MITT ROMNEY: The Victory Caucus interview.

CONTINUING UPDATES on the Minnesota bridge collapse at Buzz.mn, plus more news here.

AT REGISTAN, they’re very critical of The Economist’s coverage of Kazakhstan.

MICHAEL SILENCE LOOKS AT THE FAD FOR “automated traffic enforcement.”

WE’VE HAD TROOPS THERE FOR 150 YEARS, AND THE VIOLENCE CONTINUES: Masked gunman kills Oakland reporter.

UPDATE: A reader emails: “That’s the reason this reporter packs a Ruger P95 next to the laptop… but then again, I’m just a Tennessee redneck hiding out in Northern Virginia.” Just don’t accidentally take it into the U.S. Capitol.

MORE CRUSHING OF DISSENT.

CONFERENCEBLOGGING: Just finished a panel on the detainee cases before the Supreme Court, and it was quite good. Substantive, balanced, moderate (well, there was one somewhat gratuitous dig at Clarence Thomas, but only one) and very useful. Often when I attend these things I wish that people outside the academic world could see them, as I suspect the image is something more politicized and less substantive.

AMERICAN AIRLINES MOVES TOWARD inflight wi-fi.

It’s about time.

MORE TROUBLE FOR TED STEVENS: Seems like it would be a good time for him to retire. But what Republican will deliver that message?

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON ON Obama’s Pakistan Invasion: “Apart from the notion that it would be as hard to distinguish civilians in a Waziristan from terrorists as it is in Iraq, which the senator has written off, other questions arise. As a US Senator why not now introduce an October 11, 2002-type resolution, authorizing such an invasion? Or why hasn’t he in the past? Obama has criticized Sen. Clinton for her approval of that Iraqi authorization, but the sort of action he is envisioning involves crossing into a nuclear Islamic country, one bullet away from an Islamic republic, and surely should be a question for Congressional approval.”

COBURN CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION into earmark-funded company:

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has requested a Pentagon investigation of a defense contractor that he has targeted in recent weeks due to its earmarked funds.

In a letter last week to Defense Department Inspector General Claude Kicklighter, Coburn asked for his office to investigate 21st Century Systems Inc. (21CSI) to determine whether the defense contractor failed “to file legally required paper work” or used “federal funds for prohibited lobbying activities.” . . .

As the earmark’s sponsor for 21CSI, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) has defended his appropriations request aggressively despite the increasing attention from Coburn and from the media. Nelson has argued that the company’s funding serves vital national security needs.

Then there’s no reason to fear an investigation, right?

WILL PUTIN GROW A BUSHY MUSTACHE NEXT? New Russian history lessons glorify Stalin.

MORE ON THE MINNESOTA BRIDGE COLLAPSE, from Popular Mechanics.

BEACH READING: Okay, actually I’ve barely even made it to the beach so far. But on this trip I’m reading Mark Helprin’s A Soldier of the Great War, which was highly recommended to me. I’m about halfway through so far, and it’s quite good.

31 COMPETITORS FOR THE 100 MPG CHALLENGE: The Automotive X-Prize looks to be doing pretty well. Excerpt: “The Automotive X-Prize is designed to get engineers thinking outside the box in terms of fuel economy. The goal is to develop a “commercially viable” vehicle that will get at least 100 mpg. How it’s done is up to the individual teams, but they have to keep production in mind to be eligible. They even have to show a business plan proving that they can sell at least 10,000 units a year.”

JAMES LILEKS HAS A BIG ROUNDUP on the Minnesota bridge disaster, and comments: “I’ve driven across this bridge every few days for thirty years. There are bridges, and there are bridges; this one had the most magnificent view of downtown available, and it’s a miracle I never rear-ended anyone while gawking at the skyline, the old Stone Bridge, the Mississippi. You always felt proud to be here when you crossed that bridge, pleased to live in such a beautiful place. Didn’t matter if it was summer twilight or hard cold winter noon – Minneapolis always seemed to be standing at attention, posing for a formal portrait . We’ll have that view again – but it’ll take a generation before it’s no longer tinged with regret and remembrance.”

