MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Facebook’s Kid-Safe Version of Messenger Let Kids Join Group Video Chats with Unauthorized Adults.

While Facebook has yet to make any public announcement regarding this security flaw, when contacted by The Verge the company did admit that “the alert had been sent to thousands of users in recent days,” and pinned the blame on a “technical error” which affected, so they say, “a small number of group chats.”

“Thousands” of group chats doesn’t sound like a small number to me, especially given that you have to multiply that vague figure by the number of kids involved in each one. Worse, Facebook has a bad history of slow-rolling the truth when it comes to its many security issues.

Much more at the link.

DAVID HARSANYI: Unlike His Critics, Former New York Yankees Closer Mariano Rivera Is A Mensch. “The Hall of Fame pitcher supports a pluralistic nation with democratic institutions and free association.”

In a transcendently ridiculous column at The Daily Beast, readers are warned that MLB Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera has “served at the pleasure of a racist president, taken part in thinly veiled propaganda on behalf of a far-right government in Israel, and gotten chummy with outright bigots and apocalyptic loons.”

Mo Rivera? The greatest closer—perhaps the greatest pitcher—in Major League baseball history? Mo Rivera, the first player unanimously selected as a first-ballot Hall of Famer? As a longtime Yankees fan, and someone fortunate enough to see Rivera up close for a number of years, I can think of few greater pleasures in sports than watching him work. So I never thought I’d be able to admire him more. But here we are.

It’s not surprising that The Daily Beast, whose editor-in-chief blames Israeli Jews for white nationalism, would find Rivera’s support of Israel problematic (the original illustration for the piece, incidentally, had Rivera standing on a pitcher’s mound shaped like a yarmulke atop a Jewish star).

Come see the antisemitism inherent in the leftism.

EVEN THE DAILY BEAST HAS TAKEN NOTICE: Top Dem Think Tank Warns Party: You’re Losing Immigration Messaging War to Trump.

LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Justice Dept. Tells Mueller to Stay in His Box. “Consistent with standard practice, Department witnesses should decline to address potentially privileged matters, thus affording the Department the full opportunity at a later date to consider particular questions and possible accommodations that may fulfill the committees’ legitimate need for information while protecting Executive Branch confidentiality interests.”

I’ll liveblog the hearing, and have already stockpiled plenty of Bloody Mary fixins.

IT’S OFFICIAL: Boris anoints himself ‘The Dude’ to ‘deliver Brexit, unite the country, defeat Corbyn and energise’ as he thumps Hunt to be new Prime Minister.

UK politics just got fun again.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Boris used to be an American citizen, since he held dual citizenship until he renounced it in the face of IRS hounding. Background on the hounding, which also afflicts other U.S. citizens living abroad, here.

WITH MALICE AFORETHOUGHT: How the Left Turned Words Into ‘Violence,’ and Violence Into ‘Justice.’

Responding to news that journalist Andy Ngo had been beaten by antifa protestors in Portland last month, a woman named Charlotte Clymer tweeted that “Ngo intentionally provokes people on the left to drive his content. Being attacked today on video taken by an actual journalist (because Ngo is definitely not) is the greatest thing that could have happened to his career. You know it. I know it. He knows it. We all know it. Violence is completely wrong, and I find it sad and weak to allow a sniveling weasel like Andy Ngo to get under one’s skin like this, but I’m also not going to pretend this wasn’t Ngo’s goal from the start. I mean, let’s cut the shit here. This is what they do.”

Who is Charlotte Clymer? She is an activist who works at the Human Rights Campaign, America’s “largest LGBTQ civil rights organization,” which supposedly “envision[s] a world where LGBTQ people are ensured equality at home, at work [and] in every community.” Andy Ngo, who has written for Quillette, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and other publications, happens to be gay.

Read the whole thing.

