INFLATION? WHAT INFLATION? Record Number Of People Say They Are Paying More For Groceries Now Than Ever Before. I’ve really noticed the increase in prices.

RECOVERY BUMMER (CONT’D): German Growth Stalls. “This is obviously a huge problem for the eurozone. Those who think that the euro can muddle through this without losing the periphery have been counting on Germany (and to a lesser extent, France) to deliver a bailout. A recession is going to erode Germany’s economic ability to funnel cash into the PIIGS, but more importantly, it is going to make German voters much less patient with the notion. It’s probably not so great for the rest of us, either.”

MICKEY KAUS: “Leadership Brand?” You’re kidding, right? “Hey, It’s Better Than the Disgusted Headmaster Brand or the Self-Pity Brand: Any ‘White House aide’ who actually uses the phrase ‘the leadership brand’ should be fired, no? … It’s almost as if Obama’s advisers aren’t the first-stringers anymore. …”

Um, when were they?

SO A WHILE BACK, I mentioned using the NPR iPhone App to record clear audio for an interview. Well, it’s here, and you can listen to it and see what you think. I think it’s pretty good. Much better than a regular phone interview.

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: Blame Bo! Did Obama’s Dog Eat The Recovery?

In his inaugural address 2 1/2 years ago, President Obama called for a “new era of responsibility.” Yet lately, his main goal in life seems to be escaping any responsibility for the lousy economy.

It’s getting so you have to keep a list of everyone and everything Obama wants to blame for the anemic economic recovery. . . .

Just to be clear, Obama’s policies alone are to blame for the current sorry state of the economy.

In his first two years, Obama had free rein to get his economic agenda through a heavily Democratic Congress: An $830 billion stimulus, billions more in auto bailouts, mortgage bailouts and cash for clunkers, ObamaCare and Dodd-Frank.

None of those packages worked. They produced the worst recovery since the Great Depression. That was true before the Arab Spring, the tsunami, Europe’s debt crisis and before Republicans won back the House.

At a press conference this summer, Obama said: “I’m not interested in finger-pointing.”

But that’s all he’s been doing for months.

Indeed.

RECOVERY BUMMER (CONT’D): Residential starts drop 1.5%, single-family starts drop 4.9% in July.

JOHN HAWKINS TWEETS: The WTC is still a hole in the ground, NASA doesn’t fly shuttles anymore, & we lost our AAA rating. Reelect Obama! His work isn’t done yet!

BUSTED: Ed Schultz: Sorry for deceptively editing that Rick Perry video.

JIM TREACHER: Obama’s Listening Tour: He Tours, You Listen. “Hey, if you don’t want people calling you terrorists, why do you keep saying things Obama doesn’t want you to say? Don’t you know he’s got it tougher than Abraham Lincoln?”

FAILING UPWARD IN FEDERAL SERVICE: ATF Promotes Gunwalker Supervisors.

ASKING SILLY QUESTIONS: “I wonder if anyone in Washington actually takes anything seriously other than winning office and retaining power?”

KENNETH ANDERSON: Q: What Causes Professors to Think About the Business Model of Higher Education? A: When they send a child off to college. “I don’t know who first said that, but it’s true in my case.”

AT AMAZON, top deals in electronics.

IF YOU’RE SUCCESSFUL, THEY HATE YOU: Leftists Groups Start Campaign Against Amazon. Ironically, I suspect that the once-hated Wal-Mart is behind this. . . .

UPDATE: Reader Alex Muniz writes: “So, wait, now we’re supposed to *support* big-box retailers like Wal-Mart? It’s so hard to keep track of who’s evil these days.” I think it’s whoever hasn’t made the proper payoffs. . . .

OBAMA TO PERRY: Watch your mouth. Barack, you sucker, you completely took the bait. A more experienced politician — say, your average Knox County commissioner in Tennessee — would have seen that trap.

Meanwhile, I seem to recall suggesting that you watch your own mouth. Not that it sunk in . . . .

UPDATE: Reader Jonathan Caro writes:

Professor Reynolds,

The following paragraph from the article is either hilarious, or frightening, depending on your perspective:

Perry, who succeeded former President George W. Bush as Texas governor, is known for strongly conservative social and fiscal views. In his first three days as a candidate, he has upset Democrats by questioning Obama’s patriotism and implying the U.S. military does not respect Obama as commander-in-chief. His remarks on Bernanke caused the biggest flap.

Mess with the military, call me unpatriotic, we’ll get annoyed. Criticize the inflationary printing of money? NOW IT’S SERIOUS.

Do the writers of the article even see this?

Doubtful.

PHILADELPHIA: Teenage Girl Stabbed At Anti-Violence Rally.

PROF. JACOBSON WILL BE tracking the Wisconsin recall results. Voting has reportedly been heavy.

BREITBART TV: NBC News Caught Red Handed ‘Selectively Editing’ & ‘Doctoring’ Video to Smear Gov Perry as Racist. Hey, if you’re running against Obama you’re racist by definition, right? So this should get the “fake but accurate” defense. . . .

LOVE HATH MADE Liberal-Arts Majors Of Us All: “Park is now an assistant professor of psychology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. The journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin is about to publish a series of research projects she led, along with Buffalo graduate students, that suggest that when college-age women think about romance, they become less interested in studying STEM fields. College-age men, however, can get interested in romance without any impact on their engagement with math and science.”

TURNING A FLARE GUN INTO A DIY Camera-Drone Launcher.

AT AMAZON, school supplies under $5.

PEOPLE’S CHOICE: The most popular Power Line Prize entry was Doorbell. Here it is again:

SHOCKER: Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Seattle’s “Green Jobs” Program A Bust. “Just 14 new jobs have emerged from the program. Many of the jobs are administrative, and not the entry-level pathways once dreamed of for low-income workers. Some people wonder if the original goals are now achievable.”

HOW TO GET A JOB WITHOUT LEAVING THE HOUSE: This may not work for you . . .

SAFETY: Why you should treat every gun as a loaded gun.