WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS: A KA-BAR Ice Scraper.

THE POWER LINE WEEK IN PICTURES: Cohen-Head Edition.

MORE AND MORE OF THESE ARE POPPING UP: White accuser, black accused: Judge approves Title IX lawsuit by misidentified sexual assault suspect.

POT OF GOLD AWAITS MUELLER AFTER RUSSIA COLLUSION PROBE: How much will the nation’s top law firms pay Robert Mueller if he opts to return to private law practice after completing his special counsel duties? Washingtontonian’s Marisha Kashino has some possibly eye-popping figures.

MOE BERG REMEMBERED: Hardcore baseball fans tell me that Moe Berg was never more than a middling major league baseball catcher, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers (then called the Robins), the White Sox, the Indians, the Washington Senators, and the Red Sox.  But Berg, who was born on this day in 1902, was many other things too … a coach for the Red Sox, a writer for the Atlantic Monthly, a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton, a graduate of Columbia law school, and a quiz show phenomenon. He was also fluent in six languages and had some knowledge of a dozen others.

But the most astonishing role Berg ever played was that of spy. It started innocently enough. During the early 1930s, Berg was selected to go to Japan twice to promote the game of baseball. On the first trip, he stayed longer than the other players and got to know something of the country and the language. The second trip was supposed to be for all-star types—including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. But Berg got to go along, because he could give speeches in Japanese. While there, he bluffed his way up the top of one of Tokyo’s tallest buildings with a movie camera hidden under his kimono and shot film footage of the city, including extensive shots of its industrial areas and its harbor. That footage was later a valuable contribution to the war effort.

During WWII, Berg joined the Office of Strategic Services Special Operations Branch (what is now the CIA’s Special Activities Division). Among his exploits, he was parachuted into Nazi-dominated Yugoslavia to assess the various resistance groups operating within that area and to make recommendations to the U.S. government about which group or groups to support. Oh … and he was a trained assassin.

The CIA displays Berg’s baseball card at its headquarters.  And Hollywood recently made a movie about him (though, alas, you can’t make a movie these days about a historical figure without speculating about your subject’s sexuality.)

IT TOOK FIVE YEARS BUT WYOMING’S STATE CHECKBOOK IS NOW PUBLIC: OpenTheBooks.com now has the state government of Wyoming’s checkbook available to the public. It’s the latest victory in the non-profit transparency watchdog’s continuing battle to make “every dime, online, in real time” for every level of government.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: A University of Michigan professor filed a Title IX complaint against Wayne State University. The complaint specifically takes issue with a summer event called “Black Girls Code.” “The professor, Mark Perry, alleges the event only allows girls from 13-17 which violates the Title IX policy.”

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THE RAF’S WEIGHTY PROBLEM:

Martin-Baker, the British firm that pioneered the ejection seat and is the largest supplier, has another weight problem with its popular Mk16 model used in F-35 fighters. The British RAF (Royal Air Force) found it has a problem with some potential F-35 pilots being too heavy to use the Mk16. The current upper weight limit for the Mk16 is 111.3 kg (245 pounds) but that means some RAF pilots are going to have to lose weight or the Mk16 seat must be modified. Western pilots (the main users of Martin-Baker seats) have been getting heavier over the last half century and the upper weight limit for pilots has increased 25 percent. This situation is complicated by NATO air forces having a more difficult time recruiting and keeping fighter pilots.

Read the whole thing. It’s funny, except it’s not.

TODAY AND YESTERDAY IN THE AIR: An F-35 Lightning II flies with a World War 2-era P-51 Mustang over Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The air crews are training for 2019 air shows. Here’s another Heritage flight photo, taken in 2006: a P-51, F-16 Falcon, F-15 Eagle and A-10 Thunderbolt II fly above the Statue of Liberty. Finally, a photo snapped in 2010 at Nellis AFB, Nevada: an F-22 Raptor, an F-86 Sabre jet, a P-51 and an F-4 Phantom fly in formation.

JUST WHEN BOOMERS THINK MILLENNIALS ARE HOPELESS: Along comes somebody like Emily Kennedy, a remarkable young woman who with her business partner started a Pittsburgh-based firm that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help law enforcement fight human trafficking.

Yes, there are legitimate and growing worries about misapplications of AI, robotics and the Deep State, but this is one example of how digital technology can contribute in a mighty way to getting rid of an evil that is found all over the world.

HE’S NOT WRONG: Pence rips 2020 Democrats as ‘socialists,’ threat to freedom.

Vice President Mike Pence took the administration’s war on socialism to CPAC Friday, warning that Democrats, even 2020 presidential candidates, want to trade American-made freedom for Venezuelan-style socialism.

In remarks provided in advance to Secrets, Pence said, “Under the guise of Medicare for All and a Green New Deal, Democrats are embracing the same tired economic theories that have impoverished nations and stifled the liberties of millions over the past century. That system is socialism.”

To be honest, Eugene Debs would have his doubts about these people.

ALL THIS YAMMERING ABOUT RUSSIAN BOTS AND GUESS WHAT: Democratic Operatives Used Misleading Facebook Pages To Suppress GOP Turnout In Midterms.

Democratic operatives, led by a former Obama official, bought ads on misleading Facebook pages to suppress GOP turnout in the midterm elections.

The pages appear to be designed to give the impression that they were operated by disgruntled conservatives rather than Democratic operatives.

The operatives were funded by left-wing billionaire Reid Hoffman, who previously funded a “false flag” effort in the 2017 Alabama special election.

So Democrat-supporting pages, purporting to be from disgruntled conservatives but actually funded by a lefty billionaire. Sounds like The Bulwark. . . .

#JOURNALISM:

Plus:

More #journalism:

That’s different, because shut up.

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: Rashida Tlaib Paid Herself $45,500 From Campaign Funds: Made $17,550 in payments following election.

DAN MARKEL’S MURDER: The Podcast.

WELL, IF YOU CARE ABOUT THE PLANET, OF COURSE: “A committed, lifelong Green pounds the table for nuclear power. People familiar with the baseload problem and the unreliable nature of wind and solar won’t find the plot surprising, but the detailed studies of California’s seasonal use and generation from wind and solar were new to me.”

THIS SEEMS LIKE A MARKET SECTOR WHERE SUPPLY ALREADY EXCEEDS DEMAND: A new anti-Trump publication is the last thing conservative media needs.

What if we had a center-right publication, broadly in favor of globalized free trade and deregulation and hawkish on foreign policy, whose columnists really hated President Trump, even when he does things they otherwise agree with, like spit in Vladimir Putin’s face?

But The Washington Post already exists, you say. Exactly. Which is why I cannot figure who the audience for Steve Hayes and Jonah Goldberg’s new journalism project is supposed to be. According to Axios, the former editor of The Weekly Standard and the founder of National Review Online are “seeking investors” for “a reporting-driven, Trump-skeptical” conservative periodical.

Of course they are. “Generic white #NeverTrump conservative” is already the most overrepresented type in American media. There are approximately 200 of these people in the United States, and every single one of them has a column in a major newspaper and a book about why Drumpf is the logical and polar opposite of certain ideals supposedly embodied in whatever Tocqueville quotes their research assistants have just pulled up for them.

Harsh, but fair.

CULTURALLY, IT IDENTIFIES WITH THE 1%: Is The Upper Middle Class More Similar To The Top 1% Or The Working Class?

WELL, WE LIVE IN AN ERA THAT MIXES COMEDY WITH ATROCITIES.

A SMALL MEASURE OF ACCOUNTABILITY: Teenager Charged With Assault After Attacking 81-year-old Wearing MAGA Hat.

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