JOKING ABOUT CHAPPAQUIDDICK: Like Ted Kennedy did. “All the funniest comedians wear neck braces.”

BALDILOCKS: What the sowers of racial discord have wrought.

Speaking of racial discord: Memo about a ‘black agenda’ in mayor’s race roils Atlanta. “It’s not hard to imagine the outcry that would have erupted had any group of conservatives proposed a ‘white agenda.’ Still, the memo, which argues that the African-American community should rally around a single black candidate to ensure that an African-American prevails, has caused a tremor in a city that prides itself on being ‘too busy to hate.'”

And more racial-discord-sowing here. Sigh. I remember when it was supposed to be about color-blindness and fairness. Now it’s about something very different.

THE ABSENT-MINDED CHAIRMAN: Charlie Rangel wins the personal lottery. “When normal people happen to ‘find’ their own money, it might mean a twenty left in a winter coat, or discovering change beneath the sofa cushions. But if you’re Charlie Rangel, it means doubling your net worth.”

IT’S A RECESSION WHEN THEY CAN’T SELL DIAMONDS. It’s a depression when they have to have fire sales on cubic zirconia.

RON ROSENBAUM: Fellow liberals, we’ve been rope-a-doped by Sarah Palin. “They fell into a trap because all too many were blinded by their class-conscious, snobbish disdain for Palin, who, whatever else you think of her, is one cagey operator.” Considering what she accomplished using nothing but a Facebook page (!) I guess she’d have to be.

SAY, MAYBE THERE WAS SOMETHING TO ALL THAT “AXIS OF EVIL” TALK: UAE Seizes North Korean Weapons Shipment to Iran. “The United Arab Emirates has seized a ship carrying North Korean-manufactured munitions, detonators, explosives and rocket-propelled grenades bound for Iran in violation of United Nations sanctions, diplomats said. . . . Iran is under three sets of UN sanctions for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a process to isolate a uranium isotope needed to generate fuel for a nuclear power reactor or, in higher concentrations, to make a weapon.”

STACY MCCAIN: “Good God! I remember when Matt Cooper used to be a journalist! Now he’s doing some kind of pathetic Twitter haiku?” I remember when, instead of “journalists,” we had reporters, who actually reported things.

U.S. NEWS: Is Unemployment the Worst Since the Great Depression?

MOE LANE: Carol Shea-Porter has the political instincts of a tasered marmoset. I’m not sure exactly what that means, but . . . yeah.

UPDATE: More Town-Hall theatrics.

BALANCING family time and social media.

SUPPORTING WHOLE FOODS with a “Buycott.” Sadly, the whole thing’s beside the point where I live, as we don’t have a Whole Foods — just Fresh Market and Earth Fare, which are fine, but not quite the same. (Via TCOT Report).

ANN BARTOW: “I don’t understand PETA at all.”

JESSE WALKER: In Defense of Quentin Tarantino.

MARK STEYN: Do you notice anything shrivelling? We’ve never had more personal sexual liberty. And less freedom of almost every other kind.

GERARD VAN DER LEUN: Is It Too Soon?

INDEED: “Observing the mental performance of stoner college roommates convinced me that regular marijuana usage is a bad idea. ‘Oh wow, I forgot to go to class’ and ‘Oh wow, I forgot I was supposed to meet [name-of-some-hot-babe].’ Heavy pot smoking is the road to loserdom.”

TAX FOR CLUNKERS: TaxProf is on the story.

RON BAILEY: Ezra Klein’s Confusion Over “Rationing.”

SOME STAR TREK-INSPIRED ANIMAL ABUSE. Warning: Photo is not for those with weak constitutions.

UPDATE: Reader Bill Lux writes: “Another easter egg! ‘Weak constitutions’. ‘Cause the Enterprise is a Constitution-class vessel. Yes? Yes? Maybe?” Got it in one, Bill. Though this’ll probably just cause Stacy McCain to call me a geek again. Like that’s news.

TAXES ARE FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE (CONT’D): OOPS! CHARLIE FORGOT THIS $1M HOUSE.

RICH GALEN: “Don’t tell me that all the good ideas have been taken. If you’re so smart, why didn’t YOU think about making chocolate from camel’s milk and selling it in the US?”

THE STORY OF THE ONE-BOOBED STRIPPER. (Via Susannah Breslin).

DELL 1, APPLE 0. Okay, so I bought a new MacBook Pro a while back. The old one, meanwhile, has died of a hard-drive problem. No sweat, I’ve got the 3-year AppleCare, and it says I can just drop it at the Apple Store. So when I went by at lunch today, they tell me I have to make an appointment at the “Genius Bar” before I can drop it off. No appointments til Monday; first appointment I can actually arrive at, Tuesday Night.

Dell, meanwhile, sent a guy to my house the day after I called, fixed things in 15 minutes. Advantage: Dell. Having the old Macbook out of service for a while is no big deal to me — I have, ahem, other computers. Most people don’t have multiple backups like I do, though, and given how expensive the 3-year AppleCare contract is, the service ought to be better. Apparently, I”m not the only one to feel that way . . . .

UPDATE: Reader Ernest Gudath draws a larger lesson:

The situation you describe doesn’t just apply to Apple computers. In any care and maintenance system, if the demand exceeds the capacity, you are going to get either rationing or queuing.

That’s why it’s good to have a backup. When Apple is covered up, Dell is there. When the Toronto clinic has a six month waiting list, an ailing Canadian can drive across the border.

When you don’t have a backup is when you’re screwed, like if there’s only one brand of computer, or only one way to see a doctor.

Indeed.

MADOFF, sex, and money.

WOW: Study: GPS systems with real-time traffic can save drivers four days per year, cut emissions by 21%. Seems kinda high, but even if it’s double the real number that’s a big deal. I’m pretty sure that you couldn’t cut my commute enough to save that kind of time, though. . . .

UPDATE: Reader Kevin Murphy writes: “I have a GPS + Sirius Traffic Data in my Escape Hybrid. It’s fairly accurate if slightly delayed, but it lets me pick among my 3 routes to and from the office. It probably saves me 15 minutes a day in L.A., in my ‘mere’ 10 mile drive. Fifteen minutes a day over 200 days is 50 hours a year, so I cannot fault their numbers.”