AT AMAZON, it’s the Friday Sale.

THE COFFEE PARTY: Doing the research that CNN didn’t.

DAVID BROOKS applies for a job.

VACCINE UPDATE: Mercury-Autism Link Rejected.

TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN: Humans Outcompeting Killer Whales For Food.

FINALLY: A Tiger Woods Love Doll.

GERMANY TO GREECE: We’re In Charge, So Shut Up.

“SMART DIPLOMACY:” Holbrooke pulls a Biden in Afghanistan. “A recent comment by Richard Holbrooke, the Obama administration’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, that ‘almost every Pashtun family has someone involved with the [Taliban] movement,’ has caused an outcry in Afghanistan and strained the already tense relationship between Kabul and Washington.”

TIM CAVANAUGH: Five Lies About the American Economy.

JONAH GOLDBERG: “Brooks is turning out to be like Big Bird to Obama’s Snuffaluffagus! He’s the only one who can see the real Obama and nobody believes him.”

POLITZOID: Grandma Plugs ObamaCare: Help, I’ve Fallen And I Can’t Get Up!

THIS MIGHT BE USEFUL: Nanoelectromechanical Sensor Can Instantly Detect Pathogens And Toxins.

MARK LEVIN CALLS FOR Louise Slaughter’s expulsion from Congress.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND through the ages.

AN INTERVIEW WITH California Senate candidate Mickey Kaus. “I don’t have any particular beef with Barbara Boxer. My beef is with the official Democratic doctrine that anybody who reaches Boxer’s position has to spout and has to endorse. She’s sort of a state of the art Democratic senator and that’s a problem. The state of the art Democratic party has some positions that depart from common sense and also undermine, in practice, the ideals that the party stands for.”

TRYING TO REINVENT OBAMA.

SHIKHA DALMIA: THE OBAMACARE DEBACLE: “Even if Democrats extract the votes to put ObamaCare over the top, it will at best be a Pyrrhic victory for them. Regardless of the outcome, this monstrosity might cost the Democrats the Congress this November, ruin the party for a long time and prematurely render Barack Obama a lame duck president for the rest of his term. . . . In fact, the real reason why ObamaCare is so unpopular is that it is proposing a giant expansion of the entitlement state precisely when this state everywhere is coming apart: here and abroad; at the federal level and the state; in the public sector and the private. Suggesting a giant government takeover of a sixth of the economy can’t be a popular selling point in a country whose DNA has a programmed hostility to Big Government.”

DAVID HARSANYI: Colorado should repeal the Amazon Tax. But what’s going on here is Colorado legislator’s anger that there’s something they don’t control:

Actually, if anyone ever needed an obvious illustration of how government overreach can damage an economy, they need look no further than the Colorado legislature’s foolish attempt to wheedle a few extra bucks out of consumers via an Internet sales tax. . . . One only wishes that citizens could boycott irascible and intrusive state legislators — with their knee-jerk, ill-informed, anti-capitalist sentiment — who are willing to risk the jobs of thousands of citizens for a couple million bucks in the state’s coffers.

And follow the link for the sputtering anger of Colorado Senate Majority Leader John Morse. It’s not even about the money. It’s about the control.

HUGH HEFNER, Teenage Cartoonist.

DON’T WORRY — ONCE THE GOVERNMENT TAKES OVER, THAT WILL STOP: Death Rate Dropping For Cancer.

OF LYNDA BARRY, HEAD LICE, and Ira Glass.

POPULAR MECHANICS: Driving Hazards More Dangerous Than Unintended Acceleration.

THE FIRST AMENDMENT AND advertising for legal prostitution.

NO RECESSION in D.C.

HMM: Report: Toyota sales may bounce back big time in March.

WHY WE ARE NOT LIVING in Western Civilization.

IN THE MAIL: War Stories: The Causes and Consequences of Public Views of War.

DANA CARVEY AS OBAMA on Leno.

