FOR PURIM: Seth Tillman: Purim & My Bangladeshi Friend.

AT AMAZON, Up to 50% Off Wes Anderson Criterion Collection Titles on Blu-ray.

Plus: St. Patrick’s Day – Books, Party Supplies, Costumes & More.

And please remember: InstaPundit is an Amazon affiliate. When you do your shopping through the Amazon links on this page, including the “Shop Amazon” tab at the top or the searchbox in the right sidebar, you support this blog at no cost to yourself. Just click on the Amazon link, then shop as usual. I very much appreciate it when you do.

IF YOU’RE FEELING DEPRESSED ABOUT HOW THINGS ARE GOING, I recommend that you read Kurt Schlichter’s book. No, really. It’ll help, and give you some ideas on what to do next.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT: Are Prestigious Colleges Worth The Cost? None of them can touch the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology!

UM, OKAY: A 168 mph Honda Civic.

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE UPDATE: Iraq Wants More American Bombs Dropped on Iraq. “My how things change. The Iraqi government is cheesed off at the United States right now because Washington isn’t dropping bombs on Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit. . . . Tikrit is occupied by ISIS. Baghdad wants it back. Washington would like to see Baghdad get it back, but the Pentagon has good reasons to keep its finger off the fire button right now. The Iraqi armed forces consist partly of Shia militias led by Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps fighters who are firing artillery and even operating surveillance drones.”

AT AMAZON, deals galore in Training & Fitness.

And shop the Amazon Emergency Prep Store. Plus, Emergency & Long-Term Storage Food Deals.

Plus, Generators and Portable Power for Storm Season. I’m happy to have my generator.

LIVE LIKE WHITE MEN, DIE LIKE WHITE MEN? The mortality rate for white women in the U.S. has surged. I think that as more women enter the workplace, they face the kind of stress issues that men have traditionally “enjoyed.”

SHOCKING NEWS: Study says salt may not be all bad for you: Sodium fights infections; health drawbacks exaggerated.

OUCH: If You Were a Member of the MSM, What Hillary News Would You Choose to Lead With This Week?

If you guessed Hillary Didn’t Pioneer The Pantsuit In Washington, DC, you’re a winner!

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE! (CONT’D): Former special-ed teacher admits sex crimes. “Former Corona special-ed teacher Summer Hansen is expected to get a 3-year jail sentence when she returns to Riverside Superior Court April 3rd. She pleaded guilty Friday to 16 sex-related crimes involving five underage boys when they were students at Centennial High School.”

BROTHER BOOK RECOMMENDATION: My brother writes to recommend Joshua Dalzelle’s Warship, and the Black Fleet Trilogy of which it’s the first volume: “A solid space opera. Totally worth $3.99. Very nice treatment of tech, for the most part, which I always appreciate.”

WAR ON WOMEN: Men Make Up Top 8 Most Highly Compensated Clinton Foundation Employees: Key women earned 63 cents for every dollar key men made.

IS THERE ANYTHING IT CAN’T DO? Does More Coffee Mean Less Arterial Plaque? “Moderate coffee consumption was associated with a decreased risk of high coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores in asymptomatic people, according to a population-based study from Korea.”

LAWS AND RULES ARE FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE: Hillary Clinton’s State Department Fired Ambassador For Using Private Email. “State Department policy was very clear. Using a private email outside the State Department’s secure system was completely unacceptable. If this applied to ambassadors, one would think it was sensible policy for the Secretary of State as well.”

MARK RIPPETOE: Athletes, Bad Coaches, And Steroids.

HILLARY CLINTON: Where Mean Girls Meets The Mob. “You all know the mantra by now: a criminal organization masquerading as a political party. It’s a point I’ve been making for nearly a decade now, and I think you’ll agree that what might at first have seemed outrageous is now practically conventional wisdom.”

SPEAKING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS: Marc Thiessen on Radical Islam: America’s Failed Response. Monday, March 23.

GEN. JIM MATTIS: Using Military Force Against ISIS.

TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 665.

YOUNG AMERICANS FOR LIBERTY SUE WITH HELP FROM F.I.R.E.: Students Sue Dixie State U. Over ‘Free Speech Zone,’ Censorship of Bush, Obama, Che Flyers.

BECAUSE FEMINISM. AND TRANSPARENCY! “Hillary Clinton is supposed to be a strong, tough woman, yet for some reason she has to be hidden away and only come out for safe speeches where she won’t get questions from the press.”

“SOMEWHERE, JOE BIDEN IS PLANNING A DIPLOMATIC MISSION TO DENMARK:” Insanely Hot Conservative Danish Politician Gains International Fame.

SHOCKER: Big Blue Has Little Payoff for Blacks.

After 25 years of blue policies, the wealth gap between whites on the one hand and African Americans and Hispanics on the other has barely budged. . . .

The St. Louis Fed researchers said it’s not differences in age or education levels that explain the racial and ethnic wealth disparities; these persist even if you’re looking at older and better-educated blacks, Hispanics and whites.

Part of the story here is the disproportionate effect the foreclosure crisis had on African Americans. Black families were in some cases stuck with riskier loans than whites, and when the crisis hit a lot of their wealth was wiped out. Since then, many blue cities with large minority populations have been hit particularly hard by financial problems. When Detroit, a majority African-American city long ruled by blue politicians, needed to raise money recently it foreclosed on tens of thousands of homes. Then there is the overall decline in clerical and some government jobs, which have long been a staple of African-American middle-class employment—a decline likely to continue, given the sorry finances of state and local governments across the nation.

It’s like the whole thing is some sort of racial con game designed to enrich and empower politicians or something.