Medary.com

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

Travel:
Amtrak "Train From Hell" Delayed Almost 24 Hours -- Could have been in the Global Warming section . . .

Explaining and defending human freedom and liberty:
Where Has the Republican ‘Market’ Gone? Should We Go There?
Yeah, That Globe Poll Looks Wrong
Dems Worried About Coakley
Tucker Carlson is completely out of his mind -- "Jim Treacher" aka Sean Medlock finds a new bloggy home . . .
Red invades Blue
Jillian Bandes: Palin stays one step ahead of the political class

More after the "Read More" . . .

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

Explaining and defending human freedom and liberty:
Scott Brown Links
Live from Scott Brown HQ
Brown grassroots vs Coakley machine: "I don't think they play at all fairly"
Tea Party movement plans auto show protest
SARAH PALIN’S NINJA THROWING STARS WILL BE NEEDED ONCE MORE TO SAVE THE REPUBLIC!
Palin and Jews
Jeff Crouere: Sarah Palin Speech To GOP In New Orleans...Let Presidential Election Begin
Mass Confusion: Brown Up a Point in One Poll, Coakley Up 15 in Another
Destination: New Orleans

More after the "Read More" . . .

One good part about doing a daily post like this is that it burns into my mind the fact that it's a new year. If I ever wrote checks any more, that would be really great!

Anyway . . .

I surf the Web, so you don't have to! (Although I really do need to cut back!)

Travel:
This Just in: Collective Ownership of the Means of Mass-Producing Consumer Air Travel Delivers Unsatisfying Results -- "It's hardly a newsflash that governments don't run consumer businesses very well. So why do we continue tolerating government ownership in one of the most unpleasant consumer industries there is?"
Bombs Don't Take Down Airliners -- People Take Down Airliners

More after the "Read More" . . .

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

Explaining and defending human freedom and liberty:
Sarah Palin to Address National Tea Party Convention
An Interview with Christopher Hitchens, Part I -- I disagree with Hitchens on his strident atheism, but I count him as a defender of liberty nonetheless . . .
Cook Report Moves Massachusetts Senate Race from "Solid Democratic" to "Leans Democratic"
Palin to Attend Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Not Attend CPAC; Updated
Tea Party Update
Petition Circulating to Recall “Louisiana Purchase” Corruptocrat Sen. Mary Landrieu
Student wins ‘Nobama’ case -- To those of you whose response to criticism of Obama is to say "Shut Up" . . . SHUT UP. Suck on real free speech like the bitter lemon you obviously think it is, when you're the ones in power.
2010: Our Year of Decision

More after the "Read More" . . .

A mega-whip this morning--playing catchup after doing a bit of traveling over the past week. I'm sure you'll agree that this is really, really way, way, too many articles. I really need to cut back. Or the world needs to slow down. Neither is, sadly, likely to happen.

2009, 2010, the 2000's, and the 2010's:
The 40 Most Obnoxious Quotes Of 2009 -- "30) 'If I'm corrupt, it's because I take care of my district.' -- John Murtha"
In America's next decade, change and challenges
American Thinker's First Six Years
SFFWorld's SF Review of 2009
Have hope for changing minds.
The biggest stories of the year?

Travel:
Full-body scanners to be put in British airports -- with an update below . . .
US Institutes Profiling At Overseas Airports
Carl's Cruse Capers and Travel Tips -- more new posts . . .
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=13517.blog
Privacy concerns likely to impede body scanners in Britain
Best Cruises for Fitness
"Explosive" at California airport found to be honey
Luxury Cruise Pricing Goes (Almost) All-Inclusive
5 Trends that will impact your cruise choices in 2010
The Naked Truth About Airport Scanners

