Medary.com

A (mostly) daily review of what's out there that caught my attention. (Yeah, it's possible I might have ADD . . .)

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

Section One: The Word:
An occasional comment, rant, or snark, brought on by the flow of events:
Now, per Warren at Coyote Blog: OMG, Best Thing I Have Seen For A While wherein you get schooled, hip-hop-style, in Keynsian vs. Hayekian economics (hint: Hayek is right, Keynes is wrong, much to the chagrin of government planners everywhere) . . .




Section Two: Things That Amuse Me:
2.1: Simians:
Woman Wants To Bring Baby Chimp To Court -- With another hat tip to Special Simian Correspondent Bill (And uh, no, I'm not calling him a simian, although, you know, if you're an evolutionist . . .)

2.2: Travel:
Top Ten Cruise Travel Tips: A Cruise Diva's Must-Haves
The Liberty Ship: Cruising Hard To Starbord -- Heh. Sadly, we've got another trip already planned . . .
NZ airline offers economy-class bed seats
Exploring Air New Zealand’s New Long Haul Cabin with Beds in Coach -- Wherein Cranky Flier whups the previous AP reporting within an inch of its journalistic life . . . what I'm trying to say is that this blogger guy blows AP completely out of the water, reporting-wise . . .

More after the "Read More" . . . 2.3: Sports:
The Sixth Stage -- When the world looks darkest around you, take heart, it could be worse. You could be a Kansas City Royals fan . .
No. 3 Kansas rolls past Iowa State 84-61
Thompkins, Georgia drop No. 8 Tennessee 78-63
Sunnarborg, Boever lead Jacks past Oakland
IUPUI edges UMKC
Oakland escapes Frost with 85-82 win
Panthers down Jacks 35-6-- Is it just me, or does Jackrabbit wrestling--um--suck?
SDSU tops Oakland: Jackrabbit women win rematch of Summit title game
SDSU men fall short to Oakland
No. 3 Vols rebound with 55-43 win at No. 18 LSU
Two more verbals
Weekend leftovers
As the Big Ten Conference considers expansion, Missouri mulls its options
Jackrabbits blister IPFW, 83-62
No. 2 Kansas too big for MU to handle
Ankiel picks Royals for chance to play center field
Unbeaten Kentucky slides into No. 1 spot
Dykhouse Center nearly set to open

2.4: Science Fiction and Writing:
"Simple Premise" Sci-Fi From Some Masters of Science Fiction
6 Classic Sci-Fi Books You Should Read
6 Sci-Fi Books for People Who Miss Robert Heinlein -- I hoped for a bit more variety on the list than three John Scalzi books and three John Varley books, however . . .
From the Mind of Evil
Writing Your Book, part III: The Opening Pages
Caprica slow out of the gate -- I gave it ten minutes . . . ten long, slow, agonizing, meaningless minutes . . . then I went and found something interesting instead . . .
Aldrich powers Jayhawks to 84-65 win over Missouri -- Missouri obviously matches up very, very poorly with Kansas . . .
Confessions of a Book Pirate
We DO Publish Debut Authors
My own private universe

2.5: Miscellany:
Why Mr. Right is getting harder to find
The Hurt Locker, a few ponderings.
Top ten passions of Ancient Rome -- Booze, buffery, buildings, babes ("cougars," even!), boy-toys, boppin' to the beat, brawls, booty, brunch, and bacchanalian regrets . . . or something like that . . .
I Thought I Was The Only Curmudgeon Who Obsessed Over This

2.6: Science, technology, and space:
The Community is the Search Engine
A Word About the Blog-O-Bucks -- "There’s a reason that most bloggers have day jobs to pay the bills. You might have noticed that Professor Glenn Reynolds hasn’t told the University of Tennessee Law School to “take this job and shove it.” That’s what we call a clue, Sherlock."
Russia loses science powerhouse standing -- The shift from communist tyranny to simple thugocracy has its downsides, it seems . . .

