AT AMAZON, up to 40% off on select Spring Clothing. Last day!

Also: Spring cleaning? Trade in your gadgets, games, and media in three easy steps.

HEH: Obama Spends Afternoon In Garage Restoring Classic Drone. “After popping the cap off of a fresh Rolling Rock, the 44th president of the United States explained that in an effort to maintain its mid-’90s authenticity, he is rebuilding the craft using mostly original RQ-1 parts ordered either directly from the manufacturer or traded with other collectors online. The head of state added that he has come to prefer the latter, saying that it provides him an opportunity to meet and talk shop with fellow ‘drone-heads.'” Like some sort of bizarro Bearded-Spock IowaHawk.

THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL: Dianne Feinstein wants drones regulated — After seeing toy helicopter outside her window.

SCIENCE: Investigation finds data problems with stem cell breakthrough.

IS THERE ANYTHING IT CAN’T DO? Vitamin D May Lower Cholesterol. “Many observational studies have suggested that vitamin D may have benefits for heart health. Now a randomized trial has found that vitamin D appears to reduce levels of LDL, or ‘bad’ cholesterol. . . . The researchers controlled for initial vitamin D level, smoking, alcohol consumption and more than 20 other variables. They acknowledge that their sample was relatively small and that no conclusions about the effect of vitamin D on cardiovascular health should be drawn from their findings. Still, they say, their randomized, double-blind design and the use of blood tests for vitamin D levels give the study considerable strength.”

LAND SPEED RECORD: The 1000 mph car doesn’t exist — yet.

TAKING ON CRONY CAPITALISM: Elon Musk likens NJ vote to mafia tactics. I don’t see why, other than protectionism, you can’t order a car from Amazon and have it delivered to your home.

AGEISM AND SEXISM ON THE MARCH: Erwin Chemerinsky leans heavily into Ruth Bader Ginsburg: She “should retire.” Hop onto this ice floe, old woman. You’re no further use to the tribe.

POINTS AND FIGURES ON THE MARKETS: Is There Something Amiss?

ROGER SIMON: Up Close With Ted Cruz. “The man delivered a fine speech. He was personable. He was funny. . . . He hit his ideological marks and he also spent time defending his tactical position.”

IRA STOLL, FACT-CHECKING THE AHISTORICAL PAUL KRUGMAN: TARP and the Tea Party. “The fact that the Tea Party hates TARP undercuts Professor Krugman’s argument that the Tea Party is all a bunch of racists who oppose government subsidies for poor black people but not for rich Wall Street bankers. But Professor Krugman goes ahead with that argument anyway, in defiance of the facts.” Because that’s just how he rolls.

TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 312.

WILL BANKRUPTCY PROTECT GOVERNMENT MOTORS FROM RECALL LAWSUITS?

The defects themselves aren’t such a problem — 12 deaths over a decade, with millions of cars on the road, is a risk that’s statistically indistinguishable from zero. These sorts of problems are inevitable in a complex machine, and the company can be forgiven for the mistake.

The publicity, however, is a disaster. Consumers aren’t as forgiving as I am about defects. And they are especially unforgiving when the company knows about a problem and ignores it — and, worse, when it apparently could have fixed the flaw pretty cheaply. Can the company demonstrate that this was an aberration it’s determined to change?

Ironically, the bankruptcy may help them a bit there. In fact, it could help in two ways. The first is that the company is effectively shielded from liability for any accidents that occurred before it emerged from bankruptcy in 2009. So the flood of lawsuits that might have been expected after a revelation like this will be at least partially dammed.

The second is that the bankruptcy draws a mental line, as well as a legal one, between Old GM, with its dubious reputation for quality, and New GM. The CEO title has changed hands multiple times since the financial crisis, and whatever else consumers may think about the bankruptcy, they understand that it was a catastrophic and transformative event in the company’s history.

However, the company is at least partially hampered in this by the past of Barra, who was the executive director of vehicle manufacturing engineering before the bankruptcy. Given that, it’s going to be hard to simply say, “Well, Old GM didn’t care about quality, but now we’re different,” which would otherwise be the most effective way to handle the crisis.

This is far from a fatal blow: Toyota Motor Corp. survived much worse with all the “unintended acceleration” claims a few years back. However, Toyota went into that crisis with two key advantages: It had a sterling reputation for reliability, and most of the claimed incidents were actually due to driver error, not the fault of the company.

GM, on the other hand, really did do something wrong here.

I’m more interested in whether the Feds shielded GM, and went after Toyota, for political reasons.

TALES OF THE TRANSGRESSIVE: “I became a stay-at-home mom. And now I admit it.”

AT AMAZON, it’s the Spring Outlet Event.

Plus, deals galore in the April Fool’s Sale. No, ObamaCare plans aren’t included. But they should be!

K STREET LOVES STRONGMEN: The Hill: Lobbyists Stick With Putin.

MICKEY KAUS: Will Asians Kill Race Preferences In California?

‘Coalition of the Ascendant’ Goes to War–With Itself; If you’re looking for moments when tectonic issue shifts seem to become visible–like the moment when Dems realized they had to give up on gun control, or the (coming) moment when there are enough charter school parents to defeat teachers’ unions–here’s one: the moment when California Democrats abandon a push to reinstate race preferences because of constituent-driven opposition from Asian Americans in their own ranks. . . .

Larger Meanings: 1) California is now more-or-less a one-party state, run by Democrats. If Dems can’t pass an affirmative action bill even when they are in full control, what does that say about the future of affirmative action? … 2) One-party government seems to sometimes make local Democrats more responsible. If there were a powerful Republican faction to be beaten, state legislators might choose to promote affirmative action if only to paint the GOPs as bigots. That is no longer necessary in California.

Painting Republicans as bigots is their chief strategy. Plus:

1) Do Republicans really need an Amnesty First immigration reform to appeal to the fast-growing Asian vote (which Mitt Romney lost by a bigger margin than he lost the Latino vote)? How about campaigning against race preferences? …. 2) The growing Asian vote is often lumped with the black vote and Latino vote in MSM descriptions of America’s “majority-minority” future. But if Asians can split with the new majority-minority coalition on preferences why can’t, say, blacks split with the coalition on immigration? … It’s every identity for itself!

Well, if that happens, the Dems will need a new strategy.

GREG LUKIANOFF ON the battle for free speech on campus.

His book is now out in paperback.