SECDEF ROBERT GATES' BLUNT REALITY: "If current trends in the decline of European defense capabilities are not halted and reversed, future U.S. political leaders -- those for whom the Cold War was not the formative experience that it was for me -- may not consider the return on America's investment in NATO worth the cost."

THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION IN ONE SENTENCE: "[T]here is no limit to the certainty of experts even as their knowledge proves uncertain."

GOP FRESHMEN: Stop recess appointments by stopping recess. Good idea. My wife also keeps her 4th grade class in from recess when they misbehave; it works.

There's no downside. Congress is so dysfunctional that even keeping them in from recess won't increase 'productivity'.

SOUND ADVICE: Tips for Not Appearing Crazy on the Internet.

TOM BLUMER: Pick Up the Darned Phone. Blumer has a point. Nothing annoys me more than having to wade through a 6-deep voice-activated phone tree in order to get a question answered that I know is not within the realm of the phone tree's list of frequently asked questions. There are more than a few businesses that I simply refuse to patronize further because of their answering service.

On the other hand, I now refuse to answer my own telephone unless I recognize the caller on the caller ID function. The reason is simple - about 90% of the calls to our home are auto-dialed from a godawful number of organizations begging for money.

THE GREEN JOBS FANTASY: "Do Americans want to be 'harnessed' or set free?"

THOMAS SOWELL writes on Tim Pawlenty. Follow the comments, but start with the oldest first; after the first hundred or so, the 'conversation' degenerates into name-calling.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES.