OH, PLEASE, FRANCIS, YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE READER:  The Hypocrisy of the NeverTrumpers. A view from outside America.

MARXISM, STRAIGHT UP:  It’s potent. What are They Smoking?

AS A FERTILITY MONUMENT THIS SEEMS REMARKABLY LIMP:  ‘Penis Park’ gets rise from Olympics crowd.

WELCOME 21ST CENTURY SCIENCE! WE’VE BEEN WAITING!  Man ‘cured’ of HIV through gene editing holds hope for others.

IT WOULD HELP IF THE MSM WOULD STOP GASLIGHTING US:  Americans are more depressed and miserable than ever.

INSISTING ON FACTS WHICH CANNOT BE DEMONSTRATED IS NOT A SIGN OF MENTAL BALANCE:  New Queen Nefertiti bust sparks ‘whitewash’ row.

WHEN REPUBLICANS ACT LIKE DEMOCRATS: Proposed Pennsylvania congressional map puts two Dems in same Pittsburgh district.

WELL, NOBODY IN HIS RIGHT MIND WANTS THAT BOOB CHARLES: Commonwealth in secret succession plans. Forget the Commonwealth, Britain needs to skip Charles and go straight to William.

OPEN THREAD: Thread away!

ANSWERING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: When Is It Safe to Go Back to Work After the Flu?

PEOPLE: Poor people live in “food deserts” and can’t get anything good to eat.

TRUMP: Okay, let’s send them food boxes instead of SNAP cards.

PEOPLE: That’s terrible and racist!

TONY KATZ: Andre Carson’s Bigoted Dinner Disqualifies Him From Office: Carson willingly dined with Louis Farrakhan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Indianapolis can’t have it.

ICO INVESTOR TV is a friend’s project and worth a look/subscription.

AT AMAZON, Lightning Deal: Yost MAV-3.5 Multi-Angle Vise, 3.5.”

I’VE ALWAYS SUSPECTED THIS: “California’s insurance commissioner has launched an investigation into Aetna after learning a former medical director for the insurer admitted under oath he never looked at patients’ records when deciding whether to approve or deny care.”

AT AMAZON, Shop Amazon Warehouse Deals – Deep Discounts on Open-box and Used Products.

Plus, Shop Amazon Outlet – Clearance, Markdowns and Overstock Deals.

PROMINENT SJW HAS SECOND THOUGHTS: Cry him a river! Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon is pissed that he dug his own grave:

During a press conference Tuesday, Rippon — the first openly gay athlete selected to a U.S. Winter Olympic team — said he doesn’t want the attention on his comments on Pence to distract from his teammates.

“I don’t want my Olympic experience being about Mike Pence,” he said, according to CNN.

Huh — how did that happen in the first place?

I STILL THINK IT’S ALIENS: ‘Oumuamua’ has been tumbling about the universe for a billion years.

YOUR DAILY TREACHER: I’m Offended That Everybody’s Offended. “The less sense a rule makes, the angrier they get when you break it.”

CRIME PAYS: Judge awards graffiti artists $6.7 million after their New York works were destroyed.

These are Heinlein’s crazy years, we just live in them.™

FREE BEACON: Manchin Took Thousands From Dem Who Told Trump to ‘Take Your Border Wall and Shove It Up Your A—.’ “W.Va. Democrat has complained of ‘hostile environment’ in D.C.”

Correction: Originally I’d attributed this one to the wrong paper. Fixed now — sorry!

UGH: Massive Takata Airbag Recall: Everything You Need to Know, Including Full List of Affected Vehicles. A friend of mine was in an accident recently where her previously recalled Takata airbags had been replaced. The replacements failed to deploy. And note all the updates on this piece as the scope of the problem continues to grow.

FINE DINING: You Can Grow Maggots in Your Instant Pot if You Don’t Clean This Part.

MALE PRIVILEGE: “I happened upon an article in Psychology Today by Dr. Miles Groth, who posited that suicide among young males is four times more common than among young females. Not only that, but suicide is now occurring at younger ages, in the early teens. With males, Dr. Groth said that one problem may be the relationship between fathers and sons, such as young males not having had a father in boyhood. He cites other issues as well, such as body image and relationships with women. ‘Young males are very impulsive, more than females, and they act without thinking,’ he said. Dr. Groth elaborated on this theme in a 2014 interview, in which he said that men and boys have come to hate themselves.”

Read the whole thing.

OIL WARS: Shale Output Hasn’t Grown This Fast Since Oil Was at $100.

The situation is “reminiscent of the first wave of U.S. shale growth,” when a flood of American oil built up a global glut that sent prices crashing over four years ago, said the Paris-based IEA, which advises governments and corporations on energy trends.

Oil prices fell after the report’s release in Europe before recovering somewhat. Brent, the international benchmark was down 0.06% at $62.55 while U.S. prices were down 0.27% at $59.13.

Shale producers “cut costs dramatically” during the nearly three-year-long oil industry downturn, the IEA said. They then took advantage of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cartel’s decision to cut its own output, which helped prices rise from the low $40s to over $70 a barrel as recently as late last month.

“All the indicators that suggest continued fast growth in the U.S. are in perfect alignment,” the IEA said.

OPEC had a choice between price and market share, and they sacrificed market share to prop up prices. Now they’ll get neither.