HMM: 2,487.5 mpg! Catchy headline uneccessary.

IN THE MAIL: From John L. Jackson, Racial Paranoia: The Unintended Consequences of Political Correctness.

POLITZOID: Kim Jong Illin’ — Out to Launch.

MEGAN MCARDLE: Why is the Term Risk on Long Term US Debt So High? “It’s impossible to say which prevails, but it’s not unreasonable to assume that there’s at least some default risk pricing in. Our entitlement problem is about to open a gaping hole in the budget, and so far our solution is . . . to enact more entitlements. Unless our politicians start outlining some credible plans for getting our demography-driven disaster under control, bond markets would be perfectly rational to demand a discount that reflects a possible future fiscal crisis.”

UPDATE: A hedge-fund reader emails:

The credit-risk issues with US debt are literally yesterday’s news. Of course there’s a rational fear the Keynesian madmen in Washington will shaft our creditors by outright welshing or inflating away the debt.

The real story going forward will be the hit to the economy from crushing taxes imposed “to be fiscally responsible”. Naturally the
taxes will drive capital overseas and activity underground, further hollowing-out the economy and making the govt’s finances even worse.

How THAT game plays out is the real question going forward.

Indeed.

THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER on fears of honest accounting.

VIDEO: Could The Feds Require Americans to Purchase GM Cars?

AFTER COVERING BOGUS “THREAT” STORIES LAST WEEK, ABC and CBS Skip Arrest of Man Targeting GOP’s Cantor. It’s all about the narrative. Besides, if they’d covered it, they might have slipped up and mentioned that he was a two-time Obama donor.

WORLD NOT DESTROYED YET, Large Hadron Collider finally working.

HOPE, OR CHANGE? Youth may pay a lot more for health premiums.

IT’S COME TO THIS: Joy Behar questions John McCain’s courage.

REP. STEVE DRIEHAUS (D-OH): Don’t do unto me as I do unto you.

HMM: New iPhone Could End AT&T’s Monopoly. I’d be a lot more interested in an iPhone if I could get it on Verizon.

LOW INTEREST RATES ARE SQUEEZING SENIORS. “Today’s historically low interest rates may be feeding banks’ profitability, but they are financially starving our seniors.” They saved their money instead of going into ruinous debt, so they must be punished.

IS THERE A war on wikileaks?

MICKEY KAUS: “Consumers of government services are in for a bad time during budget crises. Not only do government agencies cut back on hours and personnel (often a time-honored ploy to trigger citizen demands for rescinding the cuts) but the personnel that remain on the job have an incentive to provide lousy service, lest citizen/taxpayers conclude that their new, smaller budget is perfectly adequate.”

MORE OBAMACARE NEWS: Law May Do Little to Help Curb Unnecessary Care.

USA TODAY: Obama Disapproval Hits 50%. But here’s the key bit: “Nearly two-thirds of Americans say the health care overhaul signed into law last week costs too much and expands the government’s role in health care too far.” I notice that, once again, Gallup seems to be catching up with what Rasmussen was telling us a while back.

TUNKU VARADARAJAN: Paul Bremer’s Victory Lap.

CHRIS HAFNER, life with my Car Lust.

ALFONZO RACHEL: ZoNation: Hurling Epithets In Glass Houses.

HUGH HEWITT: The RNC Does Not Get It.

MORE VIOLENCE: Brick thrown through window of Howell, MI GOP office. I blame the hate-filled extremist rhetoric of Democratic politicians and pundits.

WHAT? OBAMACARE WON’T COVER PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS? Tom Maguire has not just one, but two lengthy posts on the subject.

And Ann Althouse wonders about process: “If they screwed up something that important, what else did they screw up? Or do you think they deliberately gave the insurance companies that loophole, in which case, the question is what other surprises are tucked away in the 1000s of pages of fine print?”

UPDATE: Related: The Complete List of Obama Statement Expiration Dates.

UNDERWATER VOLCANO could destroy Italy at any time.

THE INSTA-WIFE on the left’s lack of empathy.

PETER SUDERMAN: Insurance Death Spiral: Here We Come!

SO JACK BALKIN THINKS THE HEALTHCARE MANDATE IS OKAY BECAUSE IT’S A TAX. I’m not sure I buy his argument that it’s not a “direct tax,” though. Can’t it be looked at as a tax on individuals that’s only abated if they buy health insurance? I’d say it’s close enough to a head tax to cause worry. But Ann Althouse wonders how Democrats can politically stomach calling ObamaCare a new tax program, especially when, as some may recall, Obama promised no tax increases on people making under $250,000 — in “any form.”