Explaining and defending human freedom and liberty:
Tea Party 2010: Revolution Brewing? Or Is That Some Weak Tea?
The Contradiction of Being Republican
Could Democrats capture Tea Party fever?
For Tea Parties, Bigger Is Not Better
Whole Foods CEO: From Health Care to Climate Change
Defending the future from its enemies -- Bill Whittle (a video, very good!)
The man behind RedState.com shakes up the Republican Party
A Brief 2010 Republican Midterm Platform
Confessions of an American Thinker Moderator
The Surprising Popularity of the Non-Existent Tea Party
KC Fed's Hoenig: Address "too big to fail" == "'In an effective capitalistic system, you have to allow institutions to fail and then have renewal,' Hoenig said today . . .>
Things I’d Like To See: The 28th Amendment -- “Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States."
Support Scott Brown
Deregulation Now: A New Year's resolution for failing state governments.
Woman Arrested for Throwing Obama Poster in the Garbage -- Dissent Shall Be Suppressed . . .
Reactionary Liberals
Sarah Palin will headline first-ever Tea Party Convention
Independents Overwhelmingly Favor Republican in MA Senate Race
Lonewolf Diaries: Moral Absolutes are for Dumb Conservatives
Mad and Madder
Getting Control of Congress, Permanently -- wow, the People, in control of Congress . . . what a concept!
Heads Explode… Dennis Miller Predicts Possible Palin Presidency
Larry Elder on Governor Palin
Go directly to jail: Women are the worst perpetrators of verbal violence against men -- don't get me wrong . . . laws against speech are tyrannical on their face, but . . .
The ascendancy of the non-private person
Free Banking and Contract Law
Conservatives Finish 2009 as No. 1 Ideological Group

The reality of Obama and the Democrat leadership as blithering idiots:
Stimulus Fraud? Where’s “Sheriff Joe”?
Reckless Spending is Hard
Face the Voters -- "There is a more basic issue now rumbling through not just conservative circles but also in the mainstream media: can these people be trusted to do much of anything?"
Every time someone crazy and vile comes to the White House, this administration claims “it wasn’t THAT crazy person”
Harry Reid 2006: I hate when people try to sneak secret special deals into important Senate bills without debate
Fun Deficit Fact To Start Your Tuesday -- Why make you click through? It's Thursday, already! -- "The Bush Deficit of 2008 is roughly equal to the interest on the Obama Deficit of 2009."
FIREDOGLAKE: Democratic Strategy in 2010: Run Against George W. Bush Again!
Calif. watchdog: Historic reviews slow stimulus
The Spin Factory Goes Haywire
Administration: Hey, On Second Thought? Now That We Really Think About It? Yeah... Maybe We Won't Continue Freeing Terrorists to Yemen
Byron Dorgan (D-ND) Retiring This Year To Spend Time With His Family And Avoid Getting His Ass Kicked But Mostly To Avoid Getting His Ass Kicked
And another one bites the dust: Democrat Ritter drops out of Colorado guv bid
Emperor Obama and the Mob
Banking chief Dodd to leave Senate
Top Democrats head for the exits -- this is what delinquent kids do after they realize that their playing with matches in their parents' closet has lit the clothes on fire . . .
Obama’s ‘Amateur Hour’
Press corps grills Gibbs: Um, didn’t Obama totally shamelessly lie about C-SPAN?
Awesome, awesome rumor: Chris Dodd for Treasury Secretary?
New Dem master plan for North Dakota: Let’s nominate a guy even further left than Byron Dorgan
No wonder everybody says he looks "tired"
Obama Lawyers Fined by Federal Court
The next Democratic senator to retire is…

The reality of the Republican leadership as blithering idiots:
Introducing a new occasional section of The Whip . . .lest we forget why they're called the Stupid Party . . .
Support for Big Government a Bad Bet for the GOP
Steele: I Don't Know if the GOP Is Ready to Lead (But It Doesn't Matter, As We're Not Going to Win Either House of Congress Anyway)
Does Newt Gingrich Speak for Either Republicans or Tea Partiers? -- Gingrich is really good at thinking up ideas. Some of those ideas are even good. Others, though . . .

