IN HONOR OF MOMMA MIA 2, “WATERLOO” IS MARK STEYN’S SONG OF THE WEEK:

In 1945, Europe was in ruins, America had won the war, and, if the Continentals weren’t exactly promising to love the Yanks forevermore, they knew that their fate was to be with them, and they couldn’t escape even if they wanted to. The US security umbrella and the Eurovision Song Contest both date back to the immediate post-war period. The idea was to help build a continent in which you could sing “Waterloo” rather than fight it, and, if in their excessive generosity the Americans accelerated the Europeans’ inclination to softness and decadence, well, it’s not their problem, and the Euros might have seen it coming. As Abba’s lyric shrewdly anticipates:

The history book on the shelf
Is always repeating itself.

After winning Eurovision in 1974 Abba bestrode the world like a colossus – if you can imagine any self-respecting colossus going out in public in velveteen knickerbockers, silver boots, pearl kimono and tricorn hat. And that was just the boys. “One of my favorite outfits,” said Björn, “was a sequinned blue leotard and cape.” But few men who go around in sequinned blue leotards have given us numbers like “Voulez Vous” or “Fernando”.

Do yourself a favor and läs hela artikeln, as they say in Sweeden.

AND THE LIBYAN WARZONE RESULTED FROM HILLARY’S BOTCHED, POLITICALLY MOTIVATED REMOVAL OF MUAMMAR QADDAFI: Act of betrayal: Manchester bomber was rescued by the Royal Navy from Libyan warzone and evacuated back to Britain – three years before he slaughtered 22 people at a pop concert.

IF HAVING KIDS IS IMPORTANT TO YOU, YOU SHOULDN’T PUT IT OFF: University Students Don’t Understand Their Own Fertility Clocks: This doesn’t bode well for long-term life planning.

In a survey of over 1200 male and female students from one university, Victorian researchers found that even though 90% of participants wanted children later in life, most of them underestimated the impact that age has on fertility.

Less than half of the participants correctly estimated the age that women’s fertility begins to decline significantly (35 to 39 years-old), and less than a fifth knew when male fertility declines (45 to 49 years-old).

Dr Eugenie Prior, lead author of the paper and a researcher in obstetrics and gynaecology from the University of Melbourne, told BuzzFeed News she believes that this underestimation could affect these students’ life plans down the track.

“Our study really confirmed that young people do want to have children but there are so many things they want to do before that happens that they might be delaying it until too late”.

For women, the decline in fertility tends to begin at around 32 years old and this decline speeds up at 35 years-old. By 40, fertility has declined by 50% for most women.

Yes, “you can have it all” feminism has done many women a real disservice.

YOUR DAILY TREACHER: Does James Gunn Deserve Another Chance? Does Anybody?

This is the part where the devil on my shoulder reminds me: “This is the world they’ve made. They won’t learn until they start suffering the consequences, same as the rest of us. Tough luck.”

And then the angel on my other shoulder says: “But if we can’t forgive them when they make mistakes, why will they have any reason to forgive us when we do?”

And then both shoulders do this: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Read the whole thing.

IT’S COME TO THIS: Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) seems confused about what illegal immigrants did illegally (video).

“’I’m confused’ should be the Democrats’ midterm slogan.”

THE HIDEOUS CULTURE OF HOLLYWOOD: Allison Mack and Me: Why would a child actor turn to NXIVM?

I think it’s clear that we need a federal investigation of sexual abuse in the entertainment industry.

TYLER O’NEIL: Colorado Baker Jack Phillips Opens Up About Being Compared to a Nazi, Though His Dad Liberated a Concentration Camp.

ME IN POPULAR MECHANICS: Should We Be Afraid of the 3D Printed Gun?

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES: How legal cannabis actually made things worse for sick people in Oregon.

Ironically, Oregon’s medical marijuana market has been on a downward spiral since the state legalized cannabis for recreational use in 2014. The option of making big money inspired many medical businesses to go recreational, dramatically shifting the focus away from patients to consumers. In 2015, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) took over the recreational industry. Between 2016 and 2018, nine bills were passed that expanded consumer access to marijuana while changing regulatory procedures on growing, processing and packaging.

