NEWS YOU CAN USE: 5 Things Not To Put In Your Vagina.

WE ALWAYS KNEW SHE WAS A FRAUD: Rachel Dolezal Charged With Welfare Fraud. “Investigators say she failed to report $84K.”

THIS ISN’T GOOD: The US is running out of bombs — and it may soon struggle to make more.

The Pentagon plans to invest more than $20 billion in munitions in its next budget. But whether the industrial base will be there to support such massive buys in the future is up in the air — at a time when America is expending munitions at increasingly intense rates.

The annual Industrial Capabilities report, put out by the Pentagon’s Office of Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy, has concluded that the industrial base of the munitions sector is particularly strained, something the report blames on the start-and-stop nature of munitions procurement over the last 20 years, as well as the lack of new designs being internally developed.

Some suppliers have dropped out entirely, leaving no option for replacing vital materials. Other key suppliers are foreign-owned, with no indigenous capability to produce vital parts and materials ― setting up the risk that a conflict with China could rely on Chinese-made parts.

Sheesh.

NO PROBLEM, PROVIDED THEY ASK THIS OF EVERYONE: Facebook Demands Driver’s License, Social Security Number to Run Ad for Obama Expose Book.

STEVEN WILLS: Why Peacetime Naval Buildups Are Difficult.

There has been much gnashing of teeth and complaint in response to the U.S. Navy’s slow build toward a goal of 355 ships. Peacetime naval buildups by free societies have never been simple undertakings. Such governments usually retire large numbers of warships in search of “peace dividends,” from which recovery is often a challenge. If ill-timed, they can result in large numbers of warships that are out of date before they complete even a decade of service, or need to be retired before the end of the service lives to cut costs. Getting to the right numbers of ships, especially in a period of tight finance may mean holding onto old ships well past their expected service life. Past examples of peacetime buildups by the British Royal Navy and U.S. Navy suggest that while getting to larger numbers of ships is possible, the costs can be prohibitive; especially in an environment of rapid, technological advancement.

In desperate times, armies can be trained and thrown into battle in a hurry. The cost, in terms of blood lost, is high — but it can be done.

The same is not true for navies and, in these days of fifth generation jets and bombers, air forces. We cut both to the bone — and beyond — following victory in the Cold War, and never built back up (or even sped up procurement) despite constant low-level warfare since 9/11/2001. Now that China and Russia are getting frisky again, we have naval and air forces which are too few, too old, and stretched too thin.

So it may turn out that there’s nothing more expensive than a peace dividend.

SHOT: President Trump Is a Better Dealbreaker Than Dealmaker.

-Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker.

CHASER: North Korea responds to Trump cancelling US summit, says it’s ready to ‘resolve issues anytime.’

–Business Insider.

AG SESSIONS ON CAMPUS FREE SPEECH: This is America. The government should have a position on free speech on public campuses, and given our Constitution that position should be for freedom of speech, not against it. It’s nice to see DOJ recognizing that Americans on campus are being denied justice, and getting involved in defending that most precious of civil rights.

CHARLIE MARTIN: Five Ways to Know If You Can Talk to Someone about Climate.

HMM: Congressional Measure to Recognize Israeli Sovereignty Over Golan Heights Killed. “Officials blame House GOP leadership for preventing vote on historic measure.”

Damascus can’t even keep control over the 99% of its territory Israel didn’t annex.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: George Washington University blocks appeal by accused student after accuser caught inventing evidence: lawsuit.

BLUE STATE BLUES: Swamped by Growth, Silicon Valley Weighs Taxing Big Employers.

It is unusual for cities to opt for a direct tax on employment to fund housing or services, said Jared Walczak, an analyst at the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation, a conservative-leaning research group that tracks U.S. tax policies. Cities usually try to incentive growth, keeping business taxes low or concocting tax incentives.

But up and down the West Coast, cities are struggling to manage multidimensional housing crises and growing wealth gaps, where pockets of prosperity displace others on the fringe.