Section Three: The News, featuring Liberty And Its Enemies:
3.1: Strategy and tactics for defending human freedom and liberty:
Calling all "libertarianesque geeks"!
Victory Against Despair
Yeager and Other Letters Re Liberty article "Libertarianism and Intellectual Property"
State-Created Entities -- Did you know that corporations are composed of . . . people? Shocking, yes, I know . . .
Doug Hoffman Needs Your Help
Libertarian Patent Lawyer Defends Patent Law
Dear Conservative Movement: Stop Ruining My Life, by Michael Brendan Dougherty
WARNING: Romney is radioactive
Free Speech
Time to Take On the Unions
Victory in First Principles
Massachusetts! Now What?
The secret to Ford Motor's success
The Big Tent -- "Fiscal conservatism." That's FISCAL conservatism, by the way . . .
Justice and Property Rights: The Failure of Utilitarianism
The Panic of 1819
The Guy Was Guilty; the Cops Were Lying
A Back to the Future Jeffersonian Liberalism: How the Democrats can thrive in the Information Age -- "Democrats need to free themselves from the AFL-CIO, K Street, DuPont Circle, share-the-wealth wing of the party and run to the center on money matters, while passionately playing to their base on social issues and vigorously pursuing a non-interventionist foreign policy. That is precisely the opposite of what happened in the first year of the Obama administration."
Explaining the Tea Party Movement and the Bewilderment of the Political Class
The Misesian Vision --"What they knew is the great secret of the ages: society contains within itself the capacity for self-management, and there is nothing that government can do to improve on the results of the voluntary association, exchange, creativity, and choices of every member of the human family."
The emerging free market consensus
Down Goes McCain-Feingold: My Date With Hillary and History
CNN poll: 70% glad that Dems no longer have 60 votes
Turmoil
Lech Walesa Endorses Republican for Illinois Governor -- If the Workers of the World want to Truly Unite, they need to throw out the thugs, brigands, looters, gangsters, mobsters, "progressives," collectivists, "liberals," leftists, and machine-politics-cronies who infest most of the Democratic Party, especially in states like Illinois . . .
The plot thickens in Indiana
Mr. President: Please Try, "I'm Listening, People," Instead of "Listen Up, People!"
Filibuster Under Fire -- The filibuster is the last defense of the minority against the Tyranny of the Majority, and is part of what makes the United States different (and better) than any other nation ever conceived on the face of the Earth . . .
The emerging free market consensus
The Nature of Socialism -- People think capitalism is economic chaos. They're wrong. Economies work the way that the climate works--if you leave it alone. On the contrary--Collectivism is the true economic chaos, as only the mind of man can create.
Hazlitt's Logic, For Those Who Care About Freedom
Anarchy and Haiti
Unions as a Higher Form of Capitalism
2010 Republican Election Message: Clear, Practical and Limited