Spotlighting and deconstructing (and occasionally ridiculing) Liberty's enemies--because even blithering idiots can be dangerous:
(. . . so much to spotlight, deconstruct, and ridicule, so little time . . .)
Who wants to be a Democrat?
NPR Teaches You How to Speak "Tea Bag" -- I look forward with breathless anticipation to the followup on NPR's site which I am sure is shortly forthcoming: How to Speak Fudge-Packer, about how to screw the American Taxpayer by passing trillion-dollar combination boondoggles and naked power grabs . . .
Another Program FAIL?
The Census boondoggle: $340 million ad campaign
George Will on New York's Eminent Domain Abuse
There's a New Law in Town. Actually, Lots of Them. -- yes, "law," once intended to protect freedom, has largely become the enemy of freedom.
On the Street With Zo: Why Vote Democrat?
Obama as Greek Tragedy—Part One
Bush Did It! And, Really, Bush Did It! And Bush Really Did It! -- being the second part of "Obama as Greek Tragedy" . . .
Keynesianism and Socialism
Steve from ‘Blue’s Clues’ Teaches Kids to Hate Sarah Palin
C-SPAN Asks to Televise Health Care Negotiations
The Limits Of Politics
Obama Flunks His First Year
If It Moves, Regulate It
Michael Yon encounters Border Security: Posts on Facebook.
Airline security idiocy of the day: Milblogger Michael Yon handcuffed, Joan Rivers blocked
Unionizing TSA Is A Security Mistake
The Left Goes to War Against Science, Surrenders on Terror
Historians Against the War: Only Progressives Need Apply?
Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ Shows Hollywood How to Trash America and Make a Profit Doing So
It’s War, not a Crime Spree -- "the real nature of the terrorist threat requires a commander-in-chief, not a constitutional law professor." - Sarah Palin
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Military Blogger Michael Yon Detained, Handcuffed by TSA in Seattle Airport
Is This What Market Failure Looks Like?
What the Dems Know: Universal Voter Registration
Our Second Civil War
The TSA has gone insane
Lie, Lie, Lie, Lie, Lie, Lie, Lie, Lie
And The Answer To Obesity In America? More Government Regulation, Of Course
Hidden-camera video: “Red Eye” goes inside the Media Matters offices
The Sheriff Is Coming! The Sheriff Is Coming!
Coexist?
Does the State Protect Us?
Why Are We Closing Guantanamo?
Lie to me
Lincoln’s “Retirement” May Be Involuntary
Has Any Recent Hollywood Movie Offered Positive Portrayal of Conservative Activist?
The Intellectual Dishonesty of the Democrats
The apology deficit and the crisis in self-awareness -- "many of these people who blame others for their own errors or incompetence are, sadly, sincere in their finger-pointing" . . .

The Economy:
If you had invested $10,000 on December 31, 1999...
More on The Coming War Over Public-Sector Pensions
Downturn hits S.D. industry hard -- "South Dakota's industrial employment fell 5.4 percent during the past year, and that contraction cost the state 2,809 industrial jobs and 74 manufacturing companies from October 2008 to October 2009, a new survey reports."
The Lost Decade
China Is Not America’s Banker
About That Dependency On Foreign Oil – Get Used To It -- until Bussard/Polywell fusion comes through--or we throw all the Democrats out on their asses . . . ALL of them . . . and quite a few Republicans, too . . .
The Most Negative Leading Economic Indicator

Foreign affairs:
Iranian government about to collapse?
Beinart: No, we’re not at war with radical jihadist terrorism
A Constitutional National Security Crisis of Obama’s Own Creation
Killing the chicken to frighten the monkey -- you just need to click through to Belmont Club (Richard Fernandez) posts. They're good . . .
Jordanian Doctor Responsible For Suicide Bomb Attack On CIA Base In Afghanistan -- does it occur to anyone that we just burned Jordanian intelligence here? Did we really want to do that?
A War We Can't Afford
Who Is the Enemy?
Chickens Come Home, Roost -- arguably, this belongs in the Democrats as Blithering Idiots section . . .
What constitutes a successful surge?
Al Qaeda’s Successful Attack
France wants to add more countries to "risk list"
That Attack On The CIA In Afghanistan? Looking Worse And Worse
Collateral damage
Air Marshall Surge? -- shouldn't "marshal" only have one "L?"
Meanwhile, in Iran . . .

