AT AMAZON, markdowns in Patio, Lawn & Garden.

OUCH:

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: Obama War On Coal Key To Mitt Romney’s Ohio Hopes.

AMY ALKON: The Power of Delaying Gratification.

Hey, that kind of talk can be transgressive!

JAMES TARANTO: “Remember when the media portrayed Obama as ‘the adult in the room’ during the debt-ceiling negotiations? Now he seems to be aiming to run the most juvenile campaign ever.”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Student loans threaten a generation with ‘debtors’ prison,’ some say.

FOR YOUR HURRICANE-PREP FILES: Advice For Stranded Air Travelers.

LOWER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Bursting The Administrative Bubble.

Between 1950 and 2009, the number of K-12 public school students increased by 96 percent. During that same period, the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) school employees grew by 386 percent. Of those personnel, the number of teachers increased by 252 percent, while the ranks of administrators and other staff grew by 702 percent—more than 7 times the increase in students.

So “administrative bloat” isn’t just a problem for higher education. If you got rid of some of those administrators, you could use the money to pay teachers more, and hire better teachers.

WHAT DID HE KNOW AND WHEN DID HE KNOW IT? If Reelected, Obama Should Be Impeached over Benghazi, Roger L Simon writes.

MICHAEL BARONE PREDICTS THAT ROMNEY WILL WIN 2012 PRESIDENTIAL RACE, on Friday night’s Sean Hannity Show. Video at Ed Driscoll.com.

BOB KRUMM: Part I: Obama optimism: why it is unfounded.

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF: Drinking Establishment (Check). Highly Anticipated Mobile Phone Release (Check). Lost Phone (Check).

THE iPAD of 1935: Or at least, the Kindle of 1935.

IT’S COME TO THIS: Experts: Team Obama Should Root for Hurricane Sandy to Interrupt Election.

It occurs to me that this is another reason to avoid a national popular vote for President. A storm hitting, say, New York on Election day might make a big difference in who carries the nation under a popular-vote system. But under the Electoral College, it’s unlikely to make a difference, since New York will cast the same number of electoral votes no matter how bad the weather.

RELATED (From Ed): Doesn’t the left always root for hurricanes?

ON THE FRONT LINES OF A GLOBAL STRUGGLE: Veteran Canadian journo Terry Glavin pens an epic essay for the Ottawa Citizen about the rupturing violence from Tunis to Kabul and everywhere in between that doubles as a book review of Is This Your First War? by Michael Petrou, Arab Spring Dreams by Sohrab Ahmari and Nasser Weddady, and my own new book, Where the West Ends.

FASTER, PLEASE: Silicon Valley wants to give private jets a makeover for the smartphone era. This sounds promising.

THIS HIRE IS JUST NOT WORKING OUT: Termination of Employee USAPOTUS0044\

KIND OF LIKE HOW AMNESTY WAS LEFT OUT OF HIS PLATFORM: Obama tells MTV he won’t push for gay marriage in a second term. “Let me be clear” at this point any voter who believes anything this man promises is either an idiot or trying to be victimized.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST the questions that liberal historian Douglas Brinkley asked Obama in his Rolling Stone hagiography interview, with the questions that a local Denver television anchor asked the president today.

POLIWOOD: Affleck’s Argo Lives Up To Its Hype.