Great Slate analysis of why the Supreme Court will be a huge issue this coming election. Scary.

Quoted: The composition of the high court is one of the most important issues at stake in the November election. While the justices cannot bring down gas prices or bring home the troops, their decisions in the coming years will affect just about everything else.

I suppose the writer has a point. Still, I wouldn't proclaim the same level of enthusiasm for the IRS...

Quoted: I've come to have an amazing regard for the IRS. Not because of all the wonderful things that government does that the IRS makes possible, but because my experience has been that of all the organizations you can owe money to, the IRS may be the most rational and easiest to deal with.

Thought-provoking piece from economic writer Dan Gross about the rise of American incompetence in business.

Quoted: The dollar plunged to new lows against foreign currencies this week. There are plenty of reasons for its plunge, but at the most basic level, the dollar's weakness reflects the world's collective, two-thumbs-down verdict about the ability of the United States—businesses, individuals, the government, the Federal Reserve—to manage the global financial system and the world's largest economy.

Alarming quote: "At some schools, fewer students are now filling prescriptions for the pill, while more are coming in for emergency contraception and pregnancy tests, according to the American College Health Association."

Quoted: Many women can no longer get discounted contraceptive pills at school, thanks to a congressional screw-up. When legislators passed the Deficit Reduction Act in 2005, they forgot to include college and university health centers the list. (Whoops.)

Fascinating but disheartening study about how effective female leaders receive lower approval ratings than their less effective male counterparts. Of course, there are many variables to consider... but it's still a troubling finding.

Quoted: The possibility that America will elect its first woman president has triggered the inevitable onslaught of one-liners, and a serious discussion about how America might change with a woman in the Oval Office. As luck would have it, there's new data out there about the shifts that take place when women run the world. Or at least a bunch of Indian villages.

Another great explainer from Slate. I didn't realize so many EU contries had such huge financial incentives for women to have children... Anyway, this Russian Day of Conception sounds like a bad reality game show waiting to happen.

Quoted: In a Russian province, amorous couples got the day off on Wednesday to have sex for the official Day of Conception. Anyone who has a baby nine months from now—on June 12, Russia Day—can compete for money, an SUV, and other prizes.