECULATION EDITION: Another Evergreen State Employee Quits, Alleging Illegal Use Of Taxpayer Money.

Michael Radelich, who worked as a learning resource specialist and a record keeper at the school’s writing center for 14 years, said that the center used financial aid money meant for students to hire non-student employees, reported The College Fix.

The school told Sandra Yannone, director of the writing center and Radelich’s boss, that she must dedicate no less than 90 percent of the center’s budget each year to student salaries, alleged Radelich. But the writing center spent only 27 percent of its budget on that item for the 2016-2017 school year, according to documents Radelich gave to The College Fix.

I’d borrow Sara’s shocked face, but I’m afraid of wearing it out.

WINNING: Keith Olbermann has nothing left to say, reportedly retires from political commentary.

And from the comments: “Trump broke him.”

COKIE ROBERTS: OH, WE ALL KNEW TO AVOID GETTING IN AN ELEVATOR WITH REP. CONYERS. “Speaking on ABC’s ‘This Week,’ Cokie Roberts made a startling admission: ‘every female in the press corps knew’ to avoid being in an elevator with Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), and has apparently known about this ‘for years.’ Conyers has been accused of multiple instances of sexual harassment and has stepped down from the House Judiciary Committee.”

Naturally, the press (in this case, the House of Stephanopoulos) covered for Conyers “for years.” Just think of the media as Democratic operatives with bylines, and it all makes sense.

LATE-STAGE SOCIALISM: New Venezuela oil boss to give military more PDVSA posts.

In a surprise move, unpopular leftist President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday tapped Major General Manuel Quevedo to lead PDVSA [PDVSA.UL] and the Oil Ministry, giving the already powerful military control of the OPEC nation’s dominant industry.

Besides the corruption scandals, Quevedo will have to tackle an attempted debt restructuring, within the context of a deep recession and debilitating U.S. sanctions.

Sources in the sector said Quevedo’s appointment could quicken a white-collar exodus from PDVSA and worsen operational problems at a time when production has already tumbled to near 30-year lows of under 2 million barrels per day.

About 50 officials at state oil company PDVSA have been arrested since August in what the state prosecutor says is a “crusade” against corruption.

Socialists always wage a losing crusade against corruption immediately following their winning crusade against competence.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Report: Having ‘white nuclear family’ promotes white supremacy, says New York professor.

Remember, when people get tired of funding this stuff, we’ll be told it’s because of “anti-intellectualism.”

Related:

SOUNDS GOOD.  IT SHOULD BE NICE AND CHILLED BY THE TIME WE GET THERE:  Budweiser is on a mission to bring beer to Mars.

THIS CLEARLY REQUIRES MORE STUDY AND I WANT A GOVERNMENT GRANT TO PURSUE IT (WWVD? – WHAT WOULD VODKAPUNDIT DO?): Here’s what science says to drink to feel sexy.

WE’LL FIND A WAY AROUND IT. THINGS ARE ALWAYS IMPOSSIBLE TILL YOU DO THEM:  How our immune systems could stop humans reaching Mars.  #teamclevermonkey.

ENABLING CHAOS:  Olympia Police Refuse to Evict Trespassers From Railroad Line.

WHATEVER FLOATS THEIR BOAT:  Tiffany & Co. Shows What Happens When a Luxury Brand Gets Desperate.

FOR ANYTHING TRUMP CALLS ELIZABETH WARREN TO BE A RACIAL SLUR “DELUSIONAL” WOULD HAVE TO BE A RACE:  On Pocahontas, Sarah Sanders Gets the Last Word.

FOR THE TIMES, THEY ARE ACHANGING:  Massed Confusion – Now with Footnotes.

DON’T BABYPROOF THE WORLD; WORLDPROOF YOUR CHILD:  But ditch the “Native American Legends.” Don’t Take Parenting Advice from the Apple Store ‘Geniuses’.

NEW YORK TIMES HITS BOTTOM, GETS STEAM SHOVEL:  The New York Times is Imploding on Itself And It’s More Delicious Than Leftover Turkey.