3.2: The reality of Obama and the Democrat leadership as blithering idiots:
Line of the Week -- "You would think lefties could discern a proletarian vanguard when they see one." -Charles Krauthammer.
You Decide: Dems’ Level of Grief -- Stuck on "Anger," I think . .
Halleluiah! Obama Endorses Task Force to Look at Cutting Deficit After Tripling It His First Year -- Gosh, it's almost as if spending like drunken Congressmen might not be the best idea after all . . . who knew?
Did the Obama administration cause the failure of a New Mexico bank?
Five Easy Questions for Obama -- well, they should be easy questions . . .
The Astroturf Presidency -- If they don't lie, they can't win . . . that's why they lie . . .
Obama to address voter fears in State of Union -- It will be entertaining, in that horrified watching-a-train-wreck kind of way, to watch Obama continue to pretend so vigorously that he knows anything about anything he talks about--when he manifestly doesn't . . . actions really do speak louder than words . . . br> Pelosi Claims House Dems Are Focused on Jobs But Unemployment Has Doubled Under Her Watch
Democrats rethinking “blame Bush” strategy after Massachusetts flop -- I'll believe this after I see it for a while . . .
Democrats look to new budget rules to tame deficit -- Here's a budget rule, you MORONS! STOP SPENDING MORE MONEY THAN YOU TAKE IN!
Obama most polarized first-year presidency
Obama: I’d rather be a really awesome one-term president than a mediocre two-termer -- Well, Barry, considering you're heading for Carteresque Disastrously Bad One-Termer, I'd say you've got a lot of room for improvement . . .
Hatchet vs scalpel --"Freezing expenses won’t pump the water out of the bilge."
Has the President Read His Job Description? -- Oddly, "Archly accepting the glowing devotion and worship of the lesser peoples" is not in the Constitution, either . . .
Obama And The “Hard Pivot” -- Or, as they said on the Laura Ingraham radio show: the Hard Pirouette . . .
Indonesians Want Barry Obama Statue Removed From Park -- Not The Messiah they were looking for . . .
Tuning out the State of the Union


3.3: The reality of the Republican leadership as blithering idiots:
Sleep deprived Northeastern federalist? Or "Communist in Republican Clothing"? -- Trust . . . but verify . . .
Republicans And Democrats Still Don’t Get It
GOP upside in House 58 seats? -- Wanna bet the Stupid Party figures out a way to screw this up? They need 40 to re-take the House . . . if they emphasize economic freedom, and downplay the social issues, they're likely to win in November. Are they smart enough to figure that out?
McCain Should Retire -- I tend to agree . . .
The Republicans’ ‘Hip Gap’ -- This is actually in the wrong section, as a Rep. Rep. attempts to bring teh funny . . . (yes, you newbies, "teh" is intentionally misspelled!)

