WAR ON WOMEN: De Blasio staffer ‘shacking up with ex-boss Spitzer.’

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CHANGE: A puffy, glum Obama at an NCAA basketball game.

Here’s the picture. He doesn’t look that puffy.

THE WHITE HOUSE’S PROBLEM:

A top progressive operative put it more bluntly: “These guys are stunningly arrogant. They really believe that their shit doesn’t smell, that they have all the answers. And that arrogance continues to hurt them.”

Yeah, that sounds about right.

MY USA TODAY COLUMN: Obama Had An Average Year.

JUSTINE SACCO’S FATHER SEEMS LIKE A PUTZ. Assuming, of course, that a Twitter-sourced report from The Raw Story can be relied on.

SPOOFING THE SYSTEM: Occidental College has been barraged with bogus allegations of sexual assault in recent days after two groups, one claiming to represent ‘men’s rights’ set out to undermine the school’s anonymous reporting system. “There’s also a controversy at Occidental about its failure to meet federal standards in reporting reports of sexual assault, so the school needs some kind of system for encouraging reports. But those who fear false reports are motivated to create pressure against any system that makes it too easy to make a false report. This particular protest, however, if it is what it appears to be, seems to entail making false reports as a way to demonstrate the harms of false reports. It’s possible that the reports from men against women are not false, but are reports of conduct that fits the schools definition of sexual assault but that men normally refrain from reporting. I’m thinking of unwanted fondling, hugging, and kissing, which women may impose on men, assuming the men must really want it and/or counting on the tendency of men to silently endure these low-level assaults.”

MATT YGLESIAS, call your office!

IN JUST A FEW MINUTES, Amy Alkon interviews Dilbert’s Scott Adams.

WELL, THE MESSIAH NEEDS REST: Obama Took More Vacation on Average Than Private-Sector Workers 20 Yrs on Job.

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SPACE: Remastered, Stabilised Apollo 16 Footage Of The Lunar Rover Looks Just Beautiful.

PLEASE READ OUR ARTICLE — WHEN YOU CAN FIND IT: Readers Getting Tired of PopUps, Slide-Unders, and Autoplays.

Anyone noticing more and more irritating ads these days? And then sometimes the autoplay video that wants to rob you of 30 seconds of precious life fails to load properly, and you spend extra time waiting for something you don’t want to see in the first place.

It’s like we’ve been transported back to GeoCities personal sites from 1995 – remember when every page had blink tags and twinkly banners? It’s like there’s a contest to see just how much crap we can fit onto a page now.

But those blinky GeoCities sites had their own charm at least. Sure they’d give you a headache after three minutes, but at least you could see the page, then click onward. This new batch of ad splatter is designed to keep you away from your goal as long as possible.

I’ve noticed that. I block that stuff here at InstaPundit, though it occasionally slips through, but I’ve noticed that even a lot of “respectable” sites have that crap now. It says bad things about the economics of online publishing that people are resorting to that, I think.

FASTER, PLEASE: New Compound Could Reverse Loss of Muscle Mass in Cancer and Other Diseases.

A new antibody could dramatically boost strength and muscle mass in patients with cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), sporadic inclusion body myositis, and in elderly patients with sarcopenia according to research published ahead of print in the journal Molecular and Cellular Biology.

“Age-related loss of muscle mass is a major contributing factor to falls, broken bones, and the loss of mobility,” says co-corresponding author David Glass of Novartis, Cambridge, MA, one of the compound’s developers, along with first author Estelle Trifilieff, also of Novartis. “This study illustrates that we may have a powerful tool to prevent muscle wasting and promote growth.”

The new compound (BYM338) acts to prevent muscle wasting by blocking a receptor that engages a cellular signaling system that exists to put the brakes on muscle development when appropriate. But sometimes those brakes are activated inappropriately, or are stuck on.

“Our goal was to release the brakes,” says Glass.

How long before bodybuilders start trying it out?

A NICE STOCKING-STUFFER: The Photon keychain LED light. I have one on my keychain and it’s very handy. Surprisingly bright.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Why Your iPhone Is Ruining Your Sex Life.

SADISM FLOWERS ON THE INTERNET: So, Justine Finally Landed. . .

I WAS EXPECTING AN EARTH-SHATTERING KABOOM: Study: Yellowstone magma much bigger than thought. “The hot molten rock beneath Yellowstone National Park is 2 ½ times larger than previously estimated, meaning the park’s supervolcano has the potential to erupt with a force about 2,000 times the size of Mount St. Helens, according to a new study. . . . The last Yellowstone eruption happened 640,000 years ago, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. For years, observers tracking earthquake swarms under Yellowstone have warned the caldera is overdue to erupt. Farrell dismissed that notion, saying there isn’t enough data to estimate the timing of the next eruption.”

21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: “I’m Not Kinky Enough for My Fiancé.”

ADVANCES IN PRENATAL TESTING: Too Much Information? Not if it’s accurate, unless you don’t trust people to make good decisions.

REVIEW: 2015 Mercedes-Benz C-class: A Touch of (S-)Class. “Mercedes-Benz’s current new-product onslaught, which saw the introduction of both the critically important CLA-class compact sedan and the S-class flagship this year alone, isn’t over. Joining the party is the 2015 C-class sedan, which is making its debut at the 2014 Detroit auto show. It’s also quite possibly is the brand’s most important model to hit the ground for the next couple of years. That’s because it’s the automaker’s top seller here in the States, and faces new pressures to set itself apart from the smaller and youthful CLA-class while also continuing its age-old battle with the BMW 3-series and Audi A4. It also must fend off the excellent Lexus IS and Cadillac ATS.”

FASTER, PLEASE: Anti-aging formula slated to begin human trials.

UPDATE: More from Tom Maguire.

READER BOOK PLUG: From Jenny Andersen, Wallpaper With Roses.

WHAT’S NEXT IN electric-car battery tech.

CHANGE: Cracker Barrel does a 180: ‘Today, we are putting all our Duck Dynasty products back in our stores.’ I guess somebody finally looked at their customer base. Best part: “And, we apologize for offending you.”