THIS KIND OF THING KEEPS HAPPENING: Deadly bacteria release sparks concern at Louisiana lab. “A dangerous, often deadly, type of bacteria that lives in soil and water has been released from a high-security laboratory at the Tulane National Primate Research Center in Louisiana. Officials say there is no risk to the public. Yet despite weeks of investigation by multiple federal and state agencies, the cause of the release and the extent of the contamination remain unknown, according to interviews and records obtained by USA TODAY.” Remain calm. All is well. We have top men working on this. Top. Men.

IN CALIFORNIA, foreign workers hired to process Americans’ unemployment applications. A perfect metaphor for Obama’s America.

A TARGET-RICH ENVIRONMENT: Mark Levin Obliterates the Democratic Party, Obama and the GOP.

I DUNNO. WHY DO WOMEN PREFER TO DATE MEN WITH TWICE THEIR INCOME? Why are older men looking at women half their age? It’s disheartening that men in their 50s seem so focused on looks.

Of course, while British women are complaining that “no man I know has ever been told that his powers, his allure, his charm have faded, and that he has to face up to that redundancy,” those middle-aged British men are committing suicide at increasing rates.

JOEL ACHENBACH: Is There Life Beyond Earth? Do We Even Want To Know? “Brin, a signer of the petition protesting the campaign for active SETI, said we don’t know what’s out there and shouldn’t presume that aliens are benign. He said there are roughly 100 scenarios to explain why we haven’t heard from the aliens so far. About a dozen of those scenarios are unpleasant, he said.”

Plus, Frank Drake comments: “I think it’s a waste of time at the present. It’s like somebody trying to send an e-mail to somebody whose e-mail address they don’t know, and whose name they don’t know.”

I’ve seen several recent discussions of this topic that seem unaware that there were international agreements entered into over two decades ago on the subject of whether and how to communicate with extraterrestrial intelligences. I discuss them at some length in this piece from the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law. They’re agreements, not treaties, and don’t have the force of law, but the press coverage seems entirely oblivious to their existence.

I also recommend Ben Bova’s book.

UPDATE: First link was bad before. Fixed now. Sorry!

JOEL KOTKIN: The Three Faces Of Populism. “The real target of Davos populists is not themselves, of course. Instead, the effort is to further burden Obama’s version of Josef Stalin’s harsh treatment of Kulaks, the early Soviet Union’s successful but hardly ultrarich peasant class. Megan McArdle aptly describes Obama’s proposal – abandoned this past week – to tax college savings accounts to pay for subsidized college as ‘a plan to redistribute money from the upper middle class to the lower middle class.’ . . . Not surprisingly, after six years of minimal income gains and numerous tax increases, the middle class – Americans making roughly $60,000 to $90,000 – remains far less sympathetic to Obama’s policies than either the rich or the poor. Yet none of this likely affects the Davos attendees, like billionaire real estate investor Jeff Greene, who said, to fight climate change, Americans need to ‘live a smaller existence.’ This, coming from a man with five houses, including a Beverly Hills estate listed at $195 million, does not constitute an ideal populist program.”

AT AMAZON, coupons galore in Health Care.

Also in Vitamins & Dietary Supplements.

MY USA TODAY COLUMN: Quartering Spyware Troops In A Digital Age: Why Your Home Should Be Your Castle.

ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS: How Syria’s Christians stopped turning the other cheek. “For the last week, they have been fighting the jihadists of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant across a major front in north-west Syria, in alliance with the YPG, the Kurdish defence forces. They have had mixed fortunes, but the battle has energised Middle East Christians worldwide – many of them exiles who fled the chaos of post-Saddam Iraq.”

Praise the lord, and pass the ammunition.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: Video: What the State of Law Schools Can Teach the Rest of Higher Ed.

THE SURPRISING ORIGINS OF WONDER WOMAN: “Frankly, Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who, I believe, should rule the world.”

Plus, her role in offsetting Batman and Superman’s “blood-curdling masculinity.” And: “Women enjoy submission—being bound.” Christian Grey, call DC Comics!

And: “Because Marston kept his true relationship with Olive Byrne a secret, he kept his family’s ties to Margaret Sanger a secret, too. Marston, Byrne and Holloway, and even Harry G. Peter, the artist who drew Wonder Woman, had all been powerfully influenced by the suffrage, feminism and birth control movements. And each of those movements had used chains as a centerpiece of its iconography.” Stacy McCain, call your office!

WITH SO MANY OPPRESSED GROUPS, who’s left at Wesleyan to do the oppressing?

AT AMAZON, take 20% off clothing.

Plus, Spring Break Deals on Swimsuits, Shorts, Sandals, and More. Summer is coming.

THERE’S A SURPRISE: White House Releases Draft ‘Privacy’ Bill That’s Not Very Good.

ANDROID FOR THE PARANOID: BlackPhone maker Silent Circle announces $50 million in funding.

I DUNNO, SOME OF THEM ARE PRETTY HEAVILY ARMED: ISIS Is Now Threatening To Murder A COLLEGE PROFESSOR IN TENNESSEE.

UPDATE: I like this from the comments:

I hereby pledge my commitment to the Instapundit unilateral mutual defense alliance. Any harm that comes to Instapundit will be deemed a harm to me, and the responsible Jihadi will thereafter be subject to revenge.

X_________________________

That said, I’m not the Tennessee prof. they’re targeting.

HOPEFUL READING FOR BILL CLINTON: How To Restore Your Rusted Old Tools.

FORGET IT, JAZZ. It’s Capehart-town.