THIS WEEK in the future.

TSUNAMIS, EARTHQUAKES, AND DISASTER PREP: A Guide.

UP TO 50% OFF on smoke alarms.

INTERACTIVE MAP: Where Americans Are Moving. Very interesting to click on individual counties — I had no idea that my area (Knox County, TN) has gotten so much in-migration from Florida. Meanwhile, for Detroit it’s pretty much all out-migration, and Chicago isn’t much better. But people sure like Dallas, Atlanta, and Seattle. Thanks to Leonid Ardov for the link.

AN ARMY OF DIGITAL CAMERAMEN: Richard Fernandez on the amateur tsunami video. “Photojournalists will still dominate scheduled events, like sporting matches and press conferences, with their pro equipment and training. But statistics is against them when it comes to capturing news. The world is big and professional photojournalists are few. . . . For good or ill, the chroniclers of our times will be the event participants themselves.”

You know, somebody should write a book on this phenomenon.

MEDIA MATTERS QUOTES ME IN DEFENSE OF NPR: The quotes are accurate, though I did also say that NPR could use a little political and intellectual diversity. I think even the NPR folks agree, though it remains to be seen whether they will actually do anything about it.

PROFESSOR JACOBSON: PolitiFact Has A Serious Problem, But I Repeat Myself.

PHIL BOWERMASTER: What’s wrong with the hiring process.

QUESTION: Why Doesn’t GM Build a Diet Chevy Volt? “Without a doubt the biggest knock against the Volt isn’t its limited electric range or its so-so fuel efficiency, but the $41,000 price tag. Yet GM has the ability to make a much cheaper Volt. So what’re they waiting for?”

NPR: Peeling Back The Onion.

CHANGE: GM dropping “More Car Than Electric” tagline from Chevy Volt ads, but not really.

THE HILL: Rogers defends candor of Obama’s intel chief. “In an interview, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told The Hill that James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, was doing his job and giving senators the most accurate information when he told them that the forces backing Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi would likely ‘prevail’ over rebel factions in the long term. 

. . . Rogers said Clapper’s job is to answer lawmakers as accurately and truthfully as possible, and not to give them responses that are politically preferable or diplomatic in nature.” That’s true, though maybe this discussion should have been in closed session?

IN THE MAIL: From Gregory Benford and the Editors of Popular Mechanics, The Wonderful Future That Never Was: Flying Cars, Mail Delivery by Parachute, and Other Predictions from the Past.

POLIWOOD: NPR: The Hate America First Network.

BRIAN DUNN: “Libya is turning out to be an interesting test case about how the world can get by without we damned Americans taking the lead and mucking things up.”

EARTHQUAKE/TSUNAMI TALK GOT YOU INTERESTED IN DISASTER-PREP? Check out Bill Quick’s discussion forum. And here’s a list of disaster-prep supplies. And here’s another.

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON VS. BILL KELLER: Arianna Wins In A Knockout.

A NEW UNDERGROUND ORGANIZATION: “An anonymous source tells me that the first meeting of Lawprofs Exploring their Interest in Terrorism (or other forms of violence) for Employee Rights will be held at the University of Chicago faculty dining room on Monday.” Heh.

TRANSPARENCY: Three Basic Considerations.

AT AMAZON, markdowns on flashlights and lanterns.

PJTV: Ask Dr. Helen: Has the Rise of Women Turned Men Into Boys? An interview with Kay Hymowitz on her new book, Manning Up: How The Rise of Women Has Turned Men Into Boys. As you might expect, Helen has a different perspective. (Bumped, in case you missed it.)

UPDATE: An interesting blog comment.

JAMES TARANTO: E-J DAY!

So what Dionne is saying–although tellingly, he does not use this analogy–is that this is ObamaCare in reverse: Republicans won a legislative victory but overreached, just as Democrats did a year ago, and they are going to pay a political price, just as the donks did in November.

It could happen. But out of curiosity, we went back to see what Dionne had to say about ObamaCare at the time, and guess what? That was a big liberal victory too, not the tiniest bit Pyrrhic. . . . We understand that when Dionne was a kid, the other kids used to call him “four eyes.” Then he got rose-colored glasses, and they started calling him “pink eyes”!

The spin remains the same. Plus, Taranto’s reason to oppose high-speed rail: “Your Car Will Never Go on Strike.”

VIDEO: Dana Loesch vs. Paul Begala.

WISCONSIN WAS A SMILEY-FACE GOOD-GOVERNMENT PLACE, UNTIL THE RICE BOWLS WERE THREATENED: The Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate JoAnne Kloppenburg takes the nonpartisan election in a strongly partisan direction.

Now the mask is off, and you have to wonder if this is what was always there, behind the smiley-face.

UPDATE: Democrats ‘Targeting’ Wisconsin Congressman. Wait, I thought that was supposed to be out-of-bounds hate speech. The rules change so fast. . . .

ANOTHER UPDATE: Video: Wisconsin Protesters Surround Bus With Republican Senators, Bang on Windows and Doors.

If the protesters were Tea Partiers, this would be lawless, KKK-style mob violence. Since they’re pro-union Democrats, it’s just righteous indignation.

BLAMING THE JAPANESE EARTHQUAKE on global warming. Well, you knew that was coming. Global warming is like doughnuts — is there anything it can’t do?