CREEPING SHARIA: How Muslim model Halima Aden’s Sports Illustrated burkini pics ‘changed lives.’

Halima Aden knew she would make history as the first Muslim model to grace the pages of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition wearing a hijab and burkini, but she didn’t think she would change lives.

“I was hoping it would be perceived well but I’ve just been blown away,” the model told AAP.

“When you hear young girls telling you you’ve changed their entire life and they’re going out swimming, trying out these things they thought weren’t for them, I can’t help but feel really proud.”

“You can take your sexual oppression to the beach!” doesn’t seem like a very positive message.

HMM: China cuts its holdings of US debt to lowest in 2 years.

The largest foreign owner of U.S. debt reduced the level by just shy of $20.5 billion, a slight decrease that brought the total holdings down to $1.12 trillion. But the move represents a continued pattern of declines that comes as the two sides have been unable to hammer out a long-term trade agreement and instead have been engaging in a tit-for-tat tariff fight that has escalated in recent days.

In the 12-month period ending March, the latest month for which data is available, China’s stockpile of U.S. government notes, bonds and bills fell by $67.2 billion, a 5.6% decline. The total has fallen by some $200 billion since the peak in 2012 and now represents 7% of total U.S. debt outstanding, compared to 12% previously, according to UBS.

The threat of the nation either not buying Treasurys or engaging in outright sales has shaken the bond market before.

It isn’t often appreciated, but Beijing has indeed been manipulating the value of the yuan — up versus the dollar, not down. Otherwise the country could wind up with a yuge balance-of-payments problem. Trade insecurity could work against that effort, which is just one more lever in Trump’s trade negotiations.

90 MINUTES FROM NEW YORK TO PARIS LONDON: Aerospace firm led by former SpaceX and Blue Origin employees reveals plan to build plane that will hit 5 TIMES the speed of sound.

BUT OF COURSE: Facebook Blocks Trump Board Member for Pro-Life Post Contrasting Trans and Pro-Choice Arguments.

MATT MARGOLIS: Killing Education: SATs to Add ‘Adversity Score’ to Address ‘Wealth Disparity’ in Results

OH FER CRYIN’ OUT LOUD: Christian Student Forced to Write Islamic Conversion Creed Appeals Case to Supreme Court.

SPACE X: Parachute Issues Will Further Delay First Commercial Crew Missions.

Recent parachute test issues SpaceX’s Dragon program — as well as, in some media reports, Boeing’s Starliner — will likely delay the launch of the first commercial crew missions to the International Space Station, an analyst for Forecast International Inc. said.

“In broad stokes, these anomalies will delay both programs,” said Forecast’s Carter Palmer in an e-mail interview. “Boeing, for example, is putting further tests on hold until the issue is identified. SpaceX may have to redesign the parachute in the future.”

Of the two reported failed tests, it is SpaceX’s that received the most media attention — including testimony by NASA’s Bill Gerstenmaier at a May 8 hearing concerning NASA’s deep space and lunar exploration plans. The SpaceX test (which included a test sled instead of a test capsule) simulated a failed main parachute, which was using only three of the included four parachutes; however, the company did complete five similar tests before this failure.

Boeing has also experienced recent parachute test issues, said Gerstenmaier — head of NASA’s human spaceflight program — in an interview with Spaceflight Now.

If this stuff were easy, everyone would be doing it.

CHINA: North Korea women in China trapped in sex trade. “Chinese police are often complicit with the exploitation of refugees.”

SNOWFALLS ARE A THING OF THE PAST AND/OR MID-MAY: California braces for feet of snow from storms; ‘significant severe weather event’ to impact Plains.

CAMPAIGN KICKOFF: New York to de Blasio: Drop Dead!

DOES THIS MEAN THEY’VE FINALLY FOUND A USE FOR THE THING? Stealthy USS Zumwalt Destroyer to Fire New Missiles, Laser Weapons.

AIR SAFETY: U.S. orders suspension of all flights to, from Venezuela.

THAT WOULD BE NICE: 70% of N.J. gun laws could go away if SCOTUS takes up this case on May 23rd.

