WORRIED ABOUT DEFAULT? RELAX. A Wall Street reader emails: “Treasury officials reportedly told Wall Street bond dealers they plan to roll over existing bonds if the debt ceiling is hit…they just can’t issue paper that would raise new cash. Default is off the table.”

HOW TO DISCOURAGE potential muggers.

MORDOR: North Korean Prison Camps Massive And Growing.

WISCONSIN: Oshkosh Professor Reprimanded for Comments on Recall Vote. This news item doesn’t make clear that he was accused of encouraging election fraud. “In the tape, recorded during a criminal justice class, Richards can be heard encouraging a female student to sign the recall petition even though she thinks she lives outside the district, and instructing students to sign using their campus address instead of their parents’ home address.”

JIM TREACHER IS NOT IMPRESSED: Obama Administration takes victory lap in clown car. Well, their PR has been pretty weak, considering.

On the other hand, The Economist says, “In killing Mr bin Laden the current Democratic administration has acquired a national-security credential.”

Related: Huffington Post: Administration Grows Frustrated As Conversation Shifts From Bin Laden To Waterboarding. Well, the Bush Administration was frustrated by the same thing. . . .

Also: The head of the CIA admitted yesterday that there was no live video footage of the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound as further doubts emerged about the US version of events. Sheesh. So what were they watching in that Situation Room photo?

Meanwhile, this is probably the most politically significant story of the day: Stocks sink after weak data on jobs.

FACEBOOK CONSPIRACY THEORY OF THE WEEK: “What would you say if someone credible told you that Osama Bin Laden is providing valuable information during his interrogation this week? He knows the world believes he is dead, and that there is no hope of rescue. Brilliant strategy by US to create a Schroedinger terrorist mastermind who is both dead and alive at the same time, as long as the box stays closed.”

UPDATE: Flood danger spreads along Mississippi. “Emergency officials from Missouri to Mississippi scrambled Wednesday to prepare for potential flooding as the river continued to rise. Fears have prompted an emergency declaration for 920,000 residents in Memphis and surrounding Shelby County, Tenn., where authorities blocked some suburban streets and more than 200 people evacuated to shelters.”

I SPOKE THE OTHER DAY ABOUT THE MISUSE OF CIVILITY and then I ran across this quote from John Adams: “Be not intimidated… nor suffer yourselves to be wheedled out of your liberties by any pretense of politeness, delicacy, or decency. These, as they are often used, are but three different names for hypocrisy, chicanery and cowardice.”

SAN FRANCISCO PEDIATRICIAN: Guns Are Within My Scope Of Practice. So is voting, he says.

KATIE GRANJU: I see no upside whatsoever to the U.S. government releasing death photos of Osama Bin Laden.

BIN LADEN’S last Facebook entry.

ATF GUNRUNNING UPDATE: Friction Grows Between Lawmakers and DOJ Over ‘Project Gunrunner’ Probe.

Also: Lawmakers Step Up Probe of Gun Trafficking Operation.

And: New Project Gunrunner documents peg top DOJ officials. “Three Project Gunrunner documents Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican and House Oversight Committee chairman, released on Wednesday show high-ranking Justice Department officials were aware of Operation Fast and Furious and that there was a consistent administration policy that allowed American guns to be ‘walked’ into Mexican drug cartels’ possession.” Given all the Administration talking points about American guns going to Mexico, it’s hard not to suspect an ulterior motive here.

ANOTHER COMMUNICATIONS FAIL: $25-million bounty on Bin Laden is still being advertised by the FBI.

ANN ALTHOUSE: I voted for Obama because I thought he’d be tougher on terrorists. And I was right!

Related: Germans Criticize Angela Merkel for Saying She’s Glad Osama Is Dead. Boy, we sure pacified them. To a fault, perhaps. I take more the traditional Scots-Irish view of such things.

UPDATE: I’m with the Dalai Lama.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Prof. Stephen Clark emails: “I read of that criticism of Merkel earlier and found myself thinking how very different America remains from Europe. Despite the fervent hopes of a certain class of folks in our country, it remains thus, and likely ever will; no doubt to their considerable frustration. I take some small measure of pleasure when meditating on this.”

BRYAN PRESTON: “After he ate (hopefully halal!) lead, Osama’s body was searched (hopefully by Muslim men!) and about 500 euros was found sewn into his clothing. Even the holed up terrorist was evidently shocked at what Obama’s policies have done to the dollar.” Heh.

50% OR MORE OFF ON men’s luggage and sportswear from Kenneth Cole.

TRIFECTA: All Bush’s Fault: With Bin Ladin Kill, Obama Takes Credit for the Same Policies He Decried.

THE ONLINE WORLD OF FEMALE DESIRE: For women indulging their curiosity, Internet erotica is less about flesh than about finding Mr. Right. “In 2008, 74.8 million people read an English-language romance novel—close to the number of men who visited online pornography sites that year in the U.S. and Canada.” They’re comparable goods.

YOUTH CULTURE: “A significant number of teens didn’t know who Osama Bin Laden was until we killed him. I can’t believe it–and yet I do believe it. I didn’t know what Iran Contra was when I was in high school, and I was a sophomore when it happened. Teenagers live in their own little world, only tangentially connected to the one the rest of us occupy.” Kind of like politicians and grocery prices.

NOT FOR THE BETTER: How U.S. News Changed Law School Scholarships.

AT AMAZON, markdowns on gold jewelry.

BOB ZUBRIN: A Proposal To End The Political Practice Of Gerrymandering.

SO, OBAMA WON’T RELEASE OSAMA PHOTOS? This seems like a mistake to me, and the double-shuffle of contradictory messages that has led up to this decision hasn’t looked ready for prime time. As Stephen Green notes below, the contrast between the well-run military side of this operation, and the shaky White House PR side, has been quite striking.

A READER SENDS THIS TAX PROPOSAL:

My modest proposal: Members of Congress shall treat as taxable income 1/535 of the federal deficit for any full fiscal year for which they are a member of congress (or for which they participate in the budgeting process. Somebody smarter than me can work out the details). This would surely curtail deficit spending, while allowing Congress to run a deficit if they truly believe it’s necessary.

My back of the envelope math says near $3B taxable income this years would limit them pretty severely.

Of course, it’s not practical, as it would have to be a constitutional amendment or they’d just overturn it, and that’s not the sort of thing you want in the constitution, but I’d love for the meme to get out there.

I think we’re more likely to get my post-government income surtax enacted, unlikely as it is. But I like the thought, though.

LOWER-SPEED RAIL: China has slowed down their bullet trains amid safety concerns and rising costs. “Chinese engineers have said that the operation of such high speed bullet trains is risky and there are fears that the fast and continuing expansion of the railroads is more due to local Chinese politics rather than an actual social need for high speed rail transportation. The high price of train tickets and the multibillion dollar price tag for rail expansion projects has also raised eyebrows in a country where millions of families live in poverty.”

Beware the Express Train To Terror! Though the nuclear power angle is cool . . . .