OBAMA CAMPAIGN ADDS ‘CLEAN COAL’ TO WEBSITE AFTER REPUBLICAN OUTCRY: Well that’s what the headline at Yahoo says, even though this is more fallout from Obama’s debacle in the Democratic primary in West Virginia. The link is also a  follow-up to yesterday’s post, here.

UPDATE: From Conn Carroll at the Washington Examiner, “Obama evolves on coal.”

MORE: Words, just words, as the president is wont to say.

Atlas ALWAYS shrugs.

In the Obama Administration, mere proof isn’t enough to combat political convenience.

THE GOOD NEWS is that schools in Timbuktu have re-opened after being conquered by reactionary Islamists. The bad news—and I probably don’t need to tell you what it is—is that boys and girls are now segregated and the teaching of philosophy and evolution is banned. Oh, and alcohol is banned, too, as are uncovered women. And most of the Christians have fled.

THE LEADER OF THE BULLIES/THE FOLLOWER OF THE BULLIES. Which one would you pick for President?

WHAT CENTURY IS THIS AGAIN? Thousands of North Korean women sold as slaves in China.

WHO KNEW DEMOCRATS NEED TRAINING TO PLAY THE RACE CARD? Well, apparently they do, according to House Democratic Caucus documents obtained by The Washington Examiner’s Joel Gehrke.

IF YOU’RE GOING TO CALL THAT TIME MAGAZINE COVER “MOMMY PORN” — you are also automatically calling it child porn.

THE ANCHORESS: Pelosi tries to give talking points to the Catholic Left.

OBAMA’S NEW OHIO AD: Just making stuff up at this point, Moe Lane writes.

Mayan astronomer geeks didn’t seem to think the world was going to end in 2012.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.  Remember that?  Yeah.  Compare and contrast: Islam and Catholicism under Obamacare.  (At this point they should be able to power several states from the energy generated by the Founders turning in their graves.)

OBAMA THE SOCIAL ISSUES FIREBUG:

The idea is to keep the Republicans chasing around, tamping down social issue flare-ups, until November so that they’re not able to focus on the real problems, which are jobs and the economy (I won’t try to take the analogy any further). It’s a deeply cynical strategy on the part of Obama and his team, but the fact that they’re resorting to it this early on suggests a degree of desperation that I find encouraging.

As the campaign takes shape, each time the Democrats attempt to bring up social issues Romney should politely explain that he would rather not waste time talking about matters that Americans will inevitably  disagree on, and which cannot be quickly or easily resolved by the President or Congress; and that he would prefer to focus on the subjects that are of pressing concern to every American – the economy and jobs, and Obama’s utter failure on both counts.

Or to put it another way, “That’s nice; now what about jobs?”

DID THE WASHPOST REPORT A 5,000-WORD EXPOSE ON OBAMA’S COCAINE USE IN THE LAST CYCLE? Of Course Not.

Dave Freer on Courage, PC and Power:  Political Correctness is almost never speaking truth to power. Saying a man who opens a door for a woman is a sexist pig is politically correct, but telling the elder women of your Somali clan that ‘cutting’(genital mutilation) is mutilation and a bad thing… is speaking truth to power.  Read the whole thing.

DAN HENNINGER AT WSJ: The Great Human-Rights Reversal: “The Democratic left has conceded human rights to the conservatives.”

RASMUSSEN HAS ROMNEY UP 7 PERCENTAGE POINTS over Obama today. Could it be the same-sex marriage flip? Rasmussen only cites economic factors. “This is the first time Romney has reached the 50% level of support and is his largest lead ever over the president.”

REUSABLE SHOPPING BAGS MAY GIVE CONSUMERS THE ‘RUNS’ FOR THEIR MONEY.

PAYING DRUG-ADDICTED WOMEN $300 TO GET THEMSELVES STERILIZED. A good idea? Is it ethical? A poll. (Bonus to comments-section-starved InstaPundit readers: You can comment at the linked Pollcode site.)

SWEATSHOP WORKERS MAKING OBAMA SWEATSHIRTS Subjected to Brutal Conditions, Racial Harassment, Called Lazy and Stupid.

DO BARBERS REALLY NEED A LICENSE?   Dick Carpenter and Lisa Knepper of the Institute for Justice discuss their jaw-dropping licensing report in the Wall Street Journal today.  Among their findings:  Cosmetologists need, on average, 10 times as many days to fulfill their educational and training requirements (372) than emergency medical technicians (33). In fact, 66 occupations face greater average licensing burdens than EMTs.  Carpenter and Knepper smartly ask:

Are all these regulatory barriers to entry really necessary to protect public safety or prevent consumers from shoddy work, as defenders of occupational licensure claim? Regulatory inconsistencies from state to state undermine this argument.

The vast majority of jobs we studied are done in one state or another by people without any government-issued license. Interior designers are licensed in just three states and the District of Columbia, for example, funeral attendants in only nine states, and shampooers in a mere five states. We know of no evidence that consumers in the remaining states demanded occupational licenses to protect them from an epidemic of dangerous shampooing.

And what are these unnecessary licensure laws doing for job growth? Time for a serious re-think.

TAX PROF: 50-State Tax Friendliness Survey; states rated A+ to F on map at link.

TAXING SUCCESS, OBAMACARE-STYLE:  Great op-ed by Henry Miller in the WSJ today about Obamacare’s punitive tax on medical device manufacturers and what that might mean for medical innovation and jobs.