BEGUN, THE TROLL WARS HAVE: Quincy Center jeweler wins suit over Yelp review.

Adam Jacobs, an employee of Toodie’s Fine Jewelry, has to pay Stephen Blumberg, the owner of Stephen Leigh Jewelers, $34,500 for the emotional distress a jury decided that Jacobs caused by knowingly posting the false information.

Posted in August 2013, the multi-paragraph review detailed a supposed visit to Stephen Leigh Jewelers. The reviewer said he entered the shop looking to buy a 1.5-carat diamond engagement ring and had a generally bad experience. As a result, the reviewer said he would advise someone interested in buying jewelry or a watch to “go elsewhere.”

Blumberg’s lawsuit stated that the interaction never happened.

Reached by phone Tuesday, Blumberg said he figured out that “Adam J.” was Jacobs by phoning other businesses that “Adam J.” had reviewed on Yelp, which is a site featuring user ratings of stores, restaurants and other establishments.

“I did do research for several months,” Blumberg said. “I knew after two or three that I was right on the target.”

Freedom of speech doesn’t extend to fraud.

SPEAKING WITH THE PRESIDENT ON BOARD TRUMP FORCE ONE FOR THE CHINA SUMMIT:

“I think what happened in Syria is a disgrace to humanity, and he’s there, and I guess he’s running things, so I guess something should happen.”

“What Assad did is terrible. What happened in Syria is truly one of the egregious crimes and it shouldn’t have happened. And it shouldn’t be allow to happen,” he said, responding “I don’t want to say what I’m going to be doing with respect to Syria” when asked what steps are next.

More from Bridget Johnson at the link.

MOUTH, MEET MONEY: Investors Are Building Their Own Green-Power Lines.

Near Rawlins, in rural Wyoming, crews are prepping land near the state line with Colorado so they can build a 3,000-megawatt wind farm, which could be the largest ever constructed in the U.S. Key to moving all that renewable power to market: Mr. Anschutz’s proposed 730-mile transmission line—a giant extension cord of sorts that will deliver the electricity to a point near Las Vegas. From there, the power can easily flow into southern California’s grid.

Mr. Anschutz isn’t the only wealthy investor pumping money into power-line projects in an effort to bring green energy to big cities. The Ziff family, whose fortune harks back to the glory days of magazine publishing, also is partly funding a green-power project between Oklahoma and Tennessee. Altogether, these and other merchant-transmission projects could cost upward of $17 billion, plus at least another $20 billion in wind, solar and hydro projects to fill these lines.

If billionaires want to spend their money so that Red States can sell power to NIMBY-infused Blue States, I’m OK with that.

JOBS, JOBS, JOBS: Amazon Looks to Hire 30,000 Part-Time Employees.

CHANGE: Russia says Syrian support ‘not unconditional’ as Trump reportedly weighs military action.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said support for Syria wasn’t unwavering, and Russia is calling for a full investigation into the Tuesday attack on Khan Sheikhoun that’s killed more than 80 people — including 30 children.

President Trump — who a day earlier said the attack “crossed a lot of lines” for him — has told members of Congress he’s considering taking military action against Syria, according to CNN.

Turkish officials also on Thursday said autopsies of victims taken in by the country show traces of sarin gas — a banned chemical weapon suspected to be used in the attack.

I can’t recall ever seeing even this little daylight shine between Moscow and Damascus.

EXPLAINED: The Democrats’ structural advantage in passing major legislation.

BLOOMBERG: Senate Republicans Force Historic Rule Change to Advance Gorsuch.

Nobody “forced” anything. The Senate voted on it in full compliance with the precedent established by former Democrat Majority Leader Harry Reid, that it takes only 51 votes to change a rule.

VIDEO: Chris Matthews Again Calls the Trump Family Husseins.

SKYNET SMILES: Amazon’s Robot War Is Spreading.

WHOSE PHONE IS IT, ANYWAY? Australia slams Apple for telling customers ‘you’re repairing it wrong’

An error message that bricks iPhones when it detects that a repair is made by an independent repair shop. We saw the problem flare up in the U.S. last year. The simplest explanation is that the device would recognize if it had been tampered with and then cease to function.

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Apple tried to say this was a security procedure designed to stop people undermining device security, but it later relaxed its so-called security check and people stopped complaining about it.

That should have been the end of the story, but the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is taking Apple to the courts, as it claims the company has “routinely” refused to repair devices that had previously been repaired by an independent repair specialist.

“Right to Repair” is an idea whose time has come.

JUST DISBAND IT AND START FRESH: Secret Service agent on Pence’s detail suspended after meeting with prostitute.

THAT MEANS IT’S WORKING:

Just two days ago, Wellmark announced it was pulling out of Iowa’s ObamaCare exchange.