SAD: Transgender Tragedy: This Baby Died Because the Mother’s Medical Records Listed Her as Male.

WASHINGTON WHODUNIT: Who Pushed the Dossier, Brennan or Comey?

YES. NEXT QUESTION? Is fear behind decisions about nuclear power?

ZONING: Wealthy Bay Area suburbs could have a whole new look under California housing bill.

LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: SPY vs. SPY as Comey, Brennan Point Fingers. “OH SNAP. They are turning on each other! Also notice how the statement says the dossier wasn’t corroborated? That further screws Comey because the FBI are the people who presented the dossier to the FISA court, swearing it was true. Ouch.”

RESURRECTION: A B-52H Nicknamed “Wise Guy” Becomes The Second To Ever Come Back From The Bone Yard.

When the 5th Bomb Wing sent Wise Guy to the Bone Yard in 2008, it seems that the personnel from the unit may have a nagging feeling in the back of their minds that the bomber might not be done with its service just yet. Someone left a note on a panel inside the plane that reads as follows:

“AMARG, this 60-034, a Cold Warrior that stood sentinel over America from the darkest days of the Cold War to the global fight against terror. Take good care of her… Until we need her again.”

It may be of interest to note that the “60” in Wise Guy’s serial number is the fiscal year in which the Air Force bought her. The very last of the B-52Hs rolled off Boeing’s production line in 1962.

That’s nearly 60 years ago.

UGH: Before Ethiopian Crash, Boeing Resisted Pilots’ Calls for Aggressive Steps on 737 Max.

The F.A.A. had already issued one directive after the Lion Air crash, instructing airlines to revise their flight manuals to include information on how to respond to a malfunction of the anti-stall system known as MCAS. But Mr. Michaelis pushed Boeing to consider calling for an additional one to update the software.

Such a procedure would have required Boeing and airlines in the United States to take immediate action to ensure the safety of the Max, and would have likely taken the jet out of service temporarily.

“My question to you, as Boeing, is why wouldn’t you say this is the smartest thing to do?” Mr. Michaelis said. “Say we’re going to do everything we can to protect that traveling public in accordance with what our pilots unions are telling us.”

Mr. Sinnett didn’t budge, saying that it remained unclear that the new software, which automatically pushes the plane’s nose down, was responsible for the Lion Air crash. He added that he felt confident that pilots had adequate training to deal with a problem, especially now that pilots — who were not initially informed about the new system — were aware of it.

“You’ve got to understand that our commitment to safety is as great as yours,” Mr. Sinnett said in the meeting. “The worst thing that can ever happen is a tragedy like this, and the even worse thing would be another one.”

The pilots expressed frustration that Boeing did not inform them about the new software on the plane until after the Lion Air crash.

“These guys didn’t even know the damn system was on the airplane, nor did anybody else,” said Mr. Michaelis, the union’s head of safety.

Another American pilot, Todd Wissing, expressed frustration that no mention of the system had been included in the training manual for the 737 Max.

What a mess.

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO DO ANY OF THAT: She Didn’t Get An ‘A’ So She Accused Professor Of Sexual Harassment. Then She Held Ex At Knifepoint To Destroy Evidence.

RICHARD FERNANDEZ: If Globalization Meant China Could Turn off Your Fridge, Would You Still Like It?

Much of the public debate surrounding the Uranium One deal has centered around whether the Clintons committed any wrongdoing in the role they played in a sale to Rosatom (and no evidence of such wrongdoing has been found) but less attention has been paid to whether it is good public policy for the U.S. to import such a large percentage of its uranium or sell control of such assets to Putin, yet that is perhaps the more important issue.

As outsourcing expands to the lowest-cost countries of the world, the chain extends into what are the most unstable regions on the planet.

Read the whole thing.

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Is Nancy Pelosi Endorsing Polygamy and Pedophilia?

VIDEO: Terror at 800 Feet. “Two window washers went on the ride of their lives near the top of the 844-foot-tall Devon Energy Center, as the lift they were on went wildly out of control.”

AND THIS TIME THEY MEAN IT! Huawei willing to sign ‘no-spy’ pacts with governments.