FROM POWERLINE'S Week in Pictures, my favorite:

But there many good ones this week; go and enjoy.

URBAN MYTH: the scandal-free Obama administration.

DEREK HUNTER: To hell with California.

I remember as a kid being told California was going to fall into the ocean, be destroyed by an earthquake. If it continues down the path is heading now, there’s a chance it will be the whole country that gets destroyed.

If we let California go, and we split the country along ideological lines we could fend off what seems to be looming just over the horizon, which is an ugly divorce. We simply don’t get along anymore and want completely different, irreconcilable things. Manifest Destiny was a nice idea, and we made it work for a long time, but it’s heading toward not working anymore. So maybe we let California go we’d all be a lot happier, if not better off.

I'd prefer the earthquake. Cleaner.

A COMPUTER'S GENDER

A language instructor was explaining to her class that in French, nouns unlike their English counterparts, are grammatically designated as masculine or feminine.

"House," in French, is feminine - "la maison."
"Pencil," in French, is masculine - "le crayon."

One puzzled student asked, "What gender is computer?" The teacher did not know, and the word wasn't in her French dictionary. So for fun she split the class into two groups appropriately enough by gender, and asked them to decide whether "computer" should be a masculine or feminine noun. Both groups were required to give four reasons for their recommendation.

The men's group decided that computers should definitely be of the feminine gender ("la computer"), because:

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory for possible later retrieval; and
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your pay check on accessories for it.

The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be masculine ("le computer"), because:

1. In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but they are still clueless;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you'd waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

The women won.

MICHAEL RAMIREZ: California Dreamin' (revisited).

DEMOCRATS HIT BOTTOM; get power excavator.

They've been using dynamite and a steamshovel for years....

ONLY SOME? Some reporters are becoming ‘emotionally unhinged’ covering Trump.

TWO MIRAMAR SWAT OFFICERS suspended for heading to Parkland massacre.

Couldn't have them interfering with the Broward County Sheriff deputies running away....

MICHAEL RAMIREZ: Why they're called 'Dreamers'.

CONNECTICUT GOVERNOR: NRA members are akin to terrorists.

A "terrorist" responds.

THE PERFECT HYPOCRISY JOKE: "A socialist with three homes, an anti-capitalist worth millions of dollars and a woman who stole a Native American’s spot at Harvard Law by faking her heritage walk into a bar to lecture everybody about inequality."

THE WAGES OF GENTRY LIBERALISM: move out of a college dorm and into a company dorm.

Isn't liberalism great?

When we lived in Virginia, my wife and I visited several 'company towns' dating back to Virginia's 'gold rush' in the early-to-mid 1880's. They didn't survive; neither will gentry liberalism.

For those who are interested - and can find a copy - there is a (Analog, February 1987) novella by Stephen L. Burns ('In the Kingdom at Morning') about the ultimate in company towns.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: The rapid 'progress' of progressivism.

GOOD IDEA? "[I]f someone has to suffer the pain that comes with unfair trade, I vote it be the people trading unfairly."

TOTALLY [IN]SANE DEMOCRATS push ban on armed teachers in schools. Because, because ... shut up.

VIRGINIA SNOWFLAKES DEMOCRATS are ‘offended’ and ‘emotionally shaken’ by historical facts.

It's tough when reality stomps on your ego....

BREAKING NEWS: a gun won't give you the guts to run toward danger. No, but a concealed carry permit accompanying the gun might.

I say that because people who've gone to the time and trouble to acquire a legal carry permit have probably thought long and hard about what they might do if called to the sound of shots fired.

BECAUSE THE MEDIA HATES THEM: Why the 'deporables' hate the media.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION sues California over interference with immigration enforcement.

Now is the time for President Trump to put his DACA proposal back on the table as a best-and-final offer to Congress. He should tell them to pass it as is or he will vigorously enforce current immigration law as is.

TWO OP-EDS: A stark portrait of left vs. right.

I'm reminded of two posts I wrote a few years back suggesting progressives in their bubble were akin to monkeys in a zoo exhibit. I'm now inclined to believe the zoo is too weak an analogy; a mental hospital is better.