A WORD TO DESCRIBE OUR CURRENT SYSTEM: Ineptocracy. “A system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers*

CRONY CAPITALISM? Revolving-door between DOE, subsidized company. “The renewable energy industry is exceedingly dependent on government support. Many companies would not be viable if they could only make money off of consumers rather than taxpayers. Given that dependence, it seems inevitable that the revolving door between government and the green industry will swing very widely indeed.”

FAST AND FURIOUS UPDATE: White House, DOJ silent as 34 members of Congress call for Holder’s resignation.

Also: Katie Pavlich: More Guns Provided Through Fast and Furious Found in Arizona Raid.

Plus: AZ Gov. Jan Brewer: Eric Holder needs to be ‘held accountable’ for Operation Fast and Furious.

STRATEGY PAGE ON STATE DEFENSE FORCES: Guarding The National Guard.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Average Loan Burden for 2010 Graduates Rises 5%.

IS BRITAIN PREPARING to attack Iran?

SOLARGATE UPDATE: The Hill: Obama administration mulled Solyndra bailout days before company’s demise.

J. CHRISTIAN ADAMS, WHO HAS EXPOSED SEVERAL DOJ SCANDALS, now has his own blog at PJ Media, “Rule of Law.”

MORE ON THAT BANKRUPT JON CORZINE FIRM: MF Global pushed regulators to use client funds. “Late last year MF Global—the failed investment firm headed by Democratic heavyweight Jon S. Corzine that can’t account for as much as $900 million of its clients’ money–urged a federal agency to allow futures firms to invest funds from their customer segregated accounts in foreign sovereign debt. . . . Corzine, a former Goldman Sachs CEO, spent $62 million of his own money to win election to the U.S. Senate from New Jersey. He resigned his seat to run for governor of New Jersey in 2005. In 2009, he lost his reelection bid to Republican Chris Christie, and became CEO of MF Global in 2010. While he is not registered as a lobbyist for the firm, the federal agency meeting logs show he personally was active in pressing the company’s interests before agencies.”

He’s a Democrat and a big Obama donor, too, though the description above omits that.

UPDATE: Could Tighter Regulation Have Protected MF Global’s Client Accounts? “No. Or at least, probably not. To start with, this is really illegal. There are no ‘loopholes’ that allow you cover your losses with client funds.”

HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Fed downgrades growth forecasts, sees high unemployment for years ahead.

ED DRISCOLL: Greece Go Boom Soon?

FASTER, PLEASE: Cell Study Finds a Way to Slow Ravages of Age. “Most young, healthy cells divide continuously in order to keep body tissues and organs functioning properly, but eventually stop splitting—a state called senescence—and are replaced by others. Senescence occurs throughout life, but people’s ability to clear such cells from their bodies decreases with age, leading to a buildup. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., found for the first time that by using a drug to target and kill senescent cells, they could essentially freeze some aspects of the aging process.”

No, really: Faster, please. I’m not getting any younger here . . . . And neither are you!

HMM: Obama-Friendly GE Building Aircraft Factory in Right-to-Work Alabama; Curiously, Unlike Boeing, NLRB Utterly Silent.

ARAB SPRING: Christian Student Beaten To Death For Wearing Cross.

CHANGE: Ruth Marcus: “Forget hope and change. President Obama’s reelection campaign is going to be based on fear and loathing: fear of what a Republican takeover would mean, and loathing of whomever the Republican nominee turns out to be.”

MEN’S WEARHOUSE SIDES WITH OCCUPY MOVEMENT. I wondered if this could be right, but The Atlantic reports: “The store’s decision will likely meet with approval from the corporate HQ: George Zimmer, founder and chairman of Men’s Wearhouse, has repeatedly donated to Democratic candidates in multiple election cycles, including progressives like 2004 presidential candidate Howard Dean and Rep. Barbara Lee (Calif.).”

IS “ANONYMOUS” AGAINST FREE SPEECH?

“A KILLING FIELD FOR TAX MEASURES:” It’s still a tea party in Colorado. “By a nearly 2 to 1 margin, voters rejected a $2.9 billion income and sales tax increase ostensibly earmarked for education. Proposition 103 would have raised the income tax rate to 5% from 4.63% and the sales tax to 3% from 2.9%.”

ANN COULTER: “To have been accused of sexual harassment in the 1990s is like having been accused … of being a witch in Massachusetts in the 1690s.”

PROF. JACOBSON: Insisting on actual facts before a major conservative politician is taken down is not “selling out our minds.”

Related thoughts here.

HAPPY BLOGGIVERSARY to Samizdata.

HERMAN CAIN: Thanks Politico!

VIDEO: Steven Colbert goes to Occupy Wall Street, then interviews a woman named Ketchup.

HERE’S MORE ON THAT DEFEATED TAX-INCREASE EFFORT IN COLORADO, which I think can be scored as a Tea Party victory. Even in Boulder, it barely won a majority, and in heavily Democratic Denver it lost. “The wide margin of defeat for Proposition 103 could only happen with a substantial majority – something on the order of two-thirds – of unaffiliated (independent) voters opposing the measure, something which portends well for Republican hopes in 2012 elections.”

SCINTILLATING NEWS: Damaged Japan Nuclear Reactor May Still Be Active. “Nuclear fission by-products have been detected at one of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the government said Wednesday, raising the possibility that some parts of the melted core may still be active.”