In the shuffle, recreational marijuana turned into a million-dollar industry in Oregon, while the personalized patient-grower network of the medical program quietly dried up.

Now, sick people are suffering.

“For those patients that would need their medicine in an area that’s opted out of recreational sales, and they don’t have a grower or they’re not growing on their own, it does present a real access issue for those individuals,” said André Ourso, an administrator for the Center for Health Protection at the Oregon Health Authority.

Taxes — and therefore prices — are much lower on medical marijuana, so it doesn’t make much sense to dedicate valuable retail space to it.

“Sin taxes” don’t punish just the sinner.

HAVE YOU BEEN TO ELECTRIC MAIL LAND? Congressman Urges Colleagues to Rename Post Office After Jimi Hendrix.

PAYBACK’S A… YOU KNOW: Acosta Whines That Trump Aide Shouted At Him While He Was Shouting At President Trump.

MINISTRY OF TRUTH CULTURE: Moviepass is failing, so it needs to be nationalized.

Yes, she’s serious (ETA: yes, I assumed gender…).

PERVERSE INCENTIVE: Crypto ‘Assassination Market’ Lets Users Bet on Whether Trump Will Be Killed.

RETRENCHING: Uber to stop developing self-driving trucks: It has already been hauling freight, but will focus on autonomous cars only.

AT AMAZON, summer savings in Appliances.

Plus, bestsellers in Health and Personal Care.

MY USA TODAY COLUMN: While Everyone Is Distracted By Russia, Chinese Spying And Influence Runs Wild.

ROBERT SPENCER: Governor Cuomo Likens Trump’s Immigration Policies to ‘Jihad’ “Will CAIR reprimand him for using the term’s violent definition?”

Don’t be silly — they’re occasional allies of convenience.

PROOF WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY OF ABUNDANCE. AND MORONS.

DOWN BUT NOT OUT: Is Islamic State Making Plans for a Comeback in Iraq? “IS has lost all of its urban strongholds in Iraq, including Mosul, which it occupied in June 2014 and which was reclaimed by Iraqi forces last year with significant U.S. support. However, the recent surge in IS activity indicates that the group is now pursuing its old hit-and-run tactics in Iraq, and serves to illustrate how IS could exploit the divisions that remain among Iraqi factions.”

IMPORTANT ADVICE FROM THE WORLD OF SCIENCE: Maybe You Were Thinking About Eating Raw Centipedes. Don’t.

THE TORPEDOES THE DEMOCRATS PUT IN THE WATER FOR TRUMP KEEP CIRCLING BACK ON THEM: “The revelation that Mel Watt, a powerful financial regulator, has been accused of sexual harassment by an employee left Capitol Hill Democrats scrambling for a response, a stark contrast to their reaction to other cases of alleged misdeeds… Even those Democrats who have been vocal supporters of the #MeToo movement and pounced on misbehavior by Trump administration officials ignored requests for comment on the claims against Watt, the last remaining Obama-appointed regulator in this administration.”

The background is here, and it’s well worth reading the whole thing: “A Federal Housing Finance Agency staffer accused the FHFA director of repeatedly making inappropriate sexual advances when she tried to discuss career and salary concerns. The conversations included a 2016 meeting during which Watt steered the discussion to his feelings for the woman, according to documents and partial transcripts of tapes obtained by POLITICO. In a separate encounter, Watt asked about a tattoo on her ankle, saying, ‘If I kissed that one would it lead to more?’”

If the allegations are true, why is lefty politics such a cesspit of misogyny and harassment?

THIS IS HOW WE GOT BREXIT: Over at Samizdata, Natalie Solent explains the ceremonious process of kowtowing to the dictates of Brussels, how Britain has never been any good at that game, and how Ireland is (and why that might lead to the end of the spoken Irish language).

BUT THE NARRATIVE! 2018 Global Weather-Related Disaster Losses At Record Low (So Far).

FASTER, PLEASE: ‘Lab on a chip’ may diagnose disease-causing bacteria.