MASS DEMONSTRATIONS IN IRAN, AT LEAST 15 KILLED BY SECURITY FORCES.

Plus, Obama got his 3 a.m. call, and voted “present.”

UPDATE: “He who cannot stop talking, is silent on Iran.”

Claim: Ahmadinejad came in third.

FASHION FORWARD: A bulletproof “tactical” corset.

GENDER DIFFERENCE feels good in Paris.

IN THE MAIL: From Mark Van Name, Overthrowing Heaven. Yeah, I got a big package from Baen Books. Can you tell?

ABC NEWS: Seeking Answers on IG Firing, Sen. Grassley Asks About Possible Role of First Lady’s Office.

ALFONZO RACHEL: David Letterman, Sarah Palin, and a Topless Drew Barrymore. “You don’t make jokes, man, you hide behind jokes. You’re a weak, mean-spirited humanoid.”

MEGAN MCARDLE: More automotive bankruptcy strong-arming, though happily this time undone by a judge. “If true, this is an even more heavy-handed intervention than Chrysler, and considerably more disturbing. Debtor-in-Possession financing, or DIP, is the financing that allows companies to reorganize in bankruptcy. It’s senior to everything else because if it weren’t, no one would be willing to lend money to companies that definitionally have a high probability of failure. Stiffing those creditors in order to make GM, or even Delphi, better off, is incredibly short-sighted. It also has some potentially scary implications for our political economy. The quasi-legitimate argument in favor of the government’s interventions in favor of the UAW was that Uncle Sam was the only available debtor-in-possession financier, and therefore had a right to call the tune. Screwing over the DIP providers would, of course, make it harder for other companies to get DIP. What new rights could the government discover in those bankruptcies?”

NARRATIVE DISSONANCE: Martin Peretz on Obama’s Cairo speech. “I suppose that President Obama thinks that in Cairo he bridged many narratives. He certainly appeared to try.”

Plus, Francis Cianfrocca on Martin Peretz: “It’s a great piece as far as it goes, but Peretz evidently ran out of time to connect the dots (or perhaps given his audience, he felt he didn’t need to). One of the very earliest reactions I heard from Jewish people to The Speech was that it ignored thousands of years of history, to say nothing of how the Zionists brought forth green life from rough desert that the Palestinians never managed to do anything with.”

UPDATE: “Who did you vote for, Marty?”

OBAMA ON THE MIDEAST: THEN AND NOW. “Is there any doubt that had he said that in 2008 he would have been greeted with catcalls and boos? In 2008 he sounded serious and committed to stopping the Iranian nuclear threat and was candid about the nature of the regime. . . . It is hard to escape the conclusion that he told a very different story in 2008 to get elected and, once in office, sprung the most antagonistic approach to Israel and the most timid toward Iran of any president in recent memory. Those who bought his story in 2008 were had. And those who vouched for him should be embarrassed.”

As always, it’s a question of who the rubes are.

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, the tough go on a cruise. Maybe I should organize an InstaPundit cruise next summer . . . .

HOPE AND CHANGE! SAME! Obama Administration Continues to Defend State Secrets. Ah, and to think that just last Fall, people were lecturing me about the fierce moral urgency of replacing Bush.

UPDATE:

LATVIA “ESCAPES BANKRUPTCY” by cutting public pensions.

ECONOMIC DIVISION: Federal Intervention Pits ‘Gets’ vs. ‘Get-Nots’. “What’s undeniable is that the federal government has burrowed its way deep into the quotidian workings of American capitalism. Since the onset of the financial crisis nine months ago, the government has become the nation’s biggest mortgage lender, guaranteed nearly $3 trillion in money-market mutual-fund assets, commandeered and restructured two car companies, taken equity stakes in nearly 600 banks, lent more than $300 billion to blue-chip companies, supported the life-insurance industry and become a credit source for buyers of cars, tractors and even weapons for hunting.” And check out this graphic.

GOT AN ELVIS STORY? Graceland wants to hear it.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Looking at Jackie Clegg Dodd’s professional record.

SOME THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED, if you were out, you know, having a life over the weekend:

A Dick Durbin insider-trading scandal?

Reports from the Houston Tea Party Pelosi Protest, where over 600 showed up.

Plus, other rallies in Columbia, Missouri (hundreds) and New Richmond, Ohio (over a thousand).

