SHOCKER: Thousands Leave Indiana Public Schools When Given A Choice. “We’re constantly told that the Democrats are the party of choice so it’s funny how angry liberals get when people don’t choose them. It’s what we just witnessed in Wisconsin. It’s why teacher unions overwhelmingly support Democrats and Obama. It has nothing to do with children, choices or education. It’s about moneymoneymoneymoneymoney. This is exactly why Obama is against school vouchers for poor kids in Washington, DC.”

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THREE MINUTES, two teleprompters.

WOULD WE BE HEARING THIS IF A REPUBLICAN WERE PRESIDENT? Higher Unemployment Rates Might Mean More Sex. I’m guessing not.

“YES, IT’S A RELIGION.”

A BELATED Happy Bloggiversary to Tam.

YEP: ‘Sixty to 90 percent of jobs are found informally—mainly through friends, relatives, and direct contacts.’

HAYEK’S GHOST haunts Julianne Hough. With pictures.

ANN ALTHOUSE: “Who did that? Who leaked the story to the politically partisan journalist, Bill Lueders? Surely, the judicial commission is going to tell us.”

GIBSON AND MICHELLE: Aristocracy Hypocrisy: Michelle Obama’s Gibson guitar gift. “If it turns out that the Indian rosewood in question is illegal contraband in the eyes of Obama’s DOJ, then Michelle Obama is just as guilty of trafficking in it as Gibson. In 2009, Michelle Obama gave Carla Bruni-Sarkozy a Gibson guitar with a fretboard made of the material.” Laws about wood are for the little people.

IMAGE SEARCHES “poisoned” by cybercriminals.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: College Presidents Bullish on Online Education. Others not so much.

FASTER, PLEASE: A sutureless method for joining blood vessels.

DISASTER-PREP TIP: How To Keep Your Cellphone Going As Long As Possible.

Note this in particular: “Text messages use a tiny fraction of the power required to make an actual phone call. In addition, there are very good selfish and selfless reasons to use SMS instead of calling during a wide-spread crisis: Texting helps keep the network from being overwhelmed, and texts are more likely to get through than voice calls.”

Also: “Need to check Twitter? Don’t forget that your 3G Kindle has a web browser in it.”

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ROBERT SAMUELSON: Say “Yes” To Oil Sands. “We would be crazy to turn our back on this. In a global oil market repeatedly threatened by wars, revolutions, and natural and man-made disasters — and where government-owned oil companies control development of about three-quarters of known reserves — having dependable suppliers is no mean feat. We already import about half our oil, and Canada is our largest supplier with about 25 percent of imports. But its conventional fields are declining. Only oil sands can fill the gap.”

So, naturally: “Environmentalists are outraged.”

DEBUNKING the three biggest exercise myths.

JEFF CARTER ON FARMAGEDDON. “This documentary illustrates the plight of the organic farmer, specifically the organic dairy farmer. If a dairy farmer wants to sell raw milk, they will be run out of business and many times imprisoned by the federal bureaucracy. The USDA actively tries to run Raw Milk Producers out of the business. They work closely with agents from state agricultural agencies. The documentary shows film of agents descending on various organic farms and outlets, guns drawn, SWAT teams present. It’s straight out of science fiction and something that you can’t believe happens in America. I can understand a huge police presence when going after a drug lord, but a family farmer? Sure, farmers keep guns but in my experience they aren’t violent people.”

Slash their budgets.

A LOOK AT orbital technologies’ space hotel.

BILL QUICK ON the unfortunate state of the publishing industry.

Meanwhile, we’re thinking of doing a much-needed update on the space law textbook, but there’s a problem. The contract gives Westview Press — now Perseus Westview, intermediately HarperCollins Westview — the right of first refusal. But the phone number gets me a phone tree with no operator, and a directory that requires me to know who I’m calling. And everyone I worked with there is long since laid off or moved on. I guess I’ll have to just write them a letter. . . .

HAS THE CHEVY VOLT suffered a short with consumers? “The sales figures for the Chevy Volt are down, raising red flags throughout the auto industry—especially during a time where Volt production has been ramped up.”

IS THIS REALLY GOOD NEWS? U.S. To Beat Brazil As World’s Leading Ethanol Exporter. Plus, a regulatory/subsidy fail: “Since the federal renewable fuel mandate classifies sugarcane ethanol as an advanced biofuel, but corn-based ethanol as only a biofuel, it’s quite likely the United States will continue to export corn-based ethanol to Brazil while at the same time importing mass quantities of the sugarcane-based biofuel from Brazil.” Well, it’s a “fail” except for the people making money off it.

SELF-DEFENSE: Iowa congressman and his family retell how they fought off a gun-wielding robber. “Mitchell opened the gun cabinet and pulled out the 12-gauge that had belonged to Leonard Boswell’s father. It was not a sentimental choice: He opted for the 12-gauge because it came with several boxes of ammunition, ample rounds for any additional assailants who might be lurking outside.” Would the WaPo reporting be as sympathetic if it didn’t involve a Democratic congressman?

MICHAEL YON: The Art, Science and Carpentry of Explosives.

IN THE MAIL: Surviving the Shadows: A Journey of Hope into Post-Traumatic Stress.