SLOWING COGNITIVE DECLINE with strawberries and blueberries.

WELL, THAT NARROWS IT DOWN: Gas may hit $6 mark, or maybe pump prices have peaked.

HMM: Mitochondrial DNA that escapes from autophagy causes inflammation and heart failure. So is there a way to block that?

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN THIS WOULD HAPPEN, AND THEY WERE RIGHT! U.S. Doesn’t Need To Know A Person’s Name to Kill Him in a Drone Strike.

PROF. JACOBSON: Obama Got Osama, But Lost The Middle East. It does seem to be working out that way, alas.

THE HILL: Republican floats measure calling on official to resign over “crucify” remarks.

THE BEST WAY TO BE A SOCIALIST.

ANN ALTHOUSE: Why aren’t we all talking about the “secret plan to evacuate some residents of Chicago in the event of major trouble during the NATO summit next month”? Well, I did have a post last week, though this sounds bigger.

But really: If the Obama Administration can’t keep his hometown safe for residents during a NATO summit, what can it do?

COOL IS AS COOL DOES: GOP-Controlled Legislature Passes a Medical Marijuana Bill; Democratic Governor Plans to Veto It.

AT AMAZON, warehouse deals on groceries, health, and personal care.

JOEL KOTKIN: As California Collapses, Obama Follows Its Lead.

NEW YORK SUN: Geithner Crosses the Line Into the Political Fray as a Particularly Partisan Treasury Secretary.

IT TURNED OUT TO BE BEDBUG BITES: Monkeypox Scare Grounds Flight In Chicago.

BIG STICK, OR TWIG? Memo Reveals The ‘Gutsy’ Bin Laden Call That Wasn’t.

Like so many others, the final decision to pull the trigger on the world’s most-wanted man was delegated to an admiral who undoubtedly would have been thrown under the bus had the mission failed.

It’s been almost a year since President Obama’s leadership and foreign policy bona fides were allegedly established by the operation that killed Osama bin Laden. A campaign film narrated by Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks tells of the president’s alleged solitary, agonizing decision.

With apologies to Vice President Biden, maybe President Obama doesn’t carry quite as big a stick as Joe would lead us to believe.

As reported by Big Peace, Time magazine has obtained a memo written by Leon Panetta, then-director of the Central Intelligence Agency and now-Secretary of Defense, that says “operational decision-making and control” was really in the hands of William McRaven, a three-star admiral and former Navy SEAL.

Hmm.

SOMEHOW, I MISSED THIS LAST WEEK: In apparent first, a public pension plan files for bankruptcy.

GOOD QUESTION: Rosenbaum Rep: ‘Why Does MSNBC Compensate a Racist Like Sharpton?’

WHEN SARAH PALIN TALKED ABOUT “TARGETING” THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BEYOND THE PALE, BUT NOBODY CARES ABOUT THIS: Sharpton Sows Seeds of Next L.A. Riot.

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: Congress Is Making The Higher Education Bubble Worse.

By keeping the price of loans artificially low, Congress will make the value of getting a college degree appear to be worth more than it really is, thereby encouraging more students and their families to take out more loans. That means more demand for college, resulting in higher tuition. So Congress is putting more air into the higher-ed bubble.

So why are lawmakers doing it? The simple answer is the election is six months away, college loans are, in effect, a middle-class subsidy, and neither political party wants to upset loads of middle-class voters. And with all the emphasis both sides are putting on attracting young voters, they especially don’t want to anger them by increasing the price of college.

The somewhat more complicated answer is that politicians know that they are not likely to be blamed if the bubble does eventually burst. The economist Thomas Sowell once told me, “People ask me, after something like the housing bubble, don’t members of Congress ever learn? And I reply, ‘Of course they learn. They learn they can get away with it!’”

Indeed.

IT’S THOSE SUITS: Charlie Cook on Obama: ‘We have kind of a metrosexual president.’

PEGGY NOONAN: Republicans are aggravated by Obama. They should cheer up. So is everyone else.

Republicans are worried about the power of incumbency, and it is a real power. Presidents command the airwaves, as they used to say. If they want to make something the focus of national discussion, they usually can, at least for a while. And this president is always out there, talking.

But—and forgive me, because what I’m about to say is rude—has anyone noticed how boring he is? Plonking platitude after plonking platitude. To see Mr. Obama on the stump is to see a man at the podium who’s constantly dribbling away the punch line. He looks pleasant but lacks joy; he’s cool but lacks vigor. A lot of what he says could have been said by a president 12 or 20 years ago, little is anchored to the moment. As he makes his points he often seems distracted, as if he’s holding a private conversation in his head, noticing crowd size, for instance, and wishing the front row would start fainting again, like they used to.

I listen to him closely and find myself daydreaming: This is the best-tailored president since JFK. His suits, shirts and ties are beautifully cut from fine material. This is an elegant man. But I shouldn’t be thinking about that, I should be thinking about what a powerful case he’s making for his leadership. I’m not because he’s not.

The suits are nice, but they’re empty.

DALAI LAMA: You know who I love? George W. Bush!

CHANGE: Amazon.com agrees to begin collecting Texas sales taxes.

INDIANA: Pro-Lugar SuperPAC calls it quits.

CHANGE: President who tried to prosecute the men who waterboarded KSM to find Bin Laden now spiking the football over killing Bin Laden. Don’t be too hard on him. He doesn’t have much else to brag about.

Plus: “And this will come as a shock: That Romney quote is crap. . . . I also like that they included Wolf Blitzer’s question, but not the answer. Obama thinks you’re stupid. And if you voted for him, he’s right.”

Related: FLASHBACK: Obama Campaign Accused Clinton Of Using Bin Laden To ‘Score Political Points’ In 2008.