ANSWERING QUESTIONS NO ONE IS ASKING: What Superheroines Would Look Like Fully-Clothed. Of course, if you complained about the revealing costumes worn by male superheroes, you’d be homophobic or something.

I’D LOVE TO: Meet Israeli Playboy’s First Cover Model.

THEY TOLD ME THIS WOULD HAPPEN IF I VOTED FOR MITT ROMNEY. AND THEY WERE RIGHT! RELIGIOUS ZEALOTS CENSOR CONTRARY VIEWS: “Robert Zoellick withdrew on Friday as Swarthmore College’s commencement speaker, following criticism from some students that his support for the Iraq war and his role in the administration of President George W. Bush is at odds with the college’s Quaker roots.”

LETTERS OF NOTE: The Heinlein Maneuver.

RENAMING MEAT: New meat names mean bye bye, pork chop; hello, ribeye. “In an effort to boost sales going into the grilling season and make shopping at the meat counter a bit easier, the pork and beef industries are retooling more than 350 names of meat cuts to give them more sizzle and consumer appeal.”

Plus, the industry is suffering from global cooling: “Domestic sales have been slow as the relatively cool spring has quashed consumer interest in breaking out the grill.”

THEODORE DALRYMPLE: Is Physical Therapy Overrated?

It’s always worked well for me. Though about 20 years ago I tore a rotator cuff (I thought if I could bench 275 I could incline-bench 275, which turned out to be incorrect) and I went through the regular physical therapy but couldn’t get past about 90% better. Then I ordered a book, The Seven-Minute Rotator Cuff Solution, and followed the exercises there and got up to about 98%. The remaining two percent took just about a decade to come back. Since then, I’ve been much more conservative about the amount of weight I lift . . .

AT AMAZON, Spring Savings in Patio, Lawn & Garden. Summer is coming.

HEART DISEASE: It’s not cholesterol, but TMAO. Clearly, we either need TMAO-blockers or tailored gut bacteria.

“PLANETARY BOUNDARIES” as a power grab. The justifications change, but the policies advocated for are always the same. . . .

HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Behind the Dismal Jobs Numbers: The ‘New’ Economy Takes Shape. “It isn’t just Obamacare that is reshaping our economy. Obama administration policies and regulations that make it more difficult to start a business means that there will be fewer entrepreneurs creating new products that require good workers to make them. Employers will seek to hire more temporary help during busy periods rather than permanently expand their workforce. The number of full time workers in some industries will drop dramatically as companies adjust to an economy of sluggish growth, high taxes, and a clinging uncertainty about the future.”

ONLY POLICE OFFICERS CAN BE TRUSTED WITH GUNS: Off-duty officer suspended after he negligently discharges weapon in strip club restroom.

GLAD I’VE STILL GOT MY HAIR: Study: Bald Men At Higher Risk Of Heart Attack. On the other hand, my dad still has all of his hair, and he had a heart attack at 55. But then, there’s this caveat: “However, the researchers said the risks were less than for smoking or obesity.” And my dad does smoke like a chimney, and has for a long time.

SCIENCE: Study Shows Seeing Smiles Can Lower Aggression.

IT’S AMAZING HOW MUCH THIS STORY reminds me of the latest John Ringo novel.

UPDATE: Wait, it gets worse. Reader Mike Stahl writes: “Isn’t this the seminal event John Ringo used in The Last Centurion?” Then he sends this link: New Bird Flu Seen Having Some Markers of Airborne Killer.

I don’t want to live in a John Ringo novel. Sorry, John . . . .

TECH: Oracle Swings For The Clouds . . . And Misses. “Larry Ellison, Mark Hurd and everyone else at the company knows they need to jump into the Cloud, but they just can’t get the company to execute.”

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Some Women Like a ‘Surprise’ in Bed in the Middle of the Night.

SO WITH ALL THE NORTH KOREA MISSILE TALK, maybe it’s time to remind people to Duck And Cover upon seeing a bright flash of light. . . .

ROGER SIMON ON AMERICA: The View from the Juror Assembly Room. “The postponement line is shorter than I have ever seen it. Why postpone when you have nothing else to do? And jurors here are paid fifteen dollars a day plus thirty-four cents a mile transportation reimbursement. These days that’s a good job. If David Stockman is to be believed — and I’m not one to doubt him — that’s where we’re all headed.”

CORRUPTION AND NANNYISM GO TOGETHER: Corrupt Pols Running America’s Biggest Nanny State.

It’s been a truly abysmal week for New York politics. Earlier this week, Democratic State Senator Malcolm Smith was accused of trying to rig the city’s mayoral election by bribing his way onto the GOP ballot. Now two New York State Assemblymen are being charged in another bribery racket to keep a Bronx senior center free of competition. . . .

With three Democratic politicians charged in one week, prosecutors are calling corruption in New York politics “rampant.” It’s hard to disagree: The blasé reaction of many of the accused suggests that this sort of corruption is far more common than anyone would like to admit. . . . It’s hardly a stretch to say that New York has some of the worst political leadership in the country. This wouldn’t be such a problem if these leaders were powerless, but unfortunately that’s not the case: a study by the Mercatus Institute found that New York government puts more limits on its citizens’ freedom than does government in any other state. In addition to the high-profile embarassments like the “Big Gulp Ban” and the proposed ear bud ban, the Empire State also limits its residents with tight regulations on everything from education to health care to rent prices. Even on “personal freedom,” New York fares worse than much of the nation.

The nannyism is partly to distract from the corruption — and partly just another opportunity to leverage it. A good general rule is that the more a government wants to run its citizens’ lives, the worse job it will do at the most basic tasks of government. “This is what blue model decline looks like. And with businesses and people fleeing the state, the worst may be yet to come.”

UPDATE: In response to my “general rule” above, Ted Balaker emails: “Wow–that could be the thesis statement for a new series I’m doing for Reason! It focuses on govt’s most important duty–protecting the peaceful people from the violent people and how distracted policing makes it less likely that officials will fulfill that duty.”

I’m calling it Reynolds’ Second Law. (The First Law, of course, is here.)

WELCOME TO THE HOPEY-CHANGEY OBAMA ERA: Wired: The ATF Wants ‘Massive’ Online Database to Find Out Who Your Friends Are.

AT AMAZON, top-rated coffees.

Also, today only: Mountek nGroove Universal CD Player/GPS/iPhone Slot Mount, $17.50 (30% off).

SEQUESTER SHOCKER: IT FEELS LIKE NOTHING’S CHANGED.

JOHN PODHORETZ: It’s bad enough that our politicians are crooks, but it’s insulting that they sell themselves for so little.

JEAN KAUFMAN ON THE CONSTITUTION: Constraining Obama.