FORMER LAW DEAN: The ABA Is What’s Wrong With Legal Education.

TECHNOLOGY: F-22’s Human Interface Kills Humans, Then Lands Them Safely. So it’s kinda like Windows 8, except for the landing safely part . . . .

UPDATE: Will Collier says this is all wrong.

CHARLIE MARTIN: 13 Weeks, Season Two, Week Three: Sometimes homeostasis is not your friend.

HOPEY-CHANGEY: Soaring gas costs leave consumers anxious about economy. “The government regularly issues reports on unemployment, housing starts and manufacturers’ output to track the economy’s progress. But for the average person, the top economic indicator is the price he or she pays at the pump, experts said. And at a time of record-high gas prices — combined with long-term joblessness, greater personal debt and paychecks reduced by higher taxes — the consumers whose spending drives the economy are unwilling, or unable, to part with their money.”

Plus: “Anybody who’s not depressed, doesn’t know what’s going on.” Nonsense. For the 1% it’s a boon: They can pay for the gas, and there’ll be less traffic on the road and no lines at the pumps. Thanks, President Obama, for energy policies that keep the hoi polloi in their place!

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Benedict’s Choice and the Crisis of the Western Church.

Like most university departments, United Nations bureaucracies, Boy Scout troops and political parties, the Vatican is a hotbed of jealousy, competition and back stabbing.

The best case for Benedict — or indeed any Pope — to resign before he is no longer up to the job is that in the absence of a strong pope the bureaucrats pretty much have the run of the Vatican. With no strong hand to keep them in check, the inmates take over the asylum. This perhaps is one reason why so many senior voices in the Church express reservations about Benedict’s decision and fear the precedent; if popes step down as they age the long reign of the bureaucrats and the cliques will come to a permanent end. Benedict may not be the last pope to see the need to step down when his powers begin to fade; Catholicism like much of western Christianity is in a state of acute crisis today, and however convenient weak popes are for church bureaucrats, the Vatican can’t afford to go on autopilot during the long slow fadeout of an aging pope.

This isn’t just a Catholic crisis. The churches of the so-called Magisterial Reformation are also in trouble: Lutheran, Anglican and Reformed denominations are suffering from the same troubles that afflict the Church of Rome. Many of the problems are familiar elements of the western religious and cultural landscape.

Indeed.

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Did Obama Make The Wrong Call in Syria?

President Obama had an opportunity to intervene in Syria before it spiralled so far out of control. Indeed, that was precisely what a number of his top military and political advisors urged the President to do: arm the moderate rebels and work with allies to boot out Assad.

Now, however, Syria is in a much more complex position. And America’s interests are threatened. The best-equipped and most determined fighters who have risen to become Assad’s most dangerous enemies are not America’s friends; moderate rebels are few and weak. Israel has been drawn unwillingly into the war, protecting itself by preventing Hezbollah from seizing powerful weapons.

VM doesn’t suggest that had Obama acted all would now be well in the Levant. But it’s clear that as the Syrian war drags on, the likelihood grows of it dragging in the U.S. and/or Israel increases in one way or another, despite Obama’s best efforts. As the Economist notes darkly, “Mr Obama wanted to avoid Syria, but Syria will come and get him.”

This must be that “smart diplomacy” we were promised.

VIDEO: The Wimpification Of America.

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Also, today only: Amazon Instant Video: Own 100+ Oscar Winners & Nominees for $3.99 Each in SD or $5.99 Each in HD.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: The Ph.D Bust: America’s Awful Market for Young Scientists—in 7 Charts.

MARK TAPSCOTT: Sequestration scares are the ultimate Washington Wink-Winks.

The sequestration scares are the ultimate example of the Washington Wink-Wink: Politicos from both parties warn of imminent disaster if the federal budget is “cut” even though they know government spending will be higher in 2013 regardless if the sequestration “cuts” are implemented.

Put another way, the sequestration scares are lies, pure and simple. Not just bunk, not just distortions or mis-statements, but lies. And every professional politician – Democrat, Republican, Socialist, Independent – in this town knows it.

Tar. Feathers.

