TUNKU VARADARAJAN: President Obama doesn’t own the oil spill; it owns him.

HOW ABOUT A CONVOY TO TURKEY, taking “aid” to the Kurds? I’m sure it will be received with gentleness. “The repression of the Kurds in Turkey, Syria, and under Saddam Hussein in Iraq, is one of the great injustices of the modern era. Arbitrarily drawn borders have split a people, who outnumber Palestinians several times over, among several countries. Since Turkey now has thrust itself into the forefront of making sure Hamas can be resupplied by Iran from the sea, I presume Turkey will open its borders to shipments to Kurdish separatist groups, without inspecting those shipments for weapons.”

UPDATE: Reader Bruce Bernzweig writes: “Revote on the Armenian Genocide in Congress … Clearly Turkey is no longer an ally to the U.S. (though probably still one to The One).”

HMM: Wait grows longer for R.I. tax refunds. “Thousands of Rhode Island income-tax refunds are being delayed longer than previously reported because of state cash-flow problems. Overall, the state has delayed payment of about 53,000 individual income-tax refunds — totaling about $36.3 million — to make sure it has enough money to pay off state borrowings that come due in June, said Paul L. Dion, chief of the state Office of Revenue Analysis. When the issue first arose earlier this month, state officials said they were delaying payment of refunds by about three weeks after the returns were processed. As of Tuesday, however, the delay had grown to between four and six weeks, state officials acknowledged.” Next year, be sure not to overpay . . . .

IN THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, An OpEd on Illegal Immigration by Mickey Kaus.

COMING SOON: A “Global Cold Wave?” No, thank you. I prefer it warm.

THE 20 HOTTEST RIGHT-WING WOMEN IN THE NEW MEDIA.

IT’S SELDOM A GOOD IDEA to send legal threats to bloggers.

THE WASHINGTON POST ON PUBLIC-EMPLOYEE UNIONS: A TALE OF TWO COUNTIES:

The region’s two largest jurisdictions — demographic cousins with populations around 1 million, school systems among the nation’s biggest and best, and public spending equal to that of small countries — have parted ways. To put it bluntly, Montgomery is lurching under the weight of irresponsible governance, unsustainable commitments and political spinelessness — particularly in the face of politically powerful public employees unions.

Over the past few months, some readers have asked why we lately have devoted attention to those unions. The diverging paths of Montgomery and Fairfax provide one explanation. We respect the public employees in both counties and their dedication to public service. Clean parks, cheerful classrooms, safe streets, bustling libraries — the work of these employees helps keep these counties such attractive places to live. But when 80 percent of all outlays are related to personnel, labor contracts that get out of whack can endanger the public welfare. . . . The cozy ties between elected officials and public employees unions in Montgomery have formed the backdrop for a drumbeat of reports about county employees’ bountiful benefits, perks and abuses. . . . Montgomery’s teachers union has wielded such outsized electoral clout that politicians who received the teachers’ endorsement in the most recent elections reached into their pockets and wrote checks to the union.

Public employees — who function without the discipline of markets, and apparently, politics — should not be allowed to unionize.

A LOOK AT C.E.I.’S NASA global warming lawsuit.

IN GUATEMALA, a truly gigantic sinkhole. Just one of many problems of near-Biblical proportions — earthquake, volcano, tropical storm. Information on how you can help at the link.

UH OH: China told property risk is worse than in US. “The problems in China’s housing market are more severe than those in the US before the financial crisis because they combine a potential bubble with the risk of social discontent, according to an adviser to the Chinese central bank. . . . ‘The housing market problem in China is actually much, much more fundamental, much bigger than the housing market problem in the US and UK before your financial crisis,’ he said in an interview. ‘It is more than [just] a bubble problem.'”

I FIND THIS ANALOGY UNPERSUASIVE: “Indeed, the parallels between Israel and — gulp — North Korea are becoming pretty eerie.”

CLAYTON CRAMER ON causes of childhood obesity.

SHOCKER: The convoy of ships allegedly trying to bring aid to the Gaza Strip was organized by a group belonging to an officially designated terrorist organization.

UPDATE: More news.

ANOTHER UPDATE: The “Full Whoopi”?

ISRAEL NEEDS TO BE more Jacksonian.

PHOTOS: “Peace activists.”

REST IN PEACE: Spider Robinson’s wife Jeanne has died. Charlie Martin says Spider could use some financial help. There’s a PayPal button here if you’re so inclined.

SOME MEMORIAL DAY THOUGHTS FROM Lt. Col. John Tammes.

OH, GOODY: Home Sales Set to Plummet in Markets Hit Hard by Foreclosures. “A sample of subdivisions in both cities showed sales contracts for new homes ‘pulled back sharply in May and contract cancellations spiked,’ Houston-based Metrostudy said in an e-mail. Would-be buyers canceled about 40 percent of new home contracts in San Diego in May, up from 10 percent in April, the company said. Data on new signings in that city weren’t immediately available. Sales indicators fell after April 30, the last day for homebuyers to sign contracts in time for a federal tax credit of as much as $8,000 for first-time purchases and $6,500 for certain ‘move-up’ buyers. The deadline may have hurried customers to snap up properties when they otherwise would have waited, said Brad Hunter, chief economist based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, for Metrostudy.” As with the cash-for-clunkers debacle, this basically seemed to involve a sort of borrowing against future sales. You get a bit more activity now, at the cost of less activity later.

CLAUDIA ROSETT on the Gaza Terror Flotilla.

DVDs under ten bucks.

STEPHEN GREEN: Week in Blogs: While Aquaman Saves the Gulf, Obama Tries ‘Top Kill’ to Plug That Damn Sestak Hole.

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LEARNING from Canada.

MEMORIAL DAY: 100 Fewer Headstones.

IF YOU’RE FREE NEXT MONTH on June 12-13, you might want to attend the H-Plus Summit at Harvard, with speakers including Ray Kurzweil, Alex Lightman, and a host of other stars.