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

Travel:
TSA...Perpetually Fighting Yesterday's War
FAA: Delta, Northwest can work as single carrier

2009/the 2000's In Review, and year-end lists:
Top Ten Charts of 2009
Nine Big Stories the Mainstream Media Missed in 2009
The Person of the Year was …
Hell has officially frozen over!! Ultra leftist Ed Schultz has given Sarah Palin the "Eddy" Award for 2009!
Most Underreported Stories of 2009
The 30 Most Disturbing Ads of 2009.
Closing Out 2009 with My Own Top 10 List… Top Ten Best Sarah Palin Quotes
My Top 10 Top 10 Lists For 2009 And Predictions For 2010
Predictions 2010
We Don’t Need No Steenking Predictions . . .
Underreported stories of 2009

On explaining and defending human freedom and liberty:
Best of 2009: Tea Party sign of the times
National Conservative Symposium & Tea Party Convention Jan 22nd – 24th
Sarah Palin, Man of the Year
Market Reform as a Spontaneous Order
The Left's Permanent War on the War on Terrorism -- it is not a betrayal of liberty to aggressively defend it against those who would destroy it . . .
My favorite post of 2009: A Modest Proposal, 2009 Edition
Reading the Tea Party Leaves: Will we see a repeat of 1994—or 1964?
Mr. Smith, You're Needed in Washington
A Bucket List for America
The Most Important Three-Year Period in History?
The Philosophy of Strikes
Scott Brown’s Campaign Picks Up Steam- GOP Candidate Sees Explosion in Online Donations

On spotlighting and deconstructing (and occasionally ridiculing) Liberty's enemies:
ObamaCare Corrupt Deal Shows Need to Amend the Speech and Debate Clause
Two Americas: 2009 Version
Best (er, worst) of 2009: Hate mail edition
Rise of the Nanny State: Is There a Political Answer to Every Problem?
Laboratories of Repression: We don’t let the states “experiment” on the First Amendment. Should the Second Amendment receive any less respect?
What's The Matter With Kansas Democrats? Dems Lose Another Top Recruit for Forbidding 2010 Midterms
What ever happened to the "Duke 88"? -- "Vanderbilt's conduct shows that smearing innocent whites is a badge of honor in major precincts of academia."
Death to "mouth peace"!

Foreign affairs:
Obama Administration – Still Trying The Blame Shifting Game
Another Blow to the Radical Left & Team Obama… 58% Want Undie Bomber Waterboarded
Judge throws out Blackwater manslaughter charges
Getting serious

"Global warming" aka "Climate change" -- or should that be "Climate Reform?":
More From The “Settled Science” Of Global Warming
NASA -vs- NASA: which temperature anomaly map to believe?
Climate, Caution, and Precaution

The Economy:
2010 Will Be Worse

Miscellany:
Wis. attorney general joins fight against carp
Good to Go: Woman's Blood Alcohol Content Tops State Records at .708
Top "Why" AutoSuggestions from Google
Got a pet tarantula? Better protect your eyes

SF and Writing:
A shiny new year for writing.

Sports:
SDSU men earn big win over Oral Roberts
Jackrabbit women host league home opener Saturday
Jacks end 2009 with 72-70 win over ORU

Boy, you let a day or two slide by, and things do pile up, don't they?

A new feature: CRISIS OF THE HOUR. With the sage advice to "never let a good crisis go to waste," I intend to identify whatever it is that day about which we're supposed to panic and rush blindly towards the loving arms of our caring and oh-so-competent government. Articles touching on the day's CRISIS OF THE HOUR will be indicated by the word PANIC! after the article's title. This could be amusing.

"When in trouble, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout."

CRISIS OF THE HOUR: WACKOS TRYING TO BLOW UP AIRPLANES WITH THEIR UNDERWEAR

Travel:
Facing long lines, Canada bans most carry-ons from U.S.-bound flights -- PANIC!
Finally Flying Midwest, er Frontier, er Chautauqua (Trip Report)
New TSA Rules Actually Make the Liquid Rule Look Rational -- PANIC!
New TSA security guidelines means no iPods one hour before landing -- PANIC!
TSA: Sanity makes a comeback -- STOP PANICKING!
AirTran to establish second hub in Milwaukee
Government Wants More Body Scanners for Airports -- PANIC! -- Is that a panty-bomb, or are you just glad to see me?
'It's No Problem. It's More Control.' -- PANIC! -- and once more, we see that it's not about dealing with the problem, it's about exploiting the CRISIS!!!
Breaking: Fox Reporting That CIA Was Tracking The Underwear Bomber Since August -- "Houston, we have a problem . . ." -- PANIC!
Separating Explosives from the Detonator with what really ought to be the final word on this PANIC!: "I wish that, just once, some terrorist would try something that you can only foil by upgrading the passengers to first class and giving them free drinks."


2009 -or- the 2000's In Review, and year-end lists:
Global Freedom Had Few Blooms: Why 2009 was a bleak year
Tax Vox’s Lump of Coal Award: The Worst Tax Ideas of 2009
Facebook, Twitter top list of weird stories in 2009
Best Libertarian Books of the Decade? ". . . He discovered that institutional costs imposed by governments all over the world are the main obstacles to reducing poverty. . ."
Judicial Watch’s ten most corrupt politicians
Not Quite the 'Decade from Hell' -- No, not the Oughts--the Decade from Hell is likely to be the one we're about to start, unless people pull their heads out of their collectivist posteriors . . .
Obama’s 6 Worst Policy Decisions
This Year’s Worst Reporting: A Look Back at State-Run Media’s Most Embarrassing Moments (Video)
Looking Back at the 100 Best Innovations of 2009


Reason vs. Irrationalism:
High Court to Consider Government's Low Tactics
The Hypocrisy of the Left -- "Obama and his friends preach tolerance, but there is bigotry at their group's core."
Liberals terrorized by Americans -- PANIC!
John Cassidy Fails in His Critique of Markets
How to Improve the Culture
Why the Tea-Party Movement Matters: ObamaCare Edition -- Featuring the notorious Baucus (is he drunk on the Senate floor?) C-SPAN video
The Progressive Crack-up, Cont.
“Change you can believe in? More like bullshit you can take a bath in, if you ask me.”
16 Months From Hell
Politicized Justice: Official Who Signed Off On Voter-Intimidation Complaint Against Black Panthers Sacked
Tea partiers to GOP: Campaign on full repeal of ObamaCare
The Future of America
Question His Judgment
Sticking to the Official Narrative
The Right to Work
Bernie Quigley: Palin Will be the Nominee
Who's To Blame for the Massive Deficit?
2010 and beyond -- good enough to include a block quote:

We never wanted to become activists. We didn’t want to spend our days and nights in front of computers. We certainly didn’t want to become targets for hate mail, death threats, or other creative reprisals — all for speaking out against the madness in this Golden Age.

Invasion of the Election Snatchers: Urban Democrats are flooding rural districts