ANALYSIS: TRUE. The Education System Isn’t Designed for Smart Kids.

DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? Wasserman Schultz Threatened Police Chief For Gathering Evidence On Her IT Staffer’s Alleged Crimes.

The Florida lawmaker used her position on the committee that sets the police force’s budget to press its chief to relinquish the piece of evidence Thursday, in what could be considered using her authority to attempt to interfere with a criminal investigation.

The Capitol Police and outside agencies are pursuing Imran Awan, who has run technology for the Florida lawmaker since 2005 and was banned from the House network in February on suspicion of data breaches and theft.

“My understanding is the the Capitol Police is not able to confiscate Members’ equipment when the Member is not under investigation,” Wasserman Schultz said in the annual police budget hearing of the House Committee On Appropriations’ Legislative Branch Subcommittee.

“We can’t return the equipment,” Police Chief Matthew R. Verderosa told the Florida Democrat.

“I think you’re violating the rules when you conduct your business that way and you should expect that there will be consequences,” Wasserman Schultz said.

Charming.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): As I’ve noted before, the Democrats seem awfully anxious not to have anyone look into this affair. It’s quite odd. (Bumped).

HEH: Mysterious Tea Party Members Found with AK-47, Grenade and Bomb-Making Equipment. “We figure identifying them as Tea Party members will get more attention than identifying them as likely Muslim terrorists. You know it would be headline news across the nation if they were. This story has barely gained any notice, in reality.”

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HMM. I DON’T KNOW WHAT I THINK ABOUT THIS: Trump plan to sell off half of oil stockpile sparks debate. On the one hand, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a creature of a time when our production was falling and OPEC was strong, conditions that have been reversed. On the other hand, we still consume more oil than we produce, and simply by existing the reserve imposes a downward force on prices, since too much of a price rise, or efforts to interrupt supply, might lead to a release.

On balance, I think I’d keep it because I’m a big believer in being prepared for bad situations. But I don’t think it’s crazy to feel otherwise.

UPDATE: In this column, Austin Bay notes the global earthquake in petroleum and says selling off half the reserve is a good idea.

THESE ARE THE CRAZY YEARS: Woman Sues Candymaker For Its Sugar-Filled Jelly Beans.

NO. RNC Lobbying FCC for a New Way to Annoy us With ‘Ringless’ Voicemail Ads.

Now there’s possibly a new way to annoy us being reviewed by the FCC. The Republican National Committee is pushing the agency to adopt a new technology that would allow telemarketers to leave prerecorded messages on our voicemail without the phone ever ringing, Recode reports. We would simply get a notification that a voicemail was received, mixed in, of course, with more important voicemails.

Current laws prohibit calls by telemarketers if the recipient has signed up on the do not call registry. While many ignore it, most reputable organizations and companies abide by the rules. But, apparently, they feel left out from the right to annoy us. So they want to use this new technology that avoids ringing. Their logic is that this should be legal because if the phone never rings, it’s not a call. As a result, they are now petitioning the FCC to allow this new form of messaging. They argue that they shouldn’t need our permission to auto-dial our mobile voicemail inboxes directly to leave an advertising message.

As you can imagine, this effort has drawn strong opposition from consumer groups such as the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC).

Clearly, Republicans are no longer interested in winning votes from people who have phones.

REMEMBER, THIS IS SOMEHOW THE GOP’S FAULT: Nearly 19,000 in Missouri could be stranded after insurer pulls out of Obamacare.

IT’S A BETTER DEAL IF YOU LIKE THE EXERCISE: People Who Work Out The Most Age The Slowest.

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STEALTH CLOTH: Multi-spectral camouflage netting has been in development a long time. Now Saab has taken multi-spectral camouflage netting a step further.

CHINA’S DEBT PROBLEM:

Credit rating agency Moody’s downgraded China this week, warning that the country’s financial health is suffering from rising debt and slowing economic growth. It’s the first time the agency has cut China’s rating in nearly three decades.

The article is short but makes several relevant points, including the fact that this situation didn’t develop overnight.

RELATED: Fixing this situation is very hard. Ask Portugal.

PATRICK POOLE: Latest Developments From the Manchester Bombing Investigation.

EXPLAINER: What the CBO’s “Uninsured” Score Really Means.

It’s worth reiterating that should there be a drastic rise in uninsured Americans, it won’t be because the AHCA destroys their health insurance plans or makes coverage unattainable, it will be because in the absence of the individual mandate, many will simply opt out of health insurance entirely. At least until the market makes it more affordable.

When people stop buying an unwanted product under duress, it should be touted as a feature and not a bug.

SAVE YOUR CAT-5 CABLES BOYS, ETHERNET WILL RISE AGAIN: Scientists Have Found a Way to Photograph People Through Walls Using Wi-Fi.

DOES BARACK OBAMA HAVE A BEARD IN THIS ONE? Scientists think they found proof of a parallel universe.

VOTING WITH THEIR FEET: Chicago only major U.S. city to lose population from 2015 to 2016.

DAVID HARSANYI: Every Single Tom Cruise Movie Correctly Ranked.

Pretty sure Top Gun II or whatever they end up calling it will rank lower than Losin’ It.

CBS ‘NEWS’ SPOTS ‘DOWNSIDE’ TO IMPROVING ECONOMY – ‘MORE TRAFFIC DEATHS.’

When does the DNC-MSM play the angle that economic growth will also harm Gaia, as top Democratic scientists John Kerry and Claire McCaskill did, early in the Obama era?

NEWS YOU CAN USE: 5 Things to Know About the Montana Special Election.

BREAKING: Montana Assault Witness Changes Story, Says No Neck Grab.

A DECADE OF NEGLECT: The Navy’s Cruisers Are Old and It Has Nothing to Replace Them With. “The U.S. Navy’s Ticonderoga-class cruisers, built during the 1980s, are nearing retirement age and there is nothing to replace them with. A backbone of the Navy’s air defenses, the tall guided-missile cruisers’ retirement would leave a hole in the Navy’s ability to defend aircraft carriers and other high profile ships just as the service is shifting back to a focus on fleet versus fleet warfare.”

VIRGINIA POSTREL: The Boosterism Behind China’s Silk Road Story: Beijing is downplaying certain facts to sell a heroic narrative at home and abroad.

LEFTIST STUDENTS, FACULTY DEMAND COLLEGE REPUBLICANS BE PUNISHED FOR BADTHINK. “The protesters shouted, ‘No hate, no KKK, no fascist USA’ and ‘Get that club out of our face.’ Students held socialist flags and symbols or signs mocking the College Republicans.”

Their crime? Complaining about a professor’s demand that they be banned from college events.