WINNING: America’s Oil And Gas Boom Is Spreading Through The Country.

In the DJ Basin, Bernadette Johnson, vice president for market intelligence at DrillingInfo told an audience in Littleton, CO in June that “Since December, we have seen oil grow by nearly 10,000 barrels per day every month,” and that DrillingInfo expects the rebound to continue in the coming months based on continued strong commodity prices.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that a rising rig count led to a very healthy month-over-month increase in Eagle Ford Shale crude production of 35,000 barrels per day. The looming bottleneck in Permian Basin pipeline takeaway capacity will likely lead to even more rigs coming to the Eagle Ford region in the 2nd half of the year.

According to Wood Mackenzie, oil and gas production in deepwater Gulf of Mexico is expected to reach an all-time record high this year at 1.935 million boepd, of which 80 percent is oil—beating the previous record from 2009 by nearly 10 percent and representing 13-percent growth year over year.

A survey released last Friday by the Federal Reserve branch of Kansas City indicates that oil and gas activity in Oklahoma’s SCOOP/STACK play region continues to expand. Chad Wilkerson, vice president and economist at the Oklahoma City branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, said that “Expectations are nearly as high as they have ever been. Executives are pretty optimistic about future drilling activity.” The Kansas City Fed’s June report indicated that SCOOP/STACK production had reached record levels at the first of the year for both oil and natural gas, and projected that both would rise throughout 2018.

More at the link — much more. But what all these data points have in common is that it seems like our energy boom is only just getting started.

WEIRD THAT SO MANY ON THE RIGHT VIEW HIGHER EDUCATION AS SOME SORT OF ADVERSARY: U. Oregon student government gave $250,000 to liberal clubs, only $1,500 to conservative ones in 2017-18.

EVERGREEN: Democrats Need To Get A Grip On Reality. “This week Politico published an opinion piece headlined: “Putin’s Attack on the U.S. Is Our Pearl Harbor,” which demeaned the sacrifice of American soldiers by likening a military attack on American soil that brought us into the bloodiest war mankind has ever experienced to email phishing.”

More from David Harsanyi:

On MSNBC, where illiterate histrionic analogies litter coverage every day, a contributor compared Donald Trump’s meeting in Helsinki with Vladimir Putin to Pearl Harbor and Kristallnacht, just to be safe.

Social media is teeming with similar hyperbole — “treason,” “traitor,” etc . — and not just from anonymous trolls. It’s difficult to accept anyone with a working brain actually believes this rhetoric, and they certainly don’t act like it. But if well-heeled pundits keep telling everyone The Fourth Reich is imminent before retiring to their townhouses in Capitol Hill every night, some people might actually start believing them. And if email phishing and hacking is truly comparable to Pearl Harbor or Kristallnacht or the Holocaust there’s really no reason why those accepting these analogies shouldn’t also support military reprisals abroad and coups at home.

All the Democrats have to do is not act crazy, and… you know the rest.

WINNING: Nikki Haley secures arms embargo that eluded Obama admin.

MIXED UP PRIORITIES: The BBC got dinged to the tune of $273,902.72 (plus additional damages to be calculated later plus attorney’s fees)  this morning for invading the privacy of entertainer Sir Cliff Richard. The OBE’s apartment was raided by police in a sexcapade allegation (that never came to pass) and the court found that BBC had “sensationalized” and violated Richards’ privacy by entering his flat and incessantly broadcasting the footage. The BBC argued that:

“This judgment creates new case law and represents a dramatic shift against press freedom and the long-standing ability of journalists to report on police investigations, which in some cases has led to further complainants coming forward.”

Where was their commitment to reporting in letting 16 years of police investigations go unreported in Rotherham, where Muslim gangs  sexually exploited and abused as many as 1,500 girls? Oh, that would be racist and Islamophobic, I get it. (The UK press refers to the Pakistani perpetrators as “Asian.” How veddy British.)

**Corrected math on damages. Now you know why I’m a lawyer and not an accountant**

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: School-funded group shares video calling national anthem racist.

AT AMAZON, Today’s Kindle Deals.

Plus, Hot New Releases, Updated Every Hour.

And, save Big on Clearances, Overstocks, and Markdowns at the Amazon Outlet Store.

TURKEY SHOULD IMMEDIATELY CANCEL ITS PURCHASE OF RUSSIAN S-400 MISSILES.

LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Trump Clarifies Remarks and Much, Much More. “Resistance agitator Sen. Chuck Schumer wants hearings and Trump’s tax returns. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee next week “to explain Trump’s one-on-one meetings with the ruthless strongmen.” The appearance was pushed by Iran-friendly GOP Senator Bob Corker.”

REALITY ALWAYS COMES AS A SHOCK TO SOME PEOPLE: Maryland Democrats Shocked to Learn Single-Payer Is Expensive.

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT: A.G. Underwood And Gov. Cuomo Announce Lawsuit To Protect New York Taxpayers From Drastic Cut In State And Local Tax Deduction. “The lawsuit argues that the new SALT cap was enacted to target New York and similarly situated states, that it interferes with states’ rights to make their own fiscal decisions, and that it will disproportionately harm taxpayers in these states.”

I’m so old, I remember when paying your fair share was patriotic.

More to the point, the relevant law reads: “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.” And the courts have ruled consistently that the 16th Amendment’s broad powers are, well, really broad.

But if Underwood and Cuomo want to spearhead a movement to repeal the 16th, I’d be cool with that.

IS THERE ANYTHING TRUMP CAN’T DO? He’s already turned the Democrats into rampant McCarthyite Russophobes. Now he’s got them suing for lower taxes.

