SOME THOUGHTS ON Freedom in America.

WILL WILKINSON: THE DAUPHIN OF DETROIT. “As its power expands, the government bureaucracy increasingly resembles an aristocracy. How else to explain the enormous power invested in Brian Deese, the unknown, unelected, 31-year-old White House aide in command of General Motors?”

WHAT “NEW LABOUR” HAS WROUGHT IN BRITAIN: Despite all the talk of smarter management. “The ONS provided a wealth of evidence to back its central claim that, between 1997 and 2007, total productivity in the public sector fell by 3.2 per cent – an annual average of 0.3 per cent.”

Bear this in mind as Obama promises the same kind of thing.

RON BAILEY: How Obama’s public health insurance option will quickly evolve into the only option. I believe that’s his intent.

UPDATE: Michael Barone, Qualms and questions about Obama’s health plan.

NOW OUT ON DVD: Firefly on Blu-Ray, and Gran Torino. My copy of Gran Torino showed up yesterday; I preordered it back when it became obvious I wasn’t going to see it in the theater.

THE I.A.E.A HAS ALWAYS BEEN PRETTY MUCH A JOKE: “The United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency is supposed to inspect nuclear facilities and warn of nonpeaceful activities. It now admits it can no longer effectively do so in Iran.”

WELL, GOOD: Twitterers defy China’s firewall.

SAVING SOLDIERS’ LIVES by scanning the dead.

JIM GERAGHTY on what the Virginia primary means. Bad news for Republicans?

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: How Fox News Opened America. “I said some years ago that the genius of Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes was to have discovered a niche market in American broadcasting — half the American people.”

SUMMER FLU, FALL HEADACHES: “As college students begin leaving for summer vacation, the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, is cropping up on a surprising number of campuses across the nation. Some national experts say this trend could be an ominous sign for students and health centers in the fall, when flu season traditionally intensifies.”

FYI: American citizens now need passports to visit Caribbean. It’s been that way for air travelers for a few years. But now it applies to everyone. “Before the new rules went into effect, land and sea-based American travellers were only required to show a birth certificate plus a form of government-issued photo ID such as a driver’s licence to regain entry into their country.”

L.A. TIMES: Oops, Conan O’Brien suffers from a little premature jocularity tonight.

A LOOK AT the Tata Nano and what other famous car it resembles. Since they’re cheap, I’m going to buy two, so people can say “nice Tatas!” Er, or maybe not.

FIERCE MORAL URGENCY: Gay Groups Silent as Obama Ignores Plight of Gays Under Islam.

A NATION OF SEVENTH-GRADERS?

VIRGINIA PRIMARY UPDATE: Creigh Deeds wins Virginia governor’s primary. “State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds won Virginia’s three-way Democratic primary for governor Tuesday with shocking ease, defeating a former Clinton White House insider and a former legislative colleague.” During the primary, we heard a lot more about Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran.

OBAMA’S BRAVE NEW DEAL. My advice to people on the right — don’t resign yourself to the “ratchet effect” of expanding government. Aim for rollbacks. Obama’s fiscal profligacy may prove to be your best ally in this effort . . . .

IMPORTANT BEER NEWS: 9,000-year-old brew hitting the shelves this summer.

DAVE LETTERMAN ON BRISTOL PALIN. See, this is why all that “have you no decency?” stuff from Democrats rings so hollow.

UPDATE: Oops, my mistake. Not Bristol Palin, but 14-year-old Willow Palin. Stay classy, Dave.

ANOTHER UPDATE: More here.

ANNE APPLEBAUM: Why is the Right doing so well in Europe? For a start, they don’t spend like drunken sailors. The underlying point is good, but I think that expression is actually unfair to drunken sailors. Drunken sailors generally spend cash that they’ve already earned themselves, rather than running up debt to be paid by others. If our politicians started spending like drunken sailors, it would in fact represent a dramatic improvement.

STIMULUS: “If only we had done nothing.”

IN WORMS, Genetic Clues to Extending Longevity. Faster, please.

FASTER, PLEASE: New antibiotics could come from a DNA binding compound that kills bacteria in 2 minutes. “A synthetic DNA binding compound has proved surprisingly effective at binding to the DNA of bacteria and killing all the bacteria it touched within two minutes. The DNA binding properties of the compound were first discovered in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Warwick by Professor Mike Hannon and Professor Alison Rodger (Professor Mike Hannon is now at the University of Birmingham). However the strength of its antibiotic powers have now made it a compound of high interest for University of Warwick researchers working on the development of novel antibiotics.”

RECOGNIZING THE SCHOOLGIRL CRUSH FOR WHAT IT IS is the first step in getting over it. “You can’t blame powerful people for wanting to play the press to peddle self-perpetuating mythology. But you can blame the press, already suffocating under a massive pile of blame, guilt, heavy debt and sinking fortunes, for being played. Some of the time, it seems we’re even enthusiastically jumping into the pond without even being pushed. Is there an actual limit to the number of instances you can be the cover of Newsweek?”