SURPRISING EXACTLY NO ONE: Rashida Tlaib Gets Behind Academic Boycott of Israel.

“YOU CAN CHECK OUT ANYTIME YOU LIKE, BUT YOU CAN NEVER LEAVE:” Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) Grills Google Exec: ‘Americans Did Not Sign Up for’ Location Tracking.

More: “‘They think they can opt out of the tracking you’re performing, but they can’t meaningfully opt out,’ Hawley said. ‘It’s kind of like that old Eagles song, ‘You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.’”

THERE’S NO IQ TEST FOR CONGRESS: Ocasio-Cortez Blames Pipeline That Hasn’t Been Built Yet for an Oil Spill.

TYLER COWEN: The College Admissions Scandal Is About More Than Just Bribery: Most U.S. institutions of higher education don’t even try to live up to their egalitarian ideals. “First, these bribes only mattered because college itself has become too easy, with a few exceptions. If the bribes allowed for the admission of unqualified students, then those students would find it difficult to finish their degrees. Yet most top schools tolerate rampant grade inflation and gently shepherd their students toward graduation. That’s because they realize that today’s students (and their parents) are future donors (and potential complainers on social media). It is easier for professors and administrators not to rock the boat. What does that say about standards at these august institutions of higher learning?” Read the whole thing.

EVERGREEN HEADLINES: It’s Time For Conservatives To Choose: Fight Back Or Surrender.

BLAMING OBAMA? IS THAT EVEN ALLOWED? The Washington Post Blames Obama for Fentanyl Deaths: The paper suggests that more drug law enforcement is the solution to a problem created by drug law enforcement.

DISPATCHES FROM THE INTERSECTION OF HOLLYWOOD INTERRUPTED AND THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE: A Nation of Felicity Huffmans.

The latest elite-college admissions scandal rests on a foundation of pure silliness; as Jim Geraghty writes, people with rich, famous, well-connected parents are the ones who least need the imprimatur of a famous college to speed them through life. Yet these same people are the ones with the means to indulge the status obsession that plagues most of us. Let’s not think of Felicity Huffman et al. as unusual: Everybody with the means to steer their kids into top-drawer colleges is thinking about how to game the system. This is because an elite-college degree isn’t an instrument or a tool; it doesn’t have to lead to anything. It’s a status symbol in itself. Yale is Louis Vuitton is Piaget is Mercedes.

* * * * * * * *

Somehow those of us who don’t own an Audemars watch or a Birkin handbag manage to muck on without them, and we don’t fret about whether our children will someday own one. Few of us have a hole in our soul because we don’t own the fanciest car in town. Because we realize worship of material goods is beneath us. Diploma worship ought to be equally so.

Meanwhile, Hollywood is about to toss another star down the memory hole: Let’s face it — Lori Loughlin has committed career suicide.

Make no mistake: however this turns out, it’s an enormous blow — on the public relations front, emotionally and (bottom-line) financially — to Hallmark, a network that prides itself on fluffy, family-friendly programming, which it sells (very successfully) to advertisers buying onto their bland, greeting-card world of handsome architects, city women fleeing back to their hometowns and finding true love or innumerable sappy Christmas movies. (Loughlin starred in “Homegrown Christmas” in 2018). It’s a world in which crime hardly exists, or if it does, is never very serious — as in Loughlin’s “Garage Sale Mystery” movies, in which she plays antiques-dealer-turned-sleuth Jennifer Shannon. She’s made 15 of these “Murder, She Wrote”-type movies so far (they air on Hallmark Movies & Mystery) and several are in pre-production.

All of Loughlin’s movies have proven very popular and generated hefty cable viewership (on both networks) for Hallmark Channel. That, in turn, translates to advertising dollars. And when any business feels its financial health threatened, it takes action and cuts bait.

Loughlin’s career is sunk. Deal with it.