BYRON YORK:

There have always been two parts to the Trump-Russia probe: the what-Russia-did part, which is the investigation into Russia’s actions during the campaign, and the get-Trump part, which is the effort to use the investigation to remove him from office.

Trump’s problem is that he has always refused, or been unable, to separate the two. One is about national security and international relations, while the other is about Donald Trump.

The president clearly believes if he gives an inch on the what-Russia-did part — if he concedes that Russia made an effort to disrupt the election — his adversaries, who want to discredit his election, undermine him, and force him from office, will take a mile on the get-Trump part. That’s consistent with how Trump approaches other problems; he doesn’t admit anything, because he knows his adversaries will never be satisfied and just demand more.

Which, to be fair, is true. But York continues:

But Trump’s approach doesn’t work for the Trump-Russia probe. There’s no reason he could not accept the verdicts of the House Intelligence Committee, the Senate Intelligence Committee, the Intelligence Community, and, yes, Mueller, that Russia tried to interfere in the election. There would be no political loss, and, in fact, great political gain, for Trump to endorse that finding.

At the same time, there is nothing wrong with Trump fighting back hard against the get-Trump part of the investigation. Voters know that Democrats, Resistance, and NeverTrump activists have accused Trump of collusion for two years and never proven their case. Mueller has charged lots of people with crimes, but none has involved collusion. That could still change — no one should claim to know what is coming next from Mueller — but Trump, as a matter of his own defense, is justified in repeating the “no collusion” and “witch hunt” mantras.

So in response to the “Who do you believe?” question in Helsinki, Trump could simply have said: I believe the House Intelligence Committee, the Senate Intelligence Committee, and the Intelligence Community. I believe the verdict of U.S. agencies. Russia did it. We’ve retaliated and we’ll do more. But my adversaries at home have turned this into a politically motivated crusade to cripple the president of the United States, and it’s time to stop it. Now, let’s talk about issues that are vital for the future of America and the world.

Yes, he could have. But that’s not Trump’s style. And Trump thinks he’s done better with his own style than by listening to the “experts,” which is generally true . . . so far, anyway.

IS THERE ANYTHING SOCIALISTS CAN’T SCREW UP? Crab meat from Venezuela not safe, FDA and CDC warn.

As of July 12, there have been 12 cases in multiple states of Vibrio parahaemolyticus, which is a bacteria that can cause gastrointestinal illness in humans. It’s also being linked to the imported crabmeat.

Symptoms of Vibrio parahaemolyticus include diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, nausea, fever, and stomach pain.

It is only crab meat imported from Venezuela that is being implicated, so the FDA is advising restaurants and retailers to not serve crustaceans tracing back to the country.

Another reason sanctions on Venezuela are redundant: What little the socialists can bring to market, few people should be willing to buy.

KURT SCHLICHTER: It’s Undeniable: Trump Is Blessed With Really Stupid Enemies. To be fair, there’s something about him that enhances their stupidity.

WELL, BYE: Dem Campaign Manager Leaves Race in Wake of Free Beacon Exposé. “Tedra Cobb manager out after video showing candidate won’t tell public her true position on banning certain guns.”

Mike Szustak, who has been running Cobb’s campaign since April, told the Watertown Daily Times that he was no longer working on the campaign. It is not clear if he quit or if he was fired.

The move comes in the aftermath of a Washington Free Beacon report on a video showing Cobb telling a group of teen supporters that she could not publicly state her desire for a ban on certain rifles for fear that her view is unpopular and could cost her the election.

“When I was at this thing today, it was the first table I was at, a woman said, ‘How do you feel about assault rifles?’ And I said they should be banned,” Cobb said in the video. “And I said, you know, people were getting up to go, to go get their lunch because it was a buffet, and I just said to her, I want you to know Cindy, I cannot say that.”

I can’t help but notice that the wanna-be gun-grabber candidate is still in the race.

AN IDEA SO CRAZY, IT JUST MIGHT WORK! Army To Lower Divorce Rates By Training Soldiers Not To Marry Strippers. Yes it’s a parody, but is it, really?

BLUE WAVE? Ted Cruz Senate Race Opponent Beto O’Rourke calls for Trump’s impeachment over Putin summit.

This comes on the heels of New York congressional candidate and “democratic” socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s call to “occupy” U.S. airports.

All Democrats have to do is not act crazy, and they can’t even manage that.

IT’S LIKE UBER FOR LAW STUDENT WORKERS: Introducing Book-It Legal: The Innovative Legal Startup That May Forever Change the Student Clerkship.

BIG LEAGUE POLITICS: Peter Strzok Grew Up In Iran, Worked As Obama and Brennan’s Envoy To Iranian Regime.

There’s a lot to chew on here, much of it conjecture, but it’s an interesting read.

A WAKEUP CALL FROM THE ATLANTIC: The Anti-Trump Hysteria Isn’t Helping: The president’s performance in Helsinki wasn’t defensible—but neither was it treasonous. Actualy, when people are calling it treasonous, it’s easily defensible as non-treasonous, especially since the people doing the calling don’t even know what treason is.

FED: Economy Growing Stronger.

OF COURSE HE DOES: Temple prof Marc Lamont Hill praises convicted terrorist Assata Shakur. “Shakur was convicted in 1977 of killing a New Jersey State Trooper during a shootout, but subsequently escaped from prison and fled to Cuba, where she is presumed to be currently residing.”

D. C. MCALLISTER: Trump’s Helsinki Comments Were a Defense of U.S. Voters, Not of Russia. “The intel community has assaulted the legitimacy of the voters’ choice.”