PETER SUDERMAN: The White House Kindly Requests You Do Not Refer to Its Health Care Budget Gimmicks as “Gimmicks”. “When early drafts of health care reform rang up at around $1.6 trillion, Washington underwent a massive freakout; it became clear that passing a bill that kind of price tag was almost certainly impossible. So Obama gave Congress a target of ‘around $900 billion’ for the bill, and one of the ways the lower figure was achieved was by starting the taxes revenue mechanisms immediately but holding off on implementing the benefits. That allowed for the Senate bill’s politically convenient $850 billion score while disguising the fact that true cost of a full ten years of the bill’s programs is actually more like $1.8 trillion (and that’s not counting the trillion-plus in additional costs imposed by an individual mandate).”

EVEN WHEN IT’S YOUR MONEY, IT’S THEIR MONEY: States May Hold Tax Refunds For Months.

Residents eager to get their state tax refunds may have a long wait this year: The recession has tied up cash and caused officials in half a dozen states to consider freezing refunds, in one case for as long as five months.

States from New York to Hawaii that have been hard-hit by the economic downturn say they have either delayed refunds or are considering doing so because of budget shortfalls.

Next year, of course, people will be more likely to avoid overpayment, and states will lose the “float” entirely. Short-term thinking indeed.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Is Tom Hanks Unhinged? “Indeed, the most disturbing phrase of all was Hanks’ suggestion that the Japanese wished to ‘kill,’ us, while we in turn wanted to ‘annihilate’ them. Had they developed the bomb or other such weapons of mass destruction (and they had all sorts of plans of creating WMDs), and won the war, I can guarantee Hanks that he would probably would not be here today, and that his Los Angeles would look nothing like a prosperous and modern Tokyo.”

Talk of racism is how the elites feel good about themselves. That’s all it means.

WIRED: How Andrew Breitbart Hacks The Media.

AGENTS OF INCOMPETENCE: Agents of Incompetence: Customs, ATF Dodging All Questions About Toy Guns (Part III).

ANDREW COULSON on National Education Standards.

WELL, THAT’S A RELIEF: “No, there is nothing cooler than Al Franken at Netroots Nation. It is absolutely the coolest thing known to mankind.” I mean, now there’s no point even trying.

RESTORING DIGNITY TO THE GOVERNMENT? More on “Naked Lobbying” by Rahm Emanuel.

POLITICO quotes pro-Obama evangelical in evangelicals-fear-Tea Party piece. Lame.

Meanwhile, reader Trey Monroe writes:

I am an Evangelical and there are LOTS of us at tea party events and we are more than happy to have non-religious folks who understand the proper place of government at our side. I have been to two Tennessee tea parties here in Nashville and the March on Washington DC. Frankly, I was surprised at how many other Christians I saw and met. So there were lots of Christians in the crowds, and lots of secular folks as well at all those events. I do not see the tea party movement as being concerned with social issues. It is about smaller, cheaper, less intrusive government and increased personal freedoms. It is about personal responsibility and removing the oligarchy to replace them with people who understand and will work toward a government that knows its limited place. While there are social issues these groups disagree on, I do not recall seeing a single sign about social issues at the events I have attended.

I see this story as part of an effort to sow division. I think Ben Smith was used here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Geoffrey Robinson emails:

My general sense, as an evangelical, is that the tea partiers and most evangelicals would get along because of common causes. We both know the government is going crazy.

And the Tea Partiers have done a fantastic job thus far of being really smart about taking half a loaf rather than none at all (i.e., Scott Brown). There are more evangelicals with libertarian (esp. economic) leanings than the media suspects.

I think they’re afraid of this movement, and since marginalizing it hasn’t worked, they’re trying to divide it.

