BESTSELLERS IN men’s dress shirts.

DEREK LOWE: Do We Really Need More Scientists? “There’s surely an upper bound to the proportion of students who could usefully study the hard sciences. We can argue about what that number is, but not, I think about its existence. Stipulating that, the question becomes whether we should find ways to get the smartest and hardest-working students into (or back into) these fields, which would mean dragging some of them away from business and law careers. But there’s a potential problem there, too: if money and social standing are your motivating factors, you’ve probably ruled out the sciences for those reasons alone.”

OBAMA’S PLAN to make Africa gay-friendly.

GENOMIC MEDICINE: A great leap forward?

WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT NUCLEAR SAFETY from Fukushima. “Nuclear experts say the key to controlling future incidents and thus restoring faith in nuclear energy is a ‘defense in depth’ approach to reactor design and emergency preparedness—precisely what was missing at Fukushima. Locating backup air-cooled diesel generators in basements, for example, was a sign that Fukushima wasn’t fully prepared for a tsunami.” That’s like the below-sea-level backup generators in New Orleans.

PROF. JACOBSON: The “civility” comedy gold practically writes itself.

TENNESSEE CONGRESSMAN JIM COOPER on America’s problem with outdated laws that never get repealed.

I should call attention to my House of Repeal proposal, which I also discussed in this talk at Harvard Law School last fall.

UPDATE: For those writing me to credit Robert Heinlein with the House Of Repeal idea, please read the article, where full credit is given.

GLOBAL WARMING MAY BE LOOKING LIKE A BUST, but what about ocean acidification?

ED MORRISSEY: Video: CNN beclowns itself painting Breitbart editor-in-chief as racist. Have you no decency, CNN? No decency at all?

Literacy, I’ve pretty much already given up on . . . .

Plus this: “Frankly, it’s clear that no one at CNN does critical thinking, on race theory or anything else. The point of Andrew’s final project isn’t so much to make Obama’s early radical ties clear; it’s to point out how the media tried to keep them quiet. This uninformed attack from O’Brien and most of the CNN panel is a great demonstration of the very point that Andrew wanted to make with these videos.” Even in death, he continues to expose them.

UPDATE: If the Bell Tape is “Nothing” Why is the Media Pushing Back So Hard?

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Paul Bressie writes:

Just another classic Breitbart misdirection.

Just as the Shirley Sherrod video wasn’t an indictment of her (as he included the later “I learned” part), it was an indictment of the audience agreeing with her before the reveal.

This Obama video isn’t about Obama’s radical past. It’s about the media and how they’ve abdicated their jobs and become water carriers and secret service agents for Obama.

It is all the more amazing because the media doesn’t even notice it.

They’re hired for loyalty, not intellect.

DOG BITES MAN: Leftist Dictator Outlaws Guns. “Chavez isn’t long for this world. His apparatchiks know it and they appear to be clearing the decks to make it easier to handle any general unrest that could develop when the news finally comes that Pugsley’s assumed room temperature. It’s a lot easier mowing down a crowd of protestors when they’re not shooting back at you.”

A NEW FIREWALL FROM BILL WHITTLE: Constrained vs. Unconstrained.

CAMPAIGN FOR PRIMARY ACCOUNTABILITY knocks out Jean Schmidt in Ohio. If I were, say, Orrin Hatch I’d be worried.

UPDATE: Reader Robert Ethan Hahn emails:

I credit the Tea Partiers on the Clermont County Republican Central Committee, who got Jean Schmidt un-endorsed this cycle:

http://www.gopclermont.org/endorsed-candidates-2012.html

Note:

Races where candidates requested endorsement but where none was granted were the following:

2nd Congressional District

…those central committees are where the action is – that’s where you go to take the party back.

And on Utah, reader Andrew Piereder writes:

Utah holds it’s Republican precinct caucuses tonight. These neighborhood caucuses elect delegates to the state convention in May. No recent polling, but my informal efforts over the past couple of months or so paint a startlingly bleak picture for Hatch.

In spite of extensive mailings, townhalls, interviews, etc… Hatch’s arguments are getting a dead cat bounce. Hatch’s ambitions are a common topic of conversation and I’ve talked to exactly one person who is supportive. While Tea Party types are actively hostile towards Hatch, what is more interesting is that Utahns with no particular grudge against Hatch, simply think he’s overstayed his welcome. Hatch’s main argument has been that if reelected, he’ll be the chair of the finance committee and in a position to ‘help’ Utah with federal dollars. That appears to have backfired as most people I’ve talked to consider that point to be proof that Hatch is a big part of the problem in Washington.

