POSTMODERN EDUCATION HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT? Researchers blame YouTube for the rise in Flat Earthers.

J. CHRISTIAN ADAMS: Pat Caddell Could See Over the Horizon. “An urgent pollster prophet.”

PATTERICO: Trump Courts Streisand Effect in Legal Action Against ‘Team of Vipers’ Author Cliff Sims.

The Streisand Effect is blind to race, sex, gender, religion, creed, and political affiliation.

CHRISTIAN TOTO: 7 Ugly Lessons from Jussie Smollett’s ‘Attack.’ “Yes, the media did it again. That isn’t the only brutal takeway from this race-based scandal.”

RELATED: “When, on rare occasion, a hate crime doesn’t happen, that in itself is a hate crime because it allows the criminally hateful to pretend that they aren’t such hateful criminals.”

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: How Do the Insanely Wealthy Actually Pay for Something Worth Hundreds of Millions of Dollars?

DAN MCLAUGHLIN: Rethinking President Grant (Part I).

Along with a parallel campaign to portray Grant as a plodding general who won the war only through the advantages of men and materials, therefore, it was necessary to paint him as a weak president giving free rein to the worst instincts of others.

Second, besides Reconstruction, the other main theme of Grant’s presidency was the dawn of Gilded Age capitalism as America transitioned rapidly into an industrial nation. Historians of a left-wing economic bent tended to paint Grant’s entire era (including Reconstruction) as a riot of plutocracy.

Third, Grant was looked down on, in life and thereafter, by intellectuals from the Northeast. Grant was a humble, plainspoken Middle American with ordinary tastes and little pretension. His mental gifts were precisely the sort that tend to be underrated by intellectuals, wrapped in precisely the kind of blunt, terse man-of-action persona that can leave these gifts unappreciated. As with Eisenhower and some other Republican presidents, these factors combined to make Grant an irresistible target for the gibes of the Eastern highbrow set, even though expert military historians held him in high regard, and his memoirs enjoyed a reputation as a classic of the form.

Fourth, Grant’s reputation suffered from simple Democratic partisanship.

The more things change…

OLD AND NO LONGER HOOPY: Do you know where your towel is?

THE NEW FROODNESS: As a couple, how many towels are you supposed to have?

WHEN EVEN KNITTING GIVES WAY TO THE GLEICHSCHALTUNG: A Witch-Hunt on Instagram.

Knitting, which helps lower the blood pressure and keep the mind busy, has enjoyed an upsurge in popularity in recent years. The Internet has allowed for the proliferation of new platforms from which to buy yarn and patterns, and has helped connect artisans and hobbyists worldwide. Usually, it’s a calming and creative pastime focussed on aesthetics rather than politics. However, a short browse through the knitting posts on Instagram steered me in the direction of the source of the exchange I had overhead and the “conversation” it had produced.

On January 7, Karen Templer, a knitting designer and owner of the online store Fringe Association, published an innocuous blog post on her website entitled “2019: My Year of Colour,” in which she enthused about her forthcoming trip to India. To most observers, Templer’s post will read like a guileless account of her hopes and aspirations for her upcoming travels.

You’ll totally believe what happened next.

THEY’RE NOT SMART ENOUGH TO LEARN TO CODE:

(Classical reference of very recent vintage in the headline.)

THEY DON’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOU OR YOUR FAMILY’S SAFETY: Democrats reject push to alert ICE when illegal immigrants fail firearm background checks.

DOG BITES MAN: Ilhan Omar To Fundraise For Islamic Terror-Linked Palestinian Organization.

THIS ONE DOESN’T SEEM TO BE A HOAX, BUT LET’S SEE IF IT GARNERS JUST ONE PERCENT OF THE ATTENTION JUSSIE SMOLLETT GOT: Man Pulls a Gun on Sam’s Club Customer Wearing MAGA Hat.

DON’T YOU WANT SOMEBODY TO LOOT? DON’T YOU NEED SOMEBODY TO LOOT? DNC Chair Perez: ‘Absolutely’ You Can Be a Democratic Socialist and Capitalist. “Perez is caught between the Looney Tunes Democrats and the Perpetually Outraged Democrats.“

Socialists, “democratic” or otherwise, can’t survive long withot a capitalistic host to feed off of. The reverse is not true of capitalists.