UPDATE: More from John Hinderaker.

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: The Examiner busts Congress for pretend earmark reform:

Young children with active imaginations often invent playtime scenarios in which they pretend to be somebody else, like an astronaut or a firefighter. Everybody, including the adults in the household, knows it is make-believe. Most members of Congress seem to have forgotten that adults know pretending when they see it. And for months, they’ve been seeing way too much pretending on the issue of earmarks and ethics reform.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., epitomized the pretenders when she declared it “historic” that the House, on a 411-8 vote, approved the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (which, by the way, she negotiated with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid behind closed doors). The Senate is expected to approve the bill today or Friday. There are a few positive provisions in the bill, but the bottom line is that it is stuffed with cosmetic changes that fail to address the core issues of congressional corruption spawned by earmarks. . . .

Reid and Pelosi are not alone in pretending to advance genuine reforms. As Roll Call predicted last month, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is now undercutting Coburn and Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and signaling the desire of many GOP establishmentarians to move on from earmarks and ethics issues. Next, McConnell will credit a “bipartisan consensus” as key to victory for reform in the Senate, thereby enabling Democrats to claim they’ve kept their 2006 campaign promise. Then members on both sides of the aisle in Congress can go on pretending they are serious about honest leadership and open government in Washington.

Can’t we vote for “none of the above”? Plus, will Republicans’ appetite for pork keep the Democrats in the majority? “House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio talks a good case for more openness and transparency in government, but what’s he been doing to corral more support for Flake, Campbell and Hensarling among the GOP ranks he is supposedly leading?”

UPDATE: Indeed: “I understand why the Democrats, now in the majority, want to preserve their opportunities for paying off special interests. That’s largely why they want to be in the majority in the first place. But why on earth should Republicans join with them?”

WHO NEEDS A HYBRID?

Here’s the kicker: The Polo gets 60 to 70-plus mpg. And it’s really fun to drive. . . . What about the VW Lupo? Not yet. Too small, too compromised. I can’t gush about the Lupo, because it’s really, really small. Sure, it adds about 20 mpg to the Polo’s already impressive numbers, but it feels like a compromise. If I were single? Maybe. But with a wife and two kids? No way. At least not until gas is a whole lot more expensive than it already is. As it sits, a clean-diesel Lupo would be a great choice for the committed environmentalist who’s willing to forgo just about everything for the ultimate in efficiency.

I’m glad VW is going to have a clean-diesel Jetta in 2008. But I won’t buy one. For me, the numbers just don’t work: It’s a $25,000 car that gets 45 mpg. I can buy a Toyota Corolla for $10,000 less and still get 38 mpg—a price difference that would take the Jetta 66 years to overcome, assuming $3 gas/diesel. That’s not to say the Jetta isn’t a great car, and I would much rather drive it than a Corolla. But it just doesn’t make economic sense, and as a writer pulling down a modest income, it’s all about economics.

So to Volkswagen, I offer this plea: Bring the Polo to the U.S. Price it at $18,000. Run an ad campaign that brags about its hybrid-crushing performance at the pumps. And then, sit back and laugh all the way to the bank as hundreds of thousands of Americans, eager for just the right balance between frugal, fun and fantastically practical, mob your showrooms.

Obviously, there’s a lot of room for improvement in the automotive world.

THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE: Why the Empire is striking back.

THE KNOXVILLE REAL ESTATE COMMUNITY: Opening its wallets for Fred Thompson.

BUILD A BETTER WORLD by destroying wealth. It often pays well.

FRED THOMPSON on judges.

POPEYE THE SAILOR, 1933-1938, now on DVD. I love the way all this old stuff is becoming obtainable. (Via BoingBoing).

No anime characters in this Popeye.

HOW TO STOP HACKERS FROM watching you through your webcam.

WHAT THE CIA AND ATF THINK ABOUT Blogs as news media.