A REMINDER FROM PATRICK POOLE: Mueller Probe of Trump Only Exists Because of Comey’s Illegal Leak to New York Times.

WHAT’S NEW? Mayor Rahm Emanuel believes he should be able to violate the law without consequences.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. The media needs Trump more than he needs them.

Michael Walsh:

On one side: the perpetually aggrieved White House press corps, whose members sit atop journalism’s pinnacle and yet are herded like cattle, made to stand behind rope lines and are generally treated with disdain by those they report on. Like fantasy-league baseball players, they’re convinced they can run the country better than the officials they so resentfully cover.

On the other: a beleaguered, media-conscious president who still harbors the notion that he can get dedicated ideological enemies to like him if he can just charm them enough and is prepared to go around them on Twitter if he can’t.

As the Trump administration revamps its communications operation yet again in the wake of the short-lived Anthony Scaramucci era, it’s time to face the fact that this is no longer an exercise in public relations, or even messaging strategy.

This is war.

That’s been true from the start — and do read the whole thing.

WELL, GOOD: Senate Advances Bill to Block Palestinian Aid if Terror Paydays Continue.

HENRY KISSINGER: ‘Iranian Radical Empire’ Could Emerge in a Post-ISIS Middle East.

“Across large areas of Iraq and Syria, an ideologically radical religious army, Isis, has declared itself a relentless foe of modern civilisation, seeking violently to replace the international system’s multiplicity of states with a single Islamic empire governed by Sharia law,” the 94-year-old Kissinger wrote. “In these circumstances, the traditional adage that the enemy of your enemy can be regarded as your friend no longer applies. In the contemporary Middle East, the enemy of your enemy may also be your enemy. The Middle East affects the world by the volatility of its ideologies as much as by its specific actions.”

“The outside world’s war with Isis can serve as an illustration,” he continued. “Most non-Isis powers — including Shia Iran and the leading Sunni states — agree on the need to destroy it. But which entity is supposed to inherit its territory? A coalition of Sunnis? Or a sphere of influence dominated by Iran? The answer is elusive because Russia and the Nato countries support opposing factions. If the Isis territory is occupied by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards or Shia forces trained and directed by it, the result could be a territorial belt reaching from Tehran to Beirut, which could mark the emergence of an Iranian radical empire.”

The full article, which I recommend, is here.

BLUE DOG DEM TO LABOR BOARD: ‘Do No Harm to Those Job Creators,’ Repeal Obama-Era Rule.

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) joined Republican lawmakers in support of a bill that would reverse a decision made by the National Labor Relations Board during the Obama administration.

“For more than three decades, the Joint Employer Standard was the cornerstone of labor law; it protected businesses from undue liability involving employees over which they did not have the actual or the direct control. We know what happened in August of 2015 that decision that came out – that decision ignored years of legal precedent and created an environment of uncertainty that will put pressure on primary companies to assert more authority over their contracted small businesses and franchises to limit new potential liability under this federal law,” Cuellar said during a Capitol Hill press conference Thursday.

“I’m an attorney and I’ve been a small-business owner, so I know what it is to be a small-business owner, so I know what it is to work with employees, and I don’t think this is a Democratic or Republican issue – it’s something that we’ve got to do because it’s the right thing to do for the small-business owners,” he added.

In August 2015, the NLRB concluded that “two or more entities are joint employers of a single workforce if (1) they are both employers within the meaning of the common law; and (2) they share or codetermine those matters governing the essential terms and conditions of employment.”

This was a blatant act by the NLRB to enforce what I call the “Caligula Standard” on corporate/franchisee relations: “If only all of Rome had just one neck.”

CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN: Saudi Arabia to allow women in bikinis at new beach resort.

NO. Chelsea Clinton Wants Films to Be Rated on Whether or Not They ‘Defy Gender Stereotypes.’

BEWARE OF DOG: Fido And Fluffy Are Ruining The Environment, UCLA Study Says.

EVERYTHING IS PROBLEMATICAL: ‘Death Wish’ Trailer Already Bringing Howls of Racism, Comparisons to Trayvon.

WINNING: Toyota Gets on Trump’s Good Side With $1.6 Billion U.S. Factory.

Toyota said it plans to open the factory with Mazda by 2021, with the location yet to be decided. Eventually, the plant will be able to produce 300,000 vehicles and employ 4,000 people, it said.

Half of those vehicles will be a new Mazda crossover. The rest will be Corolla sedans, originally slated to be made at a new Toyota plant in Guanjuato, Mexico. That decision had earned the ire of Mr. Trump, who tweeted in January “no way” to the plant and threatened Toyota with a “big border tax” unless the Corolla was made in the U.S.

Within hours of Friday’s announcement, Mr. Trump tweeted: “A great investment in American manufacturing!”

Toyota is obeying the letter, but not necessarily the spirit, of Mr. Trump’s edict. That is because the auto maker is going ahead with the Mexico plant—it just won’t be making Corollas. Instead, it will make the Tacoma pickup truck, nearly doubling production capacity of the popular model to 400,000 vehicles.

That’s a win-win.

RESEARCHER: Teen Screen Activities Linked to Less Happiness — No Exceptions.

RETRO: Dive Into What the Web Looked Like 10 Years Ago With This Site.

THE SCIENCE IS SUDSY: 7 Science-Backed Ways Beer Is Good for Your Health.

MANSPLAINING MANSPREADING: ‘Manspreading’ Is Science, Not Sexism.

Don’t be a science denier.

QUESTION ASKED: Can you sue a political party for fraud?

VIDEO: Maxine Waters Is Encouraging More People to Leak Confidential Info From the White House.

JUSTICE: Ex-drug CEO Shkreli convicted on 3 counts in fraud case.

IT’S CERTAINLY MORE THAN FAST ENOUGH FOR MY TASTES: The Kremlin can’t replace its aging subs fast enough.

THERE’S A FROOD WHO REALLY KNOWS WHERE HER TOWEL IS: There is Now a Towel Just for Your Boobs.

CHRISTIAN TOTO: The 5 Best Stephen King Book Adaptations.

Not an adaptation, but King’s goofy performance in 1982’s Creepshow is worth a shout-out.

CHANGE? US national security adviser: Kim Jong Un should not sleep easy at night.

SHUT UP, SHE EXPLAINED:

I BLAME CARBON EMISSIONS: Surprise! New Neptune Storm Appears in a Bizarre Location.

IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING: Lena Dunham Reports Flight Attendants For Saying ‘Transness Is Gross.’