"Global warming" aka "Climate change" -- or should that be "Climate Reform?":
Updated Climate Presentation -- From Warren Meyer who blogs at Coyote Blog . . .
ClimateGate’s Next Phase: False Claims Act Lawsuit
December UAH global temperature anomaly – down by almost half
The frigid hit parade – over 1200 new cold and snow records set in the last week in the USA, more in progress -- remember though, as you're freezing your ass off this week, it's a Sign of GLOBAL WARMING!
Stat Model Predicts Flat Temperatures Through 2050
Climategate: Michael Mann’s very unhappy New Year
Cold Killing Iguanas -- article title needs to include "is" . . . "cold IS killing iguanas" . . .
Climategate and the Migrating Arctic Tree Line
Winter kills: Excess Deaths in the Winter Months

Health care "reform" aka health insurance "reform" -- or should that be health care "change?" Perhaps "Global healthing?:
Health Care Reform: Because the IRS Isn't Big Enough Yet
Medicare Is Already Rationing Care
Mayo Clinic dropping Medicare patients
Beware a Public Health Plan in Private Disguise
Pelosi says Congress close to health deal -- why are we letting them do this to us?

Media bias--and incompetence:
Really, these people are pathetic
‘You Are a Bad, Bad, Bad Journalist’
Big Journalism -- the Breitbart Empire expands again . . .
“Rush Returns” or “Upsetting the Media”
Proof Fox News Isn't A "Real News Orgainization": Right Wing FNC Hack Wooed By GOP To Run For Senate -- oh, wait, it's not Fox News, it's . . .
Liberal Media Bias Shows Up in the Strangest Places
Big Journalism, local edition

Sports:
SDSU-UMKC game to air on NBC Universal -- (In South Dakota . . .)
ORU hands Jacks first home league loss
SDSU suffers tough Summit loss
Circling the Summit
UMKC and Southern Utah await Jackrabbits
KU holds off Ivy League’s Cornell at home

Science, technology, and space:
Ten Things You Need To Stop Tweeting About
Study: Spanked Children May Grow Up to Be Happier, More Successful -- c'mon, it's SCIENCE!
The 5 Best Places To Watch TV On The Internet

Science Fiction and Writing:
Arthur C Clarke and the end of upbeat futurology
Calling All Authors
A Re-Post of Great Importance: How To Write a Novel In 30 Days
Booklife: Seven Points to Consider When Submitting Short Fiction
It's not about the odds.
Back to the Hugos: Lord of Light by Robert Zelazny -- possibly my all-time favorite book . . .
5 Lies Writers Believe About Editors
Book Tour Wrap-Up: Did I Learn Anything? Should I Have Learned Anything?
Beware of Science Fiction
Wednesday Editorial: The Language of Science Fiction

Miscellany:
Levi Johnston: A Hollywood Cautionary Tale
Men Know When They're Aroused, Women May Not
Why Modern Music Sucks
How Disney’s ‘Pocahontas’ Became ‘Avatar’
The Secrets to Staying Married
100 Quotes Every Geek Should Know -- #43: “If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” - Albert Einstein
Japanese Whaling Ship Destroys Radical Group’s New Space-Age Powerboat (Video)
Anal-Retentive Anti-Humor People? Yeah, There's an App For That!
Limbaugh: How it felt to have a heart-attack scare
WiFi for passive-aggressives

Travel:
New U.S. screening for air travelers from 7 nations: report

On explaining and defending human freedom and liberty:
anonymous, unverifiable, but authoritative?
GOP should push education and pro-family tax reform -- and with a dissent:
The new Republican agenda -- a bridge we can blow up when we get to it
Congressional Primary Calendar -- here's where the defense of human freedom and liberty begins . . .
An Open Letter to Democratic Politicians
GOP cash woes threaten House bids -- if you don't listen to the people, the people won't listen to you -- or give you money . . .
The Tea Party Movement Does Not Need a Leader!
Ron Paul's ideas no longer fringe -- my disagreements with Paul are tactical, not strategic . . .
Menger Explains the Origins of Money -- such a simple thing, but so many people have no idea where money comes from (hint: it's not the government) . . .