UPDATE: Obama claimed health care mandate is not a tax.

MICHAEL MOYNIHAN: The Bolivarian Rot Spreads. “So what do the committed democrats in Ecuador do when confronted with a ‘politically partisan’ media opposed to things ‘that the electorate voted for’? How about a three year stint in the clink for counterrevolutionary opinion editors!” That’s taking the whole I won thing a bit far.

WAIT, I THOUGHT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO love us now.

JAMES LOVELOCK: We need to get rid of “obstructions” like democracy to deal with global warming.

ROBERT SAMUELSON: With health bill, Obama has sown the seeds of a budget crisis.

JUSTICE SUNSTEIN? I’ve boosted Sunstein before, but as a nominee for the Supreme Court I wonder if he doesn’t have too much baggage.

BOTTOM STORY OF THE DAY: Ricky Martin confirms he’s gay. Who’s next — Elton John?

HMM: NY judge rules that human gene patents are invalid.

LIKE BEING WEST BERLIN DURING THE COLD WAR: John Yoo on his life at Berkeley.

ERICK ERICKSON: Does Josh Marshall Owe Eric Cantor An Apology For Inciting Violence Against Cantor’s Family? “Of course he doesn’t, but this is where Josh’s own rhetoric comes back to bite him.”

BRIAN DOHERTY looks at the Huttaree militia indictments and isn’t especially impressed. “From my read, even taking every word in it as gospel, it sounds like these guys were angry loudmouths who fantasized too much to someone who turned out to be a federal informant or agent, but who they thought was a potential comrade who might help them obtain some explosives.” Meanwhile, as he surveys the reaction I’m glad to see him note that I don’t “generally make much common cause with Christian apocalyptic warriors in the woods.” That’s never been much of a theme here at InstaPundit, but with Balloon Juice looking out for their procedural rights, I’m sure those militiamen will be okay. And I’m sure top lawyers from top law firms on Wall Street and K street will be lining up to provide the Huttaree militia with a pro bono defense, too.

SPOT THE CRAZIES: Searchlight vs. L.A.: Rival Rallies Reveal Stark Right/Left Divide.

ANDREW MARCUS HAS VIDEO of violence and threats from Harry Reid supporters.

A SAD VICTORY FOR THUGGERY IN TEXAS, and an embarrassment for Tarleton State. Plus, from the comments: “As followers of another religion have demonstrated, this sort of thuggery works. I’m not surprised to see it spreading.” Yes, people notice incentives.

“I AM A POOR EXCUSE FOR A CHRISTIAN.” An interview with Stacy McCain.

KNIFEBLOGGING: Reader Ric Manhard writes about a sale on Shun Knives at Amazon:

If you hadn’t already seen it, I noted that amazon is having an “up to 40%” sale on Shun knives. Though I note with a certain conceited satisfaction that the 300mm Yanagiba I got from Woot the other day for $115 is selling for $208 in this sale. Hey, a guy’s got to preen about something!

Thanks, I hadn’t seen that. Preen away!

AL SHARPTON SAYS he’s seen the nonexistent tape. He gets called on it. I think it’s time for an apology to the Tea Party movement.

SPEECHES: Is Obama Avoiding Red States? Maybe he’s afraid of Tea Party protests?

ON PJTV, it’s Stephen Green’s Hair Of The Dog.

MORE SPEECH HYPOCRISY AT DUKE.

THAT KEYNES/HAYEK RAP VIDEO has passed the 1 million views mark.

My interview with creator Russ Roberts is here.

ED MORROW: This could get me arrested in Canada.

POLLS: Gallup crumble: ObamaCare underwater again, GOP surges on generic ballot.

BEWARE THOSE scary, scary tea partiers.

UPDATE: From the comments: “Well, they are scary. The scariest thing to an incumbent is defeat for re-election. These folks represent that.”

ANN ALTHOUSE ON WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION: “Assuming these allegations are true, this is indeed a nefarious plan and it’s great that these people were caught. But I must also say that it’s interesting to see that Improvised Explosive Devices with Explosively Formed Projectiles, which, according to the indictment are ‘weapons of mass destruction.’ That blows a big hole in the notion that there weren’t weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.”

Don’t be silly. Everyone knows that definitions shift according to circumstance. . . .

UPDATE: More, including some web-sleuthing, from Xeni Jardin.

And Ed Driscoll emails to note that WMD seems to be a rather flexible term.

