Pity For The Rich  —  You can tell something's happening in the economic policy debate when you start reading more things like AEI's Arthur Brooks explaining that it would simply be unfair to raise taxes on the rich.  Harvard economics professor and former Council of Economics Advisor chairman Greg Mankiw has said the same thing.

Of Donald, Dunces and Dogma  —  I told myself that I wouldn't be dragged into Donald Trump's “birther” cesspool, yet here I am.  —  It became too much to ignore when he climbed to the top of the Republicans' admittedly weak field of presidential contenders and serious minds began to suggest …

Florida Pastor says protest at Islamic Center will go on  —  Controversial Florida Pastor Terry Jones said he will follow through on his plan to protest outside an Islamic center in Michigan next week despite a judge's order to stay away from the mosque for three years, according to a report from the Detroit Free Press.

Paul Krugman says “So, let's try another shot to the head.”  —  I realize he's talking about a misconception, and he has designated the misconception a “zombie,” and according to zombie lore, zombies are destroyed by shooting them in the head.  But still.  That's quite a violent way to talk …

China's train wreck  —  Video: Is China's high-speed rail a model for U.S. transportation?  Based on his travels in China, Washington Post editorial writer Charles Lane thinks not.  —  For the past eight years, Liu Zhijun was one of the most influential people in China.

Amazon's $23,698,655.93 book about flies  —  A few weeks ago a postdoc in my lab logged on to Amazon to buy the lab an extra copy of Peter Lawrence's The Making of a Fly - a classic work in developmental biology that we - and most other Drosophila developmental biologists - consult regularly.

Shameful U.S. inaction on Syria's massacres  —  FOR THE PAST five weeks, growing numbers of Syrians have been gathering in cities and towns across the country to demand political freedom — and the security forces of dictator Bashar al-Assad have been responding by opening fire on them.

Shutter Fraternities for Young Women's Good  —  In the fall of 1984, a 17-year-old freshman at the University of Virginia named Liz Securro was invited to a fraternity party.  While there, she was given a tour of the historic house and offered a cup of the dark green cocktail that was its specialty.

Kyl statement stricken from the record  —  Jon Kyl's statement that 90 percent of Planned Parenthood's activities are related to abortion — which drew mockery when he explained it was “not intended to be a factual statement” — has been stricken from the Congressional Record.  From POLITICO Pulse:

Obama: No ‘silver bullet’ to bring down gas prices  —  President Obama said Saturday there are no easy answers for lowering gas prices, which are hovering above $4 a gallon, and criticized politicians who push plans to immediately reduce the price of gas.  —  “You see people trying …

Airport passenger screener charged in distributing child pornography  —  A passenger screener at Philadelphia International Airport is facing charges that he distributed more than 100 images of child pornography via Facebook, records show.  —  Federal agents also allege …

School District Employee Disciplined for Political Phone Call  —  A Sheboygan gas station owner is baffled after a mystery caller tells a clerk it's a bad idea to do business with a Sheboygan-area state senator.  —  It started Tuesday when a woman called Dick Hiers's Northeast Standard gas station …