Medary.com

I surf the web, so you don't have to!

Travel:
Carl's Cruise Capers and Travel Tips has new posts up! Again!

2009/the 2000's In Review, year-end lists, and looking ahead to 2010:
Top Ten Conservative Movies of the Decade
2010: The Year of the Citizen -- this via:
Tabitha Hale Proclaims the Year of the Citizen -- wherein Stacy McCain highlights the money quote:

So how did we get here again? The short answer is that we got lazy. Quite simply, Americans don’t understand what it’s like to not be free.

Don't Fear the 2010s -- retorts Reason's Nick Gillespie . . . actually, I suspect Gillespie would agree 100% with Hale and McCain . . .
The Year in Energy

On explaining and defending human freedom and liberty:
Value-Free Economics and Political Advocacy -- which contains this Mises quote that quite effectively summarizes my critique of socialism and those, like Democrats, who advocate for it:

Socialism cannot be realized because it is beyond human power to establish it as a social system. The choice is between capitalism and chaos. A man who chooses between drinking a glass of milk and a glass of a solution of potassium cyanide does not choose between two beverages; he chooses between life and death. A society that chooses between capitalism and socialism does not choose between two social systems; it chooses between social cooperation and the disintegration of society. Socialism is not an alternative to capitalism; it is an alternative to any system under which men can live as human beings. To stress this point is the task of economics as it is the task of biology and chemistry to teach that potassium cyanide is not a nutriment but deadly poison.

A reader sends this proposed Amendment to the Constitution -- Instapundit . . .

On spotlighting and deconstructing (and occasionally ridiculing) Liberty's enemies:
Constitutional principles, practical obstacles
How to write effective letters to corporations, wealthy people, and anyone you think is terrible. -- If I had an "activism" category this would go there instead . . .
Top Obama advisors: We no longer believe the 2007 NIE on Iran’s weapons program -- You were played by the Democrats--again . . .
Mohammed Cartoonist attacked by Ax-Wielding Muslim . . . but at least the Democrats aren't chopping off people's heads--yet . . .

The reality of Obama and the Democrat leadership as blithering idiots:
The Bush "era of secrecy" is over, the Obama "era of freaking weird labyrinthine secrecy" begins
Another Drudgtaposition -- I voted "We are so screwed" . . .
Obama's Decline
Newsweek: Saudis briefed top Obama official about “underwear bombers” in October; Update: MI5 knew of bomber three years ago -- This might have gone under "Foreign Affairs" but . . . sheesh . . .
It’s Official… Obama Loses More Jobs In One Year Than Any President In Modern History
Low favorables: Dems rip Rasmussen -- shooting the messenger . . .
Did Bush White House Ever Go After Pollsters?
History Is Knocking for Obama -- "The Democrats don't know nothin' 'bout history, they don't know nothin' 'bout jee-ography, and their total ignorance is their source of total confidence."
When Presidents anger the CIA. Of course, the CIA ran a campaign of leaks against Bush, too. Hope they’re enjoying the result. . . . -- qualifies as Blithering Idiotry, I think . . .
The Joke's On Us -- unfortunately, those Blithering Idiots are in power, for at least the next eleven months . . .

Foreign affairs:
Putin Continues to Take Advantage of Obama's Weak Leadership -- would have been in "Blithering Idiots" but unfortunately is too important . . .
Iran and disinformation
The Jihad Decade Cometh

"Global warming" aka "Climate change" -- or should that be "Climate Reform?":
Heavy snow brings Beijing to standstill -- say it together: "It's not climate, it's just weather!"

The Economy:
Holding government to the same standard as business -- if I had a "general hypocrisy" section this would go there instead . . .
'The U.S. has no way of avoiding a financial Armageddon' -- shorter: We Are So Screwed . . .

Miscellany:
10 Ways to Flirt with a Nerd
An author’s minimalist home of the future -- Heinlein's home . . .
New ag dean glad to be back at SDSU
The Way You Wear Your Hat – Listen Up, Hollywood, It’s Important

SF and Writing:
6 'Brilliant' Movie Scientists (Who Suck At Their Job)
A Preview of the New Doctor

Science, technology, and space:
Uranium Is So Last Century — Enter Thorium, the New Green Nuke
Stephen Hawking: "Why Isn't the Milky Way Crawling With Mechanical or Biological Life?

Sports:
Jackrabbits score in bunches to down Centenary
No. 1 Kansas stays perfect, beats No. 18 Temple
It’s time to end the charade of athletes as role models -- occasionally, Whitlock careens into a good idea . . .
UMKC defeats Southern Utah 53-50
Kansas shows why it’s No. 1 in crushing No. 18 Temple -- the home town paper (well, Kansas City, but close enough) . . .
Jacks hammer Gents in Lamb Bonanza
SDSU overpowers Gents -- the home town paper (well, Sioux Falls, but close enough) . . .
SDSU routs Centenary -- the home town paper (well, Sioux Falls, but close enough) . . .