Anyway, today’s news comes via Sarah Kliff’s Twitter feed. She’s saying “Yikes” today, but she’s long been Vox’s go-to explainer for how well ObamaCare is working.

HOT MIC: Introducing PJ Media’s new daily liveblog.

BREAKING: House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes Steps Aside From Russia Probe.

In a short statement issued on Thursday, Mr. Nunes, a California Republican, said he would step aside from the investigation. It will instead be run by Rep. Mike Conaway (R., Texas), with assistance from Reps. Trey Gowdy (R, S.C.) and Tom Rooney (R., Fla.).

The three will “temporarily take charge of the Committee’s Russia investigation” while the Office of Congressional Ethics looks into what Mr. Nunes described as “entirely false and politically motivated” accusations lodged against him.

“I will continue to fulfill all my other responsibilities as Committee Chairman, and I am requesting to speak to the Ethics Committee at the earliest possible opportunity in order to expedite the dismissal of these false claims,” Mr. Nunes said in a statement.

Give them an inch…

SO VERY HARD TO GO: The Long-Goodbye to Afghanistan – Should It Get Longer?

But what could ultimately bring peace to Afghanistan is an agreement between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Any such effort requires Pakistani assistance, particularly since the Taliban continues to regroup, train, plan, and launch attacks from safe havens on the Pakistani side of the border.

Rampant corruption in Afghanistan and the county’s dire economic state are two other pitfalls that have hampered efforts to stabilize the country. In a February interview with The Cipher Brief, John Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, called Afghanistan “one of the most corrupt countries in the world” and said that “In Afghanistan corruption is endemic, it’s institutionalized.” Ridding the country of its rampant corruption and ensuring proper oversight on reconstruction projects would go a long way to putting Afghanistan on sustained economic footing.

The unemployment rate in Afghanistan has steadily risen in recent years, reaching a staggering 40 percent in 2015. The World Bank ranked Afghanistan as 183rd out of 190 with regard to the ease of doing business, indicating that the regulatory environment for starting or operating a business in Afghanistan is extremely difficult. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) categorized Afghanistan’s economic activity as “weak” and concluded that the economic outlook for 2016 and beyond “remains very difficult.”

The problem with trying to induce the benefits of nationhood onto Afghanistan is that there’s no nation there. Afghanistan is a more of a blank spot on the map where neighboring nations aren’t.

DUCK AND COVER: An asteroid twice as close as most satellites slips by Earth.

Asteroid 2017 GM was discovered late Monday by the Mount Lemmon Observatory in Arizona and then made its closest pass a few hours later at a distance of around 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers or 0.04 of the distance to the moon). For reference, most of our communications satellites orbit at an altitude of more than 20,000 miles.

“It is among the 10 known asteroids making the closest approach ever,” Italian astrophysicist Gianluca Masi wrote in a blog post Tuesday. Masi co-founded the Virtual Telescope Project, which helped to determine the asteroid’s orbit.

This one was only the size of a car, so it wasn’t exactly a planet-killer.

THAT DOES SEEM TO BE THEIR M.O.: Did Team Obama Abuse Intelligence Collection During the Lead-up to the Iran Deal, Too?

CHANGE: Trump’s View of Syria and Assad Altered After ‘Unacceptable’ Chemical Attack.

Mr. Trump said the images of death inside Syria in the aftermath of the chemical attacks “crosses many lines, beyond a red line, many many lines.” And he said that the death of “innocent children, innocent babies, little babies” has made him reassess the situation and Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad.

“It’s very, very possible, and I will tell you it has already happened, that my attitude toward Syria and Assad, has changed very much,” Mr. Trump said as he stood next to King Abdullah of Jordan in the Rose Garden for a news conference with reporters.

Before the chemical attack, Mr. Trump’s administration had repeatedly said it did not intend to pursue the ouster of Mr. Assad. As recently as Tuesday, Mr. Trump’s spokesman said doing so would be “silly” in the face of the political realities in the country.

But Mr. Trump on Wednesday appeared to hint at a shift in that policy, though he offered only vague assertions that the aftermath of the chemical attack is “unacceptable” to him. Pressed on what his policy will be, Mr. Trump said it would be unwise to reveal any plans his administration might have.

Is a real change of policy coming, or is this another red line drawn in disappearing ink?

QUESTION ASKED: Can USAF Afford To Retire F-15 C/D Eagle?

The U.S. Air Force has invested years of work and hundreds of millions of dollars in keeping Boeing’s F-15C fleet flying well into the 2040s. But Lt. Gen. Scott Rice, director of the Air National Guard (ANG), recently shocked the aerospace community when he revealed the service is now thinking seriously about sunsetting the iconic Eagle two decades early.