3.4: Opposition Research: The enemies of human freedom and liberty:
Class vs Crass: A History of First Ladies -- Wherein the Hillbuzz boys posit that perhaps Michelle Obama really is Not A Nice Person . .
Help TigerHawk: Who have been the enemies of business in history, and what have been their arguments or tactics?
Going Light?
Understanding Liberal Rage Over Citizens United -- It's simple, really . . . ""SHUT UP," they explained."
AP On Obama's State of the Union Address: Of Course He Gets It, He's Totally With You And Stuff -- Obama, wunderkind, Annointed One, child of privilege and racial advantage, prepares to Feel Your Pain . . . anybody buying it?
Obama 2010: Pitchforks and arugula -- Ask not for whom the pitchfork tolls, Childe Obama, it tolls for thee . . .
Hating & Blacklisting Supporters of Traditional Marriage -- For me, the ultimate question is: Do we have an interest in promoting stable, monogamous relationships for the purpose of creating and raising the next generation of people? The issue isn't "partner benefits," it's creating a solid and nurturing environment to raise and rear children. "Partner benefits" are the strategy for doing this, not the goal. Almost everybody has forgotten this . . .
Magic -- "The really worrisome thing is if the President can’t change as opposed to won’t change. If politics is all he knows and all he is good at then 2010 will be a rough year indeed, not just for Obama, but for everybody. . . What if he simply doesn’t know how to manage things? Can’t win a war, can’t reform intelligence, can’t contain entitlements, can’t fix the economy, can’t do anything practical?" -- Wouldn't it have been nice if Big Media had bothered to ask some of those questions during the campaign, rather than drooling slavishly over The Lightworker?
Tiger, the Buddha, and Me-- "The Buddha wasn't an ACORN, get-in-your-face type of a guy. He admonished people to face their demons. The Buddha declared, "You cannot save another; you can save only yourself." . . . The Left finds endless excuses for bad behavior: "He was a poor minority." "She was a victim of homophobia." But in the end, no one is let off the hook. Every one of us, weak or powerful, rich or poor, will be held accountable for our actions."
The Currency of Social Justice
When Tolerance Trumps Principle
For 2010 Election Strategy Dems Decide To Blame Bush For Their Failed Economic Policies
Absolutely Hilarious: "Ellie Light" Blames Palin Fans for Astroturfing
Leviathan stirs again: The return of big government means that policymakers must grapple again with some basic questions. They are now even harder to answer
Self-Righteousness, Guilt and Liberalism
Found: Ellie Light’s Facebook Page (Updated) -- See, it's like this: Having and expressing an opinion-OK; Pretending that you're a majority when you are quite clearly not one=not OK. That's what "astroturfing" is all about: make-believe majorities.
History Is A B*tch
Buyer’s Remorse -- If you don't take your right to vote seriously, you wind up with Obama and his band of merry collectivist/"progressives" . . .
Stop! -- The size and power of the state is growing, and discontent is on the rise -- Wherein the Europeans begin to suspect that collectivist "social democracy" maybe isn't all that and a bag of chips . . .
The Lady and the Arlen -- NOT good losers. But then, not particularly good winners, either . . .
Obvious Opacity
Attack of the Food Police
The Recent Evidence of Astroturfing, Summarized; UPDATED: Ellie Light Located?
Obama to California ‘Water, Its Not a Right its a Privilege’-- "What's mine is mine, and what's yours is negotiable" . . .
Ellie Light speaks … and speaks … and speaks ….
Call For An Audit of Obama’s Campaign Finances -- And, after all, why not? What could they possibly have to hide?
David Plouffe: Spam czar; Gibbs downplays Plouffe role
Tinkering at the edges -- "Socialism is possessed by the idea that however many times it has failed in the past, one day it will succeed under the guidance of a more forceful, charismatic leader." It's not the philosophy, they keep saying, it's that the people who try it aren't worthy or up to the task. They never contemplate the thought that maybe socialism requires a fundamentally different kind of human being than the one that actually walks on the Earth, and that is why it always, always fails.
There Are Still 5 A’s in Raaaaacist!
Group protests Tebow’s possible anti-abortion ad -- I'm kinda pre-programmed to dislike Tebow because of his glowing press coverage and the fact that he's a Gator. However . . .
Missouri should get on track with high-speed rail -- Speaking of pre-programmed . . . are guys with the last name of Biden pre-programmed to be blithering idiots?
How Liberals Will Try to Destroy Scott Brown -- The same way they try to destroy everybody who has the temerity to disagree with them about anything . . . lie, innuendo, character assassination . . .
Forty Years of Feminism Now Bearing Fruit
BARACK THE VOTE: Rock the Vote Violates its Tax-Exempt Status? -- Of course they do . . .

3.5: Media bias--and incompetence:
MSNBC Prez Smacks Scarborough: Leave Keif Alone!!!! -- He may be a raging lunatic, but he's OUR raging lunatic, darn it!
MSNBC TV Host Ed Schultz Tells Robert Gibbs “You’re Full of Sh*t” -- File under "A stopped clock is right twice a day . . . "
Where Are All the Stories About the Dismissal of the E-mail Lawsuit? -- Another patently frivolous Palin "ethics" complaint gets booted. When will it end?
A World of Difference
Would-be franchisees find plenty of opportunity, but funding is tough -- KC Star! Re-printing government press releases and calling them news!
Childish but richly deserved -- Says Professor Glenn Reynolds . . . I love Red Eye . . . and it's probably best that it's on at 3 a.m. . . .
Newspaper Editors Begin to Address Pro-Obama Astroturfing -- Lesson: You Can't Trust The "Letters To The Editor" page to be an honest reflection of your community's opinion. But you already knew that, yes?
Real journalism isn't about selling a book

3.6: Fear The 'Cuda--A spotlight on Citizen Palin, who really needs to find a better phrase than "Common-sense conservatism" to describe her philosophy:
Conservatives 4 Palin --Semi-permanent link for Palinmania . . .

