DON SURBER: “If Paul Krugman were a real economist, this is what he would tell you.” He used to be a real economist. But that was back when Reagan was President.

FASTER, PLEASE: Nanotechnology boosts anticancer drug cocktail many times over.

MARKDOWNS ON Mother’s Day gifts.

A SIMPLE WEIGHT-LOSS PLAN THAT WORKED: “Almost two years later, Mills has dropped 232 pounds from her body and has trimmed her waist down to 26 inches (a size 6).”

UPDATE: Reader Holly Behre writes:

Hi! I visit Instapundit almost daily and enjoy it so much. I’m writing about the CNN weight-loss article about Anita Mills, http://instapundit.com/119107/:

The article doesn’t discuss the 4th tip, “Do not tell anyone what you’re doing.” But I think there’s something worth exploring there. The conventional wisdom is to tell everyone as a sign of commitment, and get support from friends and family, etc. I’ve gone that route and failed. But from May 2009 to May 2010, I lost 70 pounds (210 to 140, as a 5’2″ woman, now age 50), no gimmicks, no paid programs or special foods, just counting calories and walking daily. I’ve kept it off for almost a year.

I didn’t tell a soul what I was doing, and I think that was important to my success. I continued to eat family meals, I just ate less and made different choices (more veggies, less fat, sugar and starch). It wasn’t a “diet” — it was, as they say, a lifestyle change. Hardly anyone mentioned my weight loss until I was down 40 pounds, and then I just replied, “Yes, I’m watching what I eat and exercising more. Thanks for noticing.”

The reason I didn’t tell anyone? Because it made me, and only me, responsible for what I put in my mouth. I couldn’t blame my husband for cooking something tempting, or my kids for leaving too many leftovers. Also (and I can’t offer evidence of this) I do believe people that who love you are afraid to see you change. (For this I reference another link I got from Instapundit: http://instapundit.com/119130/ (read it, loved it, btw.)

She’s referencing Steven Pressfield’s new book. Free on Kindle — did I mention that?

THE LIFE OF AN IRANIAN REVOLUTIONARY: An interview with Shirin Ebadi.

ECONOMIC MYSTERIES EXPLAINED: What do guns, burglar alarms, and condoms have in common? Their sales all boomed in 2009, with condom sales jumping 22% over the same period in 2008. But why? Hope. And change.

MARY KATHARINE HAM: “Peeps Didn’t Start the Fire!” Two Years in Peeps: The Music Video.

CHINA’S TRAIN WRECK: “Is China’s high-speed rail a model for U.S. transportation? Based on his travels in China, Washington Post editorial writer Charles Lane thinks not. . . . Liu’s legacy, in short, is a system that could drain China’s economic resources for years. So much for the grand project that Thomas Friedman of the New York Times likened to a ‘moon shot’ and that President Obama held up as a model for the United States.”

If nothing else, I’m hoping that the Atlas Shrugged movie, with its romanticization of trains, will kill lefties’ enthusiasm for high-speed rail.

UPDATE: “Prediction: this won’t make Tom Friedman stop talking nonsense about how awesome China is.” Well, nothing else has.

AUGMENTED REALITY APP keeps libraries tidy.

NEW AT PAJAMAS MEDIA: Still more gruesome video from Syria.

GPS SATELLITES get a serious upgrade.

COULD AUGMENTED REALITY be hazardous to your health?

A NICE PIC from Lisa Scheer.

PEOPLE ARE STILL WRITING TO SAY HOW MUCH THEY LIKE Steven Pressfield’s Do The Work. The Kindle edition is free!

IN THE MAIL: After the Fall: Saving Capitalism from Wall Street-and Washington.

ANN ALTHOUSE: Why did Caitlin Flanagan write such a poorly supported article on fraternities and rape? As I said yesterday, this column is an embarrassment.

FREE SPEECH UPDATE: ACLU Fighting Attempts to Suppress Anti-Islam Speech.

CARPE DIEM BLOG: As tax rates drop, top 1% pays more in taxes. “In 1979 the top marginal income tax rate was 70% and 18.3% of the total taxes paid were collected from the top 1% of taxpayers. By 2007 the top tax rate was 35% (half of the 1979 rate), and the tax share of the top 1% had more than doubled to 39.5% (from 18.3% in 1979).”

HERE’S YOUR HOPE AND CHANGE: Obama administration asks Supreme Court to uphold FCC’s indecency policy. I remember some of the post-9/11 liberal hawks turning on Bush because of broadcast-indecency regulation and Howard Stern. So: How’s that hopey-changey stuff workin’ out for ya?

HACKERS SHUT DOWN INTERNET ACCESS, IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY: “Our internal systems are working well and users are in here beavering away on their experiments. The break from the internet is almost heaven — more time to concentrate on important things.”

AT AMAZON, markdowns on binoculars.

SYRIA OPENS FIRE ON MOURNERS: “The reports are confused but it’s clear that the security forces this morning opened fire this morning on funeral processions. Obama at least spoke quite clearly about it, no equivocating.”

UPDATE: WaPo editorial calls Obama’s inaction on Syria “Shameful.”

COURT: Ban on stunguns violates Second Amendment.

SYRIA: Why Pajamas Media is publishing these very graphic videos.

Videos are here.

WELL, THAT SEEMS FAIR: Divorced Dad Who Is Paying for Child’s College Has Right to See Report Card.