MILD MEMORY LOSS is not a normal part of aging, new research finds. “According to Wilson, recognizing that the earliest changes in memory are related to Alzheimer’s pathology can lead to early diagnosis and will be critical information if a treatment is developed that can alter the pathologic course of the disease.”

I’LL BE DELIVERING THE POPE LECTURE AT CLEMSON next week, talking about “The Higher Education Bubble, And What Comes Next.”

IN THE MAIL: From Tanya Huff, The Truth of Valor.

MICHAEL CANNON: THE “U” WORD:

I grow increasingly amused at how some people carefully avoid saying that ObamaCare is unpopular. When Pollster.com aggregates all the various polls on ObamaCare’s popularity, it reveals that a plurality or majority of the public has consistently opposed the law since before the angry town-hall meetings of August 2009 . . .

It’s no surprise when HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius avoids the U-word by saying stuff like, “We have a lot of reeducation to do.” (To be clear, she’s talking about reeducating you, not herself.)

But it’s odd when a Washington Post news item describes the public as “profoundly ambivalent” toward the law.

Well, they’re both part of the Administration.

THE GREAT HOUSING BAMBOOZLE? How The Numbers Show Home Ownership Is A Terrible Investment.

VERONIQUE DE RUGY: Government, Get Out Of Our Business.

MATT WELCH TO TARP DEFENDERS: “When you assume as axiomatic both a looming ‘total financial meltdown’ and a presidential ability to ‘save the economy,’ the only drama left is the final number of digits on the blank check.”

ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON: Telling People What I Said Is Wrong.

TIM CAVANAUGH: No Sympathy for the Deadbeat: Most Americans Reject Walking Away. “Is socially acceptable mortgage default another fake trend story? We’ve heard a lot about how deadbeating has become stylish in 2010, but a substantial majority of Americans still reject the notion of walking away on a loan.”

BYRON YORK: In Delaware, GOP Should Target Dems, Not O’Donnell. Gee, do you think?

THE HILL: Freshman Democrat blasts leadership for not holding vote on salary cut. “In a letter sent Thursday afternoon, Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.) pressured Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) to hold a vote on her bill to cut congressional pay by five percent and save taxpayers $4.7 million next year before Congress breaks for its fall recess.”

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN: IS YOUR CHILD A “PREHOMOSEXUAL?”

TALKING ABOUT Omnivoracious Reading.

CLARITY: Justice Breyer Clarifies Earlier Remarks, Suggests Koran-Burning Is Constitutionally Protected After All.

MEGAN MCARDLE: “This is sort of impressive: Paul Krugman simultaneously castigates Republicans for the fiscal irresponsibility of wanting to extend tax cuts for the rich that cost about $700 billion–and for irresponsibly threatening the extension of tax cuts for the middle class which cost three times as much. Yet you could read the entire column and not realize that it’s the middle class tax cuts which are the really expensive, budget-busting bit.” Or you could just . . . skip the entire column and put your time to some productive or enjoyable use.

RIGHTS AND WRONGS at the U.N.

MARK TAPSCOTT: Save a mountain, build a windmill, freeze in the dark.

BUSTED: Ohio Republican candidate John Kasich caught telling a true story in governor’s debate. He’ll be drummed out of the politicians’ union for that!

SPREADING: Bed Bug Infestation At Catawba College.

Related: Bedbugs Found In College Dorms Across The Country.

WELL, YES: Cornyn: Independents keep telling me we should focus on fiscal, not social, issues. Small government is the big-tent issue. Forget that and you’ll blow it, big time.

MURTHA UPDATE: Not Even Death Can Stop Congress’s Pork King.

The former defense-appropriations chief in the House — who famously remarked, “If I’m a little corrupt, it’s because I take care of my district” — passed on in February. His successor, Rep. Mark Critz, gave Murtha an appropriate eulogy earlier this summer, slipping a $10 million earmark into the House version of next year’s defense funding bill to fund construction of a John P. Murtha Center for Public Service at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. If the earmark survives the snail’s-pace process of passing the bill during the current election season — and its prognosis is good — Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has pledged to match the cash with state money.

According to Critz’s explanation of the project, the 30,000 square-foot Center will primarily serve as a scholarly debating forum for policy issues and a repository for Murtha’s papers. But wait, you ask. How does the Murtha Center relate to the Department of Defense? Oh, it’ll inspire “students and the general public to become active in our communities, the military, and in public service.” See? Military applicability.

Good grief.

MICKEY KAUS: “Is it just me or are the ‘Craziest Things Christine O’Donnell Has Ever Said’ not really all that horrifying? I think my greatest-hits reel would be worse.”

FOX SUES ROBIN CARNAHAN FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT. Without seeing the video, it’s hard to know if this suit is solid or frivolous. In general, though, I think that fair use should be read especially broadly in the context of political communications.

CHANGE: Obama’s visit to Conyers Farm rakes in big bucks for Dems. “Obama hauled in $1 million at a $30,400-a-plate fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee at the Conyers Farm estate of real estate prospector Richard Richman and his wife Ellen Schapps Richman.” Sticking it to the rich!

UPDATE: Reader David McCune writes: “Seriously? Obama is now hanging out with Richie Richman? Was Scrooge McDuck busy?” Heh.

WHY DO THEY HATE US? Doctored Mubarak photo offers a clue. “The anti-Western and anti-Semitic propaganda put forth by many major news outlets in the Arab world is staggering. Sadly, the ‘Arab street’ buys into such nonsense, as it conveniently scapegoats others while sparing their leadership the direct anger felt throughout their incredibly rigid and intolerant societies.”