3.7: "Global warming" aka "Climate change" -- or should that be "Climate Reform?":
Another day, another IPCC lie exposed
BREAKING NEWS: scientist admits IPCC used fake data to pressure policy makers
Climategate: Just Sign on the Dotted Line
“The Science is Scuttled” – NASA climate page, suckered by IPCC, deletes their own ‘moved up’ glacier melting date reference
Glacier scientist: I knew data hadn't been verified
Well, at least they didn’t use a lizard -- You gotta know it's big trouble for the mocked when the "Separated At Birth" meme meets the "So Easy A Caveman Could Do It" meme . . .
For the IPCC AR4, “weather events are climate” – looks like another retraction is needed
The purge continues
Burt’s Eye View: Leftist Pathology — Carbon More Dangerous Than Terrorists -- Meanwhile, The Band Plays On . . .
The scandal deepens – IPCC AR4 riddled with non peer reviewed WWF papers -- That's "World Wildlife Fund" although in context, it's entirely possible that the World Wrestling Federation would have contributed as meaningfully to the debate as the other WWF . . .
UN Officials Lied About Melting Glaciers to Win Hundreds of Thousands in Grant Money
Global Warming and the Science Fair Test
Bill Gates worries climate money robs health aid -- Let's see . . . cynical manipulation of the scientific process to push a hypothesis of dubious veracity, or trying to keep people from dying of dysentery . . . hmm, tough choice, eh?
STUNNING ADMISSION: UK scientists admit they make up data for political reasons to support Church of Global Warming -- The Hillbuzz guys are right--this is quite possibly the biggest story of scientific fraud--EVER. It certainly has the most zeroes attached to it . . .
A Disaster Of Biblical Proportions
About That Settled “Science”
The IPCC: More Sins of Omission – Telling the Truth but Not the Whole Truth
Pew Poll: global warming dead last, down from last year -- The Wages of Climategate are come due . . .
Dems 2010 Strategy: Drive Wedge Between Tea Party & GOP

3.8: Health care "reform" aka health insurance "reform" -- or should that be health care "change?" Perhaps "Global healthing?:
The Democrats' Five Stages of Grief Over Health Care: Liberals mourn the death of their top legislative priority.

3.9: The Economy:
Wal-Mart to cut nearly 11,200 Sam's Club employees from work force -- The people running Wal-Mart have shown themselves over the years to be Not Stupid . . . unlike so many in positions of governmental power . . .
Report: $997M in highway funds don't help traffic -- in case you thought Texas was immune from wasteful government spending . . .
Should he stay or should he go
Wage freeze worries S.D. universities -- Meanwhile, in private industry, people aren't worried about not getting raises, they're worried about keeping their jobs in the first place . . . I've been there, hearing that you're not getting a raise, and I've been in private industry, too. Get back to me when government people start talking seriously about Reductions in Force . . .
Economics: What If the Experts Are Wrong? And What If They’re Lying?
"unexpected" - December home sales "plunge" 17%
U.S. bans "texting" by truckers, bus drivers

3.10: Foreign affairs and National Security:
Enough Is Enough -- Wherein the entire world trembles, as I link to a Newsweek article. NEWSWEEK!
Shhh… US Marines Wrap Up Mission in Iraq– Victorious -- Bush's Fault! (Oh, wait . . .)
Terror at the Mall? -- ""Gun-free zones" served to attract armed loons the way that honey attracts bears. Firearms-affairs specialist John R. Lott, Jr. has gone on record to state that every major recent shooting has occurred in a declared gun-free area"
Forces of Fortune
National Security and Global Warming: Never Mind
Iraq hangs "Chemical Ali" for gas attack, crackdowns
Hugo Chavez Shuts Down Cable Channel Amid Growing Popular Unrest
Intelligence from Tehran Elevates Concern in the West -- Of course, it would be difficult to elevate the concern of some of us . . .