THREE SPECIES OF AMPHIBIAN turn out not to be extinct. Plus, one disgusting species of fly.

A 21ST CENTURY LAND RUSH? “The move toward securing farmland in faraway places can be seen not only as a bet on increasing food prices, but also as a hedge against a breakdown in world trade. . . . In the period shortly after World War II, the world had food stocks in storage equal to 365 days of use. Now, we have about 35 days’ worth of food stocks, a level that the United Nations estimates is only half of that needed to protect against bad harvests. . . . The disconnect between America’s discussion of food and the way food supply is seen in the rest of the world is almost complete. The experiences of 2007 and 2008 have faded from our collective memory, and we Americans continue to focus on the way food is produced rather than the terrifying prospect of scarcity. With all the focus in the United States on the drawbacks of plenty, what’s happening in the rest of the world is not just a reminder of our good fortune, but also a cautionary tale.”

A NEW Michael Yon book project.

SERVING CAESAR: “Religion as the handmaiden of government, serving as really important validators and trusted resources for friends and neighbors.” They told me if I voted for John McCain we’d see the church-state divide breached. And they were right!

ANOTHER SPACE POLICY ACTION ALERT, via Rand Simberg.

AN INTERVIEW with Alli Denning of LikeTotally80s.com.

RETINAL CELLS TRANSPLANTED INTO BLIND MICE. “Treatment was given to mice engineered to mimic a form of childhood blindness called Leber’s congenital amaurosis. The team injected 200,000 isolated cells into each eye, in a space between the layer of light-sensitive cells – engineered to be damaged in the recipient mice – at the rear of the retina and a supporting epithelial cell layer above. Within 21 days, the new cells settled into the photoreceptor layer and grew into rods and cones.”

PROGRESS: STROKE GENE DISCOVERED. “A Dutch-German medical research team led by Harald Schmidt from Maastricht University, Netherlands, and Christoph Kleinschnitz, University of Wurzburg, Germany, has discovered that an enzyme is responsible for the death of nerve cells after a stroke. The enzyme NOX4 produces hydrogen peroxide, a caustic molecule also used in bleaching agents. Inhibition of NOX4 by an experimental new drug in mice with stroke dramatically reduces brain damage and preserves brain functions, even when given hours after the stroke.”

BEYOND BEDBUGS: Stink Bugs Seize Hold of Mid-Atlantic States. Will the horrors never end?

ARE PEOPLE HAVING too much fun at work?

PARANOID? Reader John Mark Williams: “Does it seem just too big a coincidence that Stephen Colbert is testifying on Friday, the same day that Christopher Coates is scheduled to testify on the Black Panther case? Which testimony do you think the legacy media is going to sensationalize and focus on? Just seems too convenient to me.”

HOW TO SURVIVE A LAYOFF.

IN THE MAIL: From Michael Walsh, Early Warning.

DOCUMENTARY: The Tea Party: Brewing Up A Movement. From the folks at the Knoxville News-Sentinel, it’s an excellent job.

PHOTO OF THE DAY: Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Heh.

RANDALL HOLCOMBE: The Value Added Tax: Too Costly for the United States. “While one can debate the merits of a VAT in other countries, the tax is clearly not a good fit for the United States. It would tax a base that has traditionally belonged to state governments, its introduction would bring with it intergenerational inequities, its cumbersome structure would impose large compliance and administrative costs, and it would slow economic growth. Reduced economic growth would diminish tax revenue from all tax bases. This study projects that if the United States introduced a VAT in 2010, its net effect on tax revenue would be minimal by 2030 because VAT revenue would mostly be offset by declines in revenue from other tax bases. Meanwhile, slower gross domestic product (GDP) growth would also mean that government spending as a share of GDP would rise.”

VOLOKH CONSPIRACY scoops the security pros.

BIG MEDIA’S BIGGEST FAILURE: The Debt. “Indeed, our unsustainable financial situation led to the creation of a Tea Party movement — one of the biggest political developments in America over the past two years. It would seem to be the perfect news peg for ongoing media coverage of our government’s fiscal irresponsibility. Of course, it didn’t work out quite that way, did it? Instead, the establishment media ignored, then attacked the Tea Party movement . . . . Thus, the establishment media reveals itself, not as the people’s watchdog against irresponsible government, but as the irresponsible government’s guard dog against the people. It is ground zero for manufacturing center-left consent.”

RON BAILEY IS NOT HOT FOR BIOETHANOL: “It’s past time for the ethanol industry (and all other energy supply industries) to stand on their own. Although this is probably a pipe dream, all energy subsidies should be ended and the market allowed to determine which fuels win. The ethanol tax credit expires at the end of this year. Congress should let it die.”

A NATIONAL BEDBUG SUMMIT, in Chicago.

A BUNCH OF new releases on Blu-Ray.

PJTV: Trifecta: The Reagan Coalition: Big Tent or Carnival Tent? “Is the Reagan coalition of social conservatives and fiscal conservatives still viable? Can fiscal hawks and social conservatives afford to part ways for the sake of the nation? Do they even have any real disagreements?”

CRUSHING OF DISSENT at the University of Georgia.

SHOCKING DISCOVERY: Profs and Administrators Overwhelmingly Contribute to Democratic Candidates. Seems like they’ve got a diversity problem.

HELP ME BILL CLINTON, YOU’RE OUR ONLY HOPE: Barney Frank just blinked, and everyone in Massachusetts knows it.