21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: First, she had his baby. 12 years later, they met, then fell in love.

TO BE FAIR, PRETTY MUCH ALL OF HER LEGACY IS MALIGNANT: The Steele Dossier, Hillary Clinton’s Malignant Gift to America.

THE HEAVY HAND OF THE CENSOR: Facebook Bans White Nationalism and White Separatism. Examples of banned phrases: “Immigration is tearing this country apart.”

UPDATE: Eugene Volokh emails to suggest I’m misreading this, and I think he’s right. The phrase in the article is “Immigration is tearing this country apart; white separatism is the only answer.” I read that as two separate phrases that are being banned, but looking at it again I think I was wrong.

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: Report: Cook County clerk shocked that no written motions were filed in dismissal of Smollett’s case. “When you’re about to let a celebrity walk scot-free on 16 felony charges for no apparent reason, the important thing is to do it in the shadiest way possible. Why shake public confidence in your office when you can really throttle it? . . . The VP of Chicago’s police union unloaded yesterday on state’s attorney Kim Foxx, demanding a federal investigation into why she leaned on Chicago PD to transfer the case to the FBI after hearing from Smollett supporter Tina Tchen, former chief of staff to Michelle Obama. Foxx ended up recusing herself before the charges against Smollett were dropped but the union wants to know if she had a hidden hand in yesterday’s outcome.”

NOT THE MOST AMBITIOUS OF GOALS, BUT GOOD: The 2019 Lincoln Nautilus Improves on the Former MKX.

AT AMAZON, save in Patio Lawn and Garden.

Plus, Spring Deals on Major Appliances.

YOU’RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER BLOG: 50+ Journalists, Politicians, Celebrities, and Grifters Who Peddled the Russia Collusion Hoax.

ON THE GREEN NEW DEAL, DEMOCRATS EMBRACE THE FIERCE URGENCY OF MAYBE LATER:

But if the measure is simply a resolution laying out goals, why can’t all members of the Senate say whether or not they support the goals now, as Markey, Ocasio-Cortez, and the Senate Democrats running for president had done when the Green New Deal was first introduced? “We haven’t had any witnesses or expertise or science,” Markey replied. “It’s a perversion of the political process to not have hearings on legislation before you bring it out. I want hearings.”

Huh – I can remember when Markey rejected the opinions of witnesses and scientists on this very topic.

SHOCKING NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF SCIENCE: Exercise linked to 45 percent drop in death risk.

ORWELL’S 1984: A WARNING FOR THE REST OF US; A HOW-TO GUIDE FOR THE LEFT: Cook County Clerk’s Office Stunned as Smollett Case File Vanishes From Records System — ‘As If It Never Existed.’

THIS ARGUMENT WOULD BE MORE COMPELLING IF THE NEWSPAPERS WE HAVE DIDN’T SUCK SO MUCH: Why Losing Our Newspapers Is Breaking Our Politics.

YOU CAN’T HUMILIATE THE SHAMELESS: The implosion of the collusion theory is a humiliation for everyone who promoted it.

DISPATCHES FROM THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE: The Other LA College Cheating Scandal — The One You Might Have Missed.

UCLA is at the center of a cheating scandal that federal authorities say involved former and current students impersonating dozens of Chinese nationals who needed good scores on English tests to get into college in the U.S.

The six defendants, five with ties to UCLA, allegedly used fake passports, doctored with their own photos, to pass themselves off as the Chinese nationals at testing centers in and around Los Angeles as recently as 2016.

They were paid about $400 to $1,000 each time they sat for an exam, said Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Ryan. [Compared to $10,000 to $75,000 allegedly charged per test in that other college cheating scandal that broke this week.]

That other cheating investigation, dubbed Operation Varsity Blues, ensnared 50 defendants and also involved UCLA. It has drawn international attention, with celebrities, wealthy business people, coaches and college administrators among those charged this week. Like that scandal, the Chinese cheating charges also raise issues of fairness.

“It undermines the credibility of the admissions process for the university,” Ryan said. “It’s also potentially taking away spots from other people who are submitting valid scores.”

Earlier: What happens after rich kids bribe their way into college? I teach them: A professor at an elite US school says an influx of unskilled and entitled students is monopolizing faculty time: ‘They will eat you alive.’

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DREAMS DIE HARD: Will the collusion myth destroy the Democrats in 2020?

DEADLINES WORK: Vice president directs NASA to return to the Moon by 2024: “If our current contractors can’t meet this objective, then we’ll find ones that will.”

REPUBLICANS POUNCE! Mueller report reprieve becomes Trump’s re-election weapon.

A MIX OF HIGH AND LOW TECH: The Marines’ Plywood Supply Drone Is Undergoing Flight Tests.

UM… OK: Ocasio-Cortez Takes Credit For Not Getting Any Votes In Favor Of Her Green New Deal.

BECAUSE SHUT UP! MSNBC to Mazie Hirono: If you guys support the Green New Deal, why didn’t you vote for it? “Words you won’t often read here: Katy Tur is correct. I made the same point yesterday about 2020 Dems trying to have it both ways on the vote, being “half-pregnant” on the GND by endorsing it publicly and then hedging their bets by voting present on the Senate floor. The best Hirono can do to justify it is note that McConnell held the vote to try to divide Democrats. Right — because the legislation itself is divisive. Left-wing panderers like the 2020 field and remake-the-world imbeciles like AOC think it’s just grand, or pretend to for their own electoral purposes; moderates with purpler constituencies back home look at the cost and the goofy excesses about farting cows and run screaming. Nothing aggravates the tension within Team Blue between the progressive sans-culottes and the centrist freshmen who actually knocked off Republicans in last year’s midterms like the GND. (Well, maybe Ilhan Omar riffing on dual loyalty does.) If you don’t like having to take a tough vote on it, don’t promote it incessantly and basically dare McConnell to call your bluff.”

They’ll learn. And one of the things they’ll learn is that Cocaine Mitch don’t mess around.

NAVY: Message To The Mess: Earn Back The Sailors’ Trust.

What I’m about to say is directed to the Navy’s Chiefs’ Mess and there are a few of you who will take it personally, and to you I say, good. Many more of you will question the medium and the audience and wonder why this discussion has to take place openly.

My answer to that is the way we conduct ourselves as chief petty officers affects our entire Navy.

Many of our sailors don’t trust the Mess. They don’t trust us because we are not doing the jobs we used to do, the jobs the Mess was intended to do.

Our focus seems to have shifted. Too many of us believe the strategic direction of our Navy is where we should be concentrating. Not enough of us are walking berthings, establishing standards, visiting the mess decks, and just listening to our men and women.

Chiefs need to get their damn heads out of their academic and post-Navy aspirations and back into the lives and development of their sailors. Our sailors don’t need chiefs pretending they understand the very complex concept of “strategy.” Our sailors need chiefs whose daily “strategy” revolves around unit mission and sailor development. Their playbooks are PODs and MRCs, profile sheets and evals. Our best chiefs have their sleeves rolled up and their ears open. We’re moving away from that, and our sailors’ faith in us is dwindling.

Don’t be out of touch and career-obsessed. That’s what officers are for.

RELIGION OF PEACE UPDATE: Gay sex will be punishable by stoning to death and thieves will be amputated under ‘vicious’ new Sharia laws brought in by Brunei.

THE TRUTH HURTS: Ocasio-Cortez flips out after congressman calls Green New Deal ‘elitist.’

But if she’s really hot to “address the climate,” she should get behind my proposal to ban A/C in DC.