THE BROWSER UPGRADE I’D LIKE TO SEE: One where the tab that’s the source of the autoplay audio flashes or something so I know which one to shut down.

DEMOCRATIC LOBBYIST: “The worst-case scenario for us is the sequester hits and nothing bad really happens. And Republicans say: See, that wasn’t so bad.” So I guess we can expect the Administration to make it as bad as it can.

THEY’LL TURN US ALL INTO BEGGARS ‘CAUSE THEY’RE EASIER TO PLEASE: ObamaCare and the ’29ers’– How the new mandates are already reducing full-time employment.

Here’s a trend you’ll be reading more about: part-time “job sharing,” not only within firms but across different businesses.

It’s already happening across the country at fast-food restaurants, as employers try to avoid being punished by the Affordable Care Act. In some cases we’ve heard about, a local McDonalds has hired employees to operate the cash register or flip burgers for 20 hours a week and then the workers head to the nearby Burger King or Wendy’s to log another 20 hours. Other employees take the opposite shifts. . . .

Because other federal employment regulations also kick in when a firm crosses the 50 worker threshold, employers are starting to cap payrolls at 49 full-time workers. These firms have come to be known as “49ers.” Businesses that hire young and lower-skilled workers are also starting to put a ceiling on the work week of below 30 hours. These firms are the new “29ers.” Part-time workers don’t have to be offered insurance under ObamaCare.

The mandate to offer health insurance doesn’t take effect until 2014, but the “measurement period” used by the feds to determine a firm’s average number of full-time employees started last month. So the cutbacks and employment dodges are underway.

The savings from restricting hours worked can be enormous. If a company with 50 employees hires a new worker for $12 an hour for 29 hours a week, there is no health insurance requirement. But suppose that worker moves to 30 hours a week. This triggers the $2,000 federal penalty. So to get 50 more hours of work a year from that employee, the extra cost to the employer rises to about $52 an hour—the $12 salary and the ObamaCare tax of what works out to be $40 an hour.

Moving to 33 hours a week costs the employer about $10 an hour more in ObamaCare tax. Look for fewer 30-35 hour-a-week jobs. The law that was sold as a way to help business and workers is thus yanking a few more rungs from the ladder of economic upward mobility.

How’s that hopey-changey stuff workin’ out for ya?

HOW HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATORS HIDE THE UMBRELLA: Hospital pricing is famously opaque. And until we understand it, we’ll have a hard time controlling costs.

The web of cross-subsidies, underpayments, overpayments, and upcoding is opaque to everyone except the adminstrators. And they are not, as Brill observes, eager to make any of it clearer. In part because they genuinely feel, as does the middle manager in our story, that they are forced into these little subterfuges to recover legitimate costs that short-sighted bean-counters are refusing to cover.

I don’t say that they are right to feel this way; only that the feeling is quite clearly sincere.

I favor fixed prices, advertised in advance.

JUSTICE: Court Rules Arizona Can Prosecute Sober People for Driving Under the Influence.

FIGHT THE POWER: Vigilantes fighting revenue-driven traffic enforcement.

THIN-SKINNED: Andrew Cuomo freaks out over a little hostile media coverage. “I’m getting the impression that Andrew Cuomo is apparently very good at turning small PR problems into bigger PR problems.”

ED DRISCOLL: Capt. Butterfield To The Bridge, Please.

A TWITTER VICTORY: Hey, Nice Try With the #DemandAVote Spambots #p2! Jacked and Busted!

SPACE: Asteroid-Smashing Mission Picks Space Rock Target.

BLOG: Fake Boobs To Save My Life.

DAMAGED GOODS: Hagel’s Brand Suffers from Confirmation Battle. I think the original plan was to nominate a Republican who could take the blame for defense cuts — and actions. I don’t think Hagel can fill that role usefully now, even if he’s confirmed. “Hagel will begin his tenure with a level of partisan suspicion and dislike unknown since the end of Donald Rumsfeld’s term in 2006.”

LOTS OF PEOPLE ARE ASKING IF I’LL BE AT CPAC: Nope, but Allen West and Michelle Fields will be there for PJTV. If you’re going to be at CPAC, you can register at the link and you’ll be entered for a chance to have dinner with them.

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