We started the week with a pointer to a hilarious recipe for salted water. If you didn’t follow the link then, you should follow it now. Click on the “reviews” tab and don’t be drinking anything when you read through these.

On Tuesday I made some snarky and cynical comments about the effects of health care reform on government spending. Fortunately, nobody at the Congressional Budget Office sued me for libel. Professor Joseph Weiler was not so lucky; when he posted a negative book review on a web site he edits, he was charged with criminal libel in France. Thursday’s post reviewed the astonishing story and Friday’s followed up with an account of the most devastating book review I know of (though commenters offered some good alternatives).

We paused midweek to acknowledge the birthday of Georg Cantor, and to summarize how he taught the world to think about infinity.

Next week: Commentary on health insurance premium hikes and much much more. Come back on Monday!