RHODE ISLAND REBELLION: The state’s Democrats are going rogue by calling on Gov. Lincoln Chafee to cut more spending.

CONGRATULATIONS TO Little Miss Attila.

PROBE: Ticket-Fixing In the NYPD. “Police unions, as noted above, have emerged as central players in the alleged ticket-fixing scheme. If a police officer wanted to make a friend’s ticket go away, he would ask for help from a representative of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association and the Sergeants Benevolent Association, according to the wiretap recordings and testimony before grand jury.” Police unions aren’t looking very good this year.

METAPHOR ALERT: Many Rich Boomers Leaving Nothing To Their Kids.

JAMES TARANTO: Did the Roe Effect sink JoAnne Kloppenburg? The future belongs to those who show up.

CAN’T TELL TRUTH FROM FICTION: Does Paul Ryan’s admiration for Ayn Rand make him pro-terrorist? Possibly, warns MSNBC guest.

UPDATE: Ben Domenech: Paul Ryan/Ayn Rand claim is a lie. “Always skeptical about the offhand, unsourced anecdote from Beam’s piece (which wasn’t even focused on Ryan), I reached out to several former Ryan staffers yesterday to ask them whether the Budget Chairman had required them to read Rand. While everyone knows Ryan is indeed a personal fan of Rand’s work, not a single one of them said Ryan had required them to read the books. . . . Suggesting people should read Rand is hardly a bad thing. But it appears the left thinks this is a dangerous thing.” The left is extremely frightened of Rand’s ideas. As always, that fear is displayed as a mixture of hatred and contempt, backed by lies.

NOW THAT’S JUST SAD: “A young man innocently walking with an umbrella mistaken for a rifle triggered the evacuation of a shopping mall in Burlington, Mass., Tuesday, police said.”

FLOOD CONTROL, from Ghana to North Dakota.

STACY MCCAIN: I Stopped Reading at the Part Where Sully ‘E-Mailed His Four Young Assistants’. “Stopped reading and started laughing.”

REALLY? A GPS or an Archos? Isn’t chocolate more traditional?

UPDATE: Reader Stewart Greathouse writes:

My wife says that GPS “saved our marriage” Her words, not mine. Since she has absolutely no sense of direction, I bought her one. She (reading this over my shoulder) claims that she has, “a sense of direction, but it betrays me sometimes!!”. Anyway, I can absolutely recommend a GPS for Mother’s Day. Some things to look for, apart from basic navigation.

Ease of updating maps (Garmin lifetime map upgrade is a good buy, others offer annual fees to upgrade quarterly) Bluetooth phone connection – acts as a speakerphone (my mom likes this one). Can play audiobooks – My wife uses this for books from Audible.com

Good point.

AS FEAR FACTOR FADES, H.I.V. Surges Among Young. “Behavior is back to where it was in 1980.”

CHANGE: Youth sees diminished prospects, thanks to Obama.

I MENTIONED EARLIER that this is the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Revolt. You might want to check out Dave Kopel’s Armed Resistance To The Holocaust. (Law review article; PDF).

You might also check out this article from the Washington University Law Review by Dan Polsby and Don Kates. Sorry for the lame HTML version, but that’s all I can find on the web now — my old link to the Wash. U. site doesn’t work anymore.

UPDATE: Reader Ken Nelson also recommends Leon Uris’s Mila 18.

FRED THOMPSON: “The media are beginning to get restless. They are ready for the campaign games to begin, but the contestants are not lining up in the starting gate. So, with space and airwaves to fill, we are now being treated to the speculative phase of the proceedings.”

ROB “N.Z. BEAR” NEPPELL IS UNHAPPY: New Dell Support Policy: Hang Up On Customers Who Ask to Talk To Your Supervisor. Unlike, say, Jeff Jarvis I’ve never had bad experiences with Dell, but , well, read the post. Nice photo . . . .

YA THINK? “Home prices in the US right now look like they still have a ways to fall.”

ONLY IF I CAN USE IT TO POST PICTURES OF THEIR GENITALS TO FACEBOOK: Should Cops Be Allowed to Scan Your Phone During a Traffic Stop? “In Michigan, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a complaint alleging that Michigan State Police officers used forensic cellphone analyzers to snoop in drivers’ cellphones during routine traffic stops.”

THE MILITARY APPLICATIONS ARE OBVIOUS: Capturing Drinkable Water From Diesel Exhaust.

MARGARITAS? Well, I am known for my skill with a blender.

EXTRAORDINARY gene repair.

THE INSTA-WIFE HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING SOME BACK PAIN, and wonders if this gadget can be as good as it’s cracked up to be. I’m inclined to say no, but does anyone know? It’s awfully pricey.

UPDATE: Most readers are skeptical. A physician reader emails:

I’m an M.D. (Endocrinologist) so gauge the value of this advice accordingly; the mat seems like voodoo. Recommend finding the osteopath or chiropractor with the best reputation in Knoxville. Also, always avoid back surgery unless neurologic function is threatened or pain is intractable to non-surgical measures, because it is fairly likely surgery will just open the door to new back problems.

And reader Dustin Loy writes:

Save yourself the 1435.00 and get this instead.

“Far infrared” is nothing more than heat, the addition of a semi-precious stone would do nothing but make it more shiny. Also their webpage is so chock full of woo and pseudoscience it has to be fake, the FAQs insist it may not only cure cancer, but autism and chronic lyme and a multitude of other infectious and non-infectious diseases.

Yeah, it seemed kinda quackish to me, too. And reader Michael Babbitt writes:

Lie face up on floor with bolster underneath kness so that the heels of feet hardly touch the ground.
Put books under one’s head (with towel on top for comfort) so that head and neck are in neutral position (experiment with books of various thicknesses).

Lay there completely relaxed for 20 minutes. The muscles of the back reposition themselves and spasms end.

Stupidly simple and it worked better for me than so many fancy stretches and gimmicks. Instead of being in pain for days, I got up, still felt where I had pulled the muscle, but no spasm-pain-spasm cycle. Amazing.

A lot cheaper, too.

THE BAD NEWS: Bad companies look a lot like good ones. Likewise, politicians.

STANDING UP TO THE NEW MCCARTHYISM: GOP senators may boycott hearing on for-profit schools. Well, not McCarthyism, exactly — but the defense of a traditional Democratic constituency against new forms of competition. “Republicans members of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee last week sent a letter to Sen. Tom Harkin, Iowa Democrat, the committee chairman, protesting his handling of previous hearings on the subject and objecting to what they characterize as a merciless assault by Democrats on for-profit institutions. Agreeing that skyrocketing tuition rates and the rising number of student-loan defaults are serious concerns, Republicans want Mr. Harkin to focus on finding solutions for all colleges and universities, not just nontraditional ones.”

Yes, it’s not as if overpromising, overcharging and underdelivering are problems from which the traditional university sector is exempt.

THIS WILL BE GOOD FOR THE FIRST-GENERATION BOLOS: Video: Railgun Blasts an Aerodynamic Round Seven Kilometers Through A Steel Plate. Until they perfect the Infinite Repeater.

MARKDOWNS ON Tag Heuer watches for men and women.