FREE WILLY: Ex-congressman Weiner released from prison after sexting scandal.

HMM: The Chinese Military Speaks to Itself, Revealing Doubts.

A large body of evidence in China’s official military and party media indicates the nation’s senior civilian and uniformed leaders recognize significant shortcomings in the warfighting and command capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). However, most of this evidence is not translated into English for public consumption and is not considered in much of the foreign analysis of China’s growing military capabilities. This situation is not new, but goes back for decades.

Yet, the increasing scope and frequency of these self-critiques during the tenure of Xi Jinping as chairman of the Central Military Commission casts doubt over the senior party and military leadership’s confidence in the PLA’s ability to prevail in battle against a modern enemy. Furthermore, the limitations illustrated by these internal assessments will likely moderate China’s near- and mid-term national security objectives and the manner in which they are pursued. This lack of confidence in PLA capabilities contributes to Beijing’s preference to achieve China’s national objectives through deterrence and actions short of war.

Lots to chew on at the link.

All right-thinking people thought the Soviet Union was invincible, right up until Reagan’s “win win, they lose” policies started to bear fruit.

BUT THE NARRATIVE: Obama’s Border Patrol Chief Says Trump Isn’t Making Up Border Emergency.

LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: McCabe spins on “60 Mins,” race hoax, and much, much more. “When are the jackboots and stormtroopers going to bust into this lying dirtbag’s house in the dead of night to arrest him? He’s accused of lying to the feds, just like Roger Stone and Paul Manafort. Andrew McCabe, whom you might remember from Strzok/Page text message fame for hosting some sort of meeting to scheme up an insurance policy against Trump winning the presidency, went on 60 Minutes last night to pimp out his new book. Remember as you read about the interview or watch the interview that McCabe was fired for lying to the FBI.”

PETTY: Germany warns it will stop extradition of its citizens to UK after Brexit.

ENDGAME: Russia’s Gazprombank freezes accounts of Venezuela’s PDVSA.

Russian lender Gazprombank has decided to freeze the accounts of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA and halted transactions with the firm to reduce the risk of the bank falling under U.S. sanctions, a Gazprombank source told Reuters on Sunday.

While many foreign firms have been cutting their exposure to PDVSA since the sanctions were imposed, the fact that a lender closely aligned with the Russian state is following suit is significant because the Kremlin has been among Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s staunchest supporters.

“PDVSA’s accounts are currently frozen. As you’ll understand, operations cannot be carried out,” the source said. Gazprombank did not reply to a Reuters request for a comment.

PDVSA brandished the story as “fake news” on its Twitter account in capital red letters, but did not reply to a request for comment.

RELATED: Guaido says thousands of Venezuela volunteers begin preparing US aid entry.

The big question now is whether Maduro is smart enough to settle for a comfortable exile, or if he or his supporters will try to fight it out.

CAMPAIGN TRAIL OF TEARS: After Six Straight Losses for Democrats, Warren Bets Georgia Can Go Blue in 2020.

GORDON CHANG: It’s Time to Stop Talking to Beijing and Start Disengaging from China’s Economy.

Xi Jinping, the Chinese ruler, is in no position to negotiate in good faith with the U.S., in large part due to Communist Party politics. Trump, therefore, has to either abandon his ambitious trade goals or push Beijing to the edge of the cliff.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met Xi on Friday and the talks head for Washington next week.

“I hope you can make persistent efforts to push forward an agreement that can benefit both sides,” Xi said, according to state broadcaster China Central Television. “We all think that in terms of maintaining the prosperity and stability of the world, as well as promoting global economic prosperity and development, our two countries share broad mutual interest.”

China and the U.S. “share broad mutual interest”? Actually, both countries, at far different stages of economic development, do not.

Wringing back much of our technology stack might take a Space Race-level effort, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. And given China’s increasingly imperial ambitions, probably necessary.

TEAM OF VIPERS? Report: Two Cabinet Officials Were ‘Ready to Support’ Effort to Remove Trump.

THIS SEEMS ABOUT RIGHT: Super Bowl fans bought seven times more beer than hot dogs.

LIVE BLOG: There is an active shooting situation in Aurora, Illinois, just west of Chicago.

UPDATE: The very latest here.

EVERGREEN HEADLINE FROM BRUCE BAWER: ‘Some Really Stupid People’: Our Catastrophically Clueless Congress.