HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO L. FRANK BAUM (1856-1919), author of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  The poor guy never got to see the movie.

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FRANK J. EXPLAINS THINGS:

UNEARTHED BY A LOCAL TV STATION: Is This The Worst Scandal In Minnesota History? “Last year, more than $100 million in cash left the Twin Cities airport in carry-on luggage, bound for the Middle East and Africa.”

THIS WILL END WELL: Seattle City Council approves tax on large businesses such as Amazon and Starbucks to fight homelessness.

“In a few years, Seattle leadership will look back and say, ‘Huh, wonder what went wrong?’”

Just more bad luck, I guess.

WHEN THE RIGHT PROTESTS, IT’S WAR. WHEN THE LEFT OR ITS PROXIES WAGE WAR, IT’S “PROTEST.” But I like the White House attitude here: White House on protester deaths: “Israel has the right to defend itself.”

EVERYTHING SEEMINGLY IS SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL: When Andrew Sullivan Almost Seems Sane, You Know We’re Crazy.

(Classical reference in headline.)

OPEN THREAD: Make this a special Monday.

EXPERTS NOW HAVE CHILLING THEORY OF WHAT DOOMED MALAYSIA AIRLINES FLIGHT 370.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION DOESN’T QUITE CONVENE:  On this day in 1787, what became the Constitutional Convention was supposed to convene in Philadelphia.  But it didn’t.  There was no quorum yet.  Things didn’t get off the ground till May 25th.  In the meantime, there was plenty of time for food, librations and informal discussion at the Indian Queen Tavern.

WAIT, WHAT? Circuit attorney drops Greitens case, asks for special prosecutor to refile charge. “In a stunning development, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner on Monday dropped her prosecution of Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens in the face of the defense team’s plan to call her to the stand. Gardner’s office asked the court to appoint a special prosecutor to refile the felony invasion-of-privacy charge against the governor. Jim Bennett, the governor’s attorney, rejected the notion that charges would necessarily be refiled and called for the judge to unseal all documents in the case.” I haven’t followed this wild case as closely as I probably should have. It’s certainly wild.

VIDEO: Peter Thiel: The Reasons for the Decline of Western Civilization and Science.

“ALT-RIGHT” IS THE NEW “NEOCONSERVATIVE:” Trump’s Embassy Move Intensifies America’s Immoral Support for Israel’s Alt-right Government.

After years of U.S. coddling, I am under no illusions that the Trump administration, which openly supports Israel’s alt-right government, will do anything. Rather, the change will come only after the rest of the world — whether through the BDS movement or otherwise – makes clear to Israel (and the U.S.) that it will no longer tolerate apartheid.

—Diana Buttu is a Ramallah-based analyst and activist, and a former adviser to Mahmoud Abbas and the negotiating team of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

As George Orwell wrote in 1944, “It will be seen that, as used, the word ‘Fascism’ is almost entirely meaningless. In conversation, of course, it is used even more wildly than in print. I have heard it applied to farmers, shopkeepers, Social Credit, corporal punishment, fox-hunting, bull-fighting, the 1922 Committee, the 1941 Committee, Kipling, Gandhi, Chiang Kai-Shek, homosexuality, Priestley’s broadcasts, Youth Hostels, astrology, women, dogs and I do not know what else.”

SUMMER REMINDER: Drowning doesn’t look like drowning.

OKAY, THIS IS PROBABLY MORE IMPORTANT FOR DAILYKOS READERS: Men: Keep Estrogen Under Control.

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HOLD TIGHT, DC: ‘Widespread damaging winds’, possible derecho, could affect the Washington region this evening.

FORGET NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA. CALIFORNIA AND TEXAS REALLY NEED A PEACE SUMMIT.

That seems rather difficult. Unlike California, Texas is far too progressive to return to a Confederate-era worldview.

YOUR DAILY TREACHER: Nobody’s Even Pretending Anymore That Alec Baldwin Can Impersonate Trump. “Comedy used to be about making people laugh. Now it’s about trolling people you don’t like.”

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Supreme Court Strikes Down Federal Ban on Sports Gambling. What Does It Actually Mean?

POLICE THREATEN TO BAN AND ARREST PEOPLE MOCKING TINY CANNABIS BUST IN YORKSHIRE ON FACEBOOK.

It’s truly heartening to see that British police have decided that law enforcement is all about patrolling the mean streets of Facebook and Twitter. Or as ex-pat Charles C.W. Cooke tweeted last month when British cops were threatening social media critics while the NHS was banishing Alfie Evans to the Spartan hillside, “Michael Brendan Dougherty pointed out to me that police in the U.K. spend all their time on Twitter threatening people with jail time for frivolous things, and now I can’t stop seeing it.”

THE STRATEGIC CASE FOR MOVING THE U.S. EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM IS VERY SIMPLE: Since Oslo  in 1993, Israel has allowed Palestinian terrorists to set up a government in Ramallah, made three peace offers within internationally-accepted parameters, withdrawn from Gaza and parts of Samaria, suffered an intifadah, and in return has gotten… a worldwide Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign? The Palestinians have believed that they could win by stalling, waiting until the world’s impatience forced Israel to concede. Moving the U.S. Embassy without a peace agreement demonstrates to the Palestinians that things can and will move on without them, as do the growing ties between Israel and the Sunni powers. Either accept that Israel is here to stay and make the necessary accommodations, or be left in the dustbin of history.

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE! (CONT’D): Video: Married teacher caught blowing a 13-year-old student in classroom.

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