MORE: Bryan Preston emails:

Hey Glenn, I just read your post about Ben Smith’s Tea Parties vs evangelicals article, thought I’d give you another data point about this. Here in Texas, the Tea Parties are huge thanks a whole lot of things, from our state’s unique take on things to Katrina Pierson to Gov Perry. At Tea Party gatherings all over the state, few state leaders are more popular to have as guest speaker or what have you than Cathie Adams, who is both a well known evangelical leader and chairman of the state GOP. It’s all about common causes and common goals. Smith’s article was slippery, at best, in its use of one liberal evangelical to make the case for some kind of division between evangelicals and the Tea Parties.

Indeed.

THIS WEEKEND: Bid for the oldest flying car in existence.

GOING AFTER FEDERAL EMPLOYEES who don’t pay their taxes. “Remember when a passel of Obama appointees didn’t pay their taxes either, but then a bunch of them got to hold really important jobs anyway? Good times.”

WILL COLLIER: The Case Of The Lurking Staffer.

THE EXCITEMENT OF Sous Vide.

PJTV: Brandi Milloy interviews an Obama cousin who’s a physician, and not an ObamaCare fan.

He’s got a blog, too.

THOUGHTS ON POLITICS AND COPYRIGHT from Larry Lessig.

And, while Karl Rove is confessing his errors, let me say I told you so. And note this piece by Ken Layne, too. The failure of the Republicans to take advantage of the entertainment industries’ unpopularity during Bush’s first term was a colossal mistake.

OBAMA GOING TO CLEVELAND to be met by a Tea Party?

BUBBLE? In the comments to this post, law students are talking about crushing — $150-250K — debt loads and no jobs, and being advised to flee the country since the debt is non-bankruptable. I’m hearing more stories like this, and I wonder if it’s not a sign that the higher-education bubble is starting to burst.

ROGER KIMBALL: The “Slaughter Solution” And Other Acts Of Desperation.

IN LIGHT OF MY EARLIER POST on the Flip and Kodak Zi8 mini cams, an email from reader Darryl Musick:

I have both the Flip and the Kodak Zi8 cams. I like the external mic of the Kodak but not the jerky zoom. The Flip seems more substantial and just a bit easier to use. One big difference is that the Kodak makes files that are about 30% smaller than the Flip and seems to have better color saturation. Below are links to two videos, the first one was made with the Flip, the second with the Kodak…you can compare the differences. Both used the built-in mics. Beware, they may make you thirsty!

Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbHrv_UNScc

Video 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syHORbaS1h0

See for yourself.

SILENCE OF THE BLOGS: The Left’s Non-Reaction to the Jersey Jihadi. Hey if you can’t pin it on “teabaggers,” why talk about it?

LARRY KUDLOW: How high will tax rates go?

DIANA HSIEH: Colorado Screws Amazon and Its Colorado Affiliates. Much more on this here. And she’s started a Repeal The Amazon Tax website.

TREATING TAX DOLLARS like Monopoly money.

EVANGELICALS SCARED OF THE TEA PARTIES? “Too libertarian.” I have to say, I haven’t seen a lot of evidence of this. But hey, there’s a lot to fear from those spooky libertarians — they’re trying to take over the government . . . and then leave you alone!

UPDATE: Erick Erickson emails: “I call bullshit.” And reader Robert Crawford writes: “Admittedly, I’m no Evangelical, so it’s no surprise I’ve never heard of the groups involved, but the Politico story about Evangelicals being uncomfortable with the Tea Parties reeks of astroturf. The line about ‘the incivility, the name-calling, the pathos of politics’ rings as more a Democrat talking point, in particular.” I suspect we’ll see a lot of efforts to divide the Tea Party movement. That’s because it’s working.

CLIMATEGATE: Lord Monckton: Once Respected Nature Now Staffed By Moaning Ninnies.

THOUGHTS ON testosterone.

TEA PARTY TRAINING: A REPORT FROM UTAH. David Kirkham writes:

Tonight we held practice delegate training for Utah County so new people would know what to expect when they went to their neighborhood caucus and how to get elected as a delegate for the Republican Convention. The room was packed with people wanting to learn how to become a delegate. We have lists of everyone who attended their caucus meeting last year so people can get them to come out and vote for fiscal minded candidates.

