$160,000 TO HALT CLIMATE CHANGE IN SAN FRANCISCO The city of San Francisco has just created a highly paid job called the “director of climate protection initiatives“. I am hard put to imagine what the city of San Francisco imagines it can do, all by its lonesome, to halt global warming–the nature of international oil supplies, and fixed infrastructure investment, mean that any energy not used in San Francisco will simply be purchased by someone else at a very modestly lower price. The San Francisco Chronicle’s commenters are apparently as flummoxed as I am–only they’re also mad, because it’s their money being spent.

CNN is reporting that Obama just secured the endorsement of the Teamsters. I am unfortunately seized by a mental vision of Hillary Clinton pounding on the lid of her coffin as the final nails are driven in.

HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE EASY BANKRUPTCY STATUTES Due to an extreme lack of popular demand, expressed during earlier blogging rounds, I’m leaving the hyper-wonky stuff, such as a discussion of bankruptcy, at my own site. However, my argument that lax bankruptcy statutes are actually good for the American economy is attracting a surprising amount of interest, so if you’re intrigued by that sort of thing, please stop by and check it out.

IT DEPENDS ON WHAT THE MEANING OF THE WORD “PLEDGED” IS Instapundit is always a great place to make stunning declarations–in 2004, it’s where I announced I was voting for George Bush. So here goes: Hillary is done. She cannot collect enough delegates to win the nomination. The superdelegates are not going to hand the nomination to someone who didn’t get a majority of the delegates, or the popular votes, in the primaries.

The Clinton camp is still crying “no surrender“, but with legitimate avenues to the nomination closed, they are going to have to investigate some sketchier ones. my Atlantic colleague, Clive Crook, notes that the campaign is currently exploring the notion that “pledged” delegates are not “bound”. The Politico reports:

The notion that pledged delegates must vote for a certain candidate is, according to the Democratic National Committee, a “myth.”

“Delegates are NOT bound to vote for the candidate they are pledged to at the convention or on the first ballot,” a recent DNC memo states. “A delegate goes to the convention with a signed pledge of support for a particular presidential candidate. At the convention, while it is assumed that the delegate will cast their vote for the candidate they are publicly pledged to, it is not required.”

Even if Hillary won the nomination this way, there’s a very good chance that these antics would cost her the presidency–as well as the eternal enmity of a huge chunk of her party. I’m frankly flabbergasted they’re even considering this.

OBAMA’S ADVISORS are alarming people from Jerusalem to Beirut to Baghdad.

THANKS, GLENN, for giving Megan, Ann, and me the keys to the blog for a few days. We’ll try not to crash it.

Both the headline number and “core” inflation–which excludes food and energy prices–rose substantially. Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal think it won’t last. Of course, they were also surprised by the current figures.

Update Reader Peter Lentz emails:

May I humbly suggest that you post an update to your Instapundit post linking to the WSJ economists’ take on cpi prospects by directing readers to the comments. I do not believe I have ever seen such universal consistency of opinion in a set of comments: the 1) contempt for Wall Street economists’ forecasting acumen; 2) doubt that Fed policy can deliver what Wall Street expects; and most importantly, 3) the near consensus of the commentators to the WSJ Economics Blog (presumably populated by cohort of “dilettante or better” economic observers) that inflationary pressure will be the dominant factor determining the course of the economy. If expectations influence inflation, expectations seem to be on a definite incline.

My name is Megan McArdle, and I’ll be guest-blogging for Glenn this week, along with a dream team of other bloggers. (I am the notable exception). Normally, I blog for The Atlantic, mostly on economics and public policy. My email, if you want to reach me directly, is meganmcardle -at- theatlantic.com.

THIS RHETORIC FROM THE CLINTON RALLY verges on homophobic. Machinists’ union president Tom Buffenbarger, speaking before Hillary Clinton last night, called Barack Obama a “thespian,” a “silver-tongued orator,” a “man in love with the microphone,” and “a poet.” And a Harvard Law Review editor.

HAWAIIANS AND THEIR FAVORITE SON. From The Plank: “Hawaii caucus turnout has never been above 5,000. The Obama camp’s pie-in-the-sky prediction was 18,000. Final tally? 37,247.”

ADDED: Is “Hawaiians” the wrong word?

FEDERALISM TRIUMPHS in Danforth v. Minnesota. So why is Chief Justice Roberts dissenting? He wants the Supreme Court to keep a tight grip on constitutional lawsaying. But there are 7 votes for letting states make their own law about the retroactive application of new rules of constitutional law at the post-conviction stage, and I think they get it right, in what I think may be the most interesting Federal Courts case I’ve seen in 20+ years of teaching the subject.

OKAY, I’M TAKING OVER. (Thanks, Glenn.) Not just me, though I’m the only one here so far. But don’t worry, the flow of posts will continue. Don’t get edgy. We’ll be serving a slightly different brew, but it will keep you going. It will stave off withdrawal pangs. I’m even reading Glenn’s email, so keep sending stuff.

I’LL BE OFFLINE FOR A WHILE — except for a few “scheduled posts” — and InstaPundit will be featuring my usual stellar collection of guestbloggers. Have fun — they’re better than me anyway! — and I’ll be back later. Email sent to the site will likely go unread, by me anyway.

IN THE MAIL: Katharine Adam and Charles Derber’s The New Feminized Majority: How Democrats Can Change America with Women’s Values. That does seem to be the plan.

FROM THE PERMISSIVE SOCIETY to the priggish society. Yep.

THE WIKILEAKS CASE: Michael Froomkin observes: “This isn’t a classic prior restraint on speech since it reaches the registrar not the speaker — but it’s close enough to stopping the delivery trucks on a newspaper that I think this aspect of the decision is a cause for some First Amendment concern.”

THOUGHTS ON what to be proud of in recent American history.

STRATEGYPAGE: “Apparently the Taliban missed the part where al Qaeda got run out of Iraq, by Iraqis, because of the large number of civilians killed by terrorist bombs. The same cycle is playing out in Afghanistan.”

NOT THAT MUCH OF A CHALLENGE, REALLY: “A Florida church issued a challenge for its married members on Sunday: Have sex every day.”

BIG NEWS from Baghdad.

MARK STEYN: So what would it take to alarm you?

HEH.

NICK GILLESPIE: “I don’t believe in hell, but I sort of hope there is a place like it for a guy like Castro.”

MARC DANZIGER looks at the economics of going solar. He thinks it’s about there.