THE COUNTRY’S IN THE VERY BEST OF HANDS: BuzzFeed’s “FOIA Terrorist” Jason Leopold learns that A Bunch Of CIA Staff Got Fired For Stealing Snacks From Vending Machines:

The thefts took place starting in the fall of 2012 and continued through March 2013, according to a declassified Office of Inspector General report from October 2013. The report is one of hundreds only recently released to BuzzFeed News through a Freedom Of Information Act lawsuit filed in 2015.

Granted, the thefts only totaled about $3,314.40, but it makes one wonder why they would go to such an elaborate plan and effort just about the same time ̶T̶r̶u̶m̶p̶ ̶a̶n̶d Putin were busy “hacking our democracy.” Priorities, I guess. I mean, hey, free Snickers bars.

FROM THE DAILY SIGNAL: “How Hip-Hop Is Teaching High Schoolers About the Free Market“. Hey, anything that gets youngsters to read Adam Smith is OK by me. If this takes off, there are going to be far fewer BernieBots clamoring for “free” stuff.

Caskey’s goal is to reach the urban student with the relevance of the economic way of thinking. He says, “I want to inspire zeal for the discipline of economics among young people, but particularly among urban young people, a historically underserved population, especially in the educational sense.”

You can check out the lessons here.

IT’S LIKE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, BUT WITH ORGANIC AVOCADOS: Business Insider gets Whole Foods CEO John Mackey to explain what went wrong with Whole Foods:

In a town-hall meeting last Friday, Mackey said the grocery chain has long prioritized its employees over shoppers, and that shoppers should instead be its No. 1 priority.

At least there’s market forces at work here. If only educational administrators saw the same problem the same way…

FROM MICHELLE MALKIN: No, they don’t look very happy, do they? A picture is worth a thousand words.

FASTER, PLEASE: VOA News reporting on a new test in medical trials that may predict a patient’s responsiveness to new generation of tumor-fighting cancer drugs.

NAPKIN MATH: Ossoff raised $23.6 million to make a symbolic run against President Trump, most of it from Marin County, California and Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. Running the numbers, Democrats might have been better off considering that same amount would have bought 855,072 school lunches (at $2.76 each); 236,000 elementary school textbooks (at $100 each) or even 956 Priuses (at $24,685 each).

Max Weber said that the purpose of a bureaucracy is to maintain or expand its own power. Who cares about children, education or the environment when there’s power to be grabbed? Either that, or Democrats just aren’t very good with numbers.

YOU THINK? “Journalism Standards Collapsed in the 2016 Election.” Michael Goodwin is the chief political columnist for The New York Post. Before joining the Post in 2009, he was the political columnist for The New York Daily News, where he served as executive editor and editorial page editor and led its editorial board to a Pulitzer Prize. Prior to that, he worked for 16 years at The New York Times. I’d say he knows a thing or two about a thing or two:

“To the age-old elements of who, what, when, where, and why, [New York Times editor Dean Baquet] added the reporter’s opinion. Now the floodgates were open, and virtually every so-called news article reflected a clear bias against Trump. Stories, photos, headlines, placement in the paper—all the tools that writers and editors have—were summoned to the battle. The goal was to pick the next president.”

Political coverage underscores the old saying that “politics is Hollywood for ugly people.” Working in the industry I can honestly say that there are great old-school journalists at AP, The Times, The WashPost and elsewhere. But those are people covering finance, economy, manufacturing and general assignment. The political reporters are all about being “behind-the-scenes” king (or queen) makers. Even Ben Rhodes, President Obama’s deputy national security advisor (and brother of CBS News President David Rhodes) admitted in a Kinsleyan gaffe that:

The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old, and their only reporting experience consists of being around political campaigns. That’s a sea change. They literally know nothing.

The saddest part is that most of the MSM are in complete denial, and are racing with each other to be The Official Organ of the Resistance. Racing to the bottom, that is. This will keep ending in tears.

