STEPHEN KRUISER: NY Times Has an Unflattering Review of Comey’s Book Tour Behavior. “May Hurt a Carefully Cultivated Image”

OUCH: China Slaps 179% Tariff On US Sorghum Hours After US Bans Exports To China’s ZTE.

GOOD: Ben Shapiro brutally DROPS blue-check blaming him and other Rightists for mosque shooting.

It isn’t quite “punching back twice as hard,” but it is something.

MAKE TOY RETAILING GREAT AGAIN: CEO of MGA Entertainment Makes Formal Offer to Buy Toys ‘R Us.

IF YOU HAVE TO ASK… Are You an Alpha or a Beta Male? Take Our 20-Question Quiz and Find Out.

OH: Turns Out That New York Times’ Clinton Email ‘Botched Story’ Actually Wasn’t.

The Clinton campaign, which requested the corrections in the first place, seized on those small inconsistencies and attempted to use them to discredit the entire story. The campaign wrote a nearly 2,000-word public letter to the Times demanding an explanation for the “egregious” story and attacking the paper’s “apparent abandonment of standard journalistic practices.”

Liberal media outlets were more than happy to join in the pile-on. Newsweek‘s Kurt Eichenwald declared the Times guilty of “a level of recklessness that borders on, well, criminal behavior.” The Atlantic called the “botched story” a “huge embarrassment” for the paper. Salon.com declared it “another shoddy Clinton smear.” Mother Jones wrote that it was an “epic screw-up.”

But former FBI director James Comey’s new book indicates that the ridiculous semantics game was even more moot than it appeared. The Times actually understated the reality: Clinton was already under criminal investigation at the time by the FBI, and yes, she was definitely the target.

“Though The Times may have thought those clarifications were necessary, their original story was much closer to the mark,” Comey writes. “It was true that the transmission to the F.B.I. from the inspector general did not use the word ‘criminal,’ but by the time of the news story, we had a full criminal investigation open, focused on the secretary’s conduct.”

Read the whole thing.

UH-OH: Russia Steps Up Hacking, Spurring U.S.-U.K. Warning on Risk.

Russia is using compromised computer-network equipment to attack U.S. and British companies and government agencies, the two countries warned in an unprecedented joint alert.

The warning on Monday came from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation and Britain’s National Cyber Security Center. It included advice to companies about how to protect themselves and warned specifically of attacks on routers, the devices that channel data around a network.

“Russian state-sponsored actors are using compromised routers to conduct spoofing ‘man-in-the-middle’ attacks to support espionage, extract intellectual property, maintain persistent access to victim networks and potentially lay a foundation for future offensive operations,” according to a joint statement. “Multiple sources including private and public-sector cybersecurity research organizations and allies have reported this activity to the U.S. and U.K. governments.”

The main advice offered Monday for individuals and companies: Make sure that your router software is up-to-date and its password is secure.

It’s amazing how many people — including in national security agencies — fail to take those two simple precautions.

NOTHING TO SEE HERE; MOVE ALONG: British Chemical Weapons Inspector: Russia Blocking Access To Douma.

But the AP reports: “Syrian state TV: International chemical weapons watchdog team enters Douma, the town where the alleged attack happened.”

Which probably means that Syria and/or the Russian “contractors” have had enough time to get rid of anything incriminating.

LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Cohen/Hannity, Comey, Midterms and Much, Much More. “The government argued that since Cohen doesn’t have ‘a lot’ of clients there should be no privilege. WUT? Is there some heretofore unknown threshold before attorney-client privilege kicks in? What kind of precedent does this set?”

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): I think we’re entitled to know the names of which “journalists” Fusion GPS had on its payroll. But weirdly, that hasn’t been released. Confidentiality and privacy, ya know.

LATE-STAGE SOCIALISM: How Venezuela has resorted to importing oil as its core industry faces collapse. “They are importing barrels that cost $80 to $90 and selling them at $0.”

This is like something out of Atlas Shrugged:

The long queues for food and medicine in Venezuela are now well documented, but lines of cars waiting outside petrol stations – something that would have been unthinkable a few years ago, when petrol cost $0.01 (0.7p) per litre – are becoming more common.

Filling your tank is still cheaper than drinking water in Venezuela, but the industry can no longer meet domestic demands – and is having to put exports first. Monaldi says that if production continues to fall to below a million barrels, the consequences could be catastrophic.

“The domestic consumption of oil is around 450,000 barrels and Venezuela needs the exports to repay its debt with Russia and China,” he says.

“They have to import for two reasons. One is the collapse of the refining infrastructure and the other is that its oil is naturally heavy so they need to import diluents to blend with their oil to re-export it.

“One of the craziest things is that a part of Venezuela’s imports is for the domestic market, but given its price, they practically give gasoline away for free. They are importing barrels that cost $80 to $90 and selling them at $0.”