Ed Morrissey spots “Fellow celebrities, late-night comics tee[ing] off on Huffman, Loughlin college-admission corruption.” It’s bipartisan scorn:

Earlier this morning, I guest-hosted for Hugh Hewitt — and for three hours, this was the story listeners wanted to discuss. We had callers in almost every segment, even if we couldn’t get to them. The disgust and scorn for everyone involved in this scheme, but especially for the celebrities, was palpable. This crosses partisan lines, regions, and all other demographics in its bald affront to fair play. These families had all of the advantages possible and still committed fraud to game the system. It’s a story practically built for ridicule and satire.

Between Harvey Weinstein, #MeToo, Michael Jackon, Jussie Smollett and now this, our “Progressive” betters in Hollywood have sure been covering themselves in glory over the past years.

THEIR PLAYBOOK IS GETTING STALE:

Really stale.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Partisan Hate Is Becoming a National Crisis.

WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW: Navy Wants 10-Ship Unmanned ‘Ghost Fleet’ to Supplement Manned Force.

“These are 200- to 300-foot [vessels], 2,000 tons. I’m not sure what the final hull form will be, that’s what we are using today in terms of what the Ghost Fleet buy will be,” Rear Adm. Randy Crites, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for budget, said on Tuesday during a press budget briefing.

Unlike the small unmanned craft the Navy has experimented with in the past, the 10 large USVs the Navy wants to buy are the size of a small warship. The corvette-sized USVs are being developed to field different types of sensors and, eventually, vertical launch system (VLS) cells for a variety of guided missiles. However, it’s unclear how the unmanned systems will fit into the larger Navy force structure, how they will be measured as part of the battle force, how they would function with other platforms and what requirements for the Navy the systems would fulfill.

Load them up with antimissile missiles and make them the Navy’s version of the Air Force’s “loyal wingman” program.

WHY ELITES dislike standardized testing.

HARSH, BUT FAIR:

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: College no longer a value proposition, why not just learn a trade?

GOOD LORD: Daycare in Michigan Shuttered for Stabbing Kids with Thumbtacks.

PHONY ACTING PHONY: Locals: Hickenlooper’s Evasiveness on Capitalism Reflects His Governing Style.

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE! (CONT’D): Former high school athletic trainer admits to sex with one student, oral sex with another. “An athletic trainer who was working at Massac County High School pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against two students. In her plea agreement, Felicia Williams-Watson agreed to serve four years of probation.”

I doubt a man would have gotten off with probation.

HE’S RIGHT, BUT I’VE KIND OF GIVEN UP ON GETTING ANYONE’S ATTENTION UNTIL THERE’S A DISASTER OF SOME SORT: George Korda: National debt is a looming avalanche that must be addressed.

WELL, ALL THE ATHEISTS ARE RUNNING AROUND VOWING NOT TO HAVE KIDS BECAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING: New Harvard Research Says U.S. Christianity Is Not Shrinking, But Growing Stronger. Over time, that tilts the playing field.

NEWS YOU CAN USE.  I GUESS MINE “CUT SO SHORT THEY’RE BELONG THE FINGERTIP” MEAN “THIS WOMAN LIKES TO REFINISH FURNITURE. WHICH MEANS SHE KNOWS HOW TO USE DANGEROUS CHEMICALS”:  Bro decodes nail art to save guys from dating ‘crazy’ ladies.

I DID NOT SEE THIS COMING!  (I’M SORRY, I’M SORRY. I DENOUNCE MYSELF):  Oral sex nearly killed woman due to allergy to partner’s penicillin.

LISTEN CAREFULLY, I SHALL SAY THIS ONLY ONCE… BUT YOU MUST BRING THE EGG WHISK AND THE FLYING HELMET:  This woman risked it all to run a secret WWII spy network.

APPARENTLY THIS SCIENCE ALSO ISN’T SETTLED:  Your genes may reduce the effectiveness of contraception: study.

WEEK? WEEK? IT’S WELL OVER A YEAR AND COUNTING:  Who Declared This To Be Crazy Week?

ACTIVISTS KEEP TRYING TO SUPPRESS SCIENCE AND I AM TIRED OF IT:  Chronic fatigue activists are trying to silence us: researchers.