UGH: Black business owner weeps after looters destroy sports bar he invested life savings into: “We worked so hard to get here.”

WE SHOULD NAME IT WUNDERLAND: Astronomers have confirmed the presence of an Earth-like exoplanet in the star system closest to our own, Proxima Centauri.

GUNSHOT FIRED INTO REPUBLICAN FIELD OFFICE DURING ARIZONA TRUMP CAMPAIGN EVENT, RNC SAYS.

YES:

ANSCHLUSS: China’s Real Target Is Taiwan.

Beijing’s moves aren’t only about Hong Kong. Its real target is Taiwan, and political legitimacy in mainland China for President Xi Jinping, whose credibility has taken a beating over his handling of the coronavirus crisis. It’s a high-stakes game drawn from the playbook of Xi’s frenemy, President Donald Trump.

Taiwan’s success in handling the pandemic and global concerns over China’s opacity in the early days of the scare have bolstered the international stature of the self-governing region that has otherwise been bleeding diplomatic allies to Beijing’s economic clout in recent years. Earlier this month, the U.S., Canada, Germany, France, the U.K., Japan, Australia and New Zealand lobbied to try and get Taiwan a seat at the World Health Organization. Beijing — whose “One China” policy means it won’t deal with countries or agencies that diplomatically recognize Taiwan — has expectedly pushed back. But the proposal is still on the table, only postponed for now.

Trump, in an angry letter this month to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, claimed that Taiwan’s heath authorities had warned the UN agency of “human to-human transmission of a new virus” as early as Dec. 31 — though that’s not true. Meanwhile, France has promised to sell Taiwan weapons. And at press briefings, White House officials have been seen wearing masks labeled “Made in Taiwan.”

For all its bluster, China knows it can’t hope to regain Taiwan as a part of the motherland anytime soon. But it also can’t afford to see the self-ruled territory gain greater diplomatic weight. So it’s responding with its own stern messages — both direct and indirect.

I certainly hope that’s all this is.

On the other hand, Xi seems to be acting more and more like a man who sees a window of opportunity that won’t stay open long.

FASTER, PLEASE: Injected electrode could offer pain relief without medications.

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: More Strzok-Page Texts: FBI Knew Immediately Of Kislyak-Flynn Phone Calls.

AMERICA COMES TOGETHER.

IT’S COME TO THIS: CNN Anchor Cries On-Air, ‘As A White Woman, Aware Of My Own Privilege’; Asks Black Leader How ‘White America’ Should ‘Act.’

Also in news regarding CNN: Black CNN reporter is arrested live on air by Minnesota state police while reporting on Minneapolis riots over George Floyd’s killing.

TAKING SIDES: Twitter Censors Trump Tweet Denouncing Riots; Took No Action On Tweets Supporting Riots.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Van Jones: “It’s not the racist person in the KKK that we have to worry about. It’s the white, liberal Hillary Clinton supporter walking her dog in Central Park.”

MICHAEL MOORE: Minneapolis Police HQ Must Be Demolished as ‘Contrition to Black America.’

YOU WENT FULL CHIP DILLER. NEVER GO FULL CHIP DILLER: MSNBC’s Ali Velshi in front of burning liquor store: Protest “not generally speaking unruly.”

Update: Velshi saying “‘It’s mostly a protest’ here is like saying the Lincoln assassination was ‘mostly a theatrical production,’” radio host Buck Sexton tweets.

LEADERSHIP: Confusion Surrounds New York’s Phase II Reopening as Cuomo Drops New Executive Order. “‘I don’t even care what Cuomo has to say at this point. This is some seriously disturbing behavior being exhibited by this Governor,’ one county executive tweeted.”

WELL, GOOD: Pritzker Drops All Church Restrictions After Lawsuit Exposed Him ‘Ignoring the Science.’

It was never about the science, or even about saving lives. It was about control.

SO DOES THE PRESS GOING ALL-IN ON THE MINNEAPOLIS STORY MEAN THAT THEY’VE DECIDED THE WALL-TO-WALL CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE IS HELPING TRUMP MORE THAN IT’S HURTING HIM?

BUT THAT’S DIFFERENT. WHY? REASONS: Twitter Accuses Trump of ‘Glorifying Violence’ in Tweet That Sounds a Lot Like Obama in 2015.

CONTAGION: Violent Rioters Breach Ohio Statehouse, Breaking Windows and Entering Building to Protest Death of George Floyd.

SOUTHERN SANITY ON COVID: Let the Sun Shine In. Florida and Tennessee have proven that a measured, evidence-based response to reopening works. Kentucky is another story, despite the media’s attempt to cover for a Democratic governor.

(Bumped, by Glenn).

ROGER SIMON: Twitter as Prototype of the New High-Tech Totalitarianism.

It’s a virus of the mind as well — somebody should write a book about the multifaceted elements of its insidious nature.

SHE CHOSE… POORLY: Gretchen ‘Cuomo’ Whitmer Policy Placed COVID-19 Infected Patients in Nursing Homes.

RELATED: Whitmer’s Nursing Home Policy Shows ‘Reckless Disregard of Human Life.’

Let’s call the policy what it really is: Stealth death panels.

YEAH, I’D BE DUCKING THE ISSUE TOO IF I WERE THEM: House Democrats silent as GOP probes China’s infiltration of U.S. universities.

JAMES LILEKS ON THE MINNEAPOLIS RIOTS: “Burn it, and we will be free. Not from want, not from the rule of others, but at least free from the old ways and the whispering voice of one’s conscience. There is a new, louder voice in your ear now, and it approves of all that you do. Until, of course, it doesn’t.”

Read the whole thing.

Earlier: MSNBC’s Ali Velshi, standing in front of the burning police station: “I want to be clear on how I characterize this. This is mostly a protest. It is not generally speaking unruly.”