The reality of Obama and the Democrat leadership as blithering idiots:
Associated Press openly scoffs at Democrat's "jobs bill"
Dems declare war on Rasmussen?
Good Lord: "I think it is unfair and, frankly, political to take pot shots at the president as we respond to this failure in our systems that we've got to get fixed." -- Sen. Claire McCaskill -- but wait, it gets better . . .
Claire McCaskill 2010: It’s Unfair to Take Potshots at President… Claire McCaskill 2006: Bush Killed Black People on Rooftops
Question of the Day: What happens socially and politically if “the first black president” remains an enormous failure?
The limits of self-reference
Stimulus Cash Went to Nonexistent Zip Code Areas, Too

On spotlighting and deconstructing (and occasionally ridiculing) Liberty's enemies--because even blithering idiots can be dangerous:
Confusing Overrepresentation with Domination
Americans Deserting Democratic Party
Race In The 21st Century - Another Inconvenient Truth
Berkeley's Unbearable Whiteness of Science
Obama and the 'Readjustment of Our National Life'
Census Bureau kicks off once-a-decade head count -- and they've even politicized counting people . . .
Fail Away. Taxpayers Pay.

Foreign affairs:
Unwelcome truths
Droning on
Iran blunders again

"Global warming" aka "Climate change" -- or should that be "Climate Reform?":
Aviation pioneer and master engineer Burt Rutan on Global Warming
Are You Now Or Have You Ever Fudged The Data?
Damn Global Warming! -- yeah, it is kinda funny how summer heat waves are signs that global warming is inexorable, but that nasty winter cold snaps are always somehow "just isolated weather events" . . .
Climategate: You should be steamed

Miscellany:
there's no way to opt out of the in-your-face cycle
Preposterous products for people with more money than brains

Science, technology, and space:
2009’s Sleepy Sun Finally Woke Up in December
In the Year 2019: Five Forecasts for the Rest of the Decade

Sports:
Oakland Nips IUPUI in Clash of League Unbeatens as Part of Five-Game Saturday Schedule
No. 12 K State rolls past South Dakota 91-69
Kansas State completes nonconference play by blowing out South Dakota -- oddly enough, the report on Sioux Falls TV station KSFY implied that the Coyotes played well. Maybe they did. Made no difference . . .
So far, so good -- re: SDSU basketball . . .

Media bias--and incompetence:
The MSM still doesn’t understand what being a PUMA is all about
OK… It’s True, Media “Gatekeepers” Really Are Evil!

Health care "reform" aka health insurance "reform" -- or should that be health care "change?" Perhaps "Global healthing?":
The Ministry of Wellness

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) . . .

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

Travel:
Captain Underpants and the Illusion of Security -- "Here is what any moron can see as plain as day: our $40 billion dollar post-9/11 airline security net is a total joke – a White Elephant of epic (and potentially tragic) proportions."
Armed TSA Agents Threaten Travel Journalist
TSA drops subpoenas issued to bloggers who published security directive (UPDATED)
Carl's Cruise Capers and Travel Tips has new posts up!
Top 10 Ways to Stay Healthy on a Cruise
Airport pat-downs often ineffective security stop -- I think you can make that "Airport security often ineffective," actually . . .

2009/the 2000's In Review, and year-end lists:
Best of the year - the Boob Czar
A New Year’s resolution: Don’t accept US decline
A welcome report from the Chief Justice -- a very small pat on the head for the country's head judge . . .

On explaining and defending human freedom and liberty:
Comes the Revolution...
Six Straight Weeks at #1 for Going Rogue on the NY Times Best-Seller List for Hardcover Non-Fiction

On spotlighting and deconstructing (and occasionally ridiculing) Liberty's enemies:
"I hope he dies." -- "The people calling for Rush Limbaugh to die are the same people who ask to control your healthcare."
Come Back With a Warrant doormat
Executive Order: International Police Granted Full Immunity in US and Not Subject to FOIA Requests
A question that should have been answered correctly -- "The problems for Erroll Southers -- Obama's nominee to head the Transportation Secruity Administration -- aren't confined to his unwillingness to answer in clear fashion the question of whether he would support collective bargaining for TSA workers. The Washington Post reports that Southers did not testify truthfully to Congress about his past misconduct as an FBI agent."
2009: The Year the Pretense Died?
"Citizen Power"
Tom Hayden: "It's time to strip the Obama sticker off my car."
Rush Is Fine -- and many collectivists are unhappy about that, I'm sure . . .
The Two Wings Of The Party -- "The two wings of the Democrat Party are the Crooks and the Communists . . ."
Health Care and Our Inalienable Rights
Ironic Quote Of The Day
The Cornhusker Concussive