ANOTHER UPDATE: More here. “Prosecutors said Stone had identified certain law enforcement officers near his home as potential targets. He and other members discussed setting off bombs at a police funeral, using a fake 911 call to lure an officer to his death, killing an officer after a traffic stop, or attacking the family of an officer, according to the indictment.” If this report’s accurate, they sound pretty stupid — but that’s not a big shock, I suppose.

Plus, comments from Bill Quick.

WILL COLLIER: Protesting ObamaCare: What Really Happened On March 20. “I wasn’t in Pelosi’s strategy meeting that day, but I’ll tell you what I think went on in there.”

JOURNALISTS AGAINST ANONYMOUS COMMENTS. Okay, but don’t go bragging about sources like “Deep Throat.”

MULTITASKING: Are you a member of the 2.5% cognitive elite who can talk on the cell phone while driving without suffering reduced driving ability?

JOHN STOSSEL: Will ObamaCare be as good as Energy Star?

KIM ZIGFELD: Moscow Subway Bombings Show That Caucasus Region Is Still Seething.

HONG KONG CONNECTION: Movies by the Shaw Brothers.

CHUTZPAH: Charlie Rangel offers tax advice to his constituents. Plus, a video salute.

I BLAME THE DEMOCRATS’ INFLAMMATORY EXTREMIST RHETORIC: Man Arrested For Eric Cantor Death Threat. With an anti-semitic angle: “Leboon’s video also makes reference to Cantor’s Judaism – Cantor last week said he has received anti-Semitic threats in the past.”

UPDATE: Reader Kevin Menard writes:

You forgot to also blame the rabid antisemitism of the Democratic party as evidenced by the President’s treatment of Israel’s leader and the hateful comments on leftist and Democratic blogs. (Hey, it works for them and the MSM in attacking the Tea Parties).

Sure, why not? I should also mention that he was a Democratic Party donor. “Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show that Leboon had made two, separate donations to then-Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) presidential campaign.” Fair’s, fair, right? But I’ll bet this won’t get headlined on CNN.

CHANGE: CNN Poll: Big shift on closing of Guantanamo Bay facility. “Shortly before Obama’s inauguration, 51 percent of Americans said they thought the facility in Cuba should be closed. Now that number is down to 39 percent, and six in ten believe the United States should continue to operate Guantanamo.”

VIDEO: JASON MATTERA: FRANKEN UNHINGED.

UPDATE: Coming down on Franken’s side.

CBS/VANITY FAIR POLL: Strong support for Tea Party movement. And only 15% think it’s “too extreme.”

NEW FORD MUSTANG: A game-changer?

MAKING ENDS MEET: Deputies: SC woman stripped for minors in her home. “Authorities say a South Carolina woman has been charged with stripping for customers as young as 12 in her mobile home, which had a stripper pole in the living room.” When your mobile home has a stripper pole in the living room, well . . . .

HOW TO FIX sagging car doors.

PHARAOH AS ENVIRONMENTAL HERO. “Pharaoh wanted to conserve natural resources, so he withheld the straw from Hebrews that they had been using to make bricks. Free market naysayers and straw industry lobbyists claimed that this would cripple the brickmaking industry, but instead the Hebrews adjusted.”

THE NAVY’S NEW submarine escape trainer seems kinda cool, actually.

IMPORTANT ADVICE on personal hygiene.

BEN HUR WANNABES race chariots in Knoxville’s Market Square.

LIVING LONGER THROUGH PLASTICS.

SHOCKER: Rasmussen: ObamaCare still unpopular. “It’s been over a week since Congress decided to put government in charge of health care. Democrats say Americans will get used to the idea. So far, though, the likely voters polled by Rasmussen don’t appear to be much moved at all. The same 54% that wanted ObamaCare repealed last week want it repealed today, while only 42% oppose a repeal.”

IN THE MAIL: From Victor Davis Hanson, Makers of Ancient Strategy: From the Persian Wars to the Fall of Rome.

MYRON MAGNET IN CITY JOURNAL: Bring On The Tea Parties! “Passionate, fast-expanding, and armed with all the latest electronic technology that Obama deployed so brilliantly in his campaign—Facebook, Twitter, Meetup.com, and so on—the Tea Partiers will surely influence candidate selections and electoral races this year and in 2012. The question is, how fully will they embrace the radicalism of their own radically American creed?”

UPDATE: Related: “We’re gonna let the Founders’ freak flag fly.”

EVOLUTION IN ACTION: Do “civilized” women prefer “girly” men?

