I LIKE THE CUT OF HIS JIB: Rep. Devin Nunes Says GOP Will Call Adam Schiff As First Witness In Impeachment Inquiry.

BATTLESWARM BLOG: Interview With Tenured Columbia Professor Who Resigned Over SJW Policy. “Serban escaped communist-dominated Romania, and he says that Columbia is ‘some sort of socialist left, on its way toward full-blown communism’.”

AND AGAIN: Facebook admits to another data leak, saying that up to 100 developers accessed people’s data from Groups.

In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal Facebook tightened its rules on what personal data app developers could access. Following broad changes made in 2018, app developers’ access to groups was restricted to content, as opposed to the data of individuals belonging to those groups such as names and profile pictures.

In a blog published on Tuesday Facebook’s director of platform partnerships Konstantinos Papamiltiadis admitted this new rule hadn’t been uniformly implemented. Roughly 100 app developers retained access to group members’ personal data, although Papamiltiadis said Facebook has now cut them off.

Papamiltiadis said there was “no evidence of abuse,” but that at least 11 of these developers accessed the data in the last 60 days. Facebook is asking them to delete all relevant data.

He didn’t name any of the apps, but said they were “primarily social media management and video streaming apps, designed to make it easier for group admins to manage their groups more effectively and help members share videos to their groups.” He was also unspecific on exactly what personal data was accessed.

In that case, the safe bet is “lots.”

OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY: NASA rejects Blue Origin’s offer of a cheaper upper stage for the SLS rocket. “Each launch of the SLS rocket may cost on the order of $2 billion.”

CHANGE: Trump Officially Pulls Out of ‘Disastrous’ Paris Agreement.

The only way this story could be better is if Trump had also announced the formation of, say, “The Winners’ Agreement,” whose membership is limited to countries that actually lived up to their Paris Agreement commitments.

MATT MARGOLIS: No, Sondland’s Revised Testimony Doesn’t Prove There Was a Quid Pro Quo.

What about Sondland’s testimony? According to his testimony, when he asked Trump what he wanted from Ukraine, Trump said, “I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo. I want Zelensky to do the right thing… to do what he ran on.”

Also released today were transcripts of the testimony of Ambassador Kurt Volker, special envoy to Ukraine. According to his testimony, there was “no linkage” between a White House meeting with Trump and Zelenksy and any promises to hold any investigations.

I think Spengler hit it closer to the mark last week: “For the record, I don’t care whether there was quid pro quo with Ukraine or not. If President Trump used military aid as a bargaining chip to persuade the government of Ukraine to investigate foreign subversion of our political system, he was doing his job as commander-in-chief to protect this country from its external enemies.”

Although the word “external” was probably unnecessary.

OH, PLEASE. STATE AND THE ENTIRE INTEL COMMUNITY HAVE BEEN IN REVOLT SINCE TRUMP WON: As scandals mount, Pompeo faces ‘a revolt’ at the State Department.

SO MUCH COMMUNISM IN ONE HEADLINE: 1 million ‘cannibal’ ants found trapped in Soviet-era bunker used to store nuclear weapons.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Inside the Mainstream Media’s Sexual Predator Protection Racket.

The mainstream media (news and entertainment) in this country have spent the past three years caterwauling about President Trump’s treatment of them. They bristle at the merest suggestion that they have been derelict in their duty.

In their telling of the story, they are brave souls, the lone purveyors of truth, and the only things standing between ORANGE MAN BAD and the utter demise of the Republic.

In reality it turns out that they’re just a bunch of depraved sexual predator and pervert protectors.

To be fair, they won’t go to such great length to protect Republican predators and perverts.

SHARE AND ENJOY: Here is your daily reminder that there is a standing US-Ukraine mutual legal assistance treaty in effect that justifies investigating 2016-era criminal activities in Ukraine (i.e., Crowdstrike). Read the treaty for yourself here.

DAVID HARSANYI: ABC’s Excuse for Failing to Report on Jeffrey Epstein Makes Absolutely No Sense.