Foreign affairs and National Defense:
Into Thine Hand I Commit My Spirit -- "Only during such times are strong men and women of greatest importance. At all other times we have Hollywood."
China Sends Armored Vehicles to Iran to Fight Freedom Protesters
Hundreds of cars torched in France at New Year
Thousands in new year Hong Kong march for democracy
Starting the New Year with a Bang
Dad's Advice
Pop Quiz Mr. President: Why Did You Fail?
Obama ties failed plane attack to al Qaeda

"Global warming" aka "Climate change" -- or should that be "Climate Reform?":
It Didn't Start With Climategate -- ". . .the Kyoto protocol was based on fictitious science, exaggerated or fabricated outright for political purposes. . ."
Record cold weather roundup – hundreds of new cold and snow records set in the last week
The Met Office getting a clue? – “one of the coldest winter in 100 years”

The Economy:
What Americans might face next: inflation
As college costs rise, loans become harder to get
Economic Rebound? What Economic Rebound?

Health care "change" (called by some "reform"):
Self-Inflicted Health Care Costs
“VIP” Treatment Under Nationalized Health Care -- "National health care works great… so long as you’re rich enough to afford the premium level of government insurance and to buy multiple additional private policies; so long as you have influential relatives; and so long as you’re willing and able to brazenly bribe the doctors and bureaucrats who run the system."

Miscellany:
Rush's Press Conference from Hawaii (video at link) -- Cliff notes: he's fine.
Fox, Time Warner Cable announce broadcast deal

SF and Writing:
Goodbye, Doctor Who: David Tennant's exit interview
Ways to Trash Your Writing Career: The Wall of Books
I Have Seen The Future—and It Ain't Got a Lot of Dead Trees in It
Top 50 SF Signal Posts for 2009

Science, technology, and space:
AT&T Tells FCC It's Time to Cut the Cord

Sports:
4 Tenn. basketball players facing gun charges
UMKC begins important league stretch

On January 1, 2008, I posted:

A partial list of Things I Do Not Believe:

Global warming/climate change being primarily driven by human influence
The USDA Food Pyramid as a guide to healthy nutrition
Intelligent Design as a scientific theory
String "Theory" as a scientific theory
The Iraq War was a Bad Thing
Government Bailouts help anybody at all in the long run except politicians
You (singularly or collectively) know better than me how I should spend my money.

This goes into the little-used "Life" section . . . wherein Glenn Reynolds aka Instapundit, a law professor at the University of Tennessee, discusses personal finances and what he does differently from fellow Tennessean Dave Ramsey's approach:

We don’t follow the Ramsey approach. It’s good for people who have debt problems, but we’ve never had those as we’ve avoided debt. My approach is tailored to my laziness, and lets savings be the control on spending. I decide how much money to save, and it goes into a money market account, automatically every month. The key is that this account is for money to go into, not to come out of, except for major purchases (like a house or car) or emergencies. I have a separate “slush fund” savings account that also gets an automatic deposit every month, and that gets hit up for routine unscheduled things like home and car repairs. Every once in a while I sweep money out of the “don’t touch” money market account into another account at a different bank that is inconvenient enough to access that I don’t take money out of it. (I guess that’s the “really don’t touch” account). At the end of the year, I look at the various account balances and know if I’ve saved as much as I planned; usually it turns out to be more, as I sometimes put unscheduled money — speaking fees, royalties, etc. — in there instead of the slush-fund savings account if I’m feeling flush.

This system turns my considerable sloth into an asset; savings is automatic, while spending takes effort. Taking money out of those “don’t touch” accounts is an event, meaning that I think about it before I do it, and thus don’t do it much. Likewise, almost the only credit card I use is American Express, which I pay off every month. You can stretch the payments, but, again, you have to make a conscious decision to do so, which means you have to think about it and realize how dumb it is, so I don’t. But the key is to prioritize saving first. Once I’m saving what I’ve planned to, I don’t have to worry about what I’m spending; it’s taken care of.

Hmm. The Insta-Sloth. Seems to be working for him, judging from the number of fun toys he blogs about on a regular basis . . .