JOE PAPPALARDO: What Would a 21st Century Moon Base Look Like?

THEY’RE STRAINING THE MEANING OF THE WORD ‘BUDGET’: Budget deal likely to include few or no cuts while lifting debt limit for two years.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: As Whittier Law School Prepares To Close, Dean Tries To Soften Blow For Students.

ASK THE GOVERNOR OF PUERTO RICO: Is Trump Playing 3D Chess?

Trump beat the odds of getting elected in the first place. It confounded nearly all the pundits and prognosticators. He either did it through luck, chance, or skill; at the time it wasn’t obvious which it was (and it could have been a combination).

But a pattern began, and then that pattern kept repeating over time. One can only describe it this way: Trump does something that his enemies—and even some people who support him—criticize. There’s a big furor. The media reported that now he’s put his foot in his mouth and now he’s sunk himself for real. And yet, when the dust settles (and sometimes it settles rather quickly), we usually find that one or some or all of the following have occurred.

Trump didn’t say what they said he said.
His opponents do something in response to what he said that makes them look like the fools.
The public, in general responds by agreeing with Trump, which causes his polls to go up.

Strange, isn’t it, if he’s such a fool, that these things keep happening over and over and over? Can anyone have that much good luck?

Strange, indeed.

A LARGE BUT FINITE MARKET: Notre Dame Fire Revives Demand For Skilled Stone Carvers In France.

CHANGE? Puerto Ricans gather for massive protest to expel governor.

Hundreds of thousands of people were expected to take over one of the island’s busiest highways to press demands for the resignation of Rosselló over an obscenity-laced leaked online chat the governor had with allies as well as federal corruption charges leveled against his administration.

The demonstration in the capital of San Juan came a day after Rosselló announced that he would not quit, but sought to calm the unrest by promising not to seek re-election or continue as head of his pro-statehood political party. That only further angered his critics, who have mounted street demonstrations for more than a week.

“The people are not going to go away,” said Johanna Soto, of the northeastern city of Carolina. “That’s what he’s hoping for, but we outnumber him.”

The territory’s largest newspaper, El Nuevo Dia, added to the pressure with a front page headline reading: “Governor, it’s time to listen to the people: You have to resign.”

Organizers labeled the planned road shutdown “660,510 + 1,” which represents the number of people who voted for Rosselló plus one more to reject his argument that he is not resigning because he was chosen by the people.

CLOSELY RELATED: Trump was right all along about Puerto Rico, with protests blowing apart Democrats’ hurricane narrative.

Yes, but racism or something.

PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS: ‘We Certainly Don’t Want Any More Coming In’: Pelosi On Immigration In 2008.

Earlier:

● What Changed?! Chuck Schumer 2009 kicks Chuck Schumer 2018 right in his badoobies on illegal immigration (video).

—Twitchy, December 28, 2018.

● “Trump took to Twitter on Thursday to remind Democrats that even former President Barack Obama spoke out against illegal immigration. Trump dug up a 2011 tweet from former President Obama which said: ‘I strongly believe that we should take on, once and for all, the issue of illegal immigration.’ ‘I totally agree!’ Trump wrote, retweeting the former president.”

—The Daily Caller, December 27, 2018.

● Harry Reid in 1993: It’s insane to reward illegal immigrants by giving their children birthright citizenship.

—Hot Air, October 30, 2018.

● Bill Clinton warns of “the large number of illegal aliens” coming into America, and explains his crackdown at his 1995 State of the Union address.

—Instapundit, January 31, 2017.

To expand on Glenn’s comments at the time, clips from all of these Democratic party stalwarts should be rounded up into a campaign ad ending with “I’m Donald Trump, and I approve this message.”

TASTY, TASTY FREEDOM: Victory for Religious Freedom: Gov. Greg Abbott Signs ‘Save Chick-fil-A’ Bill.

ROGER SIMON: Summer Heat Wave — It’s Global Warming…Or Is It?

