I’M TESTING COMMENTS, so here’s a very rare InstaPundit open thread for a bit. Enjoy! Er, if it works . . . .

UPDATE: Er, not yet. Dang.

THE MESSENGER PROBE returns to Mercury.

PLUG-IN HYBRIDS AREN’T COMING: They’re here.

CRYSIS WARS: Online video game free samples.

KEEPING THE MACHINERY OF CIVILIZATION GOING: “It’s funny. People are taught all about ecology and the rain forest, yet almost nothing about the infrastructures that actually keep them alive.” I was discussing this with a plumber yesterday.

IMPROVEMENTS IN knee-replacement technology. Faster, please.

I’VE ALWAYS FOUND THOSE BRITA WATER-FILTER COMMERCIALS MOCKING BOTTLED WATER ANNOYINGLY SANCTIMONIOUS: Turns out they’re also kind of hypocritical:

“In order to give up bottled water, you have to switch to another plastic product that’s not recyclable,” said Beth Terry of Oakland, Calif., who has started an online campaign to try to persuade Clorox, the company that owns Brita, to start recycling the filters.

Why am I not surprised?

WELL, CREDIT CAN’T HAVE DRIED UP ENTIRELY: In my mail today is a letter from Mr Andrew Rowe, a “consumer finance executive” at Bank of America, offering me “a major opportunity to consolidate your bills with a loan of up to $50,000 at competitive non-variable rates.” What’s more, “there’s never been a faster, easier way to get the extra cash you need to help pay off high-interest debt or to use however you decide.”

But wait, there’s more: “There is no collateral required, no application fee, and no annual fee.” And they’ll deposit the money to my checking account upon approval, which can be had in as little as 10 minutes. So, like I said, apparently credit is still out there to be had, somewhere.

I tore the letter up and threw it away as usual, but I probably should have saved it as a historical document. There’ll be less of that kind of thing for a while, or I miss my guess.

THE BAILOUT BILL INCLUDED tax credits for plugin hybrids. This will make the Chevy Volt $7,500 cheaper.

Do you get a credit if you do your own conversion to plug-in? I’m not sure.

BOB OWENS: Obama, Ayers, and Dohrn, Oh My. “The ties between Barack Obama and terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn go back over 21 years.”

KATIE GRANJU on stepparenting terminology.

AT LEAST THEY’RE NOT LIVING IN A BUBBLE: Where CNN’s pundits get their insights?

NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: Achieving near-atomic resolution in patterning graphene nanostructures.

WELL, PEOPLE DO RESPOND TO GAS PRICES: Jetta TDI proving more popular than VW planned.

IN THE MAIL: John Stauffer’s Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. It’s very well-blurbed.

SO HOW’S THAT BAILOUT PLAN WORKING OUT? Dow industrials plunge 500 amid global sell-off.

ROGER KIMBALL ON THROWING THE BUMS OUT.

INSTA-POLL: On the Mass. income tax repeal movement mentioned below.

AT GAYPATRIOT: Media Downgrading Gay Relationships by Ignoring Frank Conflict of Interest. Interesting take.

ANNETTE BENING defends Sarah Palin.

MARK TAPSCOTT LOOKS AT THE POLLS and writes, who says the Reagan era is over?

BILL STUNTZ: Where Are The Burkeans?

A ROUNDUP ON AFGHANISTAN, from Jules Crittenden.

TRYING TO CONFLATE THE ALASKA INDEPENDENCE PARTY WITH BILL AYERS? “Is there a difference between forming a political party that wants to use the ballot to achieve its goals and forming a terrorist organization that prefers to use bombs? At TPM Election Central the answer appears to be ‘no’.” Hey, whatever it takes to enable a crucial, cover-providing tu quoque.

THE INITIATIVE TO REPEAL THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE INCOME TAX seems to be gathering some steam. “For the second time in six years, voters are being asked at the ballot box whether the state should abolish its income tax. In 2002, a similar measure got about 45 percent of the vote. So this time, both sides are taking the matter very seriously. Massachusetts taxpayer groups are raising funds to wage an anti-tax campaign, while others — led by top state officials, including Gov. Deval Patrick — are campaigning against the proposal.”

Yes, below is exclusive video of the meeting at the Governor’s Mansion where the subject was discussed:

Meanwhile, here’s more from WBUR:

It may be the biggest tax revolt in Massachusetts since the Boston Tea Party. In November, voters could wipe the state’s personal income tax off the books.

Supporters call the measure, which is on the ballot as “Question 1,” a much-needed break for ordinary people.

And Jeff Jacoby has weighed in, too:

WHEN IT COMES to stopping Question 1 – the ballot initiative to abolish the Massachusetts income tax – the defenders of the status quo will spare no rhetorical expense. Months ago, Governor Deval Patrick called the prospect of Massachusetts without an income tax “a dumb idea” reminiscent of Darfur. The National Education Association, one of the public-employee unions bankrolling the Vote No campaign, condemns Question 1 as “reckless.” Michael Widmer, head of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, labels it “a calamity.” To the Globe’s editorial board, it’s “a blunt budget ax.” Equally scathing is the Berkshire Eagle’s description: “devastating . . . simplistic . . . cynical . . . a recipe for disaster.” Robert Haynes, president of the state AFL-CIO, foresees “the end of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as we know it.”

To their credit, most of the measure’s opponents have steered clear of the incendiary type of language used by Frederick Rushton, the Worcester city councilor who has slammed Question 1 as an “urban lynching by statute.” But there are still four weeks until Election Day, and the anti-repeal forces will not lack for energy or imagination in making sure their message is heard.

Most of the people complaining live, directly or indirectly, off the taxpayers’ dime, of course. And they’re pledging a campaign of “massive resistance.”

If passed, Question 1 would also cost lawmakers about $11 billion in annual revenues.
Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi has suggested he would not let the question become law even if it was passed by voters. . . . To those who feed at the Bay State’s public trough, the rest of us exist primarily to pay taxes. Their need for more of our income is always a given.

Dammit, they’re entitled to that money. Who are the voters to suggest otherwise?

Meanwhile, the proponents are styling it a “taxpayer bailout.” Hey, bailouts are all the rage! Here’s more on the subject from Cato, and here’s an interview we did with activist Carla Howell a few weeks ago. And here’s a report on this weekend’s rally at Faneuil Hall.