Most have never participated in politics. Voting Senator Bennett out sentiment was extremely high. We have held these practice training sessions all over the state in the individual counties. We are getting organized.

UPDATE: Reader John MacDonald writes: “Tea Parties have to out -organize the community organizers well in advance of November elections or they lose the ground game on Election day to SEIU, ACORN.They have to win above the fraud factor.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Meanwhile, from Ohio, Justin Binik Thomas sends:

> New Tea Party, nearly 150 people attend.

> Members of the Pierce Township(Ohio) Tea Party came together for
> their first meeting on March 11.

> Brian Wills, guest speaker of the Cincinnati Tea Party and Scott
> Ross with End Ohio’s Estate Tax.

> Members were challenged to take petition packets and collect 30
> signatures each in support of End Ohio’s Estate Tax,
> a ballot initiative to end the death tax.

> Pierce Township Tea Party is the newest community group in the
> Cincinnati Tea Party

This is democracy in action.

YOU CAN ALWAYS SAY “I FORGOT.” “DOJ contends that the failure to disclose was not intentional. It says that ‘In preparing thousands of pages for submission, it was unfortunately and inadvertently missed.’ Some Senators will view this claim with skepticism.”

EUROPE: Strike Paralyzes Greece: Protests Turn Violent. If only taxpayers got as mad about being fleeced as government workers do about losing their gravy train. . . .

WHY DIDN’T DEMS GO WITH A SCOTT BROWN “SCANDAL” STORY? The first several Gawker comments are all highly unimpressed. If you can’t get Gawker readers excited about a scandal story, it probably doesn’t have legs . . . .

AT AMAZON, the Big DVD Sale.

MEGAN MCARDLE: “Green jobs have become the ginseng of progressive politics: a sort of broad-spectrum snake oil that cures whatever happens to ail you. They are the antidote to economic malaise, an underskilled labor force, the inherent unwillingness of the public to suffer any significant economic and personal dislocation in order to save the environment. They enhance nationalistic vigor. (If we don’t act now, the Chinese will steal all of our green jobs!) They stave off aging of stale political platforms. And I’m pretty sure they’re good for bunions, too.”

HEH: “Is it okay if I stand back and watch… or heckle with stuff like: Don’t you know 100 human beings are dying every day because of you?”

Related: “What’s Spanish for ‘Hey, Rubes!’”

IN NEVADA, A TEA PARTY FAKE? “The allegation? He was put in the race by agents of Senate Majority leader Harry Reid to siphon votes from the GOP.”

THE SECRET LIVES of particle accelerators.

BIG GOVERNMENT: Obama Spiked ACORN Investigation: Judicial Watch Releases FBI Documents.

AN ARMY OF JAWAS: ‘Net Posse Tracked ‘Jihad Jane’ for Three Years.

YOU KNOW, I USED TO PLAY SQUASH, and this is exactly how I remember it, too. What’s the big deal?

A GOOD QUESTION: Will Congress dock its pay for the first time since the Great Depression?

IS THIS GOOD FOR THE U.S., or more “Weak Horse” consequences? Japan embracing China?

THE INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE, TAX CREDITS, and religious schools.

WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS: A flying, solar-powered sailboat.

JOURNALISM: CNN “geek anthem” post is implausibly similar to scrappy blogger’s earlier article. Well, great minds think alike and all that — but, really, how many great minds are there at CNN?

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Citizens Against Government Waste praises the new earmark moratorium:

“CCAGW supports this step on the journey toward the complete elimination of congressional earmarks,” said CCAGW President Tom Schatz. “Over the last three years, under intense pressure from taxpayers, member of Congress have been ratcheting down their earmarks and the earth has not stopped rotating on its axis. With each reduction, members confirm what CCAGW and other taxpayer groups have been saying all along: Historically, Congress has not had to earmark in order to do the taxpayers’ business and that Congress can, and should, live without earmarks.”

