A BLOG WHOSE TITLE EXPLAINS EVERYTHING: Overpaid Government Worker.

THE ATLANTIC: Five Doomsday Scenarios For The U.S. Economy. I don’t think doomsday is coming, but I don’t think we’ll see substantial job growth or recovery until people are convinced the government won’t shaft them.

FROM BEN CUNNINGHAM, a roundup of Tea Party news headlines.

MICHAEL BARONE: Barney Frank’s response to my column.

UPDATE: Reader C.J. Burch writes: “Where did Frank get the reputation of being smart?”

THE WEST VIRGINIA SENATE RACE: A good Tea Party target?

I WAS TALKING WITH THE INSTADAUGHTER about Ares and Athena and war, and I remembered this post.

UPDATE: Reader Andrew Tickle writes:

So I was wondering if this metaphor worked for the current political scene. So is Palin Athena? Given that she uses twitter and Facebook to get her message out, she does seem to be the smart, techno oriented warrior. Could Obama’s ‘get in their faces’/Chicago-style be construed as Ares-style political warfare? Does Obama and the Dems glory in destruction as Ares does? And if that it is the case it definitely means that the Republicans need to take up Athena-style political tactics – to be smart. Unfortunately, I’m not hopeful. Not meaning to do a complete analysis but just thought I would raise the question.

Hmm. I’ll have to think about that.

MARKDOWNS ON safety and security products.

PATTERICO ASKS IF MY WASHINGTON EXAMINER COLUMN is serious or satire.

But answering that would spoil things. So let’s crowdsource!

UPDATE: “James Lee was the tip of a very large Green iceberg of dangerous ideas.” Then lettuce be thankful his efforts wilted.

ANOTHER UPDATE: McCain emails: “Insta-PUNNED-it!”

JOHN MCWHORTER: Instead Of Marching, Let’s End The War On Drugs.

Hey, then we might have room in jail for bank robbers!

THE NEW YORK POST ON REPUBLICANS IN REVOLT: “Whether the GOP newbies win in November isn’t the point. The turnover shows that Republican voters aren’t just upset about Obama and Democrats. Instead, they’re demanding principled conservative behavior from members of their party as well. If they don’t get it, they’re voting the bums out. Good for them.”

BRUCE WALKER: Don’t let leftists limit language. Or, at least, hold them to the standards they propound.

DON SURBER: Is Maxine Waters’ Defense Ethical?

LEE HARRIS: Beyond The Tea Party: The Broadening Of A Movement. I’m not sure that Harris’s effort to morph the Tea Party movement into a trad-values coalition really works. But the fact that so many are now trying to do so is a testament to the Tea Party’s importance.

INSTAPUNDIT FANS KNOW that I’ve been a big fan of my Panasonic Lumix LX-3 camera. Yesterday, I got the successor to that in the mail, the new Lumix LX-5. Like the old Lumix, this one is designed to excel in low light. It has a wide-angle (24mm equivalent) Leica f2.0 lens and optical image stabilization. But where the LX-3 went to ISO 3200, the LX-5 goes all the way to ISO 12800. The zoom range is expanded from 24-60mm equivalent to 24-90mm equivalent, which is a considerable improvement.

Controls are easy to use, and somewhat simplified from the LX-3. A Nikon-like adjustment wheel makes manual or semi-manual operation much easier. The LCD screen is big and bright. One carryover from the LX-3 — and the only annoying thing about the LX-3, really — is the fully detachable and easy-to-lose lens cap.

I’ll try to post a full report once I’ve gotten to play with it more, but it looks like a worthy successor to an already great camera. On the other hand, the LX-3 is now selling for considerably less than the LX-5 and it’s a terrific camera itself. If money’s an issue, or if you don’t need the higher-ISO and longer zoom range, you might want to pick one of those up while they’re still available.

UPDATE: A reader emails: “Could you please clarify whether you received your new camera in the mail because you bought it or because they sent it to you hoping for a favorable review.” I bought it. I would’ve said otherwise, but I can see how the “in the mail” line was confusing.

IN MY SUNDAY WASHINGTON EXAMINER COLUMN, I talk about environmentalism, eliminationist rhetoric, and “filthy human babies.” (Bumped.)

NICK GILLESPIE: The Lisa DePasquale Interview.

JOHN HINDERAKER: “One of the most chilling phenomena of our time is the resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe.”

EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (D-TX) UPDATE: Scholarship Scandal Congresswoman Falls Apart in Anderson Cooper Interview.

MICHAEL BARONE ON THE HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE:

America leads the world in higher education, yet there is much in our colleges and universities that is amiss and, more to the point, suddenly not sustainable. The people running America’s colleges and universities have long thought they were exempt from the laws of supply and demand and unaffected by the business cycle. Turns out that’s wrong.

Read the whole thing.

MEGAN MCARDLE: Is A Payroll Tax Holiday A Good Idea?

No. It was a good idea — as a substitute for the futile and pork-laden “stimulus” bill — a year and a half ago. Now, not so much. A moratorium on new taxes or regulations until 2013, however, would likely be stimulative, at least if you believe, as I do, that a lot of businesses are holding back because of “regime uncertainty.” But at this point, who would believe in such a moratorium if promised?

THE CARNIVAL OF NUCLEAR ENERGY IS UP!

IN THE MAIL: From Eric Flint, Grantville Gazette IV.

DISMANTLING THE DISMANTLING OF AMERICA: If you missed it yesterday on Sirius/XM Satellite radio, the latest PJM Political is now online, featuring me, Thomas Sowell, Bill Whittle on “Star Hustler” Jack Horkheimer, and more.

CHANGE: Rand Paul Up 15 In New SurveyUSA Poll. “Paul wins 60% of voters under 50 years of age, and 52% of voters 50 and older. He also wins 37% of the African-American vote, a surprisingly high number for a Republican candidate. Paul gets 56% of independents and 32% of Democrats, while only losing 16% of Republicans. . . . Kentucky was one of two Senate races that Democrats thought they could win by making the Tea Party an issue (the other being Nevada). So far, the Tea Party issue seems to be either favoring Paul or not playing a factor at all. The real issue in this election isn’t the Tea Party but the Democratic agenda of Barack Obama, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi, and Kentucky voters don’t want to send someone to Washington DC who will enable it.”

RED-LIGHT CAMERA TICKETS for Zombies.