FAKE LAW: How Trump-hatred warps the judiciary. “Just as fake news spreads ideologically motivated misinformation with a newsy veneer, fake law brings us judicial posturing, virtue signaling, and opinionating masquerading as jurisprudence. And just as fake news augurs the end of authoritative reporting, fake law portends the diminution of law’s legitimacy and the warping of judges’ self-understanding of their constitutional role.”

Trump’s rise has been a huge blow to the notion of nonpartisan professionalism, as it’s turned out to be a lie pretty much everywhere it’s been tested.

SALENA ZITO: Hillary’s Perfectly Crafted Untruths.

Last week two politicians made news for the ways they communicated to Americans: Clinton’s words were crafted, deliberate and dishonest; President Trump’s words were a string of thoughts bouncing everywhere — with no craft, no massaging and they contained great gaps of context.

The press reacted wistfully to the former; to the latter, it went into full meltdown. Again.

Which is, of course, Trump’s goal.

JAPANESE ISLAND WARGAMES: A report on on a war game examining Senkaku Island scenarios involving incidents which bring Japan and China into direct conflict.

James Kendall, a fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA and a former U.S. Marine Corps officer, directed the event and said it provided some valuable insights.

“A U.S. team that was very experienced — very senior, and very used to dealing with Japan and Asia — they did not understand the depth of Japanese restrictions and concerns about using the Self Defense Force,” Kendall said. “The controllers were surprised at how determined the Japanese side was to keep the SDF out of the situation. For the China team side, this caused a great deal of mistrust … So, this was a very good lesson … But this is mirrored in reality.”

Well worth reading.

MY HUSBAND WOULD HAVE DIED WITH OBAMA CARE: A woman compares ObamaCare denials and deceits to what the private insurance market provided for her husband.

FAKE NEWS: New York Magazine nearly repeals and replaces piece on rape being a preexisting condition.

A JOKE LIKE THIS ABOUT THE OBAMA FAMILY WOULD BE A CAREER-ENDER: Real Time host Bill Maher is accused of crossing the line with tasteless incest joke about Ivanka Trump. Instead, this isn’t even the first time Maher’s done this.

This is why I’m unmoved by lefty claims that the right lacks decency or humanity.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: Artificial Intelligence Closes In On The Work Of Junior Lawyers.

TRUMP NEEDS TO SEND HER MORE (AND TRUSTWORTHY) STAFF: The Horror! A Libertarian Feminist in the Education Department.

The Left knows how true that adage “personnel is policy” is, particularly when it involves a federal agency they have long regarded as “theirs.” Therefore, the tantrum over Candice Jackson’s appointment to a top post in the Education Department is wholly predictable. Jackson, you see, describes herself as a libertarian feminist. She has long worked for Judicial Watch, that scourge of corrupt and overly expansive government under Democrats and Republicans alike. She has written for such anti-leftist organizations as the Ludwig von Mises Institute, Independent Institute, and Reason magazine. Perhaps most unforgivable of all, she wrote a book on the women victimized by the Clinton attack machine. She is as un-P.C. as anyone you could find for the Department of Education. Naturally, leftist groups have their knives drawn against her.

If you’re going to change things, you have to back up your people. Trump should know that, though the Mark Green withdrawal makes me wonder. More here.

THE LOGICAL CONSEQUENCE OF FEMINIST FEAR-MONGERING: Female College Students Say They Live in Constant Fear of Being Raped.

Don’t worry, coeds! You’ll be safe at Reynolds Online University!

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THESE CONFRONTATIONS HAVE ALWAYS WORKED OUT SO WELL FOR THEM: Gov. Scott Walker confronted by Democrat over Obamacare repeal.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, NEST-FEATHERING EDITION: University Of California ‘Recalled Retirees’ Receiving $300,000+ In Annual Pensions. “The revelation that such large pensions are being received by UC retirees — both teaching faculty members and non-teaching staff — comes at a time when the Office of the President faces severe scrutiny after a slush fund of up to $175 million was discovered during an audit.”

WELL, YES: Pope Eminently Fallible on Free Markets. His views are exactly what one would expect from an Argentine lefty: Embarrassing.

WHY DO AMERICANS SMILE SO MUCH? Because America is diverse, and in diverse societies people need to signal amiability. “The authors found that emotional expressiveness was correlated with diversity. In other words, when there are a lot of immigrants around, you might have to smile more to build trust and cooperation, since you don’t all speak the same language. People in the more diverse countries also smiled for a different reason than the people in the more homogeneous nations. In the countries with more immigrants, people smiled in order to bond socially.”

Hmm. Okay, this may just be bunk, of course. But if it’s true it has implications that the story ignores: Are more-diverse societies inherently more tense? Do people feel less stress in the presence of people with whom they share some vague genetic connection?

I’M NOT SURE IT’S A HUGE SURPRISE THAT A COUPLE OF CHINESE GUYS MADE IT TO BRITAIN. Skeleton find could rewrite Roman history.

And we’ve known for years that the Romans traded with the Chinese. Good kickoff for a historical novel, though.

IN THE EMAIL FROM DAVID L. BURKHEAD: Rainy Days and Moon Days (FutureTech Industries).

IT’S ALWAYS IN THE LAST PLACE YOU LOOK: Biologists Find Weird Cave Life That May Be 50,000 Years Old.

DUH, IF THEY COME ALL THAT WAY THEY WANT SOMETHING PRETTY BADLY: If Aliens Visit, Don’t Expect a Hollywood Ending, Ridley Scott Warns.

THESE ARE THE CRAZY YEARS: Nieman Marcus Will Sell You a “Destroyed” — Artificially Distressed to the Point of Being Nonfunctional — Sneaker, And They’ll Do It for the Low, Low Price of One Thousand Four Hundred and Twenty Five Dollars.

THE SHOW WASN’T THAT GOOD THE FIRST TIME OUT; CAN WE STOP WITH THE RERUNS? The Never-Ending 2016 Election.

BOOBS NOT INCLUDED:Homeowner uses naked chicks to sell $100M mansion.

THEY WEREN’T ALL BEAKS AND FEATHERS: Some Dinosaur Eggs Took Six Months or More to Hatch.

CUTTING THROUGH THE FOG: Health insurance and pre-existing conditions.