Obama folks worried that his enormous spending might hurt Democrats in 2010.

Disappointment with the Justice Department on gay marriage.

Don’t try National Health until you can fix Medicare first.

Some inappropriate laughter.

Posts on underwater scooters and digital cameras. Plus, the lameness of The Sims 3.

Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA), lousy neighbor.

And, of course, more problems for Chris Dodd.

IRAN PROTESTERS DEFY RALLY BAN. Ahmadinejad decides it’s prudent not to leave the country on a scheduled trip to Russia. “Plainclothes militia” authorized to use live ammunition. EU officials express “serious concern.”

GERALD WALPIN SPEAKS: The Inside Story of the Americorps Firing.

The White House’s decision to fire AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin came amid politically-charged tensions inside the Corporation for National and Community Service, the organization that runs AmeriCorps. Top executives at the Corporation, Walpin explained in an hour-long interview Saturday, were unhappy with his investigation into the misuse of AmeriCorps funds by Kevin Johnson, the former NBA star who is now mayor of Sacramento, California and a prominent supporter of President Obama. Walpin’s investigation also sparked conflict with the acting U.S. attorney in Sacramento amid fears that the probe — which could have resulted in Johnson being barred from ever winning another federal grant — might stand in the way of the city receiving its part of billions of dollars in federal stimulus money. After weeks of standoff, Walpin, whose position as inspector general is supposed to be protected from influence by political appointees and the White House, was fired.

“Culture of corruption,” anyone?

TAXPROF: Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Mary Smith to Head DOJ Tax Division Over Fierce Republican Opposition. “At a committee meeting, three Republican senators spoke against Smith, noting that she has never held a job specializing in tax law. She has never written or spoken on tax issues, does not have a specialized degree, and has never taken a continuing legal education course in tax law, said the committee Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.).”

Kinda makes you wonder if tax issues are becoming more political than technical. Among others.

DENNIS KUCINICH, financial wizard? “Having run the city of Cleveland into financial default as its mayor, Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich now lectures Ken Lewis of Bank of America on how to run a bank. The government forced the bank to take over Merrill Lynch. Kucinich blames Lewis.”

JOHN RINGO, CALL YOUR OFFICE: A “Time Bomb” For World Wheat Crop.

Though most Americans have never heard of it, Ug99 — a type of fungus called stem rust because it produces reddish-brown flakes on plant stalks — is the No. 1 threat to the world’s most widely grown crop.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico estimates that 19% of the world’s wheat, which provides food for 1 billion people in Asia and Africa, is in imminent danger. American plant breeders say $10 billion worth of wheat would be destroyed if the fungus suddenly made its way to U.S. fields.

Fear that the fungus will cause widespread damage has caused short-term price spikes on world wheat markets. Famine has been averted thus far, but experts say it’s only a matter of time.

Read the whole thing. It’ll probably hit America right after the “supervolcano” under Mt. St. Helens erupts (“These enormous eruptions can spew enough sunlight-blocking ash into the atmosphere to cool the climate by several degrees Celsius”), or something, in the middle of a Swine Flu pandemic. Oh, wait . . . .

Meanwhile: Crops Under Stress As Temperatures Fall. “In Canada and northern America summer planting of corn and soybeans has been way behind schedule, with the prospect of reduced yields and lower quality. Grain stocks are predicted to be down 15 per cent next year. US reserves of soya – used in animal feed and in many processed foods – are expected to fall to a 32-year low.” Plus, in Chicago, So far this June is running more than 12 degrees cooler than last year. Well, it could be worse. We could be in one of the Ringo Posleen books, I guess . . . .

UPDATE: Trent Telenko emails: “The great irony is that America’s greater acceptance of genetically engineered food will leave it the least vulnerable to this stuff. The EU may be stuck with genetically modified wheat, if it wants to grow any wheat at all.”

Yes, a couple of readers noticed this sentence from the article: “After several years of feverish work, scientists have identified a mere half-dozen genes that are immediately useful for protecting wheat from Ug99. Incorporating them into crops using conventional breeding techniques is a nine- to 12-year process that has only just begun.” No mention of using something other than “conventional breeding techniques,” but that’s clearly the way to go.

ANOTHER UPDATE: A reader sends this link to the USDA’s action plan on wheat rust, and says they’re taking it seriously.