Robach now claims, through a network statement, that she was caught “in a private moment” of frustration over the lack of progress on a story. “I was upset that an important interview I had conducted with Virginia Roberts didn’t air because I could not obtain sufficient corroborating evidence to meet ABC’s editorial standards about her allegations.”

Sorry, but Robach’s response to the firestorm doesn’t square with her initial comments, in which she states that “Roberts had pictures, she had everything . . . it was unbelievable what we had. [Bill] Clinton, we had everything.”

“Everything” sure sounds like sufficient corroborating evidence. Even if employing the most scrupulous journalistic standards, a giant news organization wouldn’t need three years to substantiate — or dismiss — a story with pictures, dates and a credible witness.

We certainly know that ABC didn’t need “everything” — or much of anything, for that matter – when it was running scores of pieces online and on television, highlighting every risible accusation against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Switch the parties involved and they’d switch the outcomes.

PRIVACY: Schools Are Using an App to Track Students While They Pee.

DON’T GET COCKY: The latest battleground poll tells us Democrats are over-correcting for 2020 — and they can’t beat Trump that way.

The three key states, based on the 2016 results, are Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. Trump became the first Republican since 1984 to win Wisconsin and the first since 1988 to win Pennsylvania and Michigan. The narrow margin of around 70,000 votes in all three states was enough to win the electoral college and sweep Trump into office.

Democrats must win those states to defeat Trump, who doesn’t care if he doesn’t win the popular vote. The problem, however, is voters in those states may not want to go all in with Sanders’ or Warren’s big spending plans, which include Medicare-for-All.

On Medicare-for-All, it is not difficult to see the message from the GOP and Trump as the campaign moves into 2020. While PA, MI, and WI are no longer the manufacturing powerhouses they were 40 or 50 years ago, they still employ a decent number of union workers who have great healthcare benefits through their employers. How will they react to getting presented with a proposal that will take away their private plan and put in the hands of the federal government?

For many people, even those inclined to vote for Democrats, words that still make them cringe are, “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”

Whether people want to credit Trump or not, the reality in politics is that the person in the Oval Office gets the credit or blame for the economy. With the unemployment rate at 3.6 per cent, low interest rates, no inflation, and a stock market that is humming along, Democrats have to convince voters Trump doesn’t deserve another term as re-election races are almost always a referendum on the incumbent.

Another Trump advantage: He always looks like he’s having fun on the campaign trail. Every single one of the Democratic contenders is a real eat-your-peas type.

GROSS: ‘Even on My Worst Days, I’M KILLING IT,’ Prominent Abortionist’s Plaque Reads.

TYLER O’NEIL: 5 Races to Watch on Election Day 2019.

FASTER, PLEASE: Rep. Cheney to Introduce Legislation Mandating Full Dismantling of Iran Nuclear Deal.

STUDIES, WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT THEM? New study reveals what most of us probably already know: People will say just about anything to get laid.

WELL… 8 In 10 Millennials Believe They Aren’t ‘Good Enough.’ “A new survey consisting of 2,000 millennials (ages 22-38) has revealed some troubling statistics regarding how young adults see themselves in comparison to both their peers and older generations. An astounding eight in 10 flat out believe they are not ‘good enough’ in virtually all areas of their lives. Furthermore, three quarters of the survey’s respondents admit that they constantly feel ‘overwhelmed’ by pressure to succeed in their careers, find a meaningful romantic relationship, and meet others’ expectations.”

We used to just call all that “getting a life,” and it was an awful lot of fun.

FROM THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU BOATY MCBOATFACE: Elizabeth Warren’s ‘Meme Team’ Flops Spectacularly on Launch Day.

FASTER, PLEASE: USAF Leaders Considering Arsenal Plane Options.

An arsenal plane would be a multi-engine platform that accompanies remotely piloted aircraft and fighter jets in combat and totes “network-enabled, semi-autonomous weapons,” according to a 2016 Air Force video. The concept has been around for years under the Defense Department’s Strategic Capabilities Office.

The idea “takes one of our oldest aircraft platform[s] and turns it into a flying launchpad for all sorts of different conventional payloads,” then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in 2016. “In practice, the arsenal plane will function as a very large airborne magazine, [and] network to fifth-generation aircraft that act as forward sensor and targeting nodes.”

