THE REAL sexual double standard.

SOMETHING THAT CAN’T GO ON FOREVER, WON’T. DEBTS THAT CAN’T BE REPAID, WON’T BE. PROMISES THAT CAN’T BE KEPT, WON’T BE. Debt Limit, Huh: Unfunded Liabilities Dwarf $16.7 Trillion ‘Ceiling.’

BAD OPTICS: More on Obama’s national-park shutdown theater.

HEH: “GOP should run ads that are just Obama’s debt ceiling comments from ’06, not say they’re from ’06, and confuse everyone.”

WHO’S PAYING FOR THIS HARASSMENT? Is Kirkland & Ellis Pursuing Breitbart’s Widow Pro Bono? I’d say it’s more like pro malo. I wonder if any Breitbart fans will picket their office?

MICKEY KAUS: Mulally’s Legacy?

I just picked up the latest Consumer Reports auto ratings publication–useful mainly for its reliability survey. Has “the American auto industry … come roaring back,” as Pres. Obama says with some regularity? Chastened UAW workers worrying less about work rules and more about quality! GM and Chrysler, freed from legacy burdens, able to spend more on engineering and high-grade materials!

Um, not so much, according to CR. I counted only 3 Detroit-made cars with above average quality ratings (the Chevy Volt, the Chevy Equinox, and the Jeep Patriot). Meanwhile 21 products are below average. Toyota, by way of contrast, has 18 cars above average (out of 21 it sells) and none below average. Many highly-rated Toyota products, like the Camry and Venza, are assembled in the U.S.

But read on to see how Ford is doing.

ONCE LARRY SUMMERS WAS OUT, IT WAS PRETTY MUCH SETTLED: Yellen To Be Named For Fed Chair. This should give gold prices a boost.

WAIT, SO IT’S OKAY TO FIRE STRIKERS? GOOD TO KNOW: Obama again compares GOP to striking workers who should be fired.

INTERESTING: “We would not voluntarily obey such an order.”

PETER MOSKOS: Why Flogging Is More Humane Than Prison.

Related: Prison Rape Mostly By Prison Officials.

TOYOTA CEO BAFFLED by young Japanese men who have no interest in cars.

IRS SCANDAL UPDATE: Mens Rea: Lois Lerner Sent Confidential Taxpayer Information Through Private Emails.

VAMPIRES: Shirley Sherrod Lawyers Seek to Sue Widow of Andrew Breitbart. Shirley Sherrod’s a self-confessed racist. She’s also an asshole. I hope she ends her life broke and in jail.

CHANGE: Young Chinese Workers Don’t Want To Work In Factories Anymore. “Broadly speaking, this is a good thing for most Chinese, but for the country as a whole it’s a major shift, and it’s happening very quickly. The big question is whether it will be able to adapt soon enough.”

MICHAEL BARONE: The End Of Average People.

21ST CENTURY PARENTING: Father Disowns Homophobic Daughter in Epic Letter.

AT AMAZON, the all-new Kindle Paperwhite. Mine’s the previous generation, but it’s great. This one is supposed to be better.

Also, deals in Camera, Photo & Video.

NASHVILLE SKYLINE.

JAKE TAPPER ON POLITICAL RHETORIC: “I haven’t heard Republicans comparing the Democrats to suicide bombers or kidnappers or to arsonists.” (Audio from Hugh Hewitt).

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF MASTURBATION. I was going to make a joke tying this in with the excessive noise post below, but I think I’ll leave that, as the old math textbooks used to say, as an exercise for the reader.

BOB KRUMM ON OBAMA AND THE SHUTDOWN: It’s Not Business, It’s Strictly Personal.

A THIRD ANTI-GUN STATE SENATOR faces recall in Colorado.

THE HEALTH DANGERS OF EXCESSIVE NOISE.

HMM: Police Officers One Third More Likely to Murder Than Concealed Carry Permit Holders.

SPREADING: More Shutdown Civil Disobedience.