ARE PLASTICS DESTROYING YOUR MANHOOD? From the comments: “If you’re eating enough canned foods/drinks to be even partially concerned by this you already have bigger problems than what the can is lined with.”

I DUNNO — HAVE YOU LOOKED AT HIS DONORS LIST LATELY? Why did the Obama administration agree to a “robo-signing” settlement that barely punishes the huge banks behind the foreclosure crisis?

WHAT WOULD YODA SAY ABOUT THIS? CNN “Tries” To Be Impartial.

RICHARD DAWKINS: I don’t just doubt God’s existence, I also doubt his nonexistence. Some people chide him for his lack of faith. Er, nonfaith? Whatever.

17 5-MINUTE MARRIAGE FIXES. Mostly aimed at women, but not entirely. There’s also this.

JAMES PETHOKOUKIS: The Economy Is Doing Better, So Why Isn’t Obama? I’m not convinced that the economy is doing much better, and I suspect neither are most voters, who probably don’t see any visible improvement in their own situations.

EUROPEAN METAPHOR ALERT: Frozen falling faeces flummox Germans. “Residents across Germany are complaining that they’re receiving unwanted gifts falling from the heavens: Giant chunks of frozen faeces and urine that plummet to the ground after leaking out of passing aeroplanes.”

THESE PEOPLE THINK EVERYTHING IS SOME SORT OF “PRIVILEGE:” Geithner: ‘Privilege of Being an American’ Is Why Rich Need Higher Taxes. Unless, of course, you sneak across the border. Then it’s a right.

FOREIGN POLICY: Exclusive: State Department quietly warning region on Syrian WMDs.

JAMES LILEKS WRITES: “I don’t think the St Louis Fed Chairman ever heard that Heinlein quote.” St. Louis Fed President Says ‘Bad Luck’ Responsible for Economy.

TEN YEARS AGO ON INSTAPUNDIT: “We used to have peace officers. Now we have law enforcement officers. The difference is more than just semantics.”

SO NOW WE’RE JUST HAGGLING ABOUT THE PRICE: David Albo, Virginia Lawmaker, Says Wife Wouldn’t Have Sex Because Of Transvaginal Ultrasound Bill.

ADVERTISING FAIL: An ad for car insurance featuring Mohammed Atta.

STUDY: Americans Are Getting Less Friendly On Facebook.

I DON’T SEE ANYTHING “EMBARRASSING” ABOUT THIS REQUEST — IT’S JUST DILUTING THE TROLLS.

AT AMAZON, markdowns on Livestrong fitness equipment.

VERY FUNNY, BUT HE’D NEVER DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT TO MUSLIMS: Stephen Colbert Tackles Posthumous Mormon Baptisms By Converting All The Dead Mormons To Judaism.

Because, you know, like most of our political “comedians,” he’s a cowardly partisan hack. I think, however, that all of this anti-Mormon bigotry from the “forces of tolerance” will backfire.

And if I’m wrong, Stephen, maybe you’ll do the “Zombie Mohammed” thing.

UPDATE: Reader Dustin F writes: “If Colbert did a Zombie Mohammed sketch, Comedy Central wouldn’t even air it anyway, given their censorship of South Park. These folks have zero credibility on the subject of tolerating offense, since Comedy Central’s compliance with threats is a major example of allowing terrorism to work.”

My advice to Mormons and others: If you want respect, behead a few people. It won’t take much violence, as long as the threat is credible. Though it helps if they see you as an enemy of Western civilization. Then they’ll enjoy being intimidated.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Supersizing Higher Education Is Not The Answer:

Wood demonstrates that there is no connection between where a nation stands in that regard and its economic success; some countries with higher percentages than ours are economically feeble (e.g. Russia) and others with lower percentages than ours are strong (e.g. Switzerland).

What truly correlates with economic success is not how many people get college credentials, but the degree of economic freedom in a country. Hong Kong isn’t prosperous because a large percentage of its citizens get college degrees. It’s prosperous because the government doesn’t meddle in the economy. In the Index of Economic Freedom, Hong Kong has been No. 1 for a long time. In that same index, the U.S. has been falling for years, and is now No. 10.

Too bad that Obama isn’t determined to elevate the U.S. to No. 1 in that respect.

The trouble with economic freedom is that it yields insufficient graft.

ON FOX & FRIENDS, Mary Corbett talks about her new book, National Guard 101: A Handbook for Spouses.

JAMES TARANTO: Bigoted and hateful rhetoric from a New York Times columnist. “Remember when the Times lectured us on civility and warned of ‘eliminationist rhetoric’ from the right? It was largely bunk. But here we have a Times columnist likening his political critics to vermin. To be sure, he is not actually going to exterminate them, as others who’ve used such metaphors down through history have been known to do. Blow’s comments, that is, are not dangerous. But they are profoundly disturbed and indecent.”

IN ITALY, A PREHISTORIC HUG.

Archaeologists in Italy have unearthed two skeletons thought to be 5,000 to 6,000 years old, locked in an embrace.

The pair from the Neolithic period were discovered outside Mantua, about 40km (25 miles) south of Verona.

The pair, almost certainly a man and a woman, are thought to have died young as their teeth were mostly intact, said chief archaeologist Elena Menotti.

The picture is certainly striking.

MORE BACKGROUND ON Peter Gleick’s Climate Fakery.

JAMES PETHOKOUKIS: Why Obama can be blamed for 50 percent of the weak recovery. Only 50%?

SCIENCE: Report Affirms Lifesaving Role of Colonoscopy. “In patients tracked for as long as 20 years, the death rate from colorectal cancer was cut by 53 percent in those who had the test and whose doctors removed precancerous growths, known as adenomatous polyps, researchers reported on Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine. The test examines the inside of the intestine with a camera-tipped tube.”

AT AMAZON, markdowns on cellphones and accessories.