TOO BAD HE DIDN’T HAVE A GUN: WWII Vet Assaulted In N. Spokane Dies; Suspect Photos Released.

AFFECTION, OR NOT: Hillary Burns Bill (And 9 Other Awkward Kisses).

WELL, WHO DOESN’T? Research: Ancient Hunter-Gatherers Liked Spicy Food.

REVIEW: Bose Noise-Cancelling Earbuds. I have some nice Sony noise-cancelling earbuds. Well, I did. The Insta-Daughter kinda took them over.

AT AMAZON, up to 40% off on headphones & earbuds.

Also, top-rated multitools.

THE COUNTRY IS WHITER — AND EMPTIER — THAN YOU MIGHT THINK: Can you find yourself? Incredible Racial Map of USA shows one pixel for every person!

I’M FLYING MY LEARJET TO NOVA SCOTIA: Charlie Martin on the total eclipse of the sun.

WHAT MEN WANT: Condoms That Fit.

STILL PLENTY OF PRESS COVERAGE, THOUGH: Only 15 Show Up At Bloomberg Anti-Gun Rally.

A LOOK AT the 2015 Audi A8 and S8.

My review of the current Audi A8 is here.

GORDON CHANG: China After the Bo Xilai Trial.

THE MANOLO really doesn’t like Birkenstocks.

HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): If This is Recovery, God Save Us from a Slowdown.

I THINK WE SHOULD GIVE HIM A SEX CHANGE IN PRISON: Hasan Found Guilty in Fort Hood Shooting.

CHANGE: Printed Graphene Transistors Promise a Flexible Electronic Future.

BARACK OBAMA: Make Law School Two Years.

UPDATE: Related: Obama’s higher ed plan — a power grab, not a shake-up.

JOHN MCWHORTER: Don’t Ignore Race in Christopher Lane’s Murder: The association of young black men with violence doesn’t come out of thin air. “Young black men murder 14 times more than young white men. If the kinds of things I just mentioned were regularly done by whites, it’d be trumpeted as justification for being scared to death of them.”

Related: Minimizing Black Violence and Racism Does Not Help the Black Community. It’s not about helping. It’s about shaping the dialogue in politically convenient ways.

Note, however, that “Conferenceville” isn’t my coinage — it comes from a 1970s Australian novel.

TRUST YOUR LEADERS: NSA Analysts Intentionally Abused Spying Powers Multiple Times.

FASTER, PLEASE: Towards an exercise pill for humans with a drug that boosts muscle and running endurance by 50%.

IT’S GOOD TO BELONG TO THE RULING CLASS: Filner’s “Fall from Grace” Cushioned by Federal Taxpayer-Backed Pension.

IT’S COME TO THIS: Quiz: Sex Slang Or LARP Lingo?

FOUAD AJAMI: The Shame Of Syria.

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: Obama’s Economy — We’ve Fallen And Can’t Get Up.

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Obamacare’s Unintended Effects: Spouses and Children Edition.

Even a well-designed law can have unintended effects that worsen the problems it was meant to solve—and a slipshod law like Obamacare threatens to cause serious damage. UPS, for instance, has decided to stop offering insurance to employee spouses who can get insurance from their own employer.

Stupid, unfeeling for-profit corporations! Oh, wait:

UVA officials announced a similar policy yesterday, also referencing the costs Obamacare will add to the university’s health care budget.

This may not seem like a big deal—either way, the spouses will be insured—but it points to some potential problems. For now, UPS and other companies are continuing to cover unemployed spouses, but given their anxiety about steep costs in the era of Obamacare, they could concievably soon decide to exclude them.

This could put more pressure on the exchanges, ramping up the number of older people receiving subsidized plans in the individual market. But what the exchanges need to work is more “young invincibles”, not more middle-aged spouses kicked off employee plans. And here the incentives seem to be working the opposite way.

It’s as if the whole thing were designed to fail.