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Wednesday's Mini-Report, 4.5.17

Today's edition of quick hits.
Today's edition of quick hits:* North Korea "on Wednesday again fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, South Korean and U.S. military officials said, in a provocation that comes amid annual joint U.S.-South Korean military drills."* On a related note, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had "a terse response" to the missile test. "North Korea launched yet another intermediate range ballistic missile. The United States has spoken enough about North Korea," Tillerson said. "We have no further comment."* White House vetting should've caught this: "Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch copied the structure and language used by several authors and failed to cite source material in his book and an academic article, according to documents provided to POLITICO."* Try not to be surprised: "The House of Representatives is set to leave town Thursday morning for a two-week break without reaching an agreement on health care. It's another blow to Republicans and the Trump administration who had worked this week to revive the failed effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare."* Fortunately, there were no casualties: "An F-16 fighter jet that was on a training mission crashed Wednesday morning in Maryland just south of Joint Base Andrews after experiencing mechanical problems minutes after takeoff, a military spokesman said. The pilot dumped tanks loaded with 2,200 pounds of jet fuel in an unoccupied area and steered the plunging plane to a crash site with no injuries reported."* Mitch McConnell and John McCain strongly disagree (but they're voting the same way): "The 'nuclear' showdown in the Senate has split the chamber's most senior Republicans over how bad the fallout will be."* An important story: "The Justice Department is having second thoughts about forcing Baltimore to reform its police force, with new Attorney General Jeff Sessions saying he isn't sure the federal government should be overseeing local cops. That skepticism may also extend to Chicago, which is negotiating a legal settlement with the DOJ over systemic abuses by police."* I love the fact that Stanley McChrystal, a retired Army general, is sticking up for public broadcasting: "I like to say that leadership is a choice. As our leaders in Washington confront tough decisions about our budget priorities, I urge them to continue federal funding for public broadcasting. Public broadcasting makes our nation smarter, stronger and, yes, safer. It's a small public investment that pays huge dividends for Americans. And it shouldn't be pitted against spending more on improving our military. That's a false choice."Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.