CAROL PLATT LIEBAU: Time To End The Special Perks Of Politics.

It’s impossible for our elected representatives to “represent” us properly if they are living a life that’s insulated from many of the onerous laws or regulations they inflict on the rest of us — or, more generally, if they’re a special “protected class.”

Perhaps the apotheosis of this deplorable trend is the fact that, in 20 states, private lobbyists get public pensions. That’s right — through their taxes, citizens of those states are getting the dubious privilege of subsidizing the retirements of employees of private lobbying firms.

It’s time to stop this disgraceful boondoggle, along with all the other cushy little special favors that our elected officials have granted themselves . . . and their friends.

Indeed.

EVEN THE LEFTIES ARE CATCHING ON to the Higher Education Bubble. There even seems to be a vague appreciation of Reynolds’ Law. See, learning is possible.

AT AMAZON, Warehouse Deals in Tools & Home Improvement.

Also, Labor Day deals on all kinds of stuff.

ACTUALLY, HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: WSJ: A history note for President Obama: Bull Connor was not a libertarian.

PRIORITIES: Women Want Their Boob Jobs Super-Sized, Yet Natural. “Women want bigger, more pert breasts, but they don’t necessarily want people to know they’ve had something done.”

PRESIDENT UNILATERAL: Obama Set for Limited Strike on Syria as British Vote No. Good thing we got rid of that dumb cowboy Bush, who unilaterally invaded Iraq with like 40 other countries.

UPDATE: “Cluster bombs won’t solve this clusterf***.” “Obama has boxed himself — and us — into a corner. Having demagogued issues of presidential prerogative and the need for U.N. approval in the past along with other Democrats, but having set a red line, he (we) are damned if we do, damned if we don’t.”

That must be more of the “smart diplomacy” we were promised or something.

Related: Obama ready to move on Syria without allies. It’s a good thing, since we don’t seem to have many of those left . . . .

ANOTHER UPDATE:

NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: Warped graphene molecules offer new building blocks for nanotechnology.

Also, if you’re interested in nanotechnology, check out the Foresight Conference on Nanotechnology in February 2014. “Over 20 speakers will present their research and vision within the realm of groundbreaking atomic- and molecular-scale science and engineering with application across a wide range of advanced technologies, including materials, electronics, energy conversion, biotechnology and more. Events will include presentation of the annual Foresight Institute Feynman Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in nanoscale science and technology.”

HERE IN THE U.S., WE THINK OF CHINA AS CREDITORS, but China has a debt problem, too.

NICHOLAS ROSENKRANZ: Is Martin Luther King’s Dream Unconstitutional?

Fifty years ago today, Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke these immortal words: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” He would have been mystified, one imagines, by the question presented in Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action: “Whether a state violates the Equal Protection Clause by amending its constitution to prohibit race- and sex-based discrimination or preferential treatment in public-university admissions decisions.”

Colorblindness was an admirable goal in the 1960s, but nowadays it threatens an entire, lucrative, industry.

ANOTHER REASON WHY ONLINE SCHOOLING IS CATCHING ON: Florida school district bans cheerleaders from wearing skimpy uniforms to class because they violate dress code.

WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW: Researchers Grow 3-D Human Brain Tissues.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: 8 Easy-Drinking Gadgets for the Beer Enthusiast.

AT AMAZON, coupons galore in Grocery & Gourmet Food.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: 6 Ways To Prevent Your Child From Getting Lice. The 21st century is not turning out as I’d hoped.

DISASTER PREP: Boosting Resilience After Storms And Disasters.

THE CDC GOES NEO-PROHIBITIONIST: “The results of a new study on the economic costs of excessive alcohol abuse demonstrate how federal bureaucrats, through a myriad of conflicts of interest, are attempting to influence and, perhaps, dictate, public policy.”

IN NOVEMBER, practicing for a power grid collapse.

You can always buy a generator. And here’s some advice on cheap backup power.

TECHNOLOGY: Weekly Innovation: A Mattress That Makes It Easier To Cuddle.

READER BOOK PLUG: From Cassy Neumiller, Dead Man’s Fugue (Shattered Expanse). “An exciting debut from a major new voice in science fiction, this is an action-packed, space opera series you won’t want to miss!”

SEEN ON FACEBOOK: “If there was one advice I could give to fresh out of college professionals: Don’t ever underestimate the handwritten THANK YOU notes. You would not believe the business you can close and the jobs you can land with that simple and unexpected long forgotten touch.” This is very true — and, if anything, it’s truer in this electronic age.

UPDATE: And here’s a different example: Some years ago I wrote a job recommendation for a student who had been on the Frederick Douglass Moot Court team I coached, back when I was BLSA adviser. I gave him a really strong recommendation, because he was a really good student. About a year later, I got a letter from a named partner at the firm I’d recommended him to, telling me what a great hire he’d been and thanking me for recommending him. I still remember that.

WASHINGTON POST: Inside the 2013 U.S. intelligence ‘black budget.’

21ST 20TH CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: How A Cab Driver Found My G-Spot & Gave Me The Best Sex Ever. People knew what they were doing back in the ’80s.

ELIANA JOHNSON: Cory Booker’s Imaginary Friend: The Newark mayor invented a street character for dramatic effect.

CONFEDERACY: The New Democratic Talking Point. It’s said of the Austrians that they do their best to convince the world that Hitler was a German and Beethoven was an Austrian. Likewise, the Dems would like you to believe that Jefferson Davis was a Republican, and Abraham Lincoln a Democrat.