Reason

reason.com — Gov. Scott Walker leads Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett 50-42 among those likely to vote in Wisconsin's June 5 recall election, according to a new Reason-Rupe poll of 708 Wisconsin adults on cell phones and landlines. In the presidential race, 49 percent of all adults surveyed approve of the job President Obama is doing and 45 percent disapprove.

reason.com — George H. Smith describes the jazz scare of the '20s, which may remind you of the rock and rap scares of later days: Anne Faulkner -- music chairperson of the National Federation of Women's Clubs, and author of What We Hear in Music and The Opera and Oratorio -- was alarmed by a new type of music that was sweeping across America.

reason.com — In 2003, Reason celebrated its 35th anniversary by compiling a list of "Heroes of Freedom" who we thought had helped to "make the world groovier and groovier since 1968," when the magazine started publishing. "Honorees needed to have been alive at some point during reason's run," ran the intro.

reason.com — Dr. David Heimbach knows how to tell a story. Before California lawmakers last year, the noted burn surgeon drew gasps from the crowd as he described a 7-week-old baby girl who was burned in a fire started by a candle while she lay on a pillow that lacked flame retardant chemicals.

reason.com — Last Saturday, May 19, I was on the MSNBC show Melissa Harris-Perry, talking a blue streak with the eponymous host, Katrina vanden Heuvel of The Nation, Ezra Klein of The Washington Post, Elon James White, Victoria DeFrancesco Soto of University of Texas, and Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.).

reason.com — There's a crisis in Los Angeles. Is it the city's projected $250 million budget deficit? The city's $10 billion shortfall in pension obligations? Its crumbling infrastructure? A public school dropout rate approaching 50 percent? No, the City of Angels is facing catastrophe in the form of grocery bags.

reason.com — Former Obama budget director Peter Orszag is now a columnist for Bloomberg, where his latest offering amounts to what might be called The Secret Service Plan for Fiscal Policy: "Stimulate Now" and Pay Later. Those who are most worried about our long-term fiscal health shouldn't fret too much about additional stimulus today, if it is combined with future budget cuts.

reason.com — Want to know what a drag the California Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS) is putting on the Golden State's perenially beleaguered budget? An Orange County Register editorial does the math: In fiscal 2002-03, $545 million went to CalPERS pension payments, just after the Legislature started allowing pension spiking.

reason.com — Yesterday, Matt Welch noted the publication of a satire about Mitt Romney's treatment of dogs by two NPR journos, headlining the piece, "Seriously, This is What Our Elite Journalistic Institutions Are Writing About." He pointed readers to the Washington Post, which covered the important story.

reason.com — Oh hey look, a couple of NPR satirists have written a new book (pictured) of illustrations and poetry called Dog on the Roof!: On the Road with Mitt and the Mutt. From the WashPost write-up: The book follows the Romney family, packed in a Chevy station wagon, on an imaginary cross-country trip.