MOURDOCK VICTORY=TEA PARTY VICTORY:  There’s little doubt that tea party support propelled Richard Mourdock  to a 20 percentage point victory (60-40) over 30-year incumbent Republican Senator Richard Lugar in the Indiana Republican primary today.   As reported by CBS News, “His message was amplified by the Tea Party-aligned FreedomWorks, which held ‘activist training’ sessions and made phone calls on Mourdock’s behalf, and the super PAC Club for Growth, which spent more than $1.4 million on the race. (Lugar’s campaign, which had spent $6.7 million on the race as of April, did significantly outspend Mourdock’s, which had spent $2 million as of April.)”  It also demonstrates that money does not always = victory.  Money may talk, but the people, as individuals, speak louder. And right now, politically speaking, the Tea Party seems to be a bullhorn, amplifying deep and abiding concerns of the American electorate.

CELL PHONE TRACKING:  We all know our cell phones can be used to track our whereabouts. But did you know that cell phone companies routinely turn over such data to law enforcement without a warrant (charging a pretty penny to do so)?  Does this violate the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures? The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided this summer, in U.S. v. Jones, that attaching a GPS to a car constitutes a “search” for purposes of the Fourth Amendment.

A PILL TO PREVENT AIDS/HIV?  Apparently so.  The  FDA is meeting on Thursday to discuss whether the drug Truvada should be approved as a preventative for those at risk of contracting HIV through sexual intercourse.

THE INCREDIBLE RESPONSIBILITY OF BEING 2d IN LINE TO THE PRESIDENCY:   Or maybe not.  According to Hilary Clinton, “Being a vice president is kind of like being a first lady” because “You are there to support and serve the president.”  Putting aside the question of what she means, exactly, by “serving” the President, I will assume this lackadaisical attitude toward the Vice Presidency won’t continue once Mitt Romney selects a running mate. Unlike Biden, who is at best a type of “first lady,” Mitt’s choice will widely be characterized by the Dems as a critical decision, requiring experience, courage and judgment.  LOL.

CAN YOU SAY “BACKFIRE”?:  Elizabeth Warren’s ancestor reportedly rounded up Cherokees for the Trail of Tears.  Ouch.  [fixed broken link!]

h/t to Kat Ciano and Michael Patrick Leahy on this one

A REASON TO GO TOPLESS:  For men (ahem). The US global AIDS coordinator is recommending circumcision to reduce AIDS rates among African soldiers. “In 2006, trials in Kenya, Uganda and South Africa found foreskin removal more than halved men’s risk of HIV infection. Longer-term analysis has found the benefit to be even greater than thought, with a risk reduction of around 60 percent.”

SENATE REPUBLICANS BLOCK STUDENT LOAN BILL, AND IT’S A GOOD THING:  The Democrats are screaming that the sky will now fall, since student loan interest rates will rise from current 3.4 % to about 7 percent. Price tag was a whopping $6 billion, funded  by hiking  Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes on some folks labeled as “rich.”  But why should students be insulated from paying a market rate on their loans? Is there some reason why these particular loans should have artificially lowered rates?  Oh yeah, I forgot: It’s an election year, and the Dems need to energize the student part of their patchwork base. God forbid students should begin to feel the real effects of the Obama economy before November.  And for the record:  I’m still paying my loans back from law school, they’ve all been refinanced/consolidated, and this won’t affect me or anyone else who has had the brains to consolidate.

CLASS OF 2012:  GET OVER YOURSELF:  Bret Stephens’s WSJ op-ed offers some solid advice for this year’s college graduates:  “But if you can just manage to tone down your egos, shape up your minds, and think unfashionable thoughts, you just might be able to do something worthy with your lives. And even get a job.”

LICENSING GONE WILD:  Should you need the government’s permission to work?  A new report released today by the Institute for Justice reveals a mind-boggling amount of over-regulation for an array of moderate-income occupations.  In today’s economy, these unnecessary burdens on workers and small businesses need to be rethought.  Watch the video here. 

MALPRACTICE AT LAW SCHOOLS:  Jennifer Rubin, legal eagle over at the Washington Post, nails it in this blog post, commenting on Peter Berkowitz’s observation in the WSJ that colleges and grad schools don’t teach the Federalist Papers.  Rubin observes:

But the idea that the Constitution has objective meaning that can be ascertained, in part by studying works like “The Federalist,” is still resisted by the vast majority of elite law school faculty.  . . . Students study precedent and view newer decisions as either departures from or natural consequences of earlier cases. But assess that a decision, and maybe a great number before that, are just plain wrong because they misunderstood an aspect of the Framers’ intent or the structure of the Constitution? Perish the thought.

As one of those law school faculty members, I can vouch for the utter correctness of Rubin’s observation. Living constitutionalism has no patience whatsoever for what a bunch of old, dead (white) guys thought about the meaning of the Constitution they wrote and ratified.  It’s so late 1700s (*yawn*).

JOIN THE HELLO KITTY MILE HIGH CLUB!:  I kid you not.  EVA Air (Taiwan) now has Hello Kitty-clad jets.  “Heralding the start of a happy journey, Hello Kitty’s friends and family members join her on the aircraft in a cheerful representation of friendship and love,” says EVA.

