AMISH HACKERS: “The Amish have the undeserved reputation of being luddites, of people who refuse to employ new technology.”

SEEMING SOMEHOW APPROPRIATE THESE DAYS: The Road to Serfdom in cartoons. Ironically, courtesy of General Motors. Thanks to reader Andrew Dubinsky for the link. Dubinsky comments: “Perhaps your readers can determine which chapter we are currently on.” Well, Michael Ledeen has his own view.

UPDATE: Related thoughts from Roger Kimball.

IN THE MAIL: Louis Carabini’s Inclined to Liberty: The Futile Attempt to Suppress The Human Spirit.

FROM GUN OWNERS OF AMERICA, a guide to firearms legislation in the 111th Congress.

GEEZ, EVERYBODY’S SUFFERING FROM THE RECESSION: Terrorists Quit Over Pay Dispute.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Publisher: No deal yet for Dodd book on financial crisis. Now a book on getting a good mortgage deal might sell . . . .

AT NEXTBIGFUTURE, a roundup of tech highlights from the first six weeks of 2009.

PHOTO CAPTION OF THE YEAR: “The couple in happier times, before Hassan removed his wife’s head.” (Via Dan Riehl).

FASTER COMPUTING with nanotechnology and plasmonics.

A LOOK AT statins and death rates in high-cholesterol people.

WELL, IT’S NOT LIKE SHE FAILED TO PAY TAXES AND THEN GOT NOMINATED TO A CABINET POSITION: Unreturned Library Book Leads to Woman’s Arrest. I mean, this is a real crime.

HEADING TOWARD a global Weimar? “Here’s the rub: The major powers think that the crisis is only fleeting, and that we’ll soon return to the old order. No one really wants to undertake the profound changes necessary to resolve it. Although the world’s public debt should be cut, now it is only being increased.” Not sure I buy his analysis, but I am sure that I hope he’s wrong . . . .

Plus, is it really true that Federal obligations exceed world GDP? I don’t think it is. I certainly hope not.

OKAY, NOW THEY’RE TAKING THE BAD ECONOMIC NEWS TOO FAR: Is sexual desire entering a recession? I would have thought that free entertainment would do better . . . . Apparently, some researchers agree with me.

CAR LUST: Remembering the Ford Pinto and Mercury Bobcat. With bonus explosion video!

MEXICO: A Western Somalia?

WHY BRITAIN should never have banned Geert Wilders.

FORBES: The Obama-Geithner Bear Market.

THE NEXT STIMULUS CHALLENGE: Spending all that money. My guess is, they’ll manage somehow.

CALIFORNIA CONGRESSWOMAN discovers get-rich-quick scheme.

MILITARY TECH: Battles in Bullet Time: Bionic bullet dodging vs Real Time Guided Sniper Rounds vs Robotic Counter Sniper Fire.

NICHOLAS GUARIGLIA: Obama’s Broken Promises Were Entirely Predictable.

TRANSPARENCY: An “Off-the-Record speech” at the National Press Club? It’s a tribute to Dr. Strangelove: “You can’t do reporting here! This is the press club!”

ANTI-GUN ASTROTURF. Er, more of that, that is.

FIGHTING OVER PENSION FUNDING in New Jersey.

THE COUNTRY WORLD IS IN THE VERY BEST OF HANDS: “Group of Seven finance chiefs vowed to tackle a ‘severe’ economic downturn that will persist for most of 2009 without spelling out new steps to do so. . . . The authorities are still at a loss on the best course of action 18 months after the credit crisis broke out. That’s left them pursuing a disjointed approach as the global economy deteriorates further and companies from Microsoft Corp. to Nissan Motor Co. cut jobs.”