HOW TO BUILD A HOVERCRAFT WITH YOUR KIDS.

Or, if you’re so inclined, a trebuchet.

AT AMAZON, 20% off on Bosch tool orders.

POLL: Oh my: Walker 54, Barrett 42 in Wisconsin. Don’t get cocky, kid.

ARE TARIFF EXEMPTIONS THE NEW EARMARKS? Selling favors is what politicians do. The more power they have, the more favors they can sell.

LEGAL EDUCATION UPDATE: Rutgers-Camden Dean Doubles Down on Questionable Marketing Pitch to Prospective Law Students.

DEBUNKING THE DETROIT FREE PRESS’S ANTI-GUN TWADDLE:

“More People Die from Guns Than Car Accidents in Michigan.”

So states a Detroit Free Press op-ed headline. . . . But wait: The number of accidental gun deaths in Michigan in 2009 (the most recent year reported in WISQARS) was … 12, compared to 962 accidental motor-vehicle-related deaths. 99% of the gun deaths in Michigan that year consisted of suicides (575) and homicides (495).

Now say what you will about whether some gun control laws might reduce suicides or homicides, but it’s extremely unlikely that any “safety-related changes” or “regulat[ions] … for health and safety” are going to eliminate all but a tiny fraction of those suicides and homicides, which are overwhelmingly intentional acts by people who are willing to kill and are unlikely to be stopped by “regulat[ion] by the federal government for health and safety.” Yet curiously the op-ed says nothing about how few of the gun deaths were accidental, and how few homicides or suicides could be prevented by “safety-related changes” along the lines of the safety regulations imposed on cars.

This also helps explain, I think, why gun rights supporters are so worried about “health and safety” proposals. Precisely because such proposals are so unlikely to have much of an effect, the gun rights supporters naturally assume that the backers of the proposals aren’t really after modest car-like “regulat[ions] … for health and safety,” but are actually trying to bring about much more aggressive sorts of gun restrictions.

Indeed. Especially when such proposals are advanced so dishonestly.

SUSANNAH BRESLIN: Three Ways Women Undermine Themselves At Work.

CYBERWAR: U.S. hacks Web sites of al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen.

YEAH, THIS’LL HELP: Police urge Greeks to keep money in bank.

STACY MCCAIN IS glorying in Herman Cain’s support.

REALLY? REALLY? NJ Democrat Arrested For Hacking Recall Website. “A New Jersey mayor and his son were arrested Thursday by the FBI for allegedly hacking into an email account and website tied to a recall effort — and then intimidating those associated with the site.” There seems to be a lot of this kind of behavior going around. It doesn’t bespeak confidence.

RULES ARE FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE: Caught Violating Weekend Copter Ban, Bloomberg Will Alter Flight Plans. “An amateur video, filmed by an annoyed Manhattanite and broadcast Tuesday on WABC-TV, showed the mayor landing and taking off several times over the weekend from the East 34th Street helipad, where trips on Saturday and Sunday have been expressly banned for more than a decade.”

RETRO-RENOVATOR:

Kueber argues that midcentury modest homes have a lot going for them — high-quality materials, excellent craftsmanship and attractive appearances. She even loves what she calls the “’57 Chevy colors” that were common in bathrooms of the era, which she sees as cheerful.

Kueber said she’s found a following among younger homeowners, as well as middle-age people who feel nostalgic about the era. The popularity of the ’60s TV series “Mad Men” hasn’t hurt, either. Because of it, “midcentury modern has penetrated the mainstream in a big way,” she said.

That’s restoration, not renovation.

PHOTOS: The American West, 150 Years Ago.

AT AMAZON, 30% or more off on casual button-down shirts.

ONE EUROBOND to Rule Them All?

STUDY: Calcium Supplements May Increase Risk of Heart Attacks.

HERO, ZERO, WHATEVER: Reason “Hero of Freedom” Larry Flynt’s Latest Stunt? Photoshopping a Penis into Mouth of Conservative Pundit S.E. Cupp.

WELL, IT TAKES A LOT MORE GREEN TO BUY: New Porsche Hybrid Claims To Be Greener Than A Prius.

IN THE WASHINGTON POST: Marc Thiessen: Forget Bain — Obama’s public-equity record is the real scandal.

Despite a growing backlash from his fellow Democrats, President Obama has doubled down on his attacks on Mitt Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital. But the strategy could backfire in ways Obama did not anticipate. After all, if Romney’s record in private equity is fair game, then so is Obama’s record in public equity — and that record is not pretty.

Since taking office, Obama has invested billions of taxpayer dollars in private businesses, including as part of his stimulus spending bill. Many of those investments have turned out to be unmitigated disasters — leaving in their wake bankruptcies, layoffs, criminal investigations and taxpayers on the hook for billions. . . . Amazingly, Obama has declared that all the projects received funding “based solely on their merits.” But as Hoover Institution scholar Peter Schweizer reported in his book, “Throw Them All Out,” fully 71 percent of the Obama Energy Department’s grants and loans went to “individuals who were bundlers, members of Obama’s National Finance Committee, or large donors to the Democratic Party.”

Follow the link for many examples.

UPDATE: More bad staff work: Obama visiting wind turbine factory where private equity blows gov’t financing away.

BETRAYING LILLY: Senate Democrats pay female staffers less than male staffers.

IN BRITISH COLUMBIA, Zombie Prep As Disaster Prep. “If you’re ready for zombies, you’re ready for any disaster.”

Some people think you should take a broader view. “”It’s funny and sometimes quasi-useful to read about zombie survival and all that, but in my humble opinion, zombies are not a viable focal point due to lack of reality.”

READER BOOK PLUG: Stephen Gallup writes:

Please consider linking to the Amazon sales page for What About the Boy? A Father’s Pledge to His Disabled Son. (I do hope this is not asking too much, since it was one of your “received in the mail” titles last September. That day was my all-time best in terms of sales.)

I think you would have been interested in a fascinating conference I attended Saturday, in which prominent researchers provided high-level summaries of the work underway on understanding and finding treatments for neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. (Please let me know if you would like to see my typed notes from that event.) My personal blog post about it is here.

Happy to oblige.

THE HISTORY OF KEY DESIGN: From Ancient Wooden Rods to the Hotel Keycard.

WAS LACK OF EXERCISE TO BLAME? Inventor Of Remote-Control Dies At Age 96. “We take these sorts of inventions for granted, but we should celebrate people like him who come up with brilliant inventions and make sure everybody knows their names.” True enough.

Related: The Remote Control As Subversive Technology. “By allowing the user to move rapidly between program offerings and avoid unpleasant or uninteresting material, the [remote control] works in opposition to the historic structure and operational parameters of the U.S. television industry.”