SHOCKING NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF SCIENCE: Soda consumption may be common link between obesity, tooth decay.

DECOUPLING: US Federal Communications Commission to vote to bar China’s Huawei and ZTE from US$8.5 billion government subsidy programme.

SKYNET SMILES, LICKS HIS VIRTUAL CHOPS: Let’s Talk About That Video Of The Gun-Shooting Killer Robot.

I’m glad I didn’t actually say anything, because the video actually features a clever bit of CGI instead of a real hunk of clanking metal. In fact, if you watch the entire segment, it quickly becomes apparent that either the robot is fake or the guys at “Bosstown Dynamics” are terrifyingly ignorant of proper range safety. Do watch the whole clip, which is pretty amusing and an incredible example of just how realistic CGI can be these days.

Read the whole thing.

BUT OF COURSE: Emotional Katie Hill condemns ‘horrible smear campaign’ by rightwing foes.

REPORT: STAFFERS ALLEGEDLY CONFIRMED KATIE HILL’S AFFAIR WITH LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR, LEADING PELOSI TO DEMAND RESIGNATION.

Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA), who resigned Sunday following allegations that she had an affair with a congressional staffer, was reportedly told to resign by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

Radio host Joe Messina reported on his Monday program “The Real Side,” that Hill’s resignation was demanded by Pelosi after the speaker learned that staffers in Hill’s office confirmed her affair with Legislative Director Graham Kelly. The staffers reportedly acknowledged the affair to the House Ethics Committee, which opened an investigation into the allegations.

When Pelosi learned of this, Messina reported, she told Hill to resign.

In other news regarding Hill, as Stephen Miller tweets, “Man, [her] current twitter feed is a better lesson in media bias then I could ever hope to accomplish in 11 years of being on Twitter. Go check it out.” The gang’s all here:

Just think of the media as Democratic Party operatives with bylines, and it all makes sense, to coin an Insta-phrase. And as Jim Treacher adds regarding the above lineup, “It really is amazing. And it hasn’t occurred to any of them that if Nancy Pelosi wanted Hill around, she wouldn’t have resigned.”

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): “She had sex with a staffer. Nancy gave her the boot. Media narrative: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy!”

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Air Force to Test Lighter, Cheaper, Planes to Supplement the A-10. “While the entire Warthog fleet is being rebuilt and upgraded with modern avionics and targeting systems to the A-10C standard, nothing can change the fact that the last jet left the Fairchild assembly line 35 years ago. Those airframes are getting up there in years, which means they’re getting more expensive to fly, and more expensive to maintain. So maybe an aging, irreplaceable, $45 million jet isn’t always the best thing to fly against Third World jihadis.”

IN THE MAIL: Mantis X Shooting Performance System. Maybe Glenn will try it out and post a review.

Plus, browse today’s Gold Box and Lightning Deals.

DAVID SOLWAY: What We Call National Health Care or Single-Payer Is a Crime Against Humanity.

LET THE SUNSHINE IN: Justice Department to Allow Body Cameras in Joint Task Forces. “Change comes after local police complained about longstanding federal ban.”

While a growing number of police departments across the U.S. require body cameras for public accountability, the federal government maintains that recording federal agents’ work would jeopardize sensitive investigations, a policy that has also applied to local police who work on joint task forces.

A pilot program in at least six cities aims to strike a balance by allowing officers to wear the cameras only during some arrests and while executing search warrants, senior Justice Department officials said. But they would leave the cameras behind during missions involving confidential informants, classified information and national-security concerns. For example, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which investigates potential terrorist attacks, would be prohibited from ever using the cameras.

Department officials said they hope a trial period of 90 days or longer will help answer major outstanding questions, including how footage should be stored and used in court cases; when cameras should be turned on or off; and how they should be used around undercover agents who require anonymity for sensitive cases.

The test run, which comes after months of deliberations with officials from the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals and the Drug Enforcement Administration, will take place in about six midsize cities, the officials said.

