AN UPDATE ON IRENE FROM BRENDAN LOY: Uh oh. “The latest computer model runs, especially the European one, are downright frightening.”

THIS IS JUST PATHETIC: Police Seize Democrats’ Cameras At Ohio Congressman’s Town Hall. Really, if you’re going to pull that kind of crap, just don’t bother showing up at all. That’s just pathetic.

HAVE I RUN THIS STORY BEFORE? I’M NOT SURE. . . . Neuroethicist argues for continuing research into memory dampening drugs. “Unafraid to stir up a hornet’s nest of controversy, Adam Kolber, a Brooklyn Law School professor has published an essay on Nature declaring that he believes it’s time the debate over whether to continue research into pharmaceuticals that can alter, dampen or erase memories should end. He says that it’s clear, at least to him, that the benefits of such drugs would far outweigh the negatives and that research should move full speed ahead so that those who suffer the negative effects of bad memories can get on with their lives in ways they would have had the bad thing they remember never occurred.”

SCIENCE: Scientists Solve Lager Beer Mystery, Crack Yeast’s DNA Code. “People have been hunting for this thing for decades.”

CONFESSIONS of a car dealership service manager.

MORE THOUGHTS ON THE WIDENER LAW SCHOOL DEBACLE: “It still surprises me that Dean Ammons has maintained total radio silence about what her perspective is on this situation. Widener Law School is looking terrible because of this story, and it’s going to be in the news for a long time. Dean Ammons’ refusal to speak on the matter only fuels the perception that this is all about her irrational overreaction, which can’t be good for the school.”

SEARCHING FOR a better prostate cancer biomarker.

A CAMPAIGN I CAN SUPPORT: No Exposed Breasts, No Peace.

UPDATE: Rustmeister emails: “So, conversely – Know exposed breasts, know peace.” That makes sense to me!

GOOD NEWS FOR OBAMA: Hey, don’t worry, you’re still polling one point ahead of . . . Ron Paul!

IS TOYOTA JUST PLAYING CALIFORNIA POLITICS with its new RAV4 electric vehicle? “Plugin Cars says the timing of the electric RAV4’s launch, coupled with its anticipated limited production volume suggests Toyota is aiming to satisfy CARB’s Zero-Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) mandate. Next year, ZEV credits accumulated by Toyota from the 1997-2003 RAV4 EV will expire, as CARB opens the 2012-2014 chapter of its ZEV mandate. This phase will require a fresh batch of plug-ins (or the purchasing of ZEV credits from other manufacturers) from automakers to meet ZEV obligations; Plugin Cars speculates the 2012 RAV4 EV will be one of those vehicles.”

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Protecting Yourself While Divorcing Someone With Borderline or Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

DEFINING THE BOUNDARIES OF SCIENCE.

ER, SHOOT WHAT CREDIBILITY?

ANSWERING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Do we really need an Android-powered fridge?

WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY’LL FIGURE OUT NEXT? New York Realizes That Gun Businesses Mean Jobs, Tax Revenue.

ACTUALLY, I’LL BE ONE OF TWO KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Tea Party Group To Convene Conference At Harvard.

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE CONSIDERS LIMITING DUI ROADBLOCKS: “Confiscating automobiles has become a significant source of revenue for cash-strapped California cities. Last Tuesday, the state legislature gave preliminary approval to legislation to impose limits on the practice.” I don’t think law enforcement should turn a profit. When it does, it shades too easily into piracy.

JOEL KOTKIN LOOKS AT THE MAPS: Inside The Sinosphere. “A glossy software office in Chengdu seems a long way from the images of centrally directed, belching factories seeking to dominate the global economy. But a close examination of the emerging Sinosphere–or Chinese sphere of influence–shows an economy that is globally dispersed, multinational and increasingly focused on the high-tech and service sectors. . . . Chinese capitalism has relied on diaspora entrepreneurs like Tang. In this sense, the rise of China represents the triumph of a race and a culture. Indeed for most of its history China’s most important export was not silk or porcelain but people. To measure the rise of the Sinosphere, one has to consider not just China itself but what historian Lynn Pan has described as the ‘sons of the Yellow Emperor’.”

IS THERE A CONNECTION? 7 in 10 Students Have Skipped Buying a Textbook Because of Its Cost, Survey Finds.

Plus: New Site Brazenly Trades Pirated E-Textbooks.

I don’t think that piracy is the solution, but I’m appalled at the price increases for my texts in Administrative Law and Constitutional Law. I use my own materials in most of my other courses, and I’m about ready to do so in these classes rather than subject students to such prices.

UPDATE: Clayton Cramer writes:

What is especially galling to me is how often there is new edition of a textbook, and the differences are really not that dramatic. Why, you could almost get the impression that the author and publisher are doing this to obsolete older editions, and destroy the used book market.

We have discussed abandoning textbooks completely in our history department, and relying more on primary sources. We made a switch from an excellent Western Civ textbook by Spielvogel to what is generally regarded as not as good a textbook (and with many typos and minor factual errors) simply because Spielvogel’s book was $160.

Yeah, my Administrative Law book jumped $40 this year, to $170. It’s a good casebook, but I’m not sure it’s that good.

And reader Mark Larson writes: “My son is going into his freshman year in a 5-year physician’s assistant program. Lots of chem and bio. Just ordered his texts and the most expensive one was for an intro to Spanish class for $180 — more than the heavy-duty science books. His total for this semester was about $900. I can see why poorer students skip them or pirate them.”

A couple of years ago I got a paperback Constitutional Law text that looked pretty good, and was going to switch to it to cut costs — only to discover that the price was as high as the hardback text I was using. How can that be?

THE FIVE MOST CATASTROPHIC hidden costs of the Obama Presidency.

NEW YORK TRIAL COURT rejects Imam’s libel claim.

MARCO RUBIO: ‘The free enterprise system has lifted more people out of poverty than all the government anti-poverty programs combined.’

POLITICO: Town hall previews supercommittee perils.

The event is an early glimpse of what the 12 supercommittee members could face after they try to slice $1.2 trillion in spending this fall: they’ll head home to sell their decisions to voters, many of whom are wary of losing Medicare and Social Security benefits, afraid of seeing their taxes increase — or will be peeved that Congress could not shift the fiscal trajectory of the country. . . . “Even though voters are increasingly concerned about debts and deficits, when you start cutting specific things, it gets controversial,” said Ron Faucheux, president of Clarus Research Group, a nonpartisan polling firm.

This is why an across-the-board approach is likely to be an easier sell, politically.

Y-12 COMPLETES LOADING of Uranium Fortress.