Senior leaders are still discussing the prospect of fielding such a plane, service spokeswoman Capt. Cara Bousie said Nov. 3.

At AFA’s 2019 Air, Space & Cyber Conference in September, Air Force Global Strike Command boss Gen. Timothy Ray told reporters the service was planning more experiments to flesh out the idea. More reports were due to senior leaders as well.

While people have speculated that the B-52 bomber would make an ideal arsenal plane, Ray indicated mobility platforms could be in the mix.

It’s a great idea, it can be done on the cheap, and so of course the brass have dragged their feet on it.

WILD: iPhone and HomePod vulnerable to line of sight attacks using lasers.

The researchers have done limited testing with iPhones, tablets, smart speakers, and smart displays but they believe that “all devices that use MEMS microphones susceptible to Light Commands attacks.”

Light Commands do have some limitations, like a malicious party needing to have a direct line of sight to a device and be able to very accurately position a laser on a device’s microphone.

However, the researchers have carried out attacks in moderately realistic conditions and the lack of authentication for voice assistants that can control smart home devices like door locks, garage doors, and more is certainly concerning.

More interesting, some of the tests were even done with just an $18 laser pointer, laser driver, and an audio amplifier for less than a $400 total.

I’ve had a lot of fun putting in smart lights and window shades, and automating various scenes throughout the day. But anything mission critical like locks, garage doors, and appliances remain strictly “dumb.”

GREG JONES: The Downfall of Conservatism, Inc. “How Donald J. Trump made me rethink my Republican heroes.”

What had happened to my heroes?

I understand their objection to Trump’s style—three years ago, I myself was put off by it—but style is nothing when measured against substance. Here was a president advancing their agenda—our agenda—didn’t that mean something?

At first, I attributed their open mutiny to pride. Pride is human, and prideful men often make for sore losers.

But now, after ample time to recover from their humiliation, the persistent whining from establishment conservatives has exposed a very ugly truth about our former “leaders.” The George Wills and Tom Nichols of the world were always more interested in self-promotion than advancing conservatism.

Needless to say, read the whole thing.

IT’S EASY TO MOVE ON WHEN YOUR SIDE CAN’T BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE: McAuliffe: Northam’s a ‘Great Governor Doing a Great Job,’ ‘We’ve Moved On’ from Blackface Photo Scandal.

FIREWORKS: Fox News Host Accuses Marie Harf of Ukraine Cover-Up.

Before her Fox News gig, Marie Harf served as director of Strategic Communications to Secretary of State John Kerry. She also worked for a bit as Acting Spokesperson and Deputy Spokesperson of the State Department. She got her start as a CIA analyst on the Middle East, before getting involved in Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection effort. A fully-fledged member of the Revolving Door Community, Harf turned her low-responsibility duties as a bureaucrat and campaign official into a sweet-paying media gig. If anyone knows how the system really works, it’s a beneficiary of it like Harf.

And if the phrase “deep state” suddenly popped into your brain, well, it did into mine, too.

Read the whole thing, if you don’t mind me saying so myself.

YOU KNOW WHAT’S PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS: Apple wants affordable housing in California—but laws stand in the way.

Apple has pledged $2.5 billion to help address California’s affordable-housing crisis, the company announced on Monday. In recent years, the San Francisco Bay Area has become the most expensive housing market in America. Los Angeles also suffers from housing costs far above the national average.

Apple’s $2.5 billion package includes several different initiatives. Apple will offer a $1 billion line of credit to organizations building housing for low-income people.

These efforts to promote affordable housing are laudable, but corporate initiatives alone are unlikely to solve California’s housing crisis. The Golden State’s fundamental housing problem is that state and local laws simply don’t allow developers to build enough housing to accommodate rising demand.

Apple, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft have all announced billion-dollar-or-more housing plans, but they’d get better results spending a fraction of that amount helping to elect local Republicans on a deregulation platform.

But it seems that Big Tech, just like Big Government, would rather throw around large sums of money to little effect.