WALTER RUSSELL MEAD uncovers a plot.

FORGET JOHN GALT, WHO IS PETER ORSZAG? Peter Suderman writes: “Here’s my answer to the question: He’s a pretty-boy pencil pusher whose business, as the top budget brainiac in the administration, was to mislead the public about the budget. . . . Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter what Orzag is doing for Citibank. His primarily job duties are intangible. Mostly it seems he’s there to cast his sexy geek-boy light on the institution and serve as a conduit to Washington’s power centers.”

Seems like another good argument for my 50% surtax on the earnings of former government officials. After all, at least half of Orszag’s value to Citibank comes from his prior government service. Why shouldn’t the taxpayers claw some of that back? Shared sacrifice, dude. . . .

EGYPT GOES FULL CIRCLE: Back To Imprisoning Bloggers.

OH, GOODY: Bad Accounting Hides America’s Coming Pension Disaster.

HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH GOOGLE? AMAZON ROLLS OUT AD SERVICE.

TODAY ONLY: A Full-HD Camcorder For 99 Bucks. Ubiquitous video rules.

DOWN MEMORY LANE: Gas-Pump Edition.

REASON TV: Who is John Galt? Behind the Scenes of Atlas Shrugged.

ROMNEYCARE: A Big Bust.

GOVERNMENT MOTORS: “Imagine turning your car’s steering wheel, or giving it a gentle tug, and having it break away from the steering column. Now you’re speeding along holding the suddenly useless wheel. It sounds like a vision from a cartoon, or every driver’s nightmare. And it happened to at least one driver of a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze compact car last month, and General Motors Corp. is recalling 2,100 of the cars as a result.”

MICKEY KAUS: The Real Medicare Divide.

JOHN HAWKINS INTERVIEWS THOMAS SOWELL about Sowell’s new book, Economic Facts And Fallacies (Second Edition). And asks him about the higher education bubble, among other things.

RAND SIMBERG: Half A Century Of Human Spaceflight. “For several years now, the date has been celebrated by spaceflight enthusiasts all over the world, at events called Yuri’s Night parties. The fiftieth anniversary should be a blowout, particularly combined with the thirtieth of the Shuttle, but the celebrations will be tinctured with sadness that we haven’t made as much progress as many hoped at the dawn of the space age, and that the Shuttle never lived up to the early promises of making space routine, reliable, affordable and safe. But a new space age is dawning now, a private one driven by profit and adventure, rather than national prestige and fickle politics, so the next half century is likely to be more exciting than the past one, with opportunities for all to go into space, and not just a few privileged government employees, whether Russian or American.”

Here’s a list of Yuri’s Night parties.

TOM MAGUIRE: A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Sorties. “I haven’t seen images of slaughter and mass graves from Syria. Sure, there are eyewitness reports of government violence, but until CNN provides video rubbing it in Obama’s face, it’s not a political reality.”

As Neal Stephenson once wrote, “The ability to think rationally is pretty rare, even in prestigious universities. We’re in the TV age now, and people think by linking pictures in their brains.”

RICH KARLGAARD: What I Learned About Natural Gas From Boone Pickens.

SHOULD GITMO CRITICS help to try Khalid Shaikh Mohammed?

“SMART DIPLOMACY:” Pakistan Tells U.S. To Halt Drone Attacks. Given what I know about the Pakistani government, I suspect this means that they’re working. . . .

HOWARD STERN IS UNIMPRESSED: Libya Situation “Embarrassing” Gaddafi “Looking Like a Hero.”

Howard, this is what they call “smart diplomacy.”

AS YOU GET CLOSER TO THE DRAIN, the circles get smaller and smaller.

WHY YOUR 3D AVATAR will soon be attending meetings while you sleep. Heck, I attend meetings while I sleep now. . . .

Okay, not really, but I’ve come close in a few faculty meetings.

DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO: Obama warns new Ivory Coast leader on governing inclusively.

Predicted response: “I won.”

YELLOWSTONE SUPERVOLCANO PLUME TURNS OUT TO BE BIGGER: “The volcanic plume beneath Yellowstone is larger than previously thought, according to a new study that measured the electrical conductivity of the hot and partly molten rock. The findings say nothing about the chances of another cataclysmic eruption at Yellowstone, but they give scientists another view of the vast and deep reservoir that feeds such eruptions.”

AT AMAZON, up to 40% off on Mother’s Day gifts.

HEH: @mattyglesias brought to you by Wal-Mart. I remember when Wal-Mart was a bunch of evil right-wingers, engaged in some sort of underhanded conspiracy.

BUT THE OTHER VIEWER SAYS HE’S PRETTY HAPPY WITH IT: Chris Matthews: Paul Ryan’s Medicare Plan Will ‘Kill Half the People Who Watch My Show’.