A READER ASKS THAT I MENTION THE Tennessee right-to-hunt amendment that’s on the ballot in Tennessee this election. I’m voting for it, though I’m not sure it does as much as its supporters hope. But note that because of the way things work, not voting on it is effectively the same as voting “No.” It’s not an especially crowded ballot this year, though. (Bumped).

SHOCKING INDEED: Shocking Video: 60 Minutes Admits Unemployment is Actually 17%, 22% in California.

UPDATE: Tom Blumer: Accelerating Toward The Abyss: The Real Story of Fiscal Year 2010. “After cutting through the ‘clever’ misdirections contained in the final Monthly Treasury Statement of the federal government’s fiscal year just ended on September 30, it’s clear that that Uncle Sam’s true financial situation deteriorated at an even faster rate in fiscal 2010 than it did during fiscal 2009.”

PAUL MIRENGOFF IS unimpressed with Mike Huckabee’s “Gambit.” “As to Huckabee’s 2008 presidential run, reservations did not center on his social status and educational background. Rather, they focused on his time as governor, during which he was hardly a paragon of small government, low tax conservatism or of sound judgment. During the campaign, moreover, Huckabee displayed disturbing Carteresque tendencies when it came to foreign policy.”

PICKING ON FRANK RICH IS SO EASY IT’S HARDLY WORTH IT, but some people enjoy the practice.

Related: What Planet Does Frank Rich Inhabit?

KENTUCKY BOMBSHELL: Atty. Gen. Conway’s brother lied to Louisville police, got off easy.

A.P.: Gay Voters Angry At Democrats Could Sway Election.

INDIAN COOKING WITH A CROCK POT. Here’s the cookbook mentioned in the story. Sounds yummy.

FROM POSTSECRET, a higher education bubble confession.

Here’s the full post, some of which may be NSFW.

THE DIFFICULTIES OF PROVIDING 110-volt power to your airline seat.

AT AMAZON, a bedding and bath outlet sale.

GENTRIFICATION: Megan McArdle responds to a critic. “The rest of her post puts me in mind of the phenomenon that William Easterly has described in development circles: the recycling of ideas that have failed before, always unveiled with much fanfare, but no real explanation as to why this time is different. Frankly, it makes me understand why Easterly sometimes gets a little testy. . . . Perhaps it is unfair of me, but it seems to me that both Ms. Baca and her colleagues are mixing up their normative and their positive arguments. Because I say that we don’t know any way to preserve economically mixed neighborhoods, they essentially accuse me of ideological bad faith.” The recycling of ideas that have failed before, with no real explanation of why this time is different, describes much of the progressive project. And those who point this out are inevitably accused of bad faith, or worse. Sadly, the beat-down that McArdle applies is unlikely to have the necessary educational impact.

MORE ECONOMIC CHEER: Think this economy is bad? Wait for 2012. If this thesis — that elections drive economic crisis — is correct (and I’m not so sure that it is), then the solution is obvious: Give the government less power. With less involvement in the economy, less will be driven by electoral winds.

HELPING SAILORS who serve as soldiers. “By the time the fighting dies down in the sandbox, some twenty percent of sailors will have had the experience of serving with the army. No telling what long term effects that will have. But so far, the navy sees the IA program as a net plus. Sailors know more about the army, and soldiers, by working with sailors, and hearing their tales (many true) of naval life, know more about the navy. This makes it easier for those times, and they are increasingly frequent, where soldiers and sailors have to work together.” In the 19th Century, sailors often served as infantry, or at least Marines. It’s back to the future, I guess.

BETTER LIVING THROUGH CURRENCY DEVALUATION? What could go wrong?

PAULINA PORIZKOVA: “In interviews I gave at the wise age of 17 and 18, I pontificated about the beauty of age and wisdom, and blabber on about how I look forward to my first wrinkle. What an idiot I was. . . . To age is a privilege, not a birthright, even though most of us in the civilized world seem to forget this. This choice of ‘not-aging’ is actually reserved for well-off women with lots of time and money.” It doesn’t work as well for Madonna as Paulina suggests. Madonna looks like a cyborg. And not a sexy one. Sarah Palin would be better, but Paulina finds that painful to contemplate.

MARKDOWNS ON Levi’s jeans, cords, and khakis for men. With free shipping and returns.

UPDATE: Noel Sheppard emails:

Your posting about the Levis sale at Amazon was quite timely. Weather here just yesterday turned rainy and cool. I haven’t worn long pants except for work in months.

Anyway, put on jeans last night and found them a bit worn out. Looked at your site moments ago and voila!

Serendipity. :-)

Happy to be of service.

MARKETS IN EVERYTHING: Putting A Price On Professors. Happily, I’m quite profitable for my school. In a troubled industry, you want to be a profit center, not a cost center.

Meanwhile, James Joyner has more thoughts. “I’ve been complaining about the transformation of higher ed into a ‘customer service’ business and about the move toward having universities run by bean counters with graduate degrees in faux disciplines like ‘Higher Education Administration’ for years. But I’m not necessarily against the movement described here. . . . The problem, however, is that the metrics the educrats are likely to use won’t address these problems and, indeed, will exacerbate them.”

The real problem is that higher education isn’t providing enough of a benefit to its graduates, not that universities aren’t extracting enough money from the students. But read the whole thing. Including this: “And, of course, while professors are expensive, they’re not the main expense. Administrators outnumber faculty at most universities these days. But I suspect that won’t get the scrutiny it deserves.” Speaking of cost centers. Much more on administrative bloat, here.

CELEBRATING THE ORIGINAL BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. There’s also a new book out on The Science of Battlestar Galactica.

LOOKING AT biofuels ten years from now.

COMFORT FOOD: Dave Foulk’s recipe for Shepherd’s Pie.

WELL, THAT JUST SUCKS: Vaccines could help elephantiasis spread. “Parasitic worms can adjust their survival strategy based on their host’s immune response. This means potential vaccines against elephantiasis might make the infection spread more easily through communities.” Reading the story, though, I wonder if the problem isn’t exaggerated here.

IS THERE A NEWSWEEK COVER JINX? Ed Driscoll is worried.

IN THE MAIL: Disorientation: How to Go to College Without Losing Your Mind. Includes a chapter by The Anchoress!

IF YOU MISSED IT ON SIRIUS/XM SATELLITE RADIO YESTERDAY, the latest PJM Political is now online.

I SAID BEFORE THAT WIKILEAKS’ JULIAN ASSANGE WAS CLEARLY A TOOL, BUT WHOSE? Well, so far the two biggest scoops from the latest document dump are that the infamous Lancet study was bogus, and that WMDs were found in Iraq in quantity. Neither of these stories is actually news to people who were paying attention, but now — conveniently enough just before an election, and even nicely timed for George W. Bush’s new book release — these stories are getting a fresh round of play. . . .

UPDATE: Here’s more on Wikileaks.