THE COOLEST THING TO COME OUT OF WALES SINCE TOM JONES: “‘A magical experience’: Beautiful images capture rare bioluminescent plankton off the coast of Wales.“

PAGING PAJAMA BOY! I had no idea such drugs existed, but the potential for screwing up a lot of young lives is humongous…The Daily Signal reports “New Paper Says Puberty Blockers Aren’t the Answer to Gender Confusion“:

“Increasingly, gender therapists and physicians argue that children as young as nine should be given puberty-blocking drugs if they experience gender dysphoria. But a new article by three medical experts reveals that there is little scientific evidence to support such a radical procedure.”

I’m pretty opened-minded about the whole gender-identity thing — what do I care what you call yourself? — but like gay conversion therapy and similar “treatments”, when you start messing with kids there’s a lot of potential harm. You add to that the statistic that “41 percent of people who identify as transgender will attempt suicide at some point in their lives, compared to 4.6 percent of the general population” and sooner or later there’s going to be some heartbreak somewhere.

I’LL TAKE ERIC HOLDER FOR $500, ALEX: “Who Holds the DEA Accountable When Its Missions Cost Lives?”

Soros-funded ProPublica reports that the DEA (like the ATF) may be responsible for dozens of deaths in the Mexican drug wars:

Against the wishes of the lead agent on the case — whose informant specifically warned of the potential for bloodshed — the DEA told a Mexican federal police unit with a long history of leaking to traffickers that it had the [sensitive] information.

Of course, all this happened in 2011. And like “Fast and Furious” the mainstream press was suspiciously incurious about anything that might embarrass Attorney General Holder or then-President Obama. Sharyl Attkisson was pushed out of CBS News for even daring to report it. But now that there’s a new sheriff to “hold accountable”, well, that’s just different. 

BONUS FUN FACT: President Obama asserted Executive Privilege in June 2012 to avoid answering questions about the failed project, and that was rejected by a federal judge.

I’M SHOCKED! SHOCKED, I SAY!: Hidden trove of suspected Nazi artifacts found in Argentina. Waiting for liberal OpEds to demand Mueller investigate any Trump businesses there. “Show me the man, and I’ll find you the crime.”

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS: “Big Oil backs carbon tax push”

Axios’ Amy Harder is reporting that four of the world’s biggest oil and natural gas producers, environmental groups and political leaders, are announcing a unified push urging Congress to enact a carbon tax to address climate change on Wednesday.

It’s way too simplistic to scoff at this as just “political correctness” or a PR stunt. These companies are too smart and are spending way too much money to dismiss out of hand. Perhaps, just maybe, there is an effort to take the religious zeal out of discussion about climate change and look at the issue without panic or polarization. The Climate Leadership Council is proposing a four-part plan that seems to address the issue like grownups. In an earlier column, Harder wrote:

“I think we’re at a point where most Republicans accept the climate is warming but don’t see it as world ending and don’t see a solution that’ll really make a real impact,” said a Republican strategist who has held positions in GOP political campaigns and congressional offices.”

If you are convinced that any talk of climate change is a total scam and should be ignored, you’re really no better than the religious zealots screaming “the science is settled!” to shut down debate and discovery. I think debate and discovery is always a good thing, especially when adults are doing the debating and the discussion is driven by policy examination instead of tribalism.

FROM HEAT STREET, HILLARY TAKING DELUSION TO NEW LEVELS.

How 100% deluded and bonkers must one be to say this about themselves?

“Now I haven’t seen Wonder Woman yet […] But something tells me that a movie about a strong, powerful woman fighting to save the world from a massive international disaster is right up my alley.”

What disaster is she talking about having saved the world from? Benghazi? The deteriorated state of Russo-American relations? The rise of Chinese influence? The abandoned-to-die Arab Spring? Syria? On the other hand she did have to wind down the Clinton Foundation, so maybe that’s the saving the world part.

The saddest thing is there are still drones on the Upper West Side and in Georgetown who desperately want to believe this delusion. Why am I reminded of the psychologists’ explanation for the Miracle of Fatima?

THIS IS HOW TOTAL DECAY STARTS: Jeremy Corbyn urges people to ‘occupy’ empty homes as supporters plan ‘Day of Rage’

Corbyn said: “There are a large number of deliberately kept vacant flats and properties all over London – it’s called land banking. People with a lot of money buy a house, buy a flat, keep it empty…Occupy, compulsory purchase it, requisition it, there’s a lot of things you can do.”

