A MODEST PROPOSAL ON global warming.

JACK LAIL WONDERS IF THE KINDLE WILL SAVE NEWSPAPERS: “Maybe there’s something to this Kindle thing. People willing to pay for news content who wouldn’t subscribe to a print newspaper. And geeks like it.”

Indeed.

EASY ONE-POT MEALS.

THE GOOD NEWS AND THE BAD NEWS ABOUT THE ECONOMY. First, the good news:

While still far from health, the U.S. economy is showing some encouraging signs of life as consumers tiptoe back to the shopping mall, home builders pick up their hammers, and manufacturers clear out inventory.

That suggests the soon-to-be-completed first quarter will be as bad as it gets, and apocalyptic fears of another lengthy, painful Great Depression look unwarranted.

Now the bad news:

Economists think the policy response from Washington offers the best hope that these tentative signs of life will translate into economic growth before the year is out. Unfortunately, policy missteps pose the biggest risk to recovery.

“Policy missteps?” Judging by the last week, we’re in trouble . . . .

GEORGE W. OBAMA?

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Amid AIG Furor, Dodd Tries To Undo Bonus Protections He Put In. “While the Senate was constructing the $787 billion stimulus last month, Dodd added an executive-compensation restriction to the bill. That amendment provides an ‘exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009’ — which exempts the very AIG bonuses Dodd and others are now seeking to tax. . . . Separately, Sen. Dodd was AIG’s largest single recipient of campaign donations during the 2008 election cycle with $103,100, according to opensecrets.org.”

The country’s in the very best of hands.

UPDATE: Obama’s Latest Costly Blunder. “Obama and his team knew about the AIG bonus issue for quite some time. They had already concluded there was nothing to be done without causing greater risk. Now the very people AIG claims it needs to sort out the mess and prevent further economic damage are resigning, or just not showing up due to death threats and whatever else. Two months in and Obama has helped tank the stock market with pessimism only to help him pass a political agenda in the form of a stimulus package. His latest blurt seems to have been counter-productive to his stated economic goals. But hopefully Obama feels better for having gotten his rage on.”

This is the gang that can’t shoot straight. (Bumped).

ANOTHER UPDATE: “You can lease Dodd, but you can’t buy him.”

THE FALL AND RISE of the Right Whale.

I CAN’T KEEP TRACK OF ALL THE POLICY SCREWUPS, BUT LUCKILY THE HUFFINGTON POST IS HELPING: Dems Fuming Over White House Plan to Make Vets Pay For Service Injuries. “Democrats in Congress are organizing to squash a White House proposal that would require veterans to use private insurance to pay for treatment of their combat and service-related injuries.” Can anybody play this game?

NEWT GINGRICH jumps on the Tea Party protest bandwagon.

GLOBAL DIMMING CAUSED by rising aerosol pollution.

POLL: The biggest political hypocrites.

“SMART DIPLOMACY:” Misspelling Lula’s name.

A SPECIAL ST. PATRICK’S DAY MESSAGE for Sen. Chris Dodd.

THE JOYS OF Eitech construction toys.

AN INTERVIEW WITH VIRGINIA TECH’S Students For Concealed Carry On Campus.

J. STORRS HALL: Humanity destined for early retirement.

THEY CALL THEM “REVENUE-LIGHT CAMERAS” FOR A REASON: Chicago: Traffic cameras could help wipe out city’s projected deficit.

But wait, there’s a big-brotherish twist:

The system pitched to the City Council’s Transportation Committee by Michigan-based InsureNet would work only if insurance companies were somehow compelled to report the names and license plates of insured motorists. That’s already happening daily in 13 states, but not here.

I’m more interested in what we could find if banks were somehow compelled to report the financial affairs of Chicago aldermen. . . .

INTRODUCING THE NEW Sharia and Jihad Review.

GRAND ROUNDS IS UP!

IN THE MAIL: Curtis Sittenfeld’s American Wife.

WHY TAX PROBLEMS have plagued Team Obama.

IRAN’S PUSH INTO NICARAGUA: Why is no one concerned?

DEATH LEAVES ONLINE LIVES IN LIMBO: “When Jerald Spangenberg collapsed and died in the middle of a quest in an online game, his daughter embarked on a quest of her own: to let her father’s gaming friends know that he hadn’t just decided to desert them. It wasn’t easy, because she didn’t have her father’s ‘World of Warcraft’ password and the game’s publisher couldn’t help her.”

CONGRESSIONAL PORK APOLOGISTS TELL US THAT EARMARKS DON’T MATTER BECAUSE THEY’RE A TINY FRACTION OF THE BUDGET: So why all the excitement about those AIG bonuses that represent only a tiny fraction of the bailout money? It’s all taxpayer money, right?

HMM: Anti-Spending Tide Grows In New Hampshire:

A rift is growing between residents in the increasingly Democratic state of New Hampshire and the perceived effectiveness of President Obama’s stimulus bill.

A poll commissioned by the anti-spending group STEWARD of Prosperity and conducted by the American Research Group found 78 percent of New Hampshire residents believe the $800 billion bill will not improve their financial outlook. . . .

Less than a fourth believed it would improve the economy in their state.

Hmm. Wonder how this will affect those politicians already thinking about the New Hampshire Primaries?