Cheap gas is one of the ways Maduro (and Chavez before him) buys support from voters. Looks like yet another socialist countdown clock is racing quickly towards zero.

Update: Link was missing — fixed now, sorry!

OH FER CRYIN’ OUT LOUD: Woman Calls Police Over Man Wearing Pro-Gun T-Shirt At Park.

Johnston said he was openly carrying his handgun in a holster on his hip, and was also sporting a Warrior 12 shirt emblazoned with the words, “I’LL CONTROL MY GUNS, YOU CONTROL YOUR KIDS” across the back.

The shirt also featured an image of an AR-15 rifle.

“I figured I might get some comments or looks,” Johnston said. “[But] I was legally exercising my First and Second Amendment rights.”

Approximately 30 minutes after the kids began playing, a man approached him with his wife and daughter in tow, Johnston said.

He said the man told him that a woman was “fuming” over the message on Johnston’s shirt, as well as the fact that he was armed.

“I thanked him for letting me know, and continued playing with my kids,” Johnson said.

A short while later, another man and his family approached Johnston, and asked to read his shirt, he said.

Johnston showed him his shirt, at which point the man warned him that his father-in-law had just been harassed by woman in the parking lot, and that she was contacting police regarding Johnson’s attire.

I had always thought that “the Fashion Police” was just a joke.

CHUCK DEVORE: California’s crazy one-party liberal politics is why I had to finally leave the state — and I’m not alone.

That home prices and rents in California average 55 percent higher than in Texas isn’t just due to the former’s good weather—the Golden State’s high taxes, capricious regulations, onerous lawsuit climate, and powerful unions all contribute to constraining the supply of new housing while jacking up the price of existing housing.

California’s high housing costs drive America’s highest Supplemental Poverty rate—a dubious distinction held by the progressive bastion since the new, more comprehensive measure was introduced by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2009. In fact, not only are there proportionately 39 percent more people living in poverty in California than in Texas (20.4 percent to 14.7 percent), but, the plight of the poor comes into greater relief when comparing like demographic groups in the two most-populous states, both of which feature majority-minority populations.

This table compares the Supplemental Poverty rates of the four largest racial and national origin groups from children to working (0 to 64) in California, Texas and the U.S. averaged from 2014 to 2015. In every case, Texas’ poverty rate is below both California’s and the national average whereas in California, only that state’s rapidly growing Asian population enjoys a lower poverty rate than the U.S. average. So much for California as a liberal utopia.

I hate to have to correct Mr. DeVore, but that is a liberal utopia.

GRAVY TRAIN: HUD Let Nearly $2 Billion Go To People Barred From Getting Federally Protected Loans.

The loans were distributed in 2016 to 9,507 borrowers who were either delinquent on federal debt or hadn’t paid their child support, according to HUD’s inspector general (IG). The IG reviewed 60 of the nearly 14,000 loans Federal Housing Administration (FHA) closed in 2016 and found more than three-quarters were given to barred borrowers.

“FHA faced a higher risk due to an increased likelihood of default on the ineligible loans,” the report said. The borrowers had a delinquency rate “twice as high as those of the general population.” (RELATED: At Least A Quarter Of Every Tax Dollar For HUD Grants May Be Wasted)

The agency’s guidance prohibits lenders from giving out FHA-insured loans to borrowers with delinquent federal debt, according to the IG report.

The sources lenders used “to identify ineligible borrowers lacked sufficient current information, and FHA did not adequately guide lenders on reviewing child support,” the report said.

This happened during Barack Obama’s “amazingly scandal-free” administration.

ANALYSIS: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. The Democrats Are the Party of Fiscal Responsibility.

With the smallish exception of Medicare Part D, every single underfunded entitlement program projected to bust the budget from here to eternity was the creation of Democrats.

RAISE THE CONE OF SILENCE: Watchdog finds EPA broke law by spending $43K on Scott Pruitt’s soundproof booth and not telling Congress.

In a report issued Monday, the Government Accountability Office said the agency violated the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of 2017 when it failed to notify both House and Senate appropriations committees prior to obligating the money to install a soundproof privacy booth in Pruitt’s office.

Any office expenditure above $5,000 requires lawmakers be notified, according to the eight-page GAO report. The total cost of the soundproof booth and its installation amounted to $43,238.68.

The privacy booth cost $24,570, including delivery and assembly, according to the GAO. The remaining expenses included: “Concrete Floor Leveling” ($3,470); “Drop Ceiling Installation” ($3,360.97) “Prep and Wall Painting” ($3,350); “Removal of CCTV Equipment” ($7,978); and “Infrastructure Cabling and Wiring” ($509.71).

EPA Spokeswoman Liz Bowman said the agency would comply with the findings and alert lawmakers.

It’s important to cross all the I’s and dot all the T’s, especially when the press is out to get you.

