WHO’DA THUNK IT? Regulation drives up home prices: “Between 1989 and 2006, the median inflation-adjusted price of a Seattle house rose from $221,000 to $447,800. Fully $200,000 of that increase was the result of land-use regulations, says Theo Eicher — twice the financial impact that regulation has had on other major U.S. cities.” Maybe it’s not a housing bubble at all, but a regulation bubble?

AN EXPERIMENT: “In a test of the American Dream, Adam Shepard started life from scratch with the clothes on his back and twenty-five dollars. Ten months later, he had an apartment, a car, and a small savings.” Of course, you could start some folks off with a million bucks and in ten months they’d be looking for a homeless shelter.

DOUG KMIEC: Reaganites for Obama.

WELL, A LOW DOLLAR WILL DO THAT FOR YOU: Trade Deficit Falls After 5 Record Years.

DO STATINS make you stupid? I take low-dose Zocor to raise my HDL (my cholesterol’s low, but my ratio’s bad) and when I first started it I noticed I wasn’t quite as quick in class — I’d reach for a word or a case name and it wouldn’t come as quickly — but that seemed to go away after a few weeks.

THIS SHOULD PROVIDE SOME EXCITEMENT: “U.S. officials say the Pentagon is planning to shoot down a broken spy satellite expected to hit the Earth in early March.”

UPDATE: Katie Granju: “Now this is the kind of thing that the U.S. military will be able to use in its recruiting campaign for the next decade. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be the sharpshooter who pushes the button that fires this missile?”

And here’s the full scoop from Aviation Week.

ANOTHER UPDATE: A useful quibble on language, from Rand Simberg: “You can’t ‘shoot down’ a satellite. In order to do so, you have to remove its momentum, so it falls out of orbit. All you can really do (at least with something as crude as a missile) is break it up into smaller pieces.” Those, of course, are much more likely to burn up before reaching the ground.

DON’T MINCE WORDS, BOB: GM Vice Chairman Calls Global Warming A “Total Crock of S**t”. So what’s with the Chevy Volt? And all that fuel-cell stuff?

UPDATE: Varifrank explains that it’s the power of the market: “He doesn’t care why you want zero emission cars, he just wants you to buy them from him. He’s not making cars for you and your sense of well being. He’s making them so the shareholders of General Motors can make a profit. If there’s a profit in it, he would make cars that run on hamster pellets.” But I thought consumers were at the mercy of the big auto companies, who just sold us whatever they wanted, without caring what we think — isn’t that why the proliferation of SUVs is all their fault?

“PANDERING FOR MISS HILLARY,” starring David Shuster.

IN THE MAIL, a new book from frequent Instapundit correspondent Wagner James Au: The Making of Second Life: Notes from the New World. I read the first couple of chapters while waiting at the doctor’s office yesterday; it’s quite good — even, or perhaps especially, if you haven’t spent much time on Second Life.

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY FRIENDSHIP DAY!

A FLEX-FUEL FUTURE: Bob Zubrin in NRO. I’m surprised the candidates haven’t jumped on this harder.

WHY OWNING A SUPERCAR IS OVERRATED.

PARKING: Leave it to the professionals.

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: We’ve had some progress on pork, with Henry Waxman joining the G.O.P. moratorium, but for other members of Congress it’s business as usual:

The window for Congressional earmarks is open once again. Lawmakers from both parties are inviting constituents and lobbyists to recommend pet projects that could be financed by the federal government as the 2008 earmark season gets under way. . . .

Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan budget watchdog, issued a report on Wednesday that showed Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York had obtained $342 million in earmarks last year, nearly four times as much as the total for Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Mr. McCain of Arizona, a fierce critic of earmarks, did not obtain any because “he did not request any,” said Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense.

In its report, the group said that Representative John P. Murtha, Democrat of Pennsylvania, obtained $176 million in earmarks — more than any other House member except Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi, who is now a senator.

Business as usual.

WHERE’S Barack?

UPDATE: Related thoughts here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Thad Anderson emails: “Look I’d like to see Obama criticize that ad, too … but the guy IS running for president. He’s kind of busy. Where? I think Wisconsin today.” I was hoping this might bring it to his attention.

MORE: Anderson replies: “Fair enough, fair enough. I guess asking him what he thinks about an issue isn’t outside the scope of his job. After all, like I said, the guy IS running for president…” Yes, he is.

LOU MINATTI: Why Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee.

JONAH GOLDBERG’S LIBERAL FASCISM gets a good review from Thomas Sowell. It’s still doing quite well in the Amazon rankings, too.

DILDOES GOING TO THE SUPREME COURT? Plus, as Dave Kopel notes, this case is entirely resolvable via our article on state police power, without the need to address an extension of Lawrence.

LAWYERS GONE WILD! I guess they yell “Show us your torts!”

MULTIFUNCTION PRINTERS: A security risk?

THOUGHTS ON MEN, WOMEN, AND MARRIAGE from Kim du Toit and Rachel Lucas.

UH OH: “Relax, President Obama just hit the wrong button.”

THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY, cozying up to North Korea.

DEAD IN DAMASCUS: “Given the clandestine nature of the war on terror, it’s often hard to know how much progress we’re making. But Tuesday’s death in Damascus of Imad Mughniyeh looks like an unambiguous victory.”

PROGRESS IN IRAQ: A grudging admission at The New York Times.