BUT THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE! EVERY COLLEGE-EDUCATED BRAT KNOWS AMERICA INVENTED SLAVERY BECAUSE RACISM!  Libya Has A Flourishing Slave Trade Today Thanks To Hillary Clinton.

UM… THE FRUITS OF FEMINISM ANDROPHOBIA:  Sex robots spark rise of men who will only sleep with dolls

THIS IS THE 21ST-CENTURY I’VE BEEN EXPECTING:  Tiny microrobots could be used to cure cancer.

HOTTER THAN ANY ROMANCE:  Two Stars Slammed Into Each Other And Solved Half Of Astronomy’s Problems. What Comes Next?

AT AMAZON, IT’S STILL CYBER MONDAY!

JOSH BLACKMAN: Republicans Should Not Pack The Courts: It’s an impulse born of understandable frustrations with our judicial system, but it must be resisted. “Citing an increasingly large caseload, Professor Calabresi posits that the solution to an overworked judiciary is the appointment of new judges. On the district-court level — the trial level in the federal judiciary — there are currently 673 approved judgeships. On the circuit-court level — the intermediary level below the Supreme Court — there are currently 167 approved judgeships. Based on Calabresi’s calculations, optimally, there should be 185 new district judges and 262 new circuit judges, though, to his credit, he dials back these numbers significantly. In 1978, Congress enacted the Omnibus Judgeship Act of 1978. This Carter-era bill increased the number of district judges from 394 to 510, and the number of circuit judges from 97 to 132. Using this history as a baseline, Calabresi proposes the creation of 200 district judgeships and 61 circuit judgeships. If your eyes haven’t glazed over by this point, allow me to summarize the change in more understandable terms. In their eight-year terms, Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama were able to confirm 66, 62, and 55 judges to the courts of appeals, respectively. Under Calabresi’s proposal, in only four years, Trump could potentially confirm more than 100 appellate judges.”

The problem is that after Harry Reid rammed ObamaCare through on reconciliation and nuked the filibuster, the institutional traditions and trust that used to limit this sort of thing are gone. What would it take to bring them back? And no, I’m seriously asking that. What would it take?

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE! (CONT’D): ‘I Had No Hair on Me’: DeRay Davis Says He Lost His Virginity at Age 11 to 2 30-Year-Old Women. “He called them two ‘ugly, horrible-looking women.’ He said he was ’11 going on 12 and had no hair on me.’ He called it ‘disgusting.’ He said that to this day, it’s difficult for him to ‘go down’ on women because of what the two women did to him as a child.”

A JOURNALIST FRIEND FORWARDS THIS EMAIL FROM THE WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS ASSOCIATION:

From: Genevieve Glatsky
Sent: Friday, November 24, 2017 1:38:07 PM

Subject: Politico White House Christmas Party Questions

Hello and Happy Thanksgiving,

I’m getting in touch from Politico because we’re surveying all WHCA members about this year’s White House Christmas party. We appreciate you taking the time to respond.

If you were invited, do you plan to attend? (Why or why not?)

If you have children, will you bring them as guests? (Have you in the past? If any change, why?)

Do you plan to have your or your children’s picture taken with the president? (Have you in the past? If any change, why?)

Do you either like or dislike that the event has been changed from a “holiday party” to a “Christmas party”? Does this affect your decision to attend?

Given the current administration’s adversarial stance towards the press, do you anticipate any awkwardness or conflicted feelings surrounding your attendance or any photo opportunities?

Please respond by the end of the day on Monday. Thanks very much.

With this comment: “I don’t recall Politico ever sending out similar surveys during past administrations.” I think it’s about denormalizing Trump, as usual. I assume there will be an article about how people don’t want their kids around him or something. But hey, maybe it’ll be a piece on how even in a divided time, some traditions hold.

WESTERN AUTHORITIES ANTICIPATE CHRISTMAS MARKET TERROR ATTACKS: And as Patrick Poole notes, “gift-wrapping traffic bollards and painting concrete barriers to look like Legos barely conceal the new grim reality.”

Read the whole thing.

AT AMAZON, Cyber Monday Deals all day.