Faster, please.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: NYU refuses to share its files in kangaroo-court lawsuit, tells student to seek gossip instead.

MOLLIE HEMINGWAY: The Real Reasons Why Legacy Media Are Freaking Out Over Trump’s Successful Baghdadi Mission.

Corporate media have moved from at least projecting concern for reporting the actual news into unembarrassed political actors. That enables them to flamboyantly spin — as opposed to their previous method of subtly spinning — even major news with indisputable facts.

The 2016 campaign was a humiliating defeat for Hillary Clinton, but also for political media. Media outlets never understood the electorate they were paid big dollars to write and broadcast news about. They confidently asserted Trump had no chance to win, and convinced themselves that casting off journalistic standards was defensible because of the certain ruin Trump would bring.

Instead, President Trump’s administration has been marked by success in the domestic and foreign spheres. The economy is humming, including job and wage growth the media had previously said was unlikely to impossible to achieve. This is due to tax cuts, tax reform, and unprecedented deregulation. No new wars have been launched, much less the apocalyptic nuclear wars the media predicted. A long overdue recalibration with China is taking place.

What is good news for the country is bad news for the media and their political allies.

In short, they’re more anti-Trump than pro-America — and the gap between the two is yuge.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: VIDEO: Students hate cultural appropriation…until asked about Elizabeth Warren.

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KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Media Tries to Kill the Messenger in the Katie Hill Story. “All of this is happening because any elected Democrat who isn’t a straight, white male is supposed to be a protected species who can never be criticized. Hill was part of the Democratic youth movement that the Left loves so much simply because they’re young. Anybody who assails a member of the protected class must be destroyed.”

Hit back twice as hard, the wise man once said.

ALLIES: This Is How America Can Stop China From Dominating the South China Sea.

OF COURSE HE DID: Mayor de Blasio used his NYPD security detail to take his son to Yale. “If the commanding officer of the 75 (precinct) said, ‘move my kid to college,’ do you really think that wouldn’t kill his career? But because it’s the mayor, everyone just does it.” To be fair, abuse of power is kind of his trademark.

Plus: “Dante graduated in 2019 and has said he’s considering a career in politics.” Well, sure. Look how cushy it is.

HMM: How Democrats’ Gun Control Plans Would Wreck Wildlife Conservation. “Every current Democratic presidential candidate is advocating an assault on wildlife and habitat conservation in America. It’s fair to assume they don’t know. They, like most Americans, are likely unaware that the bulk of wildlife conservation funding in this country comes from a healthy firearms industry.”

The most knowledgable conservationists I’ve known were all hunters, quite unlike know-it-all urban hipster “environmentalists.”

CHANGE:

THE PROBLEM WITH SOCIALISM IS, EVENTUALLY YOU RUN OUT OF OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY: Venezuela Defaults on Its Last Bond, Setting Up Legal Showdown.

Luxembourg-based Clearstream Banking and Brussels-based Euroclear, the clearinghouses for the debt, didn’t receive the $843 million in principal and $71 million in interest due Monday, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Guaido, recognized by the U.S. and nearly 60 countries as Venezuela’s interim president, scored a last-minute victory on Thursday when the Treasury Department updated its sanctions guidelines to block creditors from seizing their collateral for 90 days. With the Trump administration’s support, Guaido and his allies effectively run Houston-based Citgo, yet have little operational control over its Caracas-based parent PDVSA.

It’s complicated.

WHY HAVE PROFESSIONAL SPORTS BEEN TAKEN OVER BY CENSORIOUS PECKSNIFFS? 2 women who flashed breasts at World Series banned by MLB.

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: The IRS Tried to Hide Emails That Show Tax Industry Influence Over Free File Program.

GOD WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS: Kanye West’s Conversion Could Be a Cultural Wrecking Ball.

RICHARD FERNANDEZ: Twenty years too early, ten years too late and the relic from Rome. “Obama was not indecisive. He simply decided on a different course and held to it. The only problem is it led nowhere.”