THE FUTURE: Opioids Without Addiction.

SOME IDEAS FOR improving science education in the United States. Got any of your own?

DAVID DAVENPORT: A Nation of Laws, Not Men.

AXIS OF INEPTITUDE: My USA Today column on the Obama/Hillary/Kerry foreign policy debacle.

TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 117.

HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Long-Term Jobless Left Out of the Recovery: Despite Improving Economy, Prospects Are Bleak for Millions of Unemployed.

CRONY REGULATORYISM: DC Fights Uber, Hurts Consumers and the Environment.

You may have heard of Uber, the innovative taxi startup that’s faced legislative roadblocks in city after city as entrenched interests in bed with local politicians dig in their heels. . . .

It’s almost comical at this point—we say ‘almost’, because Uber may be shutting down its latest offerings due to the DC Taxicab Commission’s onerous rules. Needless to say, VM’s staffers in DC have used Uber on several occasions, and we all are quite fond of the service. We certainly hope that DC’s authorities see the light of day on this and come to some accommodation with the company. Protecting a moribund cartel like DC’s cabbies from honest competition serves no one’s interests in the long term.

Politicians are people who use power to help one group at the expense of others. Public interest seldom plays much of a role.

ARE WE NEARING THE END OF FANNIE AND FREDDIE? “Parties seem to be on the same page about winding down the mortgage giants over the next five years.”

FIGHT AND DIE ALONGSIDE AMERICANS FOR A DECADE, BUT EMBARRASS OBAMA? THIS IS WHAT YOU GET: US leaves ‘unreliable’ British out in the cold. “British military chiefs are being ejected from US meetings about Syria in the first direct consequence of David Cameron’s refusal to join military action. The role of senior British officers based at US Central Command in Tampa, Florida, has been downgraded because they cannot be trusted with high-level intelligence about a conflict with which they are no longer involved, military sources say.” Classy.

UPDATE: Reader Donald MacQueen writes: “I will be the last one to defend the Obama administration (I know, I know, get in line), but this is just standard security procedure. If you are not part of what is at least a Top Secret operation, you have no ‘need to know’.” Fair point, but it doesn’t seem to have been delivered very diplomatically. I mean, it’s not like they’re the Muslim Brotherhood or anything.

Wait, if they were the Muslim Brotherhood, they’d be treated much more considerately . . . .

21ST CENTURY WORRIES: Will Success Ruin Etsy?

AT AMAZON, Deal Of The Week: Band Of Brothers, The Pacific (Special Edition Gift Set). On DVD and Blu-Ray.

Plus, the Fall Clothing Sale for women.

Also, today only: Schlage Plymouth Keypad Deadbolt.

JOHN FUND: President “Present:” Hillary Had It Right in 2008 On Obama’s Indecisiveness.

OBAMA’S “DENSE PACK” SCANDAL STRATEGY STRIKES AGAIN: Looming fiscal fights threaten IRS probes. “Republicans on Capitol Hill are acknowledging that the fall’s looming fiscal fights could peel attention away from their investigation into the IRS’s singling out of conservative groups.”

THE DIPLOMATIC CRISIS MOUNTS: Obama Furious After Vladimir Putin Unfriends Him on Facebook.

ROLL CALL: Will Congress Follow Its Leaders On Syria? I don’t think they should even vote unless Obama promises to abide by the result — something he’s quite pointedly refused to do.

IRS SCANDALS: James Taranto’s worst fears seem to have been realized.

#GREENFAIL: Video: Life In The Shadow Of Germany’s Green Energy Revolution.

WHELL, THERE DAMN WELL SHOULD BE: Top-secret U.S. intelligence files show new levels of distrust of Pakistan. They’ve never really been our friends, and it’s gotten much worse post-Musharraf.

SYRIA FALLOUT: EVEN THE FRENCH ARE BEGINNING TO SOUND ALMOST NOSTALGIC FOR GEORGE W. BUSH. Google Translate version here.

UPHILL BATTLE? Senior Dem: Obama Will Need to Count on Dem Loyalty to Win Reluctant Votes on Syria.

SPENGLER: Gulliver Tied Down By Lilliputians.

I WONDER IF THE NATIONAL GOP EVEN KNOWS THEY’RE HAPPENING? National Democrats Pouring Resources into Colorado Recall Elections.

IT’S COME TO THIS: Politico: Obama Allies Say He’s Misread Capitol Hill — Badly.

Related: Charlie Rangel: “Of course it’s embarrassing.”

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) on Monday said “of course it’s embarrassing” that President Obama warned Syria of a red line for using chemical weapons but then didn’t move forward immediately with a military strike.

Rangel, who opposes a military strike against Syria, also said Secretary of State John Kerry must be even more embarrassed after making an aggressive speech calling for a military strike on Friday, and then seeing Obama delay it to ask Congress for authorization a day later.

Speaking on MSNBC, Rangel said “I love Obama” and you’ll “never find a truer Democrat than me.”

But he said the idea that a president could draw a red line and push the nation into war was “unheard of.

“So of course it’s embarrassing, I wish it didn’t happen. I guess Secretary Kerry is even more embarrassed than me after making his emotional speech that this was urgent.”

Obama’s mouth has been writing checks that it looks like his body politic can’t cash. I guess that’s what they call “smart diplomacy.”

HATE CRIME HOAX UPDATE: Oberlin Alum: “Please keep reporting on … the situation.”