FOR SOME, REGULATION IS THE END, NOT THE MEANS: The End of the Permissionless Web

ELEPHANTS MAY NOT FLY,  BUT THEY CAN SWING: 12 Bar Blues – Piano Duet with Peter the Elephant – Thailand

THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES: Obama’s highway tolls take cash, time and privacy, Glenn Reynolds writes in his latest USA Today column.

CHANGE: “The deindustrialization of California was one reason behind the withdrawal of both Nissan and Toyota,” leading to “California Taking A Back Seat to Texas,” Joel Kotkin writes.

S.C. SENATE VOTES TO REPEAL COMMON CORE:  Their vote was unanimous.  If approved by the State House, S.C. would develop its own curriculum as an alternative.  What a radical idea:  locally devised and controlled curriculum!

RELATED:  Have you seen the CC math?  It is an exercise in obfuscation— truly inane.  And don’t get me started on the CC lessons on government, which include an outrageous bastardization of the Second Amendment.

GREAT MOMENTS IN TELEVISION JOURNALISM: “Will.i.am’s ‘Meet The Press’ Appearance Has People Asking ‘Why?'”

Forget it Jake, it’s NBC.

UPDATE: Will.I.Am Was On Meet The Press And Accidentally Endorsed Republican Ideas.

NEW PURITAN WATCH: Nanny state of the week: De Blasio to resurrect attempt at NYC big soda ban.

Meet the new boss…

CAN CONGRESS SUE THE PRESIDENT FOR NOT FAITHFULLY EXECUTING THE LAWS?:  The question is one of so-called “congressional standing.”  I’ve written a lot about this in recent months and my conclusion/recommendation to the House Judiciary Committee is that the answer is “yes.”  The Wall Street Journal’s editorial this morning concludes the same, and mentions (gratefully) the work of yours truly and David Rivkin.

CHANGE: Aging Baby Boomers Becoming the Roommate Generation, at ABC. Note the unexpectedly “funemployment”-style slant of the article.

JUST NBC THE PURITANISM: “Bob Costas talks PETA while covering Kentucky Derby.”

As with NBC fretting about global warming while signing a hefty contract with NASCAR, notice that NBC isn’t dropping their coverage; instead they’re attempting to guilt their audience.

If NBC’s ratings dip once again into sub-Univision territory as a consquence, well — are all those lost viewers truly worthy to receive NBC’s vision of the eschaton to come?

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE:

Inevitably, obscenely high fees for a place at the top-line colleges make much of the American education debate an economic calculation – what return will there be on a family’s investment, which usually is construed in terms more about the salary the student might ultimately earn than it is about the well-roundedness of his or her education.

Although the US spends a greater proportion of its GDP on universities than any other country, it ranks at only 15th in the world for the proportion of its young people with a university degree. Yet unemployment among young graduates last year was 8.8 per cent – and more than double that if those who had given up actively searching for work are counted.

The issue of students’ potential earnings has added significance because of the huge college debt they are obliged to service on graduating. An Associated Press analysis of date for 2011 found that 53.6 per cent of graduates under the age of 25 were unemployed or in menial jobs that did not require their degree.

You could write a whole book on these problems.

IF YOU WERE AWAY OVER THE WEEKEND, AND WONDER WHY YOU SEE SO MANY PEOPLE POSTING, it’s because I’m mostly offline this week. Enjoy the guestbloggers — I think the joint is better with them than it is with just me.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Who Among Us Will Cast the First Bid for Donald Sterling’s Clippers?

Unlike Mr. Bundy, Donald Sterling had a long history not just of racist speech, but also of racially intolerant behavior—and yet was slated to receive—for a second time—a lifetime achievement award from the Los Angeles chapter of NAACP.

Why? Perhaps ask the now former president of that NAACP chapter why it is awarding Al Sharpton its first “Person of the Year” award—Sharpton, the well-known race-baiting, former FBI informant, demagogic instigator of riot and mayhem, tax delinquent, and on the record anti-Semite, and homophobe (“Greek homos”), and frequent White House guest (what does one have to do not to be invited to the White House?). At least, the NAACP does not use a racial standard to honor bigots.

Could Sharpton buy an NBA franchise?

Then there is the issue of the players. Is private racist speech worse than public racist and homophobic remarks from the likes of superstars like Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, and a host of others? How about felonious behavior? Are there NBA players now in the game who have been convicted of crimes? Are former NBA felons, murderers, thieves, and rapists banned for life from attending NBA games?

Read the whole thing.

CROWDFUNDING SPACE: ISEE-3 Reboot Project by Space College, Skycorp, and SpaceRef.

THE COURTS WILL NOT SAVE US, Scott Johnson writes at Power Line, rebutting George Will’s recent column on Obamacare’s upcoming legal reckoning.

THE ROAD TO SERFDOM – NOW WITH E-Z PASS! Obama’s highway tolls take cash, time and privacy, Glenn Reynolds writes in his latest USA Today column:

It’s yet another lesson in the law of unintended consequences — and, as usual, the government wants us to pick up the tab for its poor planning. This time, it’s the Obama administration’s proposal to allow tolls on interstate highways, where such tolls have been banned since the Eisenhower days.

The problem is that government efforts to discourage driving and to encourage fuel conservation have been successful. With people burning less gas, revenues from the gasoline tax are down.

People burning less gas is what the government wanted. But with gas prices at historically high levels (often over four bucks a gallon), and with trust in government at historic lows, politicians aren’t too enthusiastic about taking the obvious step, increasing the gas tax. They don’t want to take the heat. Instead, they’re looking to increase revenue in other, less obvious ways.

Read the whole thing.

ALL THE PRESIDENT’S DUDES: Story by Roger Simon, co-starring Justin Bieber as Tommy “Dude” Vietor and Anjelica Huston as Hillary “What differences does it make, Gomez?” Clinton.

ROBERT A. HEINLEIN CALL YOUR OFFICE: Just as predicted in Methuselah’s Children, ‘Vampire therapy’ could reverse ageing, scientists find.

READ THE BOOK BEFORE THE MOVIE COMES OUT: My zombie novel, Resurrection, has been optioned for film, and for one day only the Kindle version is available for just 2.99. Buy it now because the price is going back up tomorrow.