LIFE AMONG THE BARBARIANS: Islamist threat to Timbuktu’s ancient scientific texts. “Timbuktu’s priceless collection of ancient scientific texts is at risk of destruction by hard-line Islamists. Ansar Dine, a Tuareg militia, occupies territory around Timbuktu, a town in northern Mali listed as a world heritage site. In recent weeks, the group has destroyed historic tombs in the town (see picture), which house the remains of Islamic Sufi saints and which Ansar Dine says are idolatrous.”

TEST-FLYING A CONSUMER QUADCOPTER DRONE.

TODAY’S KINDLE DAILY DEAL: Life From Scratch. A novel about becoming a food-blogging celebrity.

BUILDING IN THE DEEP: 7 Marvels of Underwater Engineering. Besides Jacqueline Bisset in The Deep, that is.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Wisconsin: Governor Walker Breaks New Ground in Higher Ed.

PAUL RAHE: Grade Inflation & Accreditation in Higher Education. “The accreditation system was originally set up by colleges and universities with an eye to separating the sheep from the goats so that parents could have some idea of what they were getting into. The federal government had nothing to do with it. But the old order was hijacked a long time ago, and in the process yet another instrument was created for the micro-management by the federal government of entities that would not otherwise fall under its jurisdiction. The maneuver is simple. To get federal funding, a school must be accredited, and to get accreditation they must meet certain standards. There are two things wrong with what goes on. The first is that the accrediting agencies are worse than useless. They are extremely intrusive and demand all sorts of data that the institutions must assiduously collect; they systematically ignore the deep-seated corruption that besets our colleges and universities; and they make everyone, including those of us who teach in the classroom, jump through ridiculous hoops.”

NIGEL FARAGE ON Europe’s 19th Nervous Breakdown. “Nobody believes you. The wheels are coming off.”

CHANGE: Smart Headlights See through Rain and Snow.

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: “Countrywide Financial Corp. gave discount loans to former and current members of the U.S. Congress and executives at government-sponsored Fannie Mae (FNMA) as it lobbied to scuttle legislation that would have diminished its sale of sub-prime mortgages.”

Plus, from Angelo Mozilo: “Don’t worry” about the credit score. The motto of our ruling class!

DRUDGE DOES IT AGAIN:

CHANGE: Israel’s Emergence As Energy Superpower Making Waves. “Actual production is still minuscule, but evidence is accumulating that the Promised Land, from a natural resource point of view, could be an El Dorado: inch for inch the most valuable and energy rich country anywhere in the world. If this turns out to be true, a lot of things are going to change, and some of those changes are already underway. . . . The prospect of huge oil reserves in Israel comes on top of the recent news about large natural gas discoveries off the coast that have been increasingly attracting attention and investor interest.”

BOB OWENS: Are Shooters To Blame for Western Wildfires? No. The environmentalists are. But count on the anti-gun spin getting more press.

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: The Libyan Afterparty Continues As Timbuktu Dies. “Mali now stands to lose two decades of steady progress towards a more prosperous life for its citizens.” How’s that “smart diplomacy” stuff workin’ out for ya?

ANN ROMNEY NOT TOO HAPPY with the Obama Campaign’s “kill Romney” message.

Remember all that “civility” bullshit from last year?

UPDATE: Has the “Violent Political Rhetoric” Panic Come to an End? Only until there’s another chance to put it to political use against a Republican.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Prof. Stephen Clark writes: “No doubt they’ll try. But, just as various canards pushed by the White House and media allies have recently backfired, I suspect any future attempts will be quickly put down. Many are now watching and just waiting to pounce when it comes.”

Yes, all sorts of people are complaining about the “Army of Davids” effect lately.

ROLL CALL: Effort to Overturn Contraceptive Mandate Shifts Focus to Bishops’ Advocacy. “A Catholic-led fight to overturn contraceptive mandates in the health care law has drawn big dollars, large crowds and prominent GOP backing, raising questions about how aggressively Catholic bishops might wade into politics.” I don’t think the bishops waded into politics. I think politics waded into them.

CHANGE: More state leaders considering opting out of Medicaid expansion.

HOPEY-CHANGEY: WaPo: Some student loans to become more expensive despite deal.

GALLERY: From Ferrari to Fiat, a Look Back at Pininfarina’s Masterful Designs.

AT AMAZON, markdowns in Computers & Accessories.

Also, today only: Up to 65% off of Dragon NaturallySpeaking & Dragon Dictate.

MICHAEL TOTTEN: Chasing Demons From The Middle East To The Balkans.

HIGGS BOSON DISCOVERY looking like the real thing.

TIM CARNEY: Obama’s subsidies: Private profit, public risk.

Obama plans to use the Export-Import Bank — a federal agency that gives taxpayer-backed loans and loan guarantees to foreign buyers who buy American goods — to subsidize U.S. manufacturers even when they are selling to other American companies.

This would be a significant step in the federal government’s transformation into a venture capital firm and investment bank involved in all corners of the economy. It’s private profit and public risk. Conservative Sen. Jim DeMint calls it “venture socialism.”

Fatcats will get rich, and most ventures will fail. That’s my prediction.

JOHN LOTT IN THE MARYLAND LAW REVIEW: What A Balancing Test Will Show For Right-To-Carry Laws. (PDF). Key bit: “If right-to-carry laws either reduce crime or leave it unchanged and if no one argues that they lead to more accidental gun deaths or suicides, regulations prohibiting people from carrying concealed handguns cannot withstand either strict or intermediate scrutiny. This Essay will review the empirical evidence of the impact carry laws have on crime rates and conclude that such laws cannot survive strict or intermediate scrutiny because they do not further the govern- ment’s interest in public safety.”