MY USA TODAY COLUMN: When attention gets monetized, it’s up to consumers to make reasonable limits on the supply. “One needn’t look far to see that today’s social media seems to keep people angrier, more reactive and less thoughtful than we used to be. (And it’s not as if people were paragons of reflective virtue beforehand.)”

Plus: “Personally, I quit Twitter. For me at least, it was the most addictive yet also most unsatisfying social medium. If lushly illustrated sites like Instagram are the equivalent of a fancy Las Vegas casino with chandeliers, free champagne and elegant carpeting, Twitter is the social media equivalent of a row of gas station slot machines being repetitively worked by emaciated, chain-smoking senior citizens.”

PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS:

● Shot: Hillary Condemns Backlash Against Greta Thunberg by Those Living in a ‘Fact-Free World’

—Nicholas Ballasy, PJ Media.com, yesterday.

● Chaser: Hillary Clinton Unveils New Plane, and Lets Journalists On Board.

—The New York Times, September 5th, 2016.

● Hangover: “Hillary Clinton’s entire approach to public policy, from her earliest days as a ‘children’s rights advocate,’ has been grounded in the idea that political differences need to be put aside for the sake of The Children. In 1996 she proclaimed, ‘As adults we have to start thinking and believing that there isn’t really any such thing as someone else’s child. … For that reason, we cannot permit discussions of children and families to be subverted by political or ideological debate.’”

—Jonah Goldberg, “Child’s Play,” NRO, January 24, 2007.

(The line quoted in that last hyperlink was parroted in 2013 by Melissa Harris-Perry in a now-infamous MSNBC network promotional ad.)

AS A LEGENDARY COMMUNITY ORGANIZER ADVISES, GET IN THEIR FACES AND PUNCH BACK TWICE AS HARD: NRA and San Francisco: City Backs Down in Face of Lawsuit.

QUESTION ASKED: Does This Photo Prove Biden Lied About His Knowledge of Son’s Ukraine Business Dealings?

SKYNET SMILES: NASA Hiring Engineers to Develop “Next Generation Humanoid Robot.”

SECOND LOOK AT ELIZABETH WARREN? Mark Zuckerberg says Elizabeth Warren’s policies are an ‘existential’ threat in leaked Facebook audio.

(I’m kidding of course — but as the Onion headline on Zuckerberg from last year went, “American People Admit Having Facebook Data Stolen Kind Of Worth It To Watch That Little F***er Squirm.”)

DEMOCRATIC CLOWN CAR UPDATE: Kamala Harris Calls Herself a ‘Top-Tier’ Candidate Despite Polling at 4 Percent.

Related: Kamala Harris Is Moving to Iowa.

How do you break out of a funk? A change of scenery always helps. That, at least, will be Kamala Harris’s approach. After her notable performance in the June debate for Democratic presidential hopefuls, California’s junior senator is suffering through what an internal campaign memo (accidentally left behind in a New Hampshire restaurant) referred to as a “summer slump.” Now, as she told her coworker, Senator Mazie Hirono, she’s “moving to f***ing Iowa.”

Great salesmanship there. I’m sure Iowans — even leftist Iowans — love to be dismissed that way.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAS PRICES SOAR PAST $4 PER GALLON.

Flashback: Aren’t California’s High Gas Prices What The Left Have Wanted?

Well, it’s a start, as Steven Chu, former President Obama’s then-incoming energy secretary, told the Wall Street Journal in the fall of 2008: “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.”

And Elizabeth Warren will finish the job: “On my first day as president, I will sign an executive order that puts a total moratorium on all new fossil fuel leases for drilling offshore and on public lands. And I will ban fracking—everywhere,” vowed Warren early last month.

FASTER, PLEASE: Scientists Are Starting to Take Warp Drives Seriously, Especially One Specific Concept.

CHRISTIAN TOTO: How One ‘SNL’ Joke Brutally Exposes Cancel Culture.

HOW DOES AN ATHEIST COMEDIAN FROM SOUTH-SIDE CHICAGO END UP AS A CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN? Be sure and catch the Ayn Rand reference. This is cultural commentary delivered like you’ve likely never before heard.

I’M EXPECTING AN EARTH-SHATTERING KABOOM: Air Force New B61 Mod 12 Nuclear Bomb Hits Targets in Testing.

BREAKING: A federal trial judge has ruled in favor of Harvard University in a lawsuit challenging its use of race-conscious admissions.

More here:

Harvard University does not discriminate against Asian American students through its use of race-conscious admissions, a federal judge ruled in a decision released on Tuesday. Writing that the university’s system “passes constitutional muster,” Allison D. Burroughs, a U.S. district judge, added that the court “will not dismantle a very fine admissions program … solely because it could do better.”

