YUGE: Line for Trump’s 2020 Launch Rally Forms More Than a Day and a Half Early.

CHRISTIAN TOTO: Why 3 Woke Comedy Flops Won’t Stop Hollywood.

This year isn’t half over yet, but we’ve already seen three comedies brimming with social justice posturing.

• “Long Shot” resembles a standard rom-com, but the love story repeatedly pauses for progressive bromides.

• “Booksmart” riffs on the “Superbad” formula, but with female students sharing feminist talking points and empowerment mantras.

• “Late Night” stars Mindy Kaling as a Millennial trying to crack the all-male writing team for a talk show legend. Her character rails against the “patriarchy” and demands diversity … or else.

“Long Shot” under-performed with a $30 million haul. “Booksmart” fared worse, managing a measly $19 million to date. “Late Night’s opening weekend proved dismal, too, with a $5.1 million haul.

See a pattern here?

Yeah. Not a whole lot of humor in those comedies.

SHOCKING NEWS FOR THE HISTORICALLY IGNORANT: VIDEO: Students SHOCKED to learn Biden, not Trump, said these ‘racist’ quotes.

#JOURNALISM: Flashback: George Stephanopoulos apologizes on ‘Good Morning America’ for not disclosing Clinton Foundation donations.

DON’T BE EVIL: Genius accuses Google of copying its lyrics data.

Have you found yourself using Google’s lyrics results more than visiting individual lyrics sites? You’re not alone — and Genius thinks underhanded tactics are involved. The company has accused Google of not only hurting its traffic with its lyrics cards, but of sometimes grabbing Genius’ lyrics verbatim. The evidence is in the apostrophes, Genius said. It purposefully alternated between straight and curved apostrophes as a form of watermarking (they typically spell out “red handed” in Morse code), and there were reportedly over 100 instances where Google’s lyrics included those exact apostrophes.

Clever.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION: University ignores its own lawyer, refuses to recognize conservative club.

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LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Say What? ‘Multiple Security Incidents’ Involved with Hillary Homebrewed Email Setup. “Wow, guys, I’m shook. I was told that it is perfectly acceptable to set up a homebrewed email server with the same security protection as a mid-90s hotmail account, to manage highly classified communications to skirt government reporting and archiving requirements. I was told that its not criminal to transmit and print out highly classified information, even if one is briefed on and signed off on the protocol for handling classified information and material. And furthermore, I was told that it was no big deal (quick squirrel!) that President Obama knew about and engaged with these unsecured communications.”

Spoiler: It isn’t perfectly acceptable, it was criminal, and it is a big deal.

NICE: Low-cost Valkyrie unmanned aircraft completes second test flight. “Billed as a ‘low-cost’ drone, the XQ-58A met all test objectives during a 71-minute flight last week at Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona.”

STUART TAYLOR, JR.: Sex Predator or #MeToo Prey?

Dababneh is one of many men accused of sexual misconduct who have been presumed guilty, without meaningful due process, by their employers (or campuses), peers, the media, and the public. Their lives and professional prospects, including Dababneh’s, are typically devastated. Some become depressed, even suicidal. Some, however, are fighting back in any way they can. Hundreds of accused college students have sued their campuses for ruling against and often expelling them in proceedings that, they claim, lack due process. And a majority of those have won at least preliminary rulings.

But very few accused men sue their accusers, in part to avoid public trials and minimize publicity. That’s what makes Dababneh’s case unusual. Even those who have strong evidence of innocence typically sue only their campuses or employers. It is harder to win a suit against an accuser and most could not pay large damage awards.

In Dababneh’s case, he says that he become convinced that a public trial in a court of law governed by due process became his only hope of clearing his name. He had been ruined by publicity about the Lopez accusation and stunned by the unfavorable outcome of a highly secretive and (in his view) grossly unfair, guilt-presuming investigation by a private Sacramento lawyer hired by the State Assembly amid the highly charged #MeToo atmosphere.

People will act more carefully if they think they may face consequences for their actions. Much, much more at the link.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: AAUP Adds Vermont To List Of Schools Sanctioned For ‘Serious Departure’ From Shared Governance In Detenuring 14 Of 19 Law Profs To Close $2 Million Budget Gap.

OF COURSE IT DOES: Appreciative Laughter Greets Malaysian PM’s Antisemitic Barb at Cambridge University Appearance.

BJORN LOMBORG: Sorry, banning plastic bags won’t save our planet.