In fact, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) last week called for a one-year moratorium on all earmarks but has not made any specific proposal to implement her plan.

Fewer earmarks are better earmarks.

Related: House GOP Votes to Ban All Earmarks.

IMPORTANT NEWS: Corvettes don’t float.

MEGAN MCARDLE: THE UNKINDEST CUT. “Proponents of reform have been acting as if the fact that various Democrat plans have been scored by the Congressional Budget Office as ‘deficit neutral’ somehow means that they couldn’t possibly be worse than the status quo. This is extraordinarily wishful thinking.”

A PLACE FOR formal logic in law school?

PLEDGE NEWS: Divided appeals court rules Pledge of Allegiance doesn’t violate Constitution.

NEW FLIP VIDEO CAMS to launch in early April? Praise for the old Flip here.

ANOTHER SCANDAL? U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick has been subpoenaed before a federal grand jury in Detroit along with a member of her staff. “Kilpatrick, a Detroit Democrat and the mother of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, let House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office know about the summons on Wednesday, as required by House rules.”

HEH: “Democratic leaders should be asking themselves just how they have gotten to the point that their strategy is to amend a law that doesn’t exist yet by passing a bill without voting on it.”

TED FRANK: I am not afraid of my Toyota Prius. “Have Balloon Boy and the finger-in-the-chili taught us nothing?”

ROGER SIMON: Beck, Krauthammer and the Geert Wilders perplex.

WIRED SCOOPS BREITBART on an O’Keefe video sting against HUD.

JAMIE OLIVER: Food revolutionary.

PJTV: CLIMATEGATE: The Global Warming Coverup Spreads to NASA.

ASSESSING your risk of a heart attack.

HOW TO PUT YOUR CAR INTO DEEP STORAGE and get it out later.

HMM: 52 Million (36%) of Tax Returns Pay Zero Income Tax. I think that everyone who votes should pay income tax. And the amount should go up and down with federal spending.

IS THE RECOVERY A MYTH? “The White House claims the economy is on the mend. That’s a fantasy.”

CREDIT DEFAULT SWAPS UNDER FIRE? Professor Bainbridge: “This is just absurd.”

STUDY: TV makes kids fat, computers don’t.

SUPERSIZE ME: Law School Faculties 40% Larger Than 10 Years Ago. That’s not fair. I haven’t put on any weight.

MICHAEL YON: The Bridge. Remember, his work is supported by reader donations, so if you like it please consider hitting the tipjar.

IN THE MAIL: The Origin of Cultures: How Individual Choices Make Cultures Change.

SOME VERY COOL PHOTOS of New York and Las Vegas at night.

PJTV: The Purple Badge of Courage: Iraqis At The Polls.

MICHAEL BARONE: No Way Out For Dems: ObamaCare’s Their Own Mess. “It’s beginning to look like the goal of health-care legislation was a bridge too far. There’s a reason it’s hard to pass unpopular legislation on party-line votes. It’s not the Senate rules. It’s called democracy.”

FROM THE 1994 FILES.

SWEDISH ARTIST has his axe ready.

EXAMINER: Time For Sunshine At Fannie And Freddie.

WAR ON PHOTOGRAPHY UPDATE: UK minister aims to reassure photographers. “The UK Policing and Crime Minister has reasserted that anti-terrorism should not be used to stop photographers and photojournalists. In a meeting with a Parliamentary photography group and journalists, David Hanson MP said the Sections 44 and 58A of the 2000 Terrorist Act should not be ‘used to stop ordinary people taking photos or to curtail legitimate journalistic activity’. He also said guidance to that effect has been provided to the UK police forces, advising that these powers should not be used to stop innocent members of the public, tourists and journalists.”