The verdict closes the first chapter in a case that was filed against Harvard in 2014. The university was sued by Students for Fair Admissions, a membership organization that says Harvard’s admissions policies discriminate against Asian American applicants. The organization’s founder is Edward Blum, the same activist who was behind the case that claimed the University of Texas at Austin’s admissions policy discriminated against a white student.

That case made it up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where UT-Austin’s policy was upheld in 2016. Legal scholars say the case against Harvard could wind up there as well, and if it does, it will be decided by a much more conservative bench. A new ruling could have serious implications for how and whether colleges can consider a student’s race when making decisions about whom to admit.

Stay tuned. Related: Asians Get The Ivy League’s Jewish Treatment.

STRIKE A POSE, THERE’S NOTHING TO IT:

● In memorializing Khashoggi, Washington Post gives platform to top jailer of reporters.

—The Washington Times, today.

● Conservatives balk at Trump congratulating China’s Communist Party.

—The Washington Post, today.

Interesting that the Post went with the “conservatives pounce” angle, considering that the paper’s current slogan is “Democracy dies in darkness.” Presumably they’ll switch back to “We Are All Socialists Now” if President Sanders or Warren takes the oath of office in 2020 or whenever President Ocasio-Cortez is sworn in.

UPDATE: “On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of China as you celebrate your National Day this October 1.”

—Hillary Clinton, then-President Obama’s Secretary of State, 2011.

As Cam Edwards tweets, “Never congratulate a Commie government on its ‘success’, because inevitably you’ll be saying ‘Good job on oppressing and killing your people.’”

THE END OF WOMEN’S SPORTS (CONT’D): UK Rugby Referees Quitting Over Transgender Players Breaking Women’s Bones.

DO THEY INVOLVE INCREASED RELIABILITY? Maserati Reveals Plans for New Two-Seat Sports Car and New SUV.

AT AMAZON, Shop Amazon Warehouse Deals – Deep Discounts on Open-box and Used Products.

Plus, Shop Amazon Outlet – Clearance, Markdowns and Overstock Deals.

MY USA TODAY COLUMN: When attention gets monetized, it’s up to consumers to make reasonable limits on the supply. “One needn’t look far to see that today’s social media seems to keep people angrier, more reactive and less thoughtful than we used to be. (And it’s not as if people were paragons of reflective virtue beforehand.)”

A MOST DANGEROUS GAME: Red State Democrats Wary That Impeachment Witch Hunt Will Prevent Dems Winning Majority.

SENATE HEAD-COUNT JUST DOESN’T ADD UP TO TRUMP IMPEACHMENT: An informal head-count on how Senate Republicans would likely vote today on an impeachment conviction motion shows little chance that President Donald Trump will be removed from office.

IAN LI: The U.S.-China Rivalry as Seen in the Cold War’s Rear-View Mirror.

China has its own problems. While Beijing’s narrative of an ascendant China is an attractive one, and one it would like to propagate, it must be properly contextualised. China’s rise is a geopolitical fact, and it remains on an upward trajectory. Unlike the Soviet Union, which was largely restrained by ideological dogma from integrating into the global economy, China’s more flexible approach has seen it become an irreplaceable node of the international system. This has added to China’s allure as a strategic partner. Yet, China’s relative inexperience in managing international relations has led to miscalculations in its dealings overseas.

China’s lack of sensitivity in dealing with the recipient countries of its Belt and Road Initiative has resulted in much unhappiness, hampering efforts to extend Chinese influence beyond its borders. In addition, China’s own version of a regional manifest destiny has led it to exert power where diplomacy might have otherwise been more prudent, unnecessarily generating mistrust and hostility where amity should have been preferred. As a result, it has few clear friends in its own backyard, with Asian governments increasingly wary of Chinese influence. At the same time, China’s resources are vast but not unlimited, and continual growth is required if it is to maintain its current trajectory. This can only be achieved through greater cooperation, not confrontation, with the outside world. These faults can of course be rectified, but it requires a certain degree of introspection that is at the moment not forthcoming.

To put it mildly.

This is a longer piece, but I found it worth my time.

YOUR QUESTIONS, ANSWERED: Can Rabbits Help Unravel the Mystery of Female Orgasm?

“SHUT UP,” SHE EXPLAINED: Kamala Harris: Trump’s Twitter Account Should Be Suspended.

IF ONLY THERE WERE SOME WAY OF KILLING MOSQUITOES IN LARGE NUMBERS: Deadly EEE: Parts of nation see worst outbreak of brain-swelling, mosquito virus in years.