RICHARD FERNANDEZ: “When Tom Brokaw denounced the dumbing-down of White House Correspondent’s dinner he was unintentionally talking about one of the underlying reasons for the FBI’s inability to see the threat of the Tsarnaev brothers, even when it was pointed out to them. . . . The process which has dumbed down the White House Correspondent’s dinner and blinded the FBI is essentially the same: that of removing information from the system in order to make it predictable, manageable and nonthreatening. To make it consistent with the internal ideology of the human institution. Institutions do not always seek to find the truth. More often than not they seek to find the approved solution.”

WELL, YES: Islamic Radicalism Is For Losers.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: College: What’s The Point? “The Economist recently found that the countries with a low rate of youth unemployment are those that focus on providing their students with a practical education. Germany, for example, ‘has a long tradition of high-quality vocational education and apprenticeships, which in recent years have helped it reduce youth unemployment despite only modest growth.'”

NO ONE EXPECTS the Philadelphia Inquisition!

AT AMAZON, 70% or more off on Men’s Clothing.

Also, coupons galore in Home Improvement.

And, today only: Up to 40% Off the Nikon 1 J2 10.1 MP HD Compact System.

FOR BOSTON SURVIVOR, a life-changing decision. Note this: “Abbott will be fitted with a prosthetic leg next month. She hopes to return to the aerobics and jogging she loves by the fall.” As prosthetics get better, amputation gets less scary, I guess.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Shocker: No One Wants to Buy Student Loan-backed Securities. “Worried by reports of rising defaults, investors turned up their noses at a new $225 million bond issue by Sallie Mae, the federal agency that packages individual student loans into large securities. The loan company canceled the offering after two weeks on the market. . . . Are student loans turning into junk bonds? With something like $1 trillion of student loan debt outstanding, investor skittishness is not good news.”

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Why Workout Pain Is Good: Train to tolerate pain and you’ll become a better athlete.

That’s true, and for people who haven’t worked out, learning to distinguish between “good” pain and pain that indicates something actually wrong is important. If you’ve been sedentary for a long time, the sensations that even moderate exercise produces are likely to be interpreted as feeling “bad” and you’ll want to stop. But they’re actually signs of progress. On the other hand, “no pain, no gain” can be taken too far: You don’t want to ignore signs of RSI, or incipient joint or tendon problems.

SPACE: NASA Asteroid Mission Takes Shape As Congress Remains Skeptical.

Related: NASA chief: Visiting an asteroid is all we can afford.

REMEMBER, IT’S NOT EVIDENCE OF A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM UNLESS IT’S BOY SCOUTS OR THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: Former teacher takes plea deal in student sex case.

A high school teacher charged with eight felonies in connection with engaging in sex acts with students pleaded no contest Friday to a charge of unlawful sexual intercourse.

Amber Lee Failla faces a maximum of 16 months in prison at her May 7 sentencing, but prosecutor Marcus Cuper said the judge indicated Failla will be sentenced to a year in jail. Failla has agreed to lifetime registration as a sex offender. . . .

Three charges of oral copulation with a person younger than 18, two counts of contacting a minor with the intent to commit a sexual offense, and two other counts of unlawful sexual intercourse were dismissed. Cuper said the latter two counts can be considered by the judge at sentencing.

Defense attorney Timothy Lemucchi said he also believes the plea deal is fair, especially in light of his client’s background.

“She has a history of psychiatric problems,” Lemucchi said.

I’m guessing a male teacher would have gotten a much stiffer sentence. And why was someone with a “history of psychiatric problems” hired as a teacher?

Should I have tagged this K-12 Implosion Update?

MISSING THE PING: So Much For The Surveillance State. “The standard investigation clichés apply: It’s still early; there are many unanswered questions; it’s unwise to rush to judgment. But the emerging picture is one of systemic failure, human error, and willful ignorance of the threats facing the country.”

The surveillance state is part of the state. Where surveillance is a priority — say, when political enemies are concerned — it’ll be ruthlessly efficient. The rest of the time, like when it involves protecting Americans from terrorists, it’s just another government job.

FEMALE CONCEALED CARRY OPTIONS.

Plus, here’s the FlashBang Bra Holster.

GOING FROM editing a porn magazine to practicing criminal law. “I guess one difference is that, in our society, lawyers are treated with a little bit more respect than porn magazine editors — but only a little.”

NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: A Framework To Promote Critical Thinking About Nanotechnology.

SUMMER IS COMING: Markdowns on swimsuits for men, women, and kids at the Amazon Swim Shop.

Also, up to 60% off on select SanDisk memory cards.

THE MAN WHO RETIRED AT 30:

I didn’t start saving and investing particularly early, I just maintained this desire not to waste anything. So I got through my engineering degree debt-free — by working a lot and not owning a car — and worked pretty hard early on to move up a bit in the career, relocating from Canada to the United States, attracted by the higher salaries and lower cost of living.

Then my future wife and I moved in together and DIY-renovated a junky house into a nice one, kept old cars while our friends drove fancy ones, biked to work instead of driving, cooked at home and went out to restaurants less, and it all just added up to saving more than half of what we earned. We invested this surplus as we went, never inflating our already-luxurious lives, and eventually the passive income from stock dividends and a rental house was more than enough to pay for our needs (about $25,000 per year for our family of three, with a paid-off house and no other debt).

Our bread-and-butter living expenses are paid for by a single rental house we own, which generates about $25,000 per year after expenses. We also have stock index funds and 401(k) plans, which could boost that by about 50 percent without depleting principal if we ever needed it, but, so far, we can’t seem to spend more than $25,000 no matter how much we let loose. So the dividends just keep reinvesting.

Read the whole thing. This is a bit extreme — and if you’re managing rental property, you’re not entirely retired — but most people can save a lot more than they think they can, if they try.

Plus:

“Little” things that are only a few hundred dollars a month add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars shockingly fast. But the lack of this understanding of the numbers is what keeps most middle-class people from getting ahead.

That’s the advice my grandfather gave me: People spend a lot of time agonizing over big purchases, he said, but it’s the nickel-and-dime stuff that gets you over time. He’s right about the importance of habit, too.

UPDATE: I’d note that this isn’t inconsistent with Robert Heinlein’s marital advice: “Budget the luxuries first.” The key word there is budget. If you do it right, you can probably manage to save more than you expect, without feeling deprived.

Plus, note this observation from David Freddoso: “In today’s America, it’s easier than ever to get by just barely, and harder than ever to get ahead.”

DAVID HARSANYI ON Michael Bloomberg’s Authoritarian Instincts. “When Justice Milton Tingling struck down Bloomberg’s pathetic soda ban as ‘arbitrary and capricious’ last year, he might as well have been talking about the mayor’s overall disposition. Bloomberg likes to act as if he’s a man free of the unpleasantness of political ideology or party. He’s the driving force behind the inane No Labels group — which, in addition to having no labels, has no ideas and no support. But pretending to be without a guiding philosophy doesn’t by default make you a moderate. It can just as easily mean you support using arbitrary and capricious power to get your way.”

I BLAME JENNY MCCARTHY: Baby Dies of Whooping Cough In Orange County. “This is the first whooping cough death the county has seen in decades. . . . Officials said the family chose not to vaccinate their child. Some parents are choosing not to fully vaccinate their children because they worry there is a link between the vaccinations and autism.”

THE VITAMIN DEFICIENCY that is written all over your face.

SPEAKING OF PROBLEMS WITH HIGHER EDUCATION.

CLOT BUSTERS: Using Lasers To Manipulate Blood Flow In Live Mice.

AT AMAZON, markdowns on Mother’s Day gifts.

Plus, up to 50% off on Brother sewing machines.

IMMATURITY: Is age 25 the new 15? “According to the authors, teens are living in a ‘bubble’ that is undermining their development. They have their room at home, school, the shopping mall etc. but it ‘cuts them off from meaningful roles in the adult world, cuts them off from close day-to-day contact with adults, and it hyperexposes them to peer relationships, which become their primary socializing influences.'”

I made a similar point years ago.

NO. Matt Welch: Are Big City Newspapers Inevitably Liberal Due to Market Forces? “Journalists have turned the daily newspaper into the print version of the local NPR station: intellectual, fuzzily liberal, elitist. Potential readers who have more of a talk radio sensibility have to go elsewhere. Like, well, talk radio (which does just fine in many famously liberal cities).”

DAVID SIROTA DECLARES “A CRONKITE MOMENT” IN THE WAR ON TERROR. But the Cronkite Moment is a myth. Which fits, you know . . . .