KENNETH ANDERSON: Assassination, Self-Defense, and the Koh Speech.

ARE WHITE WOMEN the new Angry White Men?

MICHAEL GRAHAM BRAGS about how well-timed his new book is.

RICH GALEN: “Who’s vetting these people, Michaele and Tareq Salahi?”

IF YOU MISSED IT THIS WEEKEND, Adam Baldwin is on the latest PJM Political, and it’s now online.

HOW ABOUT Ham for Easter? Well, better than for Passover.

THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:

Unhinged Harry Reid supporters attack Andrew Breitbart.

327 Members of Congress Tell Obama to Make a U-Turn On US/Israeli Relations.

Jim Treacher: A Brief History of Racism: The Clyburn Files.

I want a golden ticket, and I want it now!

Fears about Treasuries.

Greg Gutfeld: Anger Is A Right.

Universities encourage students to go on food stamps.

Poll: Majority Says Tea Party More In Touch On Issues Than Congress.

InstaPundit: A full-service blog. No, really.

From Democratic NH State Rep. Nick Levasseur, hateful eliminationist rhetoric.

No “Bounce:” Obama polls hit low after ObamaCare passes.

DOZENS DEAD in twin suicide bombings on Moscow metro.

OBAMA’S BAGRAM SPEECH: PRAISE AT N.R.O.: “In Afghanistan, this weekend, he sounded like a commander-in-chief who understands the exceptional uniqueness of America.”

MARK TAPSCOTT: This editorial will not appear in tomorrow’s New York Times.

HEALTHCARE: Obama’s Sales Job Flops.

Plus, how HCR will be gutted even without repeal.

SO IS THIS HOPE, OR CHANGE? Only 27% Say U.S. Will Remain Most Powerful Nation.

TRYING TO smother the bad news.

Tax writers can’t figure out the tax code, either. “IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman practically ran away when The Daily Caller asked him whether he prepares his own taxes. Millions of Americans struggling through complicated IRS forms in the weeks leading up to tax day — April 15 — might like to know. . . . Shulman’s spokesman later said he employs an accountant to prepare his tax filings, as does about 60 percent of the country who shell out hundreds or even thousands of dollars each for such services.”

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD on Money, Happiness, and Gallup.

A HOT TICKET in Oak Ridge.

WORST BOX-OFFICE BOMB EVER? “A film about a stressed-out mother, featuring the Hollywood superstar Uma Thurman, has been withdrawn from show after just 11 cinema goers turned up to see it in its opening weekend. Motherhood managed to gross £9 from the lone viewer who turned up on the debut Sunday. Takings for the full weekend hit £88.”

LONDON TIMES: Nazi Scandal Engulfs Human Rights Watch.

I BLAME BARACK OBAMA’S DEMONIZATION OF THE OPPOSITION: Vandals Toss Bricks Through Windows at GOP Headquarters in Virginia. When will this inflammatory extremist rhetoric stop?

UPDATE: Reader Richard Hunter writes:

In answer to your question, I don’t think it will stop. I believe that left wing extremist are trying to incite Tea Partiers to retaliate in kind, then claim “See we told you they were violent”.

I hope that conservatives can hold their temper and not give the left an opportunity to hurt the Tea Party’s reputation.

Indeed.

NICK GILLESPIE: “I think this split between private and public-sector workers is one of the biggest issues in contemporary America.”

MORE CLIMATEGATE COMPLICATIONS: “The ClimateGate plot thickens. Lord Oxburgh, a member of the House of Lords who was appointed ‘to chair a scientific assessment panel that will examine the published science of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia,’ has links to businesses that would benefit financially from low-carbon technology: he is chairman of the Carbon Capture and Storage Association and the wind energy company Falck Renewables.”

ARNOLD KLING: Health Care Bill Woke A Sleeping Giant: “For many Americans, March 21, 2010, is a date that will live in infamy. Unlike Pearl Harbor or the September 11, 2001, attacks, which offended nearly all Americans, the health care legislation only angered a significant proportion of the population. However, those of us who are outraged are motivated to wage a long fight, and our aims go much further than rolling back this one bill.”

CHANGE: Florida poll: Healthcare law hurts Obama, Democrats.

MICHAEL WALSH: 1974: When Liberals Were In Favor of ‘Free Speech.’ With a guest appearance by Lenny Bruce.

MOE LANE LAUGHS AT The CNN estimate of the Searchlight Rally.

JAMES TARANTO: The curious case of John Avlon and the “scary new GOP poll.”