TRENT LOTT AND RICHARD LUGAR ARE “LOST”:  My jaw dropped open on this one.  Apparently former Republican Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott has sold out and abandoned his own principles.  He is now lobbying for Senate ratification of the LOST (Law of the Sea Treaty), which he vehemently opposed during his time in the Senate.  Pay close attention to this one, folks:  LOST is a progressive dream, representing an significant potential loss of U.S. sovereignty if ratified.  It is nothing more than a U.N. wealth (and power) redistribution program in sheep’s clothing.  Perhaps this is one reason why Indiana Republican Senator Richard Lugar is expected to lose in today’s Republican primary there:  He shockingly supports LOST.

WAR ON WOMEN, MY ARSE:  Is it not abundantly clear that the Democrats are the ones who seem to view women as unidimensional, helpless beings who need to be taken care of by big government? If ever there was a “war on women,” my friends, it is the Democrats who are waging it.  Besides thinking all women are like the composite, dependent “Julia,” Democrats in Congress now insist anything short of support for the Senate version of  VAWA (the Violence Against Women Act) is a surefire sign of  misogyny.  The fact that VAWA is an unnecessary, massive federal spending program (in a time of historic deficits) that displaces and strong-arms States is the  real “woman” behind the curtain.

LAWFARE COMES TO GITMO:  Excellent editorial in the WSJ today about the lawfare tactics of the 9/11 defense lawyers and their terrorist clients. It’s all just another opportunity to disparage and undermine the U.S. and use the legal system to do it.  Think about it folks:  If a military tribunal can become such a spectacle, can you imagine what it would be like in a civilian courtroom, as  President Obama, Eric Holder & Co. had wanted?  Geez.

SAVING BRAIN CELLS:  The BBC reports that UK researchers have just published a study showing an ability to shut off the buildup of proteins that lead to brain cell damage. Professor of Molecular Neurobiology at King’s College London, Roger Morris, said it was a “breakthrough in understanding what kills neurons.” He added: “There are good reasons for believing this response, identified with prion disease, applies also to Alzheimer’s and other neuro-degenerative diseases.”

IF IT WALKS LIKE A DUCK AND QUACKS LIKE A DUCK, IT’S A DUCK:  Jonathan Cohn at The New Republic articulates the desperation of the political left to save Obamacare.  Their newest “it” theory?  The taxing power.  But this theory has as much chance as a snowball in H-E-double hockey sticks.  A “tax” is generally denominated as such to ensure political accountability (it wasn’t in Obamacare– it was called a “penalty”), and more fundamentally, a “tax” raises money to carry out a government program(s). Social Security and Medicare, for example, are exercises of Congress’s taxing power. The individual mandate of Obamacare is a “penalty” because, like all penalties, Congress imposed it as punishment for bad behavior (not buying health insurance).  If it walks like a penalty and quacks like a penalty, it’s a penalty.  Enough said.

MORE GOOD NEWS:  The UK’s Mail Online reports that global sex toy sales are soaring, expected to reach an all-time high this year, thanks  in part to the overt support of female celebrities and widespread availability in grocery aisles.

PULLING A “CHRIST”:  Now THAT would be something!!!  Didn’t mean to suggest Sen. Lugar would attempt to rise from the political tomb, so to speak.  Just a typo– was referring to Charlie Crist situation here in Florida’s last gubernatorial election.  LOL.  Or MAYBE the typo was divine intervention????

INDEPENDENTS FAVOR ROMNEY BY 10 POINTS:  The latest Battleground poll by George Washington University-Politico has Romney up by 10 points (48 to 38 percent) over Obama among independent voters. Overall, it’s a dead heat, with Romney garnering 48 percent; Obama 47 percent.   My only question:  Are there really that many Democrats out there, that with such a wide lead among independents, Romney only comes out 1 percentage point ahead?  Maybe I’m just not good with math.  :(

LUGAR CAN’T BE A “SORE LOSER”:  Thanks to a sharp Instapundit reader, I’ve discovered Indiana Senator Richard Lugar cannot, in fact, run as an independent if he loses to Richard Mourdock in the Republican primary.  This is because Indiana has a “sore loser” law that says (Indiana Code Section 3-8-1-5.5) a person who “is defeated in a primary election . . . is not eligible to become a candidate for the same office in the next general or municipal election.”  So no pulling a Murkowski or Christ for Lugar.

WILL LUGAR RUN FOR SENATE AS 3d PARTY CANDIDATE?  Faced with a likely loss to tea party favorite Richard Mourdock, will U.S. Senate veteran Richard Lugar (R-IN) bust a Joe Lieberman, Lisa Murkowski or Charlie Crist move and mount a third party bid?  Doubtful, but never underestimate the desire to stay in power.  Indiana’s Senate race is a microcosm of the fight for the soul of the Republican party.

IS IT ME, OR IS THIS $590,000 CAR JUST PLAIN UGLY? It’s a Nissan Juke-R.  Okay, maybe it’s “cute,” in a VW Bug-on-steroids sort of way. But personally, I’d save $400,000 or so and go for the Maserati Granturismo.

MMMMMM…… CAVIAR AND CRAB POTATO CHIPS:  Go figure.  Apparently the Russians love ’em.  An interesting story in the China Post about some freaky variations of the snacks we love.

SPINY LOBSTER AND OVERCRIMINALIZATION:  Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) introduce The Freedom from Over-Criminalization and Unjust Seizures Act of 2012, S. 2062 and H.R. 417.  Goal:  decriminalizing a lot of stupid stuff that shouldn’t be a federal crime in the first place.

NOW THAT’S USEFUL!:  A new iPhone app allows you to control how long a recipient can view pics you send, and prevents saving or dowloading. Sexting made truly private?