In Silicon Valley, the problem is so severe that some are hoping for a limit—or at least a remedy—to growth while housing supply and public transit catch up.

It’s damn near illegal to build affordable housing in the Bay Area, and Sacramento has wasted tens of billions on a high-speed train to nowhere while the state’s streets and highways crumble — but more government is always the answer to failed governance.

“Get the hell out of my way!” the wise man once said.

DEPORTATIONS OF ILLEGALS AREN’T KEEPING UP WITH ARRESTS: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials are arresting more illegal immigrants but deportations of those previously arrested and processed through the legal system are lagging big-time. That’s according to data compiled by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). LifeZette’s Brendan Kirby reports there is more to this story than the numbers.

ACLU OPEN LETTER TO JEFF BEZOS: We demand that Amazon stop powering a government surveillance infrastructure that poses a grave threat to customers and communities across the country.

LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: What Happened at the DOJ-Congress Meeting Yesterday and Much, Much More. “Yesterday Congressional leaders met with DOJ and intelligence officials to obtain information about the agency’s rogue, unchecked investigation into RUSSIA-collusion and the 2016 presidential campaign. As I predicted immediately upon hearing about this meeting, there was no document production. We don’t know much about the meeting because classified information was discussed, but one person did make a statement. Guess who that was? Mr. Adam Schiff.”

The most dangerous place in the world is between Schiff and a CNN camera.

GET WOKE, GO BROKE: Evergreen State cutting dozens of faculty, staff positions.

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POLL: Majority says calling MS-13 members ‘animals’ is fair. “Fifty-six percent of American adults in the Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll said referring to members of the gang as ‘animals’ is fair, compared to 44 percent who said the characterization was unfair.”

Yet another torpedo, circling back.

BLUE WAVE: Poll: Menendez lead narrows to just 4 points over GOP foe Hugin. Amazing for New Jersey, but then again, the whole underage-Dominican-hooker thing probably doesn’t sit well in the #MeToo era.

VIEWPOINT SUPPRESSION: ‘The Public Deserves Transparency’: Trump Campaign, RNC Take on Silicon Valley Over Alleged Censorship.

President Trump’s 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale and the Republican National Committee are taking their fight against the censorship of conservative views right to the source.

Parscale and the RNC on Thursday sent a letter to Facebook and Twitter expressing concern about conservative voices being suppressed and asking the social media giants for transparency about how they will ensure that everyone has a voice on their platforms.

We’re going to see antitrust regulation, I think.

U.S. FORCES JAPAN TOP DOG COMPETITION: A “decoy” Navy petty officer gives Air Force military work dog Benjo a human target (a well-protected human target).

FURTHEST THING FROM MY MIND, ACTUALLY: Don’t Make Bill Kristol Run For President.

BLUE WAVE? How the Battle for the House Is Shaping Up.

If you had asked me six months ago who I thought would win control of the House of Representatives in 2018, I wouldn’t have hesitated before answering, “It’s early, but Democrats are heavily favored, although conventional wisdom has been very slow to catch up.” With a raft of GOP retirements in highly vulnerable open seats, a president with job approval ratings in the 30s, and a generic ballot lead for Democrats in the double digits, it was increasingly difficult to spell out a path to victory for Republicans. In fact, things were bad enough that it appeared their losses could grow into the 40 or even 50 seat range.

Things have changed. If the election were held today, it’s not clear who would hold the chamber. I might put a thumb on the scale for Republicans, but right now – and it is still early – the House is likely to be close. Once again, conventional wisdom seems slow to catch up, with analysts still discussing the toxic environment for Republicans.

Read the whole thing. After that, try spending less time on the internet and more time volunteering for a local campaign.

THIS IS MY SHOCKED FACE:  DOJ Employee Donations Overwhelmingly Favor Democrats.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: Applicants To Law School vs. Applicants To Med School.