When Bob Geldof, J.K. Rowling and Elton John turn over the keys to their London apartments and mansions, then — and only then — can I take any of the far-left in the UK seriously. It’s like Bernie Sanders meets Benny Hill meets Abbie Hoffman, with a big side dish of smug virtue-signalling.

ADD IT TO THE LIST OF THINGS THAT WILL KILL YOU: “Garlic: One of the most dangerous ingredients in your kitchen.” Hey, what’s a little botulism between friends?

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Using Texts as Lures, Government Spyware Targets Mexican Journalists and Their Families.

Human rights advocates and journalists tell The New York Times that Mexican officials are using malware called “Pegasus” designed to track terrorists to instead follow the movements and surveil the communications of reporters:

“Mexican security agencies wouldn’t ask for a court order, because they know they wouldn’t get one,” said Eduardo Guerrero, a former analyst at the Center for Investigation and National Security, Mexico’s intelligence agency and one of the government agencies that use the Pegasus spyware. “I mean, how could a judge authorize surveillance of someone dedicated to the protection of human rights?”

Better to ask forgiveness than permission, I suppose. The unanswered question: If any of these journalists worked for US news organizations, and US-based computer systems were targeted, isn’t this as much or more of an “act of war” as what Julian Assange’s people (and allegedly the Russians) did to Clinton’s homebrew server? Or is the “hacking of our democracy” just an excuse to get Trump’s head on a stick?

Humblebrag: I worked with Bloomberg reporter Vernon Silver five years ago, exposing the use of a similar malware called “Finfisher” employed by Bahrain and Egypt to make dissidents “disappear.”

SLANTING AN OPINION IN FAVOR OF FREE SPEECH: The Supreme Court ruled Monday that federal trademarks can be registered in most cases even if they are considered derogatory. The case involved an Asian rock band who tried to register the name “The Slants.” SJW’s lost their minds, but Justice Alito wrote for a unanimous Court that “It offends a bedrock First Amendment principle: Speech may not be banned on the ground that it expresses ideas that offend.” This bodes well for the Washington Redskins.

THE GUARDIAN DISCOVERS “FLYOVER COUNTRY:” It’s almost as if the reporter looked at this assignment as if it were an adventure into the deep jungle. Note the unnamed “observer” who editorializes:

“Observers wonder when “these people” will wake up and realize that Trump does not have their interests at heart. But rural folks have gotten used to a system that does not have their interests at heart.”

Well, gosh, when the political establishment keeps calling half the country stupid or “deplorable” it’s little wonder they’ll vote for any alternative. And it’s a safe bet if a writer referred to “these people” in the context of discussing LGBT or race issues, there’d be hell to pay. Lesson to be learned: this is why there is an Electoral College, though these days the Democrats would prefer that elections were held only in DC, NYC and Malibu. Read it here.

SHARYL ATTKISSON: Asking Chaffetz if Congress is Broken. Why hasn’t Congress done anything about IRS Commissioner John Koskinen? “Congress doesn’t stand up for itself. I think it’s, it’s really lost its way,” says Chaffetz.

Read the interview here.

FROM JACK SHAFER AT POLITICO: “MEGYN KELLY PANTSES ALEX JONES:”

“The censorious powers of the heckler’s veto have evolved now to the point that people are willing to call for the banning and shunning of works of journalism not yet published. Former Fox News Channel and current NBC News anchor Megyn Kelly got the treatment this week as news of her Sunday Night With Megyn Kelly interview with InfoWars mainspring Alex Jones, well before it was scheduled to air July 18, made the rounds. At least the Ayatollah Khomeini waited for the publication of Satanic Verses before he issued a fatwa ordering the murder of its author, Salman Rushdie.”

Heh, indeed.™

I’m LOOKING FORWARD TO GUEST-BLOGGING while Glenn and Helen are m̶a̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶ ̶d̶e̶a̶l̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶P̶u̶t̶i̶n̶ on vacation and contributing some thoughtful or at least interesting stuff! www.charlesglasser.net