MY USA TODAY COLUMN: At the scene of a fatal car crash, I saw Americans reveal their fundamental decency.

FASTER, PLEASE: Congress to Consider Resolution Designating Antifa Members as ‘Domestic Terrorists.’

HAVE THEY NO DECENCY? How U.S. video game companies are building tools for China’s surveillance state.

Although it’s Chinese policy driving the restrictions, data privacy advocates say that for Americans to participate in the creation of these tools represents the crossing of a concerning new threshold. They view the moves as part of a problematic trend of Western technology firms redesigning their services to create China-friendly versions aligned with the country’s tighter social controls.

“For American companies, it really comes down to deciding whether or not you are willing to participate in this type of surveillance,” said Matt Erickson, executive director of the Digital Privacy Alliance. “If they do choose to take part, it makes these companies not unwitting but full-blown accomplices in the Chinese police state.”

Access to the world’s second-largest market is a powerful incentive, but for some companies, supporting Chinese censorship and social control efforts is not a matter of choice. As Chinese giants buy up American tech companies, from West Hollywood-based gay dating app Grindr to Motorola’s mobile phone business, regulators are raising questions about companies’ autonomy and ability to push back on requests that might violate their ethical principles.

They aren’t really American anymore.

ADULT SUPERVISION: SD Regents pres.: I will investigate campus diversity offices for left-leaning bias. “Conservative lawmakers in South Dakota sent a letter to the Board of Regents, slamming the campus diversity offices for promoting ‘social justice causes.’ Now, the Board of Regents president is opening an investigation into the offices.”

I’LL NEVER UNDERSTAND FASHION: Could Your Clothes Be Made Out of Leftover Bread One Day? “Maybe, thanks to the magic of fungus.”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: Report Recommends Sweeping Changes At Maine Law School In Face Of $2.67 Million Budget Deficit Despite 38% Reduction In Faculty.

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MY USA TODAY COLUMN: At the scene of a fatal car crash, I saw Americans reveal their fundamental decency. “One of the things we’re constantly told is that basic decency is gone in America. But once you’re outside of the media/political bubble, most people seem to be awfully decent, and if anything, they seem to behave better when the going gets tough. That’s worth remembering as many media outlets keep telling us how awful we are and how much we hate each other.”

HEH: Bernie Sanders Proves Minimum Wage Critics Right In Latest Response to $15 Fiasco.

LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Hey Nazi-Racist, Your Rhetoric is Dividing the Country. “Rep. Elijah Cummings, chairman of the House Oversight Committee said on a Sunday snuff show that Trump’s tweets telling The Squad to ‘go back to where they came from’ reminded him of the time he was told to ‘go back from where he came from.’ Cummings made his remarks to George Stephanopoulos, who also revealed that has been told to ‘go back from where he came from.’ This is a new epidemic, so many Democrats have been told to ‘go back,’ why are we only hearing about it until now?”

It’s the chic new victimhood cred.

TO BE HONEST, I LIKE HER BETTER THAN JEFF FLAKE: Arizona Dem Kyrsten Sinema joins GOP in push for program that would quickly deport migrants without valid asylum claims.

THAT’S DIFFERENT BECAUSE SHUT UP: And what about Ilhan Omar’s bigotry? The left seems to think racist prejudice is okay if it comes from a cool Muslim. “Yes, if you try to draw attention to Omar’s promotion of anti-Semitic tropes and her feverish, disproportionate obsession with Zionists, you will be denounced as the racist. Taking Orwellian contortionism to new levels, we’re now told it is racist to speak of Omar’s racism.”

Remember, the left doesn’t have standards, only slogans.

SO MUCH FOR THE NARRATIVE: NBC News poll of the South: Voters’ support for Trump grows, residents see race relations improving.

TO BE FAIR, THE WORD HAS LOST ALL MEANING: Cory Booker Says Donald Trump is ‘worse than a racist.’