FEAR OF DOWNGRADE SPREADS AROUND CAPITAL.

This iconic photo from the early days of hope-and-change now seems prophetic.

WAS THE B-17 FLYING FORTRESS the toughest airplane ever built?

BUT WON’T THAT CAUSE NORWEGIANS TO GO CRAZY AND COMMIT MASS MURDER OR SOMETHING? Rep. King Vows To Go Ahead With Muslim Radicalization Hearings.

SHOCKER: House Democrats Not So Enamored of Fair Tax. Well, it doesn’t offer much in the way of opportunities for graft. Which may also explain this: “So far, Reps. Tom Price (Ga.) and Lynn Jenkins (Kan.) are the only GOP members on Ways and Means that have signed on to the House’s Fair Tax measure.” Under the Fair Tax, after all, Ways and Means would be a much less important committee. Plus, according to economist Laurence Kotlikoff, under the Fair Tax the number of federal tax returns processed would be reduced “from some 120 million to roughly 700,000.”

SARAH HOYT ON how the publishing business is changing.

CAPITAL STRIKE? ‘Suspending Investing’ Best Reaction to Debt Crisis: Bove.

JENNIFER RUBIN: Ten Things That Happen If The Boehner Bill Gets Through. Including this one: “8. Obama won’t have any excuse for the rotten economy.”

Plus this bottom line: “At some level you wonder why this is even controversial in Republican ranks. Perhaps with time for consideration the vast majority of the lawmakers on both sides of the aisle will realize this is not just the only game in town but a very decent one.”

SCIENCE: Amateur Astronomer Discovers Blue-Raspberry-Shaped Planetary Nebula.

POLITICO: JAY CARNEY’S PROBLEM: “Questions about Obama’s plan — where is it, what’s on it — are proving tricky for the White House, because the omission is suddenly getting traction. Talking about an appealing, detailed plan doesn’t work if you don’t produce the plan. The lack of disclosure also doesn’t track with Obama’s pledge on transparency. The White House explanation — that any plan must be held close so it won’t be instantly politicized and defeated is very backroom, politics-as-usual — a way of doing things that Obama vowed to reject.” Hey, maybe the 2007 Obama should run against the guy in the White House now . . . .

KNIGHTS ON A TREADMILL: Moving and fighting in medieval armor. It’s harder than it sounds, and it sounds hard.

UPDATE: Reader Paul Alan Byers writes:

I hope that the Leeds folks bothered to ask a historian about the experiment. The photos are of jousting armor. It is about twice as heavy and much more restrictive of movement as foot armor. It is even heavier and more rigid that horse armor for combat. Jousting armor is to war armor as a formula one is to my mini-van.

I used to do SCA combat. My rig weights 89lb and is 3/4plate with mail/leather under that. 10 hours a day in armor fighting, 5-10 days a war, at the 3 big wars a year was common. We marched 2-3 miles to the battle and back after that. But we were all wearing footman armor, not horseman’s or jousting armor. They used the heaviest and least flexible armor in the photos. Most of the armor in museums is the dress and jousting armor, not the “everyday” fighting armor.

Good point.

MARKDOWNS ON bestselling men’s sneakers.

SUSANNAH BRESLIN: Why Women Shouldn’t Go To Tech Conferences.

MEGAN MCARDLE: “I’ve been having some disturbing conversations with both finance people and Washington people over the last few days, that have only confirmed the disconnect I wrote about a few weeks ago. Each side is sending signals that the other side is not reading correctly. And this is getting more dangerous by the hour.”

FINALLY: Burt Rutan designs hybrid flying car.

RECOVERY BUMMER (CONT’D): Fed survey: Growth slows in nearly half the US, due to weakness in housing and manufacturing.

READER PAUL JACKSON SEES THIS AS ITS BIGGEST STRENGTH: Dem lawmaker: ‘Nobody I know’ has seen Reid plan.

WHO OWNS THE DEBT-CEILING ISSUE AGAIN? “Of the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling we have now, $4.5 trillion got added by Democrat-controlled Congresses since taking control in 2007. That corresponds exactly with the expansion in spending by Democratic Congresses over the same period.”

U.S. NEWS: NRA Beats Back Gun Control Measures.

15 COUNTRIES THAT consume the most alcohol.

RED-LIGHT CAMERA UPDATE: Who Knew L.A.’s Fines Were “Voluntary.” “Drivers who paid the tickets, some of which are $476, fume at the disclosure that authorities cannot force violators to pay up. But don’t expect to get a refund.”