LOTS OF BAILOUT BLOGGING from Megan McArdle. Also, lots at The Conglomerate.

DAVID BERNSTEIN is standing up to censorship.

ROGER SIMON: The second reason Bill Clinton wants Obama to lose.

CALORIE RESTRICTION NOT AS GOOD AT EXTENDING HUMAN LIVES as it is for mice. Bad news: You won’t live longer by skipping that cheeseburger. Good news: You won’t live longer by skipping that cheeseburger. . . .

UPDATE: A reader suggests I’m being too cute here. Probably right: “Not the case – there’s a subtle but important difference: CR isn’t as good at extending *maximum* human life span as it is at extending *maximum* animal life span, which is very different from its effects on how long you live within the human range. Calorie restriction will very likely extend your personal life span within the established human range by a) reducing visceral fat and b) through less well understood changes involving the rate at which biochemical damage accumulates in your cells – all of which leads to much less age-related disease, better health all-round, and a lower mortality rate.” Keep that in mind as you ponder the cheeseburger.

BREAKING 82 MPH on a bicycle. It’s no ordinary bicycle, though.

SO I FINISHED JOHN SCALZI’S ZOE’S TALE LAST NIGHT. I had meant to read it sooner, but then the New York Post paid me to write a review of Neal Stephenson’s Anathem, and since Anathem is long, and the Post was paying me, Zoe’s Tale got set aside for a while. I knew it would be good — the Scalzi brand doesn’t disappoint — but it was still better than I expected. Very nice.

MEG WHITMAN FOR AHNULD’S JOB? “Former eBay CEO shows signs of interest in governor’s chair.”

PAULSON BEGS PELOSI FOR COOPERATION on bended knee. If he doesn’t get it, he should resign and publicly blame her.

UPDATE: Pelosi says bailout plan has to pass.

BARNEY FRANK BLAMES THE HOUSE GOP FOR STALLED BAILOUT TALKS:

The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee declared Friday that an agreement on legislation to relieve a spreading financial crisis depends on House Republicans “dropping this revolt against President Bush.”

Read the whole thing.

UPDATE: Reader John Marcoux writes:

Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) was just on CNBC and said that his mail and calls on the bailout plan are running 50-50: 50% no and 50% hell no.

This is what Barney Frank is up against. Even if the Democrats ram through the plan without Republicans signing on, they will be left holding the bag if the plan fails, as it very well could, and have to face the wrath of their constituents.

Plus, this: “The Democrats need to get their story straight. On one hand, it is beyond dispute at this point that Congressional Republicans were never on board. It is equally clear that the Democratic majority won’t act without the ”cover” of a substantial number of Republican votes–that is they demand that this deal not be done, in Chris Dodd’s words, ‘on a three-legged stool.’ So several things follow. First, this is precisely why Hank Paulson and Harry Reid summoned John McCain–to get Republican cover for the Democrats who despite the looming crisis can’t bring themselves to govern (that is, to vote on and pass a bill which they believe is essential). Second, that is why McCain presented but did not endorse the GOP’s wish list of conservative suggestions in the White House meeting. That is how one cajoles and drags along a recalcitrant party–by allowing them to have their say.” But there’s also this: “Having spent over twenty years as a labor negotiator I can tell you: unless you provide contentious parties with a deadline, no matter how artificial, they will never reach a deal.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Bill Tobias isn’t buying it. “So the Dems have a Republican President, Treasury & Fed Chief for, Reps in the Senate are for it. The media will say ‘Wall Street greed’ & lack of regulation is the cause (no mention of Fannie & Freddie). With all that, the Dems won’t use their majority unless they have even more cover – the House GOP. Amazing.”

MORE THUGGISHNESS: Obama threatening the licenses of TV stations that run NRA ads.

Haven’t we had about enough of this? Related item here. They told me that if George W. Bush were re-elected there would be brazen efforts to suppress free speech on political grounds — and they were right!

UPDATE: Still more on the ad-silencing effort here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: “I fear that under the Obama administration, the lawyers sending these letters will be government employees.”

Plus, from Jacob Sullum at Reason, Why Obama is Vulnerable On the Second Amendment.

MORE: Prosecutors and sheriffs threatening to prosecute Obama critics?

Check out this TV news report from St. Louis, too, which makes clear that the Obama campaign is behind this.

Thugs on parade. Will the U.S. Department of Justice investigate? Or are they compromised?

STILL MORE: This is the ad that’s got the Obama campaign so upset. You can make up your own mind, but it doesn’t seem especially unusual for a political ad, though it’s certainly likely to hurt Obama in the bitter-clinger demographic. Of course, more people will see it now because of this controversly. And here, at Politico, is the NRA response. (Bumped).

MORE STILL: Reader Carolyn Gockel writes: “Why Obama is Vulnerable On the First Amendment: The whole NRA flap is going beyond gun rights advocates…I’m not as pro-gun as you and I am furious.” Yeah, and the bit with state law enforcement officials threatening critics is even worse. I wonder if the ACLU will weigh in on this one? Seems like a good opportunity for them to show their nonpartisan nature.

IN WASHINGTON: Atmosphere borders on panic as bailout falters. If there’s a meltdown, all incumbents are at risk. After all, this was the most unpopular Congress in history, already.

OUCH: “Dude, Your Nominee Was Selected By 65 Party Hacks After You Voided A Certified Election.” (Via Michael Silence). Related item here.

JOHN WAYNE: The actor submerged within the icon.

GASOLINE SHORTAGES in Charlotte, NC. I’m still seeing stations in Knoxville that are out of gas, or that only have regular.

THAT’S JUST CRAZY: Trying to resurrect the shale-oil ban.

FRENCH CONNECTION? What is a PR firm with an eyebrow-raising international affiliation doing producing an anti-Palin video?

ABC NEWS: Sarah Palin Charms New York.

But not Ann Althouse.

MICKEY KAUS is mocking John McCain.

FREE TO NONSUBSCRIBERS: John Howard on PJTV. I asked about the Anglosphere; he also talked with John Hinderaker, and Bill Whittle, as well as Roger Simon.

UPDATE: Hey, it made news in Australia!

IS BILL CLINTON deliberately undermining Obama?

BAILOUT DEAL BREAKS DOWN. “Urgent efforts to lash together a $700 billion rescue plan for the national economy appeared to be stalling Thursday night, hours after key lawmakers had declared they had reached a deal.” Read the whole thing.

IS SHE GOOD FOR THE MOOSE?

HURRICANE IKE rearranges the coastline.

FROM RADLEY BALKO: More on that botched Chesapeake, Virginia drug raid. It gets more sordid.

Where’s the Department of Justice on this?

HMM: Countrywide Made Home Loans to Gorelick, Mudd: Leading Democrat, Ousted Fannie Chief Deny Any Favoritism.