HMM: Millions of Barrels of Iranian Oil Are Piled Up in China’s Ports. “Two and a half months after the White House banned the purchase of Iran’s oil, the nation’s crude is continuing to be sent to China where it’s being put into what’s known as “bonded storage,” say people familiar with operations at several Chinese ports. This supply doesn’t cross local customs or show up in the nation’s import data, and isn’t necessarily in breach of sanctions. While it remains out of circulation for now, its presence is looming over the market.”

MODERN PROBLEMS: US Air Force Is Likely Getting The Weirdest Briefings About The Planned Raid On Area 51.

Given that the plan quickly went viral (which led to some incredible memes), somebody immediately pointed out that a US general was likely going to get a crash course on exactly what a Naruto run is. The Naruto run is a particular style of running, a reference to the manga and anime series whose protagonist Naruto Uzumaki runs with his arms stretched out behind its back. And while we don’t have evidence of the top brass in the pentagon getting this talk, there are pictures showing that some in the Air Force at least are getting a crash course on what a Naruto run is.

People on Reddit have pointed out that this might not be a serious exercise, but rather a training opportunity on how to give good briefs even on silly subjects. Although this is probably the case, many want to believe otherwise.

Whatever happens (or doesn’t) with the Area 51 raid, making plans for people doing dumb stuff inspired by social media is probably pretty smart.

KRUISER: Daily Beast Writer Irked That Mariano Rivera Is a Conservative Christian.

OH: LGBT-Leading Dem. Admits Lying About Pulling ’77 Bullets’ From Pulse Shooting Victims.

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: You can’t copyright a cocktail, so what’s a creative bartender to do?

WELL, HE’S RIGHT: Trump Goes Nuclear on The Squad: ‘A Very Racist Group of Troublemakers… and Not Very Smart.’

DOUBLING DOWN: Prof: ‘When I said MAGA teens are modern day Hitlerjugend, I meant it.’

YOU’RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER BLOG: Democratic Presidential Clown Car Update for July 22, 2019. “The second debate field is set, Bernie Bernies Bernie, Beto plunders staff from even less successful campaigns.”

Yes, there are less successful campaigns, starring candidates you may even have heard of.

AUTOMATION: Soldiers will run a platoon attack of robot vehicles from a Bradley in a test.

The month-long operation test at Fort Carson, Colorado, is aimed at getting data and feedback for the Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Ground Vehicle Systems Center.

Army researchers are using upgraded Bradleys, dubbed Mission Enabler Technologies-Demonstraters, or MET-Ds. Those upgrades include a remote turret for the 25mm main gun, 360-degree awareness cameras and enhanced crew stations with touchscreens, according to an Army release.

They’ll test with two MET-Ds and four robotic combat vehicles initially. Each of the MET-Ds will have a driver, gunner and four soldiers running platoon-level maneuvers with the vehicles armed with 7.62mm machine guns.

“We’re asking them to utilize the vehicles in a way that’s never been done before,” said David Centeno Jr., chief of the center’s Emerging Capabilities Office.

“You’re exposing forces to enemy fire, whether that be artillery, direct fire,” he said. “So, we have to find ways to penetrate that bubble, attrit their systems and allow for freedom of air and ground maneuver. These platforms buy us some of that, by giving us standoff.”

Let’s just not ever fully automate the killchain, or SkyNet really will smile.

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Biden: ‘I Got 150,000 Troops Out of Iraq.’ WaPo Factchecker: ‘Um, no.’ “Biden has been all over the place on Iraq, mostly blowing with the shifting winds. Biden was for the Iraq War when it was popular, against it when it wasn’t, boasted about doing what Obama wanted (while conveniently forgetting his own misgivings), leaves out the embarrassing bits about ISIS, and now claims he was both Bush’s dupe and Obama’s right hand.”

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

THE RETURN OF THE PRIMITIVE: Thousands in Brooklyn still in dark as New York City deals with another power outage.

De Blasio’s been mayor for only five years and already the place is starting to look like the last chapter of Atlas Shrugged.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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