FROM NPR, THE HEADLINE OF THE DAY: Liberal Bloggers: Obama ‘Not Our Boyfriend Anymore’. He’s just not that into you.

DANIKA QUINN: Could Obama Lose The Jewish Vote in 2012?

VIDEO: How to shape aluminum. Note the importance of hearing protection. . . .

IT DEPENDS ON HOW YOU COUNT: Do Democrats Have More Sex Scandals Than Republicans? I’m pretty sure Jefferson counts as a Democrat, though.

MONTANA LAW SCHOOL DENIES ITS MOST PROMINENT SCHOLAR EMERITUS STATUS? Seems rather petty, and certainly nothing that will enhance their academic reputation. One wonders if this pettiness will redound to their benefit in future budget discussions. Will the electorate think that work on original intent scholarship is so outside the mainstream that a scholar who does it shouldn’t get the usually routine grant of emeritus status on retirement? Or will it think that the University of Montana law faculty is out of touch with mainstream views, and perhaps less worth of taxpayer support than was previously believed? At any rate, while faculty governance is a nice thing, it seems that in many places faculty members are exercising it in ways that are likely to be self-defeating.

UPDATE: Some people are wondering why this is a big deal. Well, I’ve never heard of somebody being denied emeritus status on retiring. Maybe it’s happened somewhere before, but it’s very unusual. And maybe Natelson is such a disagreeable fellow that this isn’t about politics, though I’ve never heard that. It just seems very odd, and if I were a faculty or dean candidate it would certainly make me want to know a lot more about what was going on. It just seems very petty and mean.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Several readers point out that Bill Ayers was denied emeritus status. Well, given Natelson’s lack of a background in terrorism I don’t think the cases are comparable, but okay. On the other hand, since the Ayers issue was pushed by Christopher Kennedy, both denials were presumably by offended liberals who disliked the political stances of the professor in question. . . .

MORE: Bigtime constitutional scholar Calvin Massey calls the move “vindictive.” He comments: “Sounds like petty payback from the withered minds of the Montana law faculty. So much for intellectual diversity.” Ouch!

OBVIOUSLY, WE NEED TO START ON THE ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA TO SHORTEN ANY POTENTIAL DARK AGE: After an Apocalypse, What’s Left of Digital Stores of Knowledge? “Books, unlike our more complicated media, have no technological dependencies when it comes time to access their contents. They have other disadvantages — they’re highly flammable and vulnerable to moisture and insects — but that still puts them ahead of hard drives and CD-ROMS. And especially data centers.”

UPDATE: Patrick Carroll emails:

Even such an encyclopedia might not be enough.

Years ago I watched two great series’ by James Burke on the BBC, “The Day the Universe Changed” and “Connections”. One of the episodes had the story monks traveling south from the Holy Roman Empire into Italy, and bringing back books left over from the fall of the Roman Empire. Charlemagne suddenly fojnd himself confronted with books on things like jurisprudence that were so sophisticated (relative to newly un-dark ages Germany), that nobody could make neither head nor tail of them. (e.g., “What’s a ‘tort’?”)

So, maybe as well as an encyclopedia, we could use some bootstrapping. (“Can you make fire?” “OK, here’s how…”) Something like the interactive book out of Neal Stephenson’s “The Diamond Age”. Though, you know, hardened to survive the apocalypse.

Indeed.

THE NEW MCCARTHYISM: Academic Intolerance Goes Corporate.

DOES OLIVE OIL cut stroke risk? I like cooking with it anyway.

MAN LITERALLY SETS HIMSELF ON FIRE ON THE COURTHOUSE STEPS. “Obviously, Ball had bigger problems than an outstanding $2,062 debt.”

ARE WE HEADING FOR A LITTLE ICE AGE? “We have not predicted a Little Ice Age . . . . We have predicted something going on with the Sun.”

WE APPEAR TO BE BEHIND THE RUSSIANS NOW: Medvedev: Govt role in economy has to be cut.

AN ARGUMENT FOR vaccinating boys against HPV.

HMM. CREDIT-RATING AGENCIES THREATEN TO DOWNGRADE FEDS, and shortly thereafter Feds threaten to investigage credit rating agencies. Well, that boosts my confidence in U.S. solvency!

Related: IMF cuts U.S. growth forecast, warns of crisis. Investigate them immediately!

UPDATE: Reader Tim Peters emails:

While the ‘timing’ of the ‘fed threat’ to investigate Moody’s and other credit rating agencies may seem curious, it’s long overdue.

Civil fraud charges would be the least they should be charged with.

The truth is, they were ‘key enablers’ as the article suggested.

Well, that’s quite likely. On the other hand, the federal government was an even more key enabler, through the corruption at Fannie and Freddie, which makes a prosecution awkward. And I do question the timing.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Scott Prophit writes:

if (rather when) the federal government defaults on its obligations, will the ratings agencies be sued by the Feds for civil fraud, because of its failure to adequately evaluate the risk associated with investing in government backed bonds and t-bills.

If you ask me, their role in enabling the federal government to borrow $14 trillion at effectively risk-free interest rates, it tantamount to fraud in and of itself. But they’ll never be taken to court for that now will they?

Well, it depends on whether there are People’s Tribunals then. . . .

JENNIFER RUBIN: The Optimistic Debt Scenario.

OOPS: IRS Had No Authority To Waive Tax Rules For GM.

GAY PATRIOT: On Obama’s Emotional Detachment and the Economy. “When it comes to the economy, Obama doesn’t seem as engaged as he was during the push to overhaul our nation’s health care system. Perhaps, he he just assumed the ‘stimulus’ would work as (his administration) advertised and can’t grapple with its failure to meet its expectations. Why else would he forego his regular (i.e., daily) economic briefings, holding only one in the past month? Is he really that indifferent to the nation’s economic health?”

UPDATE: “Obama seems like a very distant preacher who is constantly irritated by the failings of his flock.”

THE HILL: White House donor order becomes flashpoint in Congress.

RIGHTHAVEN now facing legal ethics problems.

THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER EDITORIALIZES: Operation Fast and Furious should end Holder tenure. “Documents released by the Issa panel make it clear that Operation Fast and Furious was well-known and enthusiastically supported at the highest leveIs of ATF. That means the program had to have been supported elsewhere within the Justice Department. Thus, it is inconceivable that Holder did not know about Operation Fast and Furious. But even if he didn’t know, he clearly should have. Either way, Wednesday’s hearing provided the latest evidence that it’s past time for Holder to go.”

Well, people are calling this ATF gunrunning scandal worse than Iran/Contra.

On the other hand, some are suggesting that Holder should run for higher office. They’ve even got a running mate picked out:

It’s a perfectly matched ticket. (Image from reader Robert Sbisa).

ABC NEWS: Fear & Loathing In Minneapolis: Progressives Vent Frustration With Obama At Netroots Nation.

DATING THOUGHTS FROM the Instawife.

If any male reader out there has gotten a date by walking up to a woman and saying “You look very elegant and sophisticated” (#18), while sporting hand lotion, a manicure, and a non-interrupting style while she talks (#3), let us know. Perhaps I’m missing something here.

Related: Dating Lessons Learned While Waitressing.

UPDATE: Reader Joshua Smith emails with this advice: “Notice the women who notice you.” Yeah, that’s especially good advice for geek types, who often don’t notice such things.

THE WASHINGTON POST CRITICIZES OBAMA for his silence on Syria.

Related: Western Failure to Support the Real Freedom Fighters in the Middle East Is A Disgrace.

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