Hatch’s strongest positive is Romney’s endorsement, but Mitt’s approval isn’t tipping the scales in his favor.

The likely outcome in tonight’s precinct caucuses is a large slate of unsympathetic delegates who will be immune to Hatch’s blandishments.

Stay tuned.

MORE: Several readers note that the Utah caucuses are next week, not this week.

UNEXPECTEDLY: Developing World Success Shocks Economists.

CHANGE: CEOs Press Congress, Obama For Lower Taxes, ‘Smarter’ Regulation.

Fresh out of a meeting with members of the Blue Dog Coalition, dozens of CEOs in town for a series of Business Roundtable policy and lobbying meetings today unveiled proposals to boost the economy.

The plan, billed as “Taking Action for America,” calls for a balanced federal budget, a reform of federal regulations and a lower corporate tax rate based on a territorial tax system, among others.

I’m not expecting action before November.

GREEN AND WASTEFUL: The High Cost of Clean Energy.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: “The total outstanding student-loan balance in the U.S. being greater than total outstanding credit-card debt — old news. But total outstanding student loans are now also greater than total outstanding auto loans ($870 billion vs. $730 billion).”

AT AMAZON, bestselling wallets.

Also, Android phones from Verizon.

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: How Many Senate Staffers Does It Take To Hold A Sign For Barbara Boxer?

ROGER KIMBALL: Thoughts on the Conventional Wisdom.

CONTRARY OPINIONS SHOULD NOT BE ENCOURAGED — THIS IS A UNIVERSITY AFTER ALL: University president lambastes professor-blogger for finding some good in Rush Limbaugh’s anti-Fluke rant. You know, it’s going to be harder and harder to sell the notions of universities as places where people pursue knowledge for its own sake.

And Landsburg has tenure, but don’t you think that a university president going after a professor like this will serve to chill the speech of untenured professors, grad students, etc.? And do you think Joel Seligman was unaware of that?

UPDATE: Prof. Stephen Clark writes:

Let’s see how long it takes for the AAUP and Landsburg’s colleagues at Rochester to condemn Seligman’s infringement on academic freedom.

Seligman had a choice to intervene, or not, and chose to invoke the power of his office within the university in a manner that can easily be interpreted as an attempt to strong-arm those who do not have the same rank or protections that Landsburg enjoys. This has the elements of a model case.

In my opinion, CAO’s of universities have an obligation to stand above the fray, to set an example. Seligman’s actions have become too typical of the modern university president to the detriment of the university as an American institution.

Other readers wonder why the President is attacking the only faculty member at Rochester that anyone has ever heard of. That’s not quite fair — Seligman himself was once a quite well-known legal scholar — but certainly this sort of thing may make it a bit harder for Rochester to attract independent thinkers in the future. Then again, maybe Rochester doesn’t want to attract independent thinkers. That’s certainly the impression given . . .

ANOTHER UPDATE: More on this scandal from Tom Maguire. “If the question is, what student activists deserve to be mocked, here is the answer.”

Plus: “Seligman is not threatening any reprisals, but his comments may have a chilling effect. That may seem like an especially undesirable outcome in the frozen tundra of Rochester, but on the other hand, plenty of people, including plenty of academics, self-chill and self-regulate.”

Which sharply undercuts the “public good” argument for higher education.

HERE’S THE YouTube version of our video report from the D.C. Breitbart memorial.

PAUL BEDARD: NRA warns of Obama packing Supreme Court.

The National Rifle Association is already jumping into the 2012 election, warning that a Democratic Senate and reelected president could get a shot at changing the political makeup of the Supreme Court and raining a hail of gun fire on the Second Amendment.

“We can’t afford a strategy of praying for the health of five Supreme Court justices,” said Chris Cox, director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, in a reference to the one-vote GOP majority on the court of nine aging justices.

Cox said the NRA isn’t waiting for the presidential election to get involved, turning to key Senate races to endorse pro-gun candidates even in primaries. Wednesday, for example, the powerful lobby backed Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock over Sen. Dick Lugar in the GOP primary. “The Supreme Court is certainly running in every Senate race in the country,” he told Secrets.

When I think Lugar, I don’t think Second Amendment.

FROM SARAH HOYT, a review of Ric Locke’s Temporary Duty. “Now, kindly, go and buy his book, so that he’ll feel inspired to write the second one. You see, he left a lot of puzzling hints, including an implication humans came from the stars (made me feel about 12 and reading Space Engineers) and I want him to write more about that universe and explain at least some of it.” And yes, it reminded me of early Heinlein, too.

FREE SPEECH IS NOT FOR ENEMIES OF THE REGIME: Carl Levin: Sure, I’d Love To See Rush Limbaugh Silenced.