WANT TO LIVE A LONG TIME? Work hard at something you like.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE JAPANESE NUCLEAR SITUATION? Not that much. Which is why I’m not doing much with it — the reports are conflicting, and often third- fourth- or fifth-hand. It’s mostly buzz and confusion. Much of what’s going on is, literally, incalculable.

Meanwhile, now it’s a volcano? That seems kind of unfair. . . .

ROGER KIMBALL: Naming The Dead.

IN THE MAIL: From Robert Buettner, Overkill.

WOULD YOU LET YOUR DAUGHTER fund this man’s pension?

POLITICIZING The Wisconsin Supreme Court Election. “There’s an election coming up, and JoAnne Kloppenburg is the challenger to the incumbent David Prosser. There are many Kloppenburg signs at the march and, as I’ve noted before, although it’s supposed to be a nonpartisan election, some people try to make it very political. I’ve seen many people out at the protests stressing the need to make Kloppenburg a Supreme Court Justice so that she can vote against the GOP budget repair bill and do other things that will help the party that lost the elections last fall get something back in the judicial process.”

MY QUESTION IS, why does a university need a sustainability director? They’d be better off looking to see if their economic model is sustainable. Not that I have anything against “beer activism.”

LEADERSHIP: Drunken Rangel Aide Has Restaurant Meltdown: ‘You’re a Disgrace to our Race.’

MARKDOWNS ON Asus laptop computers.

A LOOK AT the Japanese earthquake’s financial impact.

Related: Japan’s Ripple Effect. “We often tend to think of just-in-time as a method of production that was waiting for the clever Japanese to think of it. But in fact, just-in-time was also waiting for the speedy, reliable transportation links and the reliable infrastructure that made it possible. 99% of the time, it’s a great system. Now we see how resilient it can be when the black swans appear.”

As I’ve suggested before, we need to think harder about these vulnerabilities, and how to make systems more resilient. Some related thoughts on that here and here.

COLLEGE DEGREES AND ACTIVE CIVIC ENGAGEMENT: Not much impact, actually. “College fails to promote high levels of civic knowledge, with holding a bachelor’s degree exerting zero influence on graduates’ ‘active’ civic engagement.”

WELL, GOOD: A Smartphone-Enabled Device that Detects Cancer in Under an Hour.

CHRIS CHRISTIE: Bringing Sexy Back!

WHAT DO GOOGLE USERS HATE? Google Won’t Tell Us.

LOW-POWER MEMORY from nanotubes.

LARRY RIBSTEIN ON THE SCANDALS: The SEC’s Shrinking Credibility.

TEN REASONS to worry about the market.

CHRISTINE HURT looks at Charlie Sheen’s breach of contract suit.

MARKDOWNS ON Denali Tools.

VIRGINIA POSTREL: Why People Love The iPad. “We are surrounded by magic. Clarke’s Law applies not just to technology from advanced alien civilizations but to the everyday components of our own. We live in a culture made rich by specialization, with enormous amounts of knowledge embedded in the most everyday of artifacts.”

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES IN WISCONSIN: If public-sector unions continue to fight for concessions from states, American workers will pay the price.

HIGHER EDUCATION UPDATE: Two University of Minnesota Professors Indicted for Also Drawing Paychecks From Georgia Tech.

FROM BRIAN WANG, some hypersonic vehicle news.

HOLDING UP WELL IN JAPAN’S EARTHQUAKE TRAGEDY: Building Codes.

Meanwhile, Little Miss Attila on how a free-marketeer can still support building codes — and how free markets allow the wealth that makes better construction possible.

Related: Idiot Lefty Blogger: Republicans Don’t Want Quake-Proof Buildings or Something. Except for, you know, Ronald Reagan’s earthquake building codes and stuff.

MICKEY KAUS ON JERRY BROWN’S FAILURE TO LEAD: “You could argue that Brown was elected, in part, precisely because he seemed willing to cross his public employee union supporters. But instead of going to China, he’s waiting for the light bulb to want to change! Or at least to accept the need for change.”