Faced with tight budgets, the Air Force is desperately looking for ways to cut costs in order to invest in new capabilities. To keep the 1970s-era Eagle flying beyond the late 2020s, the service would likely need to spend $30-40 million per aircraft—an investment that may not be worth the price, officials say.

The Air Force probably cannot afford to repair the F-15 fleet while simultaneously bringing online new fifth- and sixth-generation aircraft such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), B-21 stealth bomber and new Penetrating Counterair (PCA) fighter, the head of Air Combat Command, Gen. Mike Holmes, tells Aviation Week. But at a time when Russia and China are pumping out large numbers of highly capable fourth-generation fighters, can the Air Force really afford to retire over 200 Eagles?

We’ve enjoyed air supremacy long enough that we take it for granted.

NICK KRISTOF? My Most Unpopular Idea: Be Nice to Trump Voters.

“I absolutely despise these people,” one woman tweeted at me after I interviewed Trump voters. “Truly the worst of humanity. To hell with every one of them.”

Maybe we all need a little more empathy?

I wrote my last column from Oklahoma, highlighting voters who had supported Trump and now find that he wants to cut programs that had helped them. One woman had recovered from a rape with the help of a women’s center that stands to lose funding, another said that she would sit home and die without a job program facing cutbacks, and so on. Yet every one of them was still behind Trump — and that infuriated my readers.

“I’m just going to say it,” tweeted Bridgette. “I hate these people. They are stupid and selfish. Screw them. Lose your jobs, sit home and die.”

Another: “ALL Trump voters are racist and deplorable. They’ll never vote Democratic. We should never pander to the Trumpites. We’re not a party for racists.”

The torrent of venom was, to me, as misplaced as the support for Trump from struggling Oklahomans. I’m afraid that Trump’s craziness is proving infectious, making Democrats crazy with rage that actually impedes a progressive agenda.

They’re just taking their cue from Hillary “Basket of Deplorables” Clinton.

THE LEFT’S NEW PECKING ORDER: Muslims Over Gays.

I’M EXPECTING AN EARTH-SHATTERING KABOOM: Senate Is Expected to Vote to End Supreme Court Filibuster.

The first procedural vote on Judge Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s nominee to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court, is expected Thursday morning—a vote where the GOP is expected to fall short. As a result, Senate Republicans are expected to use a procedural motion that would eliminate the filibuster for this and future Supreme Court nominations—expanding on changes that Democrats initiated in 2013.

“Judge Gorsuch will be confirmed to the Supreme Court this week. It is unfortunate that we may have [to] break longstanding precedent to do so, but Senate Democrats’ actions are to blame for that,” said Sen. John Boozman, an Arkansas Republican.

Go Reid or go home.

SHAKEUP: Bannon reportedly threatened to leave White House after NSC shakeup.

Rebekah Mercer, a top Republican donor, had to urge Bannon not to quit after he was removed from his post, sources told Politico. Mercer “tried to convince him that this is a long-term play,” a GOP operative said. Bannon reportedly opposed the change and wanted to quit if the president gave the OK.

“It hasn’t all been fun, and I know he’s been frustrated,” one Republican close to Bannon said.

The White House said that Bannon had not attempted to leave the White House and Bannon added that any indication that he threatened to resign was “total nonsense.”

Bannon’s removal from the National Security Council comes as Jared Kushner’s role in the White House has increased. Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, was recently chosen to lead efforts to cut out bureaucracy from the federal government and visited Iraq in the beginning of the week.

After Kellyanne Conway (and Trump himself), Bannon and Kushner are probably most responsible for Trump’s election, but there seems to be more than a little friction between the two in the White House.

BIG SPENDER: How Jeff Bezos is using Amazon’s success to fuel Blue Origin’s space effort, a billion dollars at a time.

“My business model right now for Blue Origin is, I sell about $1 billion a year of Amazon stock, and I use it to invest in Blue Origin,” he told reporters here at the 33rd Space Symposium. “So the business model for Blue Origin is very robust.”

Bezos threw out the figure half-jokingly, after noting that he typically doesn’t reveal how much he’s spending. But he made clear that his in-house space effort, headquartered in Kent, Wash., takes a noticeable chunk out of his estimated $78 billion fortune.

He said the development cost for Blue Origin’s New Glenn orbital launch system, which should be taking off from a Florida launch facility by 2020 or so, is likely to be on the order of $2.5 billion.

Some small part of my $99-a-year Prime membership is going into space.

CAMPUS SNOWFLAKE CAUGHT MELTING ON VIDEO: This Texas University Student Completely Freaked Out When He Saw a Pro-Life Demonstration.