IS A U.S. HIGH-SPEED RAIL LINE ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE? Alas, I doubt it.

UPDATE: Reader Paul Jackson emails: “How come when you read an article about how behind the times we are in the US when it comes to high-speed rail, they never seem to mention what it costs those other countries that do have it? Does it turn a profit? A loss? Who knows, but I’d guess if it was a money-maker, or if it was run in a cost-efficient manner, we’d have heard that already.”

ROBIN HANSON ON fake virginity and the value of the real thing. “It seems to me many men really do have a strong preference for virginity, and are willing to pay a high price for it in a marriage bargain. This male preference for virgins seems as legitimate as the female preference for high status husbands. So it can do husbands a great harm to deceive them about virginity.”

STUART SCHNEIDERMAN: The Day Of The Cougar.

JALOPNIK: Inside The UAW’s Opulent Lakeside Resort. “Earlier this year, the United Auto Workers decided to sell its money-losing 1,000-acre resort and golf course. Now, while GM files for its IPO, new UAW leadership is pulling the resort off the market. Here’s a look inside.” Looks pretty swanky.

WELL, FOR ONE THING, THEY DON’T SUCK LIKE THE OLD ONES DID: Why do automatic transmissions now get better fuel efficiency than manuals?

LOOKING AT the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

IN THE MAIL: From Mark L. Van Name, Children No More.

RIGHTHAVEN UPDATE: A Firefox plugin that will block Stephens Media sites. (Bumped). If this spreads it could have a lasting impact. Usually, with boycotts, people forget after a while. With this plugin, the boycott stays until you affirmatively decide to stop.

UPDATE: A reader emails:

Glenn, I’m taking my Righthaven Response to the next level: I’ve asked my IT dept. to block all of the Stephens Media sites at our firewall. This will protect not just me, but my four thousand coworkers as well. Considering the danger of these frivolous and harmful law suits, it seems the only prudent thing to do.

Yes, you can’t be too careful about these things.

REASON TV: The New Orleans School Voucher Program.

MOMENTUM GATHERING BEHIND CALLS FOR PATRICK FITZGERALD TO RESIGN? “Fitzgerald is lacking in the very qualities we must demand of prosecutors: discretion and restraint.”

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN, GUANTANAMO BAY WOULD STAY OPEN FOR YEARS. AND THEY WERE RIGHT! Obama’s pledge to close down Guantanamo is ‘not even close’. “Barack Obama’s pledge to shut down Guantanamo Bay will not be honoured until at least a year after the President’s self-imposed deadline – and may not be completed in his first administration.”

VIDEO: Who Are You Calling Extremist, Extremist?

MARK TAPSCOTT: Tea party movement shows ‘wisdom of crowds.’ “It may not please New Yorker magazine’s James Surowiecki to hear this, but the tea party movement could be the clearest evidence yet of the growing relevance of his landmark book, “The Wisdom of Crowds,” and its application in politics. Surowiecki’s fundamental insight is this: The aggregate knowledge, experience, analytical prowess and inductive powers of a group are often greater than those of any one of its members. This observation isn’t always and everywhere true or evident, but compelling demonstrations of its operation in daily life are plentiful.” Read the whole thing.

ROGER SIMON: Investigate Me, Nancy! “I don’t want you to feel bad. People might think you’re three sheets short of a yard because you overlooked the fact your buddy Harry Reid also opposes the mosque. And you wouldn’t want to investigate him, unless you’re Sharron Angle, which, trust me, we know you’re not. . . . And don’t, above all, be concerned with what that Austro-British philosopher Karl Popper said. You’ve probably never heard of him anyway, so it shouldn’t alarm you.”

CLICK: “The U.S. Department of Education’s spokesperson hung up on The Daily Caller Wednesday when seeking clarification regarding the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s planned speech at an Aug. 28 protest march that the Rev. Al Sharpton and his National Action Network (NAN) are holding to counter Fox News commentator Glenn Beck’s ‘Restoring Honor’ rally.”

WHAT MAKES CONSERVATIVE STUDENTS feel comfortable even when outnumbered.

UNEXPECTEDLY! Jobless Claims in U.S. Rose to Highest Since November. “Applications for unemployment benefits in the U.S. unexpectedly increased last week to the highest level since November, showing companies are stepping up the pace of firings as the economy slows.”

TWO AMERICAS: Why the Issue of Overpaid Government Workers Matters. “Government officials at the federal, state, and local levels are facing difficult and painful decisions about spending cuts and tax hikes. Getting excessive government pay under control is an excellent means of reestablishing fiscal credibility with economic forecasters, business owners, and—most importantly—voters. It will give long-term budgetary reform a fighting chance of passing.”

BY THE NUMBERS: How many local government public welfare bureaucrats are there? Rather a lot, really.

SURE TO BE DEBATED: The 50 Best Cookbooks Ever?

IN THE LATEST INSTAVISION, I interview Arthur Brooks, author of The Battle: How the Fight between Free Enterprise and Big Government Will Shape America’s Future, about the ruling class vs. the rest, the future of the Tea Party movement, and what you can learn about political economy by playing the French Horn. (Bumped).

A NEW GUN-RIGHTS LAWSUIT IN MARYLAND. Sounds like a pretty sympathetic plaintiff:

On a snowy Christmas Eve a few years ago, Raymond E. Woollard was watching television with his family when he heard someone tapping at the windows of his Baltimore County farmhouse.

It was not Santa.

At the sound of breaking glass, Woollard dashed to his bedroom for a shotgun, and the holiday evening quickly became one of the most frightening nights of his life.

There was a hand-to-hand struggle for the weapon, but Woollard, with help from his adult son, eventually subdued the 6-foot-2, 155-pound intruder at gunpoint. Then they waited for more than an hour for police to find their way, on icy back roads, to the home, about 25 miles south of the Pennsylvania border.

That night made Woollard a crime victim for the first time in his life and also one of a select few Maryland residents to receive a license to carry a concealed handgun. But to Woollard’s surprise, Maryland State Police denied his request last year to renew the permit, saying they thought the danger to his life had passed.

The agency said it was “because I hadn’t been attacked” again, Woollard said in an interview. “They said, ‘If you have any problems, you let us know.’

And they’ll be there in not much more than an hour!

ROGER KIMBALL: Thank you, Maureen Dowd!

PLUTO in fact and fiction. It’s still a planet in my book, dammit.

IT GETS BETTER: Top Muslims Condemn Ground Zero Mosque as a ‘Zionist Conspiracy.’