THE SILPHIUM ENIGMA: The lost herb is the original laser.

THE SENTIMENTS THAT PROVOKE OIKOPHOBIA: “I’m just working – just earning a living for me and my son. She’s no better than me because she can draw.”

From the comments: “She is condescending, which is a trademark of unearned self-esteem.”

Plus: “Take it from someone who has spent the past week watching lawyers, engineers, software developers, students and teachers rip flooring and drywall out of flooded homes: the people who do this crap for a living are pretty freaking valuable, and they don’t deserve anyone’s contempt.”

THAT WOULD BE GOOD NEWS: Is dementia declining among older Americans? “The rates of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia have dropped significantly over the last decade or so, a new study shows.”

SO THAT NBC NEWS THING WAS JUST A FAKE-NEWS HIT PIECE: Notes from meeting with Russians said not to be damaging to Trump family.

IS THERE NOTHING HE CAN’T DO? How Trump Killed the New York Daily News:

Like Newsweek, it sold for a buck, and like Newsweek it tried to survive on trolling covers.

And then there was the structural problem.

The Daily News was a tabloid. Tabloids play to the working class. But as the Dems became a leftist elite, they no longer spoke the same language. And the Daily News was out to sea.

The previous editor, Jim Rich, had been resisting pressure from management to soften the Trump covers, people familiar with the matter said. He was told they were diminishing an already much diminished print subscriber base, these people said, particularly among blue-collar readers in certain corners of New York’s outer boroughs, where Trump’s nationalistic populism apparently resonates in a way that is anathema to the city’s cosmopolitan districts and immigrant enclaves…

Now, many News staffers and alumni feel like the air has been sucked out of the room, and they are perhaps coming to terms with the notion that Trump is more popular with segments of their readership than they thought, even in deep blue New York.

The Daily News had no base left. Its hate covers were popular with progs who didn’t buy or read the paper. And so here we are. And the decline of the left-wing dead tree media rolls on.

Even before Trump became the GOP frontrunner, as with Newsweek, the craziness and partisan outrage did seem to accelerate as the end moved ever closer.

AND RIGHT ON CUE FROM HOLLYWOOD WHENEVER THERE’S A PRESIDENT WITH AN (R) AFTER HIS NAME:

● Shot: Actress Jennifer Lawrence: Hurricanes Are Nature’s Punishment for Voting for Trump.

—NewsBusters, today.

● Chaser: There’s no shading it, Harris County [where Houston is located–Ed] went undeniably blue.

—The Texas Tribune, November 11, 2016.

HERE’S ASHE SCHOW on Betsy DeVos’s Title IX cleanup.

Plus: Here Is Every Crazy Title IX Rape Case Betsy DeVos Referenced, Plus a Bunch More: Education Secretary is right to call Title IX a “failed system.” Here’s the proof.

THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE DOING IT NOW: Home Brewing Is Legal, And Home Distilling Should Be Too.

AT AMAZON, End of Summer Savings on Luggage and Bags.

Plus, save big in Health and Personal Care.

FLASHBACK: Far more Democrats than Republicans blame “Jews” for the financial crisis.

AS HUGH HEWITT LIKES TO SAY, IF IT’S NOT CLOSE, THEY CAN’T CHEAT: New Data Show 2016 NH Presidential Vote May Have Been Decided By Fraud.

TUBMAN BEATS JACKSON ON THE $20 BILL. I think a gun-toting, freedom-loving Republican woman is just what the country needs. But it’s got to have this design, not a stuffy portrait. If Trump wants to really troll the lefties, he’ll personally order it.

A LESSON FOR TODAY’S YOUNG PEOPLE: “Adults lack a sense of humor and are uptight about sex.” Weird how all our lefty liberation didn’t change that, and in fact seems to have made it worse.

DON SURBER: A Deal Made Possible By Antifa’s Collapse.

The Democratic leaders cut a deal with Hitler, didn’t they?

Should not people be on the streets rioting in reaction to Neville Schumer and Nancy Chamberlain selling them out to the Devil?

I mean when it comes to demonizing and marginalizing people, no one has been called more crude names than The Donald.

And yet, here he was graciously allowing Schumer and Pelosi to visit him in the Oval Office and cut a deal to get aid to Houston without a political catfight.

The reason is the Democrats need this win. August was horrible for them. They revealed what ugly, hateful, mean, spiteful, and nasty people they are through their Antifa henchmen. . . .

Most Americans think little of the Confederate statues. Risking a civil war to tear them down seems unusually dumb even for Democrats.

It’s over.

The election is finally over.

Democrats finally have accepted the results.

Trump saw this, and cashed in on Wednesday. He is playing the Democratic Party leadership against the Republican Party leadership that for nine months have blown him off.

Hmm.

I, ON THE OTHER HAND, EXPECT TO ENJOY IT: Democrats Dread Hillary Book Tour.

TEST DRIVE: 2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. 1.18 lateral gees is pretty impressive. “This Camaro will do a zero-to-60-mph run in 3.5 seconds (all in first gear, mind you). . . . The best part of this package is its asking price: $71,295. Nearly everything else at this performance tier is two to three times pricier.”

We live in the golden age of muscle.

BOURGEOIS VALUES NOT WANTED HERE : Black Parents Sue School, Claim Bullies Abuse Daughter for ‘Acting White.’

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): I had to follow the link to make sure this wasn’t Penn Law School.

HEALTH: Stroke Death Progress Slows in U.S.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: College Activists March on the Cafeteria: What Do We Want? Hydroponic Cilantro!

College students across the U.S. are making some precise demands of school chefs and dining halls. For a generation animated by a desire to make a difference and raised to believe personal wellness is paramount, a meaningful academic experience begins with minding what you eat.

That’s inspired the University of Houston to spend $6,500 to build two hydroponic grow towers, vertical gardens that use nutrient-rich waters to cultivate cilantro and oregano indoors, without soil. The University of California, Los Angeles has installed aeroponic grow towers that grow plants with just mist. Thyme, butter lettuce and microgreens are flourishing in the breeze on the roof of UCLA’s Bruin Plate dining hall.

“If you’re not eating good things, how do they expect your brain to grow?” said Hannah Logan, a senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst majoring in sustainable food and farming.

They’ll be happy to roll the cost into your student debt, Hannah.

IT HAS A BATMOBILE-LIKE CHARM: This Japanese Electric Supercar Promises to Be the Quickest Road Car to 60 MPH Ever.

AT AMAZON, Shop Amazon Devices – Save on Certified Refurbished Devices.

Plus, Shop Amazon Warehouse Deals – Deep Discounts on Open-box and Used Sports Equipment.

THE INSTA-WIFE: “Why is it we always hear about how sensitive and ’empathetic’ women are when it comes to relationships? It seems that women’s ability to understand what men’s emotions are is fair at best and often poor.”

STEPHEN KRUISER: Microsoft DACA Statement Is Brazenly Anti-Rule of Law.

AXIS OF EVIL: With World Distracted by North Korea, Iran Amasses New Weaponry.