CUTTING-EDGE DEBATE OVER Homeland Security and “knife control”.

NEW YORK AND LONDON’S best bars and bartenders. According to the folks at Forbes, anyway.

AN IMPORTANT IDEA: Nap at work. When I got the new, big office with the leather couch a couple of years ago, I had big plans to do a lot of napping, but somehow I never seem to find the time. For those wondering, though, I’ve actually managed not to clutter my new office up like the old one was. I think people had a pool going on that one, but I’m pretty sure I’m past the most optimistic bets.

ANN ALTHOUSE AND ROBERT WRIGHT on Farrah Fawcett’s influence.

REASON: District of Columbia v. Heller: Year One.

HIDING BUILDINGS from earthquakes. Sounds interesting.

COOL: For the First Time, Scientists Photograph Memories Being Formed.

SUPREME COURT DECIDES RICCI: “The Supreme Court has ruled that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.”

UPDATE: “Although there is a sharp 5-4 divide among the justices, not a single justice thought that Judge Sotomayor acted correctly in granting summary judgment for the City of New Haven.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: More here.

Further thoughts from Roger Pilon (“In its opinion today in Ricci v. DeStefano, the Supreme Court came down solidly for upholding the equal protection of the law.”) and Ilya Shapiro. (“Ricci is a victory for merit over racial politics—which is appropriate given that the ruling overturns a lower court panel that included Sonia Sotomayor.”)

Plus, more at Workplace Law Profs.

IN THE MAIL: From Seth Jones, In the Graveyard of Empires: America’s War in Afghanistan.

CHRIS STIREWALT: Sanford can’t save Democrats on ethics woes.

Obama is a pragmatic politician, and while it took good-government promises to win office as a reformer, winning his next term demands playing the game the Washington way. That includes signing bills rewritten by lobbyists in the dead of night.

Ask Sen. Chris Dodd how that can come back to haunt you.

Dodd is drowning under bad polls in Connecticut because of his insertion of the AIG bonus amendment, a sweetheart mortgage, boatloads of cash from the mortgage companies he was supposed to be regulating, and dubious real estate deals.

And even Dodd looks like a solid citizen compared with Rod Blagojevich’s man in Washington, Sen. Roland Burris. On the House side, Rep. Charlie Rangel has been under investigation for 10 months for tax issues and other alleged misconduct. But that didn’t stop him and many of his Congressional Black Caucus colleagues from going on a Citigroup-funded getaway to St. Maarten last fall.

And everyone on Capitol Hill is still waiting to see what happens to Reps. John Murtha, Peter Visclosky and Jim Moran — the top recipients of donations from a lobbying firm since busted by the FBI in a pay-to-play investigation.

Indeed.

STEVE CHAPMAN: Why Adultery Is Political Suicide: Lessons from the Sanford affair. “Sex without marriage is OK. Sex in violation of marriage is not. Why not? Because adultery, unlike a frisky bachelor lifestyle, connotes a reckless dishonesty at odds with our basic notions of integrity. Because it shows a lack of respect for the most important commitment that most of us will ever make. Because it indicates that the adulterer will always place his selfish desires above those who depend on him.” Of course, that’s how politicians are in general.

CAROLINE KENNEDY AND BARBARA WALTERS: Comic Book Heroines. I’ll stick with The Flash.

YANKEE, DON’T GO HOME: As U.S. troops move on, Iraqis fear the coming turmoil. “The American drawdown sparks mixed emotions among many Iraqis. On the one hand, they see the move as a further step toward regaining the sovereignty they lost when the U.S. invaded the country in 2003. On the other, they’re not overly confident about the ability — or even the willingness — of the Iraqi army and national police to take over their safety.”

BRIAN LEITER ON THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LAW SCHOOL ADMISSIONS SCANDAL:

The University of Illinois is hostage to the public purse for a lot of its operations, so every request for ‘special consideration’ on admissions from a politician with influence on the purse strings comes with an implied threat: admit this student, or lose funding. One can be sure Chancellor Herman understands that. Attacking university officials over this scandal is like attacking the victim of a robbery for handing over his money.

This is, in fact, the case with many political bribery scandals, where the bribe-payer is more likely to be a shakedown victim than a corrupter of the innocent.

PREDATORY LEGISLATING: Is Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL) A Liar Or A Speed Reader?

MORE ON THE POLITICIZATION OF SCIENCE: I had thought ending that was a matter of fierce moral urgency, but it seems to be going on under Obama pretty much as it did under Bush. Go figure.

IRAN VIDEO: Basij Thugs Shoot Protesters From Rooftops.

FINANCIAL TIMES: Obama Is Choosing to be Weak.

ARGENTINA: “President Cristina Kirchner suffered a stunning setback in Argentina’s congressional elections, losing absolute majorities in both houses of Congress. Mrs. Kirchner’s husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner, lost his own bid for a seat from Buenos Aires province in Sunday’s election.”

U.S.’S DEBTOR STATUS WORSENS DRAMATICALLY: “Over the years, America’s status as a creditor or debtor has changed enormously. In the early 1980s, America’s net international investment position averaged $350 billion, or 11 percent of GDP, making the United States the world’s largest creditor. Today, it is the world’s largest debtor – by far. . . . Foreign governments have taken notice – in particular, China, which now holds more U.S. Treasury debt than any other country.”

MICKEY KAUS: “So if one of these promising new cancer treatments winds up working 25% of the time, but costs $150,000, will Peter Orszag give to you?” Depends on your donation history, I’d say . . .

UPDATE: Related: “Forcing prices down does not normally increase supply.”

JEFF JARVIS: First, kill the lawyers – before they kill the news. Plus, Sherrod Brown’s marital conflicts.

HERESY FROM RON ROSENBAUM: Michael Jackson Wasn’t That Good After He Left The Jackson Five.

HMM: Recovery threatened by toxic assets still hidden in key banks.

ROGER SIMON: My liberal friends don’t want to talk about global warming anymore. “All of a sudden… well, not quite all of a sudden, but recently… I have noticed my liberal friends (except for the most extreme and knee-jerk) are not very interested in discussing man-made global warming. The subject rarely comes up and, when it does, it is passed over quickly, given only a nod. It’s as if that was last year’s – or last decade’s – fad, at the very moment the House of Representatives has been browbeaten by LaPelosita into voting for a cap-and-trade bill no known person has read, let alone understood.”

A lot of the fierce moral urgency has disappeared since November, on a lot of issues. . . .