EVERYBODY’S MEMORIALIZING JACK KEMP. I didn’t know him, I don’t usually do obituaries, and I don’t really have anything to say, but I’ll note that this sign is still there, all these years later.

CELEBRATING Margaret Thatcher.

SUICIDE LOWER where lithium levels in water are higher?

GEE, DO YOU THINK? “Iranian aircraft attacked three villages inside Iraq over the weekend. The airstrikes — Iran’s first on Iraqi soil since the U.S. invasion — could complicate the Obama administration’s efforts to normalize relations with Tehran.”

Funny this hasn’t gotten more attention. But maybe the press is taking its cue from this: “In February, American fighter jets shot down an Iranian drone flying over Iraq. Such an incursion would’ve likely provoked an angry response from the previous administration. But the reaction to the drone incident was muted — perhaps in the interest of keeping the dialogue with Tehran going.”

UPDATE: Reader Fred LaSor thinks the causation works the other way: “My reading is that our ‘muted’ reaction after the drone shootdown was a consideration when the Iranians contemplated their weekend airstrikes inside Iraq. I take this action on their part to be more than a random act — it is another probe to see if Obama will react. Far from keeping dialogue going, our muted response will only encourage Iran to continue its belligerence. Not a good sign.”

YOU MEAN THAT ANTI-GITMO STUFF WAS JUST TALK? Obama Rebuffed on Funds to Close Guantanamo. “Top House Democrats raised tensions with the White House on a key foreign policy goal, rebuffing a request for funding to begin closing the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.”

THE NEXT BIG ROUND WON’T BE UNTIL JULY 4TH, but Tea Parties are still popping up everywhere. And, in L.A. John & Ken have another one scheduled for May 16.

ANN ALTHOUSE: “Why have these campaign finance crimes at all if we aren’t going to enforce them? What is it about John Edwards that he deserves special compassion? I’d say he owes us big time for staying in the presidential race, holding our attention, when what we needed to do was compare Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.”

ROGER SIMON: Middle East Negotiations: This isn’t Hollywood, Rahm. “Did Rahm Emanuel just put the screws to his own people?”

DON’T WORRY — IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM, you can always just call 911.

WHAT HAPPENS TO STAFFERS when the boss switches parties.

MARIST POLL: Paterson Approval Rating: Scraping Bottom?

TOUGH TIMES: Even the lottery is hurting.

SOME CIVIL RIGHTS PROGRESS IN TENNESSEE: “House members of a conference committee on the so-called ‘guns in bars’ bill voted 3-2 to abandon restrictions adopted by the House and accept the Senate version of the bill. The bill (HB962) would for the first time allow handgun permit holders to take their weapons into restaurants that serve alcoholic beverages.”

IN NEVADA, some ACORN voter fraud charges: “Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Secretary of State Ross Miller announced Monday that voter registration fraud charges have been filed against an organization that works with low-income people and two of its employees in its Las Vegas office. The complaint includes 26 counts of voter fraud and 13 counts for compensating those registering voters, both felonies. The Association of Community Organization for Reform Now, Inc., also known as ACORN, operated a Las Vegas office that helped register low-income voters last year.”

INFLATION: something to worry about. “Independent central banks don’t do what this Fed has done. They leave such fiscal action to the legislative branch. By that same token, Mr. Volcker’s Fed had to avoid financing the large (for that time) Reagan budget deficits to be able to bring down inflation. The central bank was made independent expressly so that it could refuse to finance deficits. But is there a political consensus that the much larger Obama deficits will not pressure the Fed to expand reserves to buy Treasury bonds?”

UPDATE: A hedge-fund reader emails:

The Fed announced at their March meeting that they’d buy Treasury debt, and they’ve been doing so for several weeks. It’s called
“quantitative easing”, which sounds so much better than “printing money”. I’m afraid that horse has left the barn.

Yes, and if you look at how much Treasury debt they’ve bought, well. . . it’s easy to see why the Chinese are worried.

ANOTHER UPDATE: At Charlie Foxtrot, a request for advice on how ordinary people can prepare for runaway inflation.

THOUGHT POLICE: “Parties were more fun when George W. Bush was president. You could debate, argue even, praise and condemn, throw darts and laurels and solve the world’s problems over a bottle of wine. No more. At least not in my circles. If you want to stop a conversation in its tracks, just question something President Barack Obama has said or done. It’s not open to debate — and I don’t think that’s healthy, for the country or the president. It’s especially unsettling for a free speech girl like me. The First Amendment is important — but lately, it feels like my right of self-expression is being squashed.”

Plus, L.A. Times: Funny thing about Obama … “Well, maybe not so funny. Comedians are treading carefully as they test the limits of political satire with a black president.”

ARE WE ENTERING an age of pandemics?

RECORDS, VIDEOS, 8MM MOVIES: How to digitize your old analog stuff.

AN ETHANOL TEST for Obama.

BUSINESS INSIDER: Is The White House Lying About Perella Weinberg Threat Story? “We wouldn’t be surprised if intense pressure is now being brought to bear on Lauria to recant his original story. If anything, it’s surprising that Lauria has gone this far. For now, the Obama administration stands accused by a prominent lawyer of behaving thuggishly and lying about it. Perella Weinberg’s silence on the threats seems to support this accusation. The ball is now in Obama’s court.”

UPDATE: Reader Robert P Sbisa emails: “Glenn, the administration’s expected next tactic: Jon Stewart appointed the responsibility of ridiculing Lauria in the Daily Show, a la Jim Cramer.”

RASMUSSEN — NO CONFIDENCE: Only 18% Say UAW, Government Will Do Good Job Running GM, Chrysler. (Via JWF).

A ROBOT USING cutting-edge 8-track technology.

PEREZ HILTON: Putting the “Hippo” in Hypocrite. “No matter what you think about gay marriage, or about advocates of gay marriage whose awful behavior is giving the issue a bad name, one thing is clear: If you don’t want people you dislike to use a 3-second clip of you glaring into a webcam and calling someone a ‘dumb bitch,’ then don’t get on your webcam and call someone a ‘dumb bitch.’ Problem solved.” Ouch.

INSTA-POLL: What’s your take on the Swine Flu epidemic thus far?

REASON TV: Barack Obama and the DC School Voucher Program.