CHRIS QUEEN: The Left’s All-or-Nothing Mentality. “The environmental protest suicide of a gay rights lawyer demonstrates the left’s commitment to leftism no matter what.”

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: Stormy Daniels Strips to ‘Make America Horny Again,’ Right Across From Mar-a-Lago.

RAWR: Iowa Town Causes Uproar by Shooting Feral Cats.

SPENGLER: The Libby Pardon Shows Once Again that Trump Is a Stand-Up Guy.

STICKING IT TO THE MAN: Giant penis mural erected once again.

ALLIES: US pastor faces terror charges in fraught trial in Turkey. “Turkey has used the pastor as a diplomatic pawn, hoping to trade him for a U.S.-based Muslim cleric Turkey blames for masterminding a failed military coup.”

Andrew Craig Brunson, a 50-year-old evangelical pastor from North Carolina, is facing up to 35 years in prison on charges of “committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member” and “espionage.” The trial begins Monday in western Izmir province.

Brunson was arrested in December 2016 for alleged links to both an outlawed Kurdish insurgent group and the network of the U.S.-based Muslim cleric who Turkey blames for a masterminding a failed military coup that year. The cleric, Fethullah Gulen, denies the claim.

It wasn’t a failed coup — it’s a successful purge.

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: ‘Help, Can I Get My Money Back from McCabe’s GoFundMe Campaign?’

There really is one born every minute.

I’VE NOTICED THIS, TOO: Demand for Batteries Is Shrinking, Yet Prices Keep On Going and Going… Up.

Batteries on average cost 8.2% more than a year ago, while prices in the overall household-care segment rose only 1.8%, according to Nielsen. At a time when prices are stagnating on everything from toilet paper to diapers, such pricing power for a product that is increasingly obsolete has confounded shoppers.

“As far as the prices go, you don’t have a choice,” said Samuel Hurly, a contractor from Mount Vernon, N.Y., as he scanned a Home Depot display of AAA batteries to power flashlights he uses on the job. Batteries ordered online take too long to arrive, Mr. Hurly said, and he finds cheaper, private-label options lose power too quickly.

Battery prices were more likely to fluctuate a few years ago, when Duracell was owned by consumer-products giant Procter & Gamble Co. and Energizer was part of Edgewell Personal Care Co. Those companies were more focused on their bigger, more profitable razor businesses—Edgewell with Schick and P&G with Gillette. They would invest less in batteries, or slash prices to drive up volume, to compensate for weak sales in other units, said SunTrust analyst Bill Chappell.

Energizer Holdings Inc. spun off from Edgewell in 2015, and Duracell broke apart from P&G a year later when it was acquired by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Both businesses have become more profit-focused since separating from their previous owners.

It’s been my experience that the no-name (or AmazonBasics) brands aren’t that much cheaper, and also don’t last as long. Still, the Energizer/Duracell duopoly looks ripe for disruption.

HMM: Governor Brown’s Move To Hike California’s Gas Taxes Could Doom Dems As Elections Approach.

Republican Reps. Kevin McCarthy and Mimi Walters of California are using a very unpopular gas tax increase to generate excitement among GOP votes. Both Republicans want to put a measure on the ballot that repeals the increase. They believe the campaign could increase voter turnout and staunch a blue wave in the state.

“We pay one of the highest gasoline taxes in the nation,” Walters told reporters Saturday, according to The Hill. “By the time you get to 2021, we’re going to be paying $2 a gallon for gasoline just in taxes, and we can’t do that for working families who have to travel for their job.”

Recent polls show McCarthy and Walters’ gamble has a chance to pay off.

Plus:

The law, passed April 6, imposes a 12 cents per gallon (cpg) hike on citizens and raises the tax on diesel fuel by 20 cpg. It also implements an additional charge to annual vehicle license fees ranging from $25 to $175 depending on the car’s value.

California is one of the most heavily taxed states in the nation, but you wouldn’t know it from even a cursory glance at the state’s infrastructure.

LATE-STAGE SOCIALISM: Venezuela’s imploding economy sparks refugee crisis.

Many wore threadbare clothes. Their sunken cheeks and wiry limbs suggested this was the first decent meal they had eaten in days. Children were barefoot. One man hobbled in on crutches, his right leg amputated below the knee. Another pushed an elderly woman in a wheelchair.

These are the weary, often desperate victims of the worst migration crisis in recent Latin American history. Some had arrived from Venezuela that morning, escaping food shortages, hyperinflation, a collapsing economy, disease and violence. Others had been in Colombia for days or weeks, looking for work, scavenging for food, sleeping in the streets and avoiding deportation.

While the eyes of the world have been on the Syrian refugee crisis and the exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, Venezuela’s humanitarian disaster has gone relatively unnoticed.

Sad, but it hasn’t gone unnoticed — or unpredicted — around here.