I WONDER IF YOU CAN: Imagine A Conservative L.A. Times.

Is it really impossible to imagine a conservative newspaper?

Why no. I don’t have to even imagine. The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post spring readily to mind. So do smaller papers from smaller cities, like New Hampshire’s Union Leader.

Moreover, while the urban demographic does skew liberal, the bright red line for most of that demographic is social conservatism, not free-marketeers. And the Kochs are not, as far as I know, much interested in social conservatism. You certainly don’t fund a magazine like Reason if you’re against gay marriage and for the War on Drugs. Don’t get me wrong: most urbanites are liberalish on government spending, too. But they’re not offended by it, the way they are by, say, vocal pro-lifers. And when their taxes go up, or crime gets bad, the average run of urban voter can sound pretty darn conservative. Most media organizations are probably to the left of their readership on taxes, spending, and crime.

Indeed.

BOSTON’S DRAGNET AND THE ART OF THE MANHUNT.

VIDEO: The Life of Julius: How Unions Hurt Workers. With AlfonZo Rachel.

BACK TO SCHOOL AND INTO A JOB. “Critics assail ‘for-profit’ colleges for overpricing their education and not preparing students for today’s job market. But one such school is shredding that label with its innovative tuition promise: If you don’t get a job, they don’t get paid.” Expect more of this kind of thing, as the higher education bubble deflates.

READER BOOK PLUG: Flanagan And The Crown Of Mexico. From reader John Reisinger, who writes: “Many people don’t realize that Cinco de Mayo commemorates the 1862 Battle of Puebla, when the Mexicans fought the invading French army to a standstill. Seen through the eyes of a reluctant Irish-American diplomat/spy, this epic but little-known struggle between the Mexican President Juarez and the foreign Emperor Maximilian is a fascinating look at what else was going on while we were embroiled in our Civil War.”

COLD WAR RESEARCH on weaponizing weather, and other things.

I’VE SAID BEFORE THAT DESPITE ALL THE REPUBLICAN NAVEL-GAZING, the real story of 2012 is that Romney got out-hustled in a base-turnout election. Here’s more evidence that I was right.

CONVERTING GAS-GUZZLING DELIVERY VANS into efficient hybrids.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Naomi Schaefer Riley: How Colleges Scam The Working Class. “For all the lip service our colleges pay to giving the less-advantaged a leg up, the mission these schools seem more focused on is just raking the money in.”

JOEL KOTKIN: Class Warfare for Republicans.

WELL, IT’S HARD ON PRETENSION: NBC’s Chuck Todd: The Rise of Social Media? Obama Hates It.

AT AMAZON, clothing sales and deals.

Also, today only: 58% Off “Desperate Housewives: The Complete Collection Deluxe Edition.”

LOOKING FOR WAR ON TERROR NEWS? Check out Fred Pruitt’s Rantburg.

NONPROFIT HYPOCRISY: Nonprofit Pushes Paid Sick Leave While Its Interns Go Unpaid. “One of the nation’s top advocates for paid sick leave utilizes unpaid interns who lack the pay and benefits for which the group lobbies. The National Partnership for Women & Families (NPWF), a lucrative nonprofit that lobbies for mandatory paid sick leave laws in cities and states across the country, advertised part and full-time internships on its website that come without compensation or benefits.”

CONGRESS: Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA): “Imagine, Mr. Speaker, a world without balloons.” “Now that Hank Johnson has kept Guam from tipping over, he’s turning his attention to another big problem: America needs helium or something.” Well, we need comic relief — which he’s certainly in a position to provide.

ROBERT SAMUELSON: The Twilight Of Entitlement.

FROM LISA DE PASQUALE, a summer reading list. Nice to see that she includes the Insta-Wife’s book, Men On Strike.

STATE DEPARTMENT blocking attorneys from representing Benghazi whistleblowers?

MIKE BLOOMBERG HARDEST HIT: Denmark Repeals Fat, Beer & Soda Taxes. “Ultimately, the taxes simply drove up food prices and put jobs in jeopardy.”

MEGAN MCARDLE ON PIGFORD: How a Discrimination Settlement Turned into a Bonanza for Fraudsters: Farm loans. Sympathetic administrations. And a judge who didn’t worry about false positives. “Cutting checks to random people is not a good way to remedy past discrimination in a loan program. In fact, almost any other remedy seems like it would be better. Especially since the Times story suggests that there’s no evidence that the discrimination underlying the new settlement even happened.”

UNDERFUNDED/OVERGENEROUS PUBLIC PENSIONS MEET THE K-12 IMPLOSION: In Illinois, public pensions already gobbling up education funding.

Related: High speed fail: Bankrupt Illinois buying engines that don’t exist.

THE COUNTRY’S IN THE VERY BEST OF HANDS: Food stamps pay for billions in junk food, but USDA won’t say how much. “Food stamp participation is at an all-time high, costing taxpayers $80 billion in 2012 alone, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture refuses to make public how much of that money pays for junk food. A 2012 Yale study estimated Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits, formerly called food stamps, pay for $2 billion in sugary drinks alone every year. A 2010 study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest said that spending was even higher, estimating soda companies reap as much as $4 billion each year in SNAP money. SNAP benefits are legally allowed to pay for everything from ice cream to soda. But because the USDA doesn’t make food stamp purchase data public, it’s difficult to know how much that junk food costs taxpayers.”

MICHAEL BARONE: The Difference Benghazi Makes. “Democrats complain that this is a partisan effort. Sure, but Democrats are free to present their own view of the facts. My sense is that they would rather squelch critical examination of Benghazi and the Obama administration’s response, as they did with the help of most of the press during the 2012 presidential campaign.”

MICKEY KAUS: Psst, Krauthammer! Rubio has already caved on the border fence.