EXPERIMENT: How I Stopped Eating Food. “I haven’t eaten a bite of food in 30 days, and it’s changed my life. . . . After a week advertisements for fast food looked repulsive. All I crave is Soylent.”

UPDATE: Here’s the situation at two months.

WAPO: The gun control vote and Harry Reid’s problem. “Without cover of a GOP filibuster, which now seems unlikely, a whole bunch of vulnerable Senate Democrats will in fact have to take the votes that they dread and are certain to be used against them in 2014.”

JULES CRITTENDEN UPDATES Combat Reads with some notes on the fall of Baghdad ten years ago.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times.

PRIVACY: Verizon will reprogram your air card so the feds can track you.

AT AMAZON, 70% Or More Off On Men’s Clothing.

COULD’VE BEEN A DARWIN AWARD: Daredevil office manager floats five miles across shark-infested waters by clinging to 200 helium balloons.

GERMAN THIEVES STEAL 5 tons of Nutella.

CONSUMER FRAUD: Fluffed up ferrets sold as toy poodles.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Why Pirates Wore Eye Patches.

PARENTING LESSONS FROM MACCHIAVELLI. “Like all moms, I was struggling to meet their every material need. Yet as I read ‘The Prince,’ I realized that the more things I gave them, the more they expected and less grateful they became.” On the other hand, you can take things too far. And others can read “The Prince.” She should wonder what happens when her husband adopts the same approach — as, to be fair, he should have all along.

DESIGNER CLOTHES DESIGNED FOR HANGOVERS. “Hangover outfits are a special sartorial breed. Optimally, you don’t have to get dressed at all and can just stay in bed, but more often than not you have to venture out for morning-after activities like brunch. The act of putting clothes on with a headache is daunting in itself, but there’s the added conundrum of wanting to dress for comfort without looking like the train wreck that you are.”

PRAGER UNIVERSITY: Did FDR End, Or Extend, The Depression?

HISTORY: 20 Photos That Change The Holocaust Narrative.

THIS MIGHT INTEREST SOME READERS: B-52 Days Remembered.

UPDATE: Jim Bennett emails:

The book link you just posted on the B-52 stories looks interesting. Many people these days have no idea how extensive the activities of the Cold War actually were. A good complement to that book is the new blog Cold War Warrior, which deal with the experiences of a friend of mine who was involved in the world of nuclear testing, and various other things. Worth checking out for anybody interested in such things.

Indeed. And give the Cold War warriors credit — we won, and we avoided nuclear catastrophe, which at the time seemed an unlikely dual outcome.

NEW TREND: Getting Married At Denny’s. The savings on catering alone are staggering. . . .

ROGER SIMON: The Good Dershowitz vs. The Bad Jimmuh.

DAVID CORN AS E. HOWARD HUNT?

David Corn at Mother Jones has lots of audio clips and transcript, but he doesn’t tell us who made the tape and gave it to him. Surveillance on a political campaign? If that’s not bad, should we revise our opinion about the Watergate burglary?

Corn would like us to think he’s got material that’s quite nefarious, because “McConnell and his aides considered assaulting Judd for her past struggles with depression and for her religious views.” But doesn’t every campaign brainstorm about everything that could possibly be used?

No, that’s not the right comparison. Corn presumably isn’t the bugger, but is like whatever sympathetic (or duped) journalist they would have peddled the discoveries from the Watergate bugs to, if that plan had worked. But that raises other questions:

Either this kind of bugging is acceptable or it’s not. I’m surprised Corn went forward with it when the material isn’t even shocking. It’s actually quite bland… in comparison to what I assume is batted around within all the various campaigns as they decide how to attack opponents. Can we get transcripts of all that crap? I’d love to blog it.

Suddenly, I realize why Corn may believe this material is worth printing: These are attacks on a sweet and pretty lady. Corn’s decision to publish is — ironically — evidence of sexism.

Politics ain’t beanbag, we’re told — at least when the “sweet and pretty lady” is Sarah Palin.

Plus, from the comments: “I’d like to hear secret tapes of what Ashley Judd says about America, Americans, and Kentuckians. McConnell’s campaign was only looking at material SHE put out for public consumption.”

MORE: A reader emails: “So is Corn for the LA times releasing the Khalidi tape?” Heh. I bet I know the answer.

BAD NEWS FOR SHRINKS, GOOD NEWS FOR SHOE SALESMEN: More than half of Americans turn to retail therapy to lift their mood. “What triggers one to seek retail therapy? One out of five (nearly 19 percent) participants said to improve their mood after a bad day at work, followed by more than 14 percent who shop after bad news and more than 12 percent who do so after a fight with a significant other.”

On the other hand, maybe the news for shoe salesmen is bad, too: “More than half (66.6 percent) of the participants also said that online shopping provides better retail therapy than physical shopping. Reasons included not having to leave the house (43.7 percent), more convenient (42.6 percent), not having to drive (37.9 percent), wider range of stores to browse (30.8 percent), and not having to lug purchases home (25.7 percent).”

21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: “Am I Stupid for Being My Ex’s Secretary?”

HMM: The U.S. government sent a man to our door to pay $90 if one of us would answer a few questions and spit in a tube. For a DNA test.

AN INTERVIEW WITH Lawrence Cunningham.

RICHARD EPSTEIN: The Economic Ignorance of Barack Obama.

ALL EMILY ESFAHANI SMITH IS SAYING IS Give Monogamy A Chance. Monogamy has worked out pretty well for me — though, to be fair, it followed an extended period of non-monogamy.