A 2018 study by the Danish Ministry of Environment and Food looked not just at plastic waste, but also at climate-change damage, ozone depletion, human toxicity and other indicators. It found you must reuse an organic cotton shopping bag 20,000 times before it will have less climate damage than a plastic bag.

If we use the same shopping bag every single time we go to the store, twice every week, it will still take 191 years before the overall environmental effect of using the cotton bag is less than if we had just used plastic.

Even a simple paper bag requires 43 reuses to be better for the environment – far beyond the point at which the bag will be fit for the purpose.

The study clearly shows that a simple plastic bag, reused as a trash bag, has the smallest environmental impact of any of the choices.

Don’t bother the Gaia-worshippers with facts — they’ve made up their minds.

WHAT IT WILL TAKE TO WIN: Pro-Trump group to spend $20M on registering voters in Fla., Pa., N.C., Ga.

TO BE FAIR, IT WAS DESIGNED TO: Professor Stephen Gillers (NYU) Unwittingly Demonstrates Why ABA Model Rule 8.4(g) Chills Protected Speech.

MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE: Woke apocalypse: the Oberlin College suit. I believe that the woke mob can be subjected to lawsuits on a number of fronts, from statutory civil rights violations, to defamation, to a variety of business torts. And should be.

OUTRUNNING THEIR BASE: Progressives Vowed Driver’s Licenses for the Undocumented. Then the Suburbs Spoke Up.

HMM: A Wall Street firm handicapped the impact of Big Tech regulation — and it’s bad news for Facebook.

Facebook and Google have come under increased scrutiny in recent months over the companies dominant position in the online advertising market.

Martin estimates that Google would be worth 50% more if its broken up, but Facebook wouldn’t be so lucky. There’s also broader concern about big tech’s upcoming battle against regulators globally and the impact it will have on growth.

“We believe FAANG growth rates are decelerating and they will increasingly enter each other’s business to drive growth,” she said. “We believe that not all FAANG ‘s will survive this battle.”

Martin also warned that Facebook’s margins are falling as costs are growing at 50% per year.

I bet they could save a lot of money by getting out of the Thought Police business.

SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED: Rep. Eric Swalwell rolls out gun control plan.

A 48-hour cooling-off period between the time a person purchases a firearm and the time they take possession of it.

Implement background checks for all firearm and ammunition purchases.

Require that liability insurance be purchased before a person can buy, trade, or otherwise receive a firearm.

Create a national firearm registry that is linked to individual firearms, and require that all purchases, transfers, and donations of firearms be mandatorily registered.

Prohibit individuals from purchasing more than one handgun per 30-day period.
Prohibit the online sale of ammunition.

Ban and buy back bump stocks, large-capacity magazines that are capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition, and silencers.

Prohibit individuals from hoarding ammunition in quantities exceeding 200 rounds per caliber or gauge.

Repealing the Protection for Lawful Commerce in Guns Act.

Prohibit states from arming teachers.

I think the only thing he missed was Danny Davis’s 50% ammo tax.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Oberlin’s $44 million verdict could happen to any college — they’re all a mess.

VENEZUELA: A Humanitarian Crisis The Left Couldn’t Care Less About.

Try to imagine this scenario. A once-wealthy country spirals downward over the course of several years into a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions. Starvation and violence are rampant. The economy has collapsed. Millions have already fled. And all the while, an autocratic ruler acts with complete indifference, when he’s not trying to crush dissent and blame other countries for the misery he’s inflicting on his own.

Under normal circumstances, there would be regular protests in Washington. Hollywood actors would be busy creating tear-jerker videos and making emotional award ceremony speeches. Musicians would be putting on global benefit concerts. The corruption, desperation and daily human misery would be above the fold in newspapers and leading the nightly news. It would be on everyone’s mind.

But in this case, the catastrophic suffering is being almost completely ignored. Why? Because it’s happening in Venezuela — a socialist state that the left has for years championed and now refuses to admit has been a monumental failure.

It was fun until the other people’s money ran out.

#JOURNALISM: Democracy Dies with Chinese Propaganda: Media “watchdogs” at CNN tear into President Trump for citing Fox News, but they are shockingly silent on the laundering of Chinese propaganda by the Washington Post and New York Times.

Carrying water for commies is a time-honored tradition at those outlets, so it doesn’t count as “fake news” to them.

Related: China, not Russia, is the biggest threat.

Also Related: While Everyone Is Distracted By Russia, Chinese Spying And Influence Runs Wild.