TRIPPING THE LIGHT FANTASTIC: A fast and cheap optical version of Wi-Fi is coming.

IS IT PARENTAL MALPRACTICE TO PUT YOUR KID IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS? Sex Criminal At Age 6. “I typically blog several of these cases a month these days — sexual assault charges or ‘weapons’ charges for some kid whose granny put a paring knife in her lunch bag to cut her apple.”

And nobody ever seems to get fired over them, though this Principal should be unemployed, and unemployable, after this incident.

21ST CENTURY EMPLOYMENT: “Applicant needs to be responsible and willing to work (no constant cell phone).”

SCIENCE: Astronomers solve mystery of vanishing energetic electrons in Earth’s outer radiation belt.

BARTENDER, mix me something hot!

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Why You Should Postpone College.

JOHN KANG: In Praise of Hostility: Antiauthoritarianism as Free Speech Principle.

NEXT UP IN NUCLEAR: Small, Modular Reactors.

BOB OWENS: New Emails Suggest Eric Holder Perjured Himself. Was he sworn? If not, it could still be a False Statements Act violation.

USING E. COLI to turn seaweed into ethanol.

RON BAILEY: An ethical case for terraforming Mars.

Here, by the way, is an excellent treatment of that topic by my former student Robert Pinson, in the Environmental Law Reporter. It started as a paper in my Space Law seminar.

COLLABORATION IN the war against nature.

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN WE’D SEE NEW HIGHS IN HOMELAND-SECURITY PARANOIA — AND THEY WERE RIGHT! British pair arrested in U.S. on terror charges over Twitter jokes. “‘I almost burst out laughing when they asked me if I was going to be Leigh’s lookout while he dug up Marilyn Monroe. ‘I couldn’t believe it because it was a quote from the comedy Family Guy which is an American show.” Yeah, but in Homeland Security’s defense, it kinda sucks.

IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO WIN AN IPAD in the PJ Media Nostradamus Contest.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Has the Higher-Ed Revolution Begun?

DEFENDING YOUR CELLPHONE against malware.

MAURICE STUCKE: Is Intent Relevant?

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Beyond Blue Part One: The Crisis of the American Dream.

FRIEND OF BIG BUSINESS: Elizabeth Warren made her mark helping insurance companies use bankruptcy to avoid paying asbestos claims. If she were a Republican, this would be a big story, and people would be calling her “Mesothelioma Madam” or something.

MICHAEL WALSH: A Fast & Furious Fib: Holes In Holder’s Testimony? Lying to Congress puts you in violation of the False Statements Act.

FINISHED J. WESLEY BUSH’S Knox’s Irregulars last night. A good read, with a Gordon Dickson sort of feel.

ILYA SHAPIRO: Copyright Case May Have Profound Effect on Treaty Power.

SPIN: Some Guy Arrested.

THE HILL: Republican lawmakers begin pushback against Obama recess appointments. “GOP lawmakers are still steaming over the White House decision to ignore brief pro forma Senate sessions to single-handedly name three members to the National Labor Relations Board and Richard Cordray as the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Republicans have almost unanimously criticized the move as an unprecedented power grab that upturns nearly a century of precedent. But beyond irate statements, lawmakers are taking varied approaches to actually challenging the appointments.”