DOA: Republicans Propose Stand Alone Fix for Family Separations.

“My assumption is in order to fix this problem you can’t fix all the problems” with immigration policy, McConnell said.

Around 2,000 children have been separated from their parents since the zero-tolerance policy’s April debut.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday cast doubt on whether Senate Democrats would support the Republican proposal.

“Let’s hope the president does the right thing and solves the problem, which he can do,” Schumer said. “It’s an excuse from our Republican colleagues who feel the heat, don’t want to attack the president, even though they know, they know legislation will take a very long time and is unlikely to happen, and the flick of a president’s pen could solve this tomorrow.”

McConnell, however, disagreed.

“We need to fix the problem and it requires a legislative solution,” he said.

Please take note which side is presenting a fix, and which side is obstructing.

JETS WITH FRICKIN LASER BEAMS: Directed-Energy Capability Targeted By Pratt F-35 Engine Upgrade Plan.

HMM: Trade Fight With U.S. Complicates China’s Campaign to Contain Debt. “Recent economic expansion seems to be ebbing, triggering calls for Beijing to reopen credit spigot before trade conflict further dents growth.”

From behind the WSJ paywall:

The unusually-large liquidity injection surprised market participants, helping drive down the yuan’s value against the dollar to its weakest level in five months, at 6.4743 per dollar. The benchmark Shanghai Composite stock index plunged 3.8% Tuesday, dipping below 3,000, a psychologically-important level for investors and hitting its lowest mark in two years.

To fend off an economic slowdown, some officials in the State Council, China’s cabinet, are urging more aggressive loosening measures to boost lending and spur growth, such as reducing the portion of deposits banks are required to hold in reserve. Others, notably those at the central bank and other financial regulators, want to stay the course of debt control.

Companies ranging from property developers, local-government financing vehicles to manufacturers recently have missed payments on either bank loans or bonds, even though overall default rates remain low.

“Financial deleveraging is now trickling down to the real economy,” said Sheng Songcheng, a senior adviser at China’s central bank. “All those efforts would go to waste if monetary policy gets loosened now.”

“If the trade war gets worse from here, China’s policy makers will be forced into easing,” said Zhang Zhiwei, Deutsche Bank’s chief China economist. “That will probably delay the current policy agenda of deleveraging and containing financial risks.”

We have our own debt issues, but when free countries hit bad economic times, oftentimes the people vote the bastards out. When dictatorships hit bad economic times, sometimes the dictators find themselves with their backs against the wall.

NOW THAT’S REAL SOCIALISM: Venezuela Forced To Shut Down Production As Operations Fall Apart.

Venezuela’s oil production fell to an average of 1.392 million barrels per day in May, down another 42,000 bpd from a month earlier, according to OPEC’s secondary sources. However, with the crisis in Venezuela spiraling out of control at a horrific pace, the numbers from May might as well be a year ago.

The May numbers don’t reflect the full ramifications of having to deal with inadequate port capacity, after PDVSA diverted operations to Venezuela from its Caribbean island refineries and storage facilities following the attempt by ConocoPhillips to take control of them.

The problem of export capacity has become so acute that PDVSA is demanding customers send ships that can handle ship-to-ship loadings, since there is a backlog of ships trying to load up at the country’s decrepit ports. PDVSA is even considering declaring force majeure on contracts that it will be unable to fulfill. The upshot is that PDVSA might have only 694,000 bpd available for export in June, which is less than half of the 1.495 mb/d that it is contractually obligated to deliver this month.

To be sure, upstream operations are in crisis mode. But the bottlenecks at storage facilities and the ports have opened up a whole new crisis.

Related: Venezuela’s ‘millionaires,’ the new poor.

Elizabeth Torres is outraged, but as a Venezuelan she takes the affront in her stride. “We are a country of millionaires,” she says ironically, eyeing a carton of eggs in the market. Price? Three million bolivars.

“You are a millionaire because you have to pay that much, and for that you get 36 eggs, but the minimum salary is 2.6 million! With what you get every month, you can’t buy them,” she says.

It’s the great irony of the country’s cruel decline. Sitting atop the world’s largest reserves of crude, Venezuela — once Latin America’s richest country — is now a state of millionaires, but the millions are in bolivars and practically worthless.

According to the country’s leading universities, 87 percent of the population is now officially poor.

“They’ll turn us all into beggars ’cause they’re easier to please.”

HOW MANY GUESSES DO I GET? New Survey Reveals that Many American Cannot Distinguish Between Facts and Opinions. “Which group do you think did better — Republicans or Democrats?”

IT’S NATIONAL MARTINI DAY: You know what to do.

YOUR DAILY TREACHER: No, Not Everybody You Hate Is a Nazi.

FASTER APPROVAL, PLEASE: Promising New Technology on Tobacco Harm Reduction Front Awaits FDA Approval.

LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Border ‘Crisis,’ Senate Hearing Tooth Fairy and Much, Much More. “The elevator pitch version of the IG report can be summarized as follows: the investigation found there was mind blowing bias among senior officials in the FBI/DOJ against Trump and his moron supporters but the officials claimed it didn’t effect any of their investigations so it’s all good.”

DIVERSITY MEANS KNOWING YOUR PLACE: Bestselling Author Fired for Criticizing Penguin Random House’s New Diversity Policy.

Update: The original piece has been corrected. Lionel Shriver was dropped as a literary judge by a different organization, not dropped by her publisher.

EVERYBODY DOES IT: Supreme Court Strikes Down Challenges to Gerrymandering in Maryland and Wisconsin. “Both Republicans and Democrats lost attempts to stop partisan redistricting.”

YOU’RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER BLOG: 50 Media Mistakes in the Trump Era: The Definitive List.

CHRISTIAN TOTO: Why Attacking White Male Critics Is More Than Just Dumb.

BUT THE NARRATIVE! Green Energy Makes Ontario the Most Debt-Ridden Province on Earth.

I had been assured that making energy much more expensive would make us all much richer.

CHANGE? Colorado Gov Attends High-Powered Summit in Italy, as 2020 Speculation Mounts.

I can’t think of much that Governor Hickenlooper has accomplished for Colorado, besides driving Magpul Industries to Texas — and I live in Colorado. Hickenlooper also came out against Colorado’s single-payer proposal, which is quickly becoming enshrined Democratic doctrine — if it hasn’t already.

OH: Bill Nelson Switches Support of Judge After Schumer Cash Infusion Into FL-Sen. “Nelson originally suggested Allen Winsor to the Trump White House for a judgeship. Did a multi-million cash infusion from Chuck Schumer’s super PAC change his mind?”

Inquiring minds want to know.

ROGER L. SIMON ON PETER STRZOK: His desire to testify is fishy and dangerous.

CIVIL RIGHTS, PRACTICAL APPLICATION UPDATE: Armed civilian took down shooter at Washington state Walmart.

An armed civilian took down a shooter after at least two people were shot Sunday night at a Washington state Walmart, police said.

Tumwater police said the civilian, described by officers as a good Samaritan, shot and killed the suspect at the scene.

The shooting happened just after 5:30 p.m. at the Walmart Supercenter in Tumwater, about 65 miles south of Seattle.

“I heard two bangs. It sounded like gunshots to me,” witness Robert Berwick said. “I looked down the aisle and saw a person running.”

That’s when Berwick ran, too. There was chaos in the parking lot, and he said the shooting suspect tried to carjack another man. That’s when the suspect was shot.

“I thanked him for saving my life,” Berwick said of the attempted carjacking victim who shot the suspect. “He didn’t look like he had any regrets. I hope he doesn’t have any.”

Management at that Walmart should pass around the hat for this hero.

BOOK REVIEW: The Simple Joys of an Old, Happy Dog by Dave Barry.

BREAKING: Former Israeli minister arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran.

ACHTUNG: The Revolt Comes to Germany.

The problem of keeping the room cool while leaving the door open is now consuming Angela Merekel’s European Union as the refugee problem grows in political size. Can the EU have no internal borders if it lacks an external one? If there’s no way of keeping benefits in, what is the meaning of out?

That in a nutshell is the problem posed by the 21st century European migrant crisis where millions, mostly “from Muslim-majority countries of regions south and east of Europe, including Western Asia, South Asia and Africa,” have streamed into the continent. They predominantly enter through nations bordering on the Mediterranean and Turkey yet disproportionately settle in the Northern European high-wage areas of the continent. The resulting disruptions have fueled a succession of local rebellions from countries disproportionately affected by the inrushing tide. Each straining member country is demanding at least a partial return of control over their internal border in order to cope.

That revolt has finally reached Germany. The New York Times writes that “the populist surge that has left Hungary, Austria and Italy threatening to close their borders to migrants has now spread to Germany, where it could even bring down Chancellor Angela Merkel and further unhinge Europe Union’s cohesion and stability.”

Read the whole thing.

AMERICA’S LONGEST WAR: Taliban resume fighting as Eid ceasefire ends.

The first day of the ceasefire on Friday started with Taliban, civilians and officials offering Eid prayers together in mosques across the country.

Pictures and videos emerged on social media later that day of Afghans celebrating Eid with men identified by them as Taliban fighters.

“It was a moment of extreme happiness for us that we got to celebrate Eid this way – without any fear,” Zahid Khan, a resident of Jalalabad told Al Jazeera.

The celebrations were cut short with a first attack claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) on Saturday that killed at least 30 people and wounded more than 65 in Nangarhar province.

The second attack, a suicide bombing in Jalalabad on Sunday, close to the governor’s office in Nangarhar province, killed at least 18 people. No group immediately claimed responsibility.

“On the day of Eid when everyone came together, an attack by ISIL made many people cry for their lost ones,” Nikzad, a Kabul resident told Al Jazeera.

“Peace is not easy to achieve in this country.”

What country? Afghanistan is a place on the map where neighboring countries aren’t.

SAM WESTROP: Moderate Islam Falters in the Face of Silicon Valley Censorship.

It is not just conservatives who are targeted. Long before the removal of my BBC debate on Islamism, moderate Muslims and critics of Islamist political ideology found themselves subject to bans and restrictions on social media for articulating reasonable ideas and criticisms that deserve debate rather than restriction.

Since July 2016, Google has censored videos published on YouTube by Prager U, a digital-media publisher that produces short videos discussing topical questions. Restricted videos included presentations about Islamism given by moderate Muslim voices, including by Kasim Hafeez, a British Muslim who now speaks out against the same Islamist anti-Semitism in which he once believed; Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an anti-Islamist campaigner and women’s-rights activist; and Khurram Dara, a prominent American Muslim author.

In 2017, Ex-Muslims of North America (EXMNA) was targeted by “a coordinated reporting and flagging campaign” that led to Facebook’s restricting their posts. EXMNA opposes radical Islam and offers a home to apostates facing abuse and persecution. Nothing it posts on social media is remotely hateful.

In fact, censorship of anti-Islamist voices by Silicon Valley is now an almost weekly occurrence.

It’s almost as though they’re on the other side.

LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Roger Stone, WaPo Strike, Peter Strzok, and Much, Much More.

Tyler O’Neil is filling in for the still-vacationing Liz Sheld.

WASTED ASSETS: The US Navy is fed up with ballistic missile defense patrols.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said in no uncertain terms on June 12 that he wants the Navy off the tether of ballistic missile defense patrols, a mission that has put a growing strain on the Navy’s hard-worn surface combatants, and the duty shifted towards more shore-based infrastructure.

“Right now, as we speak, I have six multi-mission, very sophisticated, dynamic cruisers and destroyers ― six of them are on ballistic missile defense duty at sea,” Richardson said during his address at the U.S. Naval War College’s Current Strategy Forum. “And if you know a little bit about this business you know that geometry is a tyrant.

“You have to be in a tiny little box to have a chance at intercepting that incoming missile. So, we have six ships that could go anywhere in the world, at flank speed, in a tiny little box, defending land.”

Richardson continued, saying the Navy could be used in emergencies but that in the long term the problem demands a different solution.

Aegis Ashore is good enough for Romania and Japan, so why not the U.S.?