JOHN TAMMES POSTS VIDEO FROM IRAQ.

DON SURBER looks at Bushonomics.

KEEP TINKERING ALIVE! Related thoughts here.

A REPORT FROM Afghanistan.

TIM WU on “tolerated use” — things that are technically copyright infringements but that people, well, tolerate. (Via Larry Solum).

CONGRATULATIONS TO MY SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD NEPHEW JOSEPH, who just got his helicopter license.

MANY STATES ARE backing away from red-light cameras. Not mine, alas.

BRAZIL STARTS A PRO-ETHANOL DIPLOMATIC OFFENSIVE: I don’t need any persuading. We should drop our barriers to Brazilian ethanol right away.

FLUNK YOUR STUDENTS, lose your job? “’Show me how lowering the bar has ever helped anyone,’ Aird said in an interview. . . . Today, Steve Aird is packing up his office.”

UPDATE: Tom Elia comments: “What a bunch of candy asses we have developed in this country…” They were always there. They’ve just acquired more influence of late.

THOUGHTS ON HOW TO CALCULATE the value of a longevity treatment.

HILLARY PICKS UP ANOTHER Tennessee superdelegate.

JEFF GOLDSTEIN: Guilt by association by association.

DADBLOGGER ROBERT PEDERSON is now blogging for the Detroit News.

BILL QUICK ON an immigration double standard.

IN THE MAIL: John Varley’s Rolling Thunder, the sequel to his earlier Mars books, Red Lightning and Red Thunder.

NEW YORK TIMES: After Lopsided Loss, Obama Woos Blue-Collar Voters. Plus, breaking out the flag pin! Is it “phony patriotism” now, or was it just phony patriotism then?

ACTUALLY, IT’S NOT A GOOF: By appearing clueless, he undermines claims that he’s a secret Muslim!

FREE TRADE: The case for Colombia.

AND WHEN YOU GET THERE, BE SURE TO BITCH about the Bush Administration’s position on global warming: Avoid Traffic: Take a Helicopter to the Hamptons.

THE SMART CAR MAY BE LITTLE, but it gets high marks for safety:

The Smart ForTwo, the twin-seat micro that’s so small that two can fit in a single parking space, earned the top rating in front- and side-impact crash tests. It was rated “acceptable” for whiplash protection in rear-end crashes, the agency says.

There’s an important caveat: While the frontal tests do a good job of replicating a crash against a fixed object, there is no overcoming the laws of physics when it comes to crashes against larger, heavier vehicles such as SUVs and big pickups.

Still, it’s possible to design small cars that are surprisingly safe.

TONY BLANKLEY: “Race, the yet unclosed scab that has run deep through our history, is about to be discussed as it never has been in a presidential election. . . . I would argue that the more honest the public conversation is the less virulent the private one will be, and therein lies the path to maximum civic hygiene.”

THE LITTLE-KNOWN BACKGROUND to Loving v. Virginia.

HUSAYN’S STORY: A report from Iraq.

LAUGH, CRY, OR JUST SMACK YOUR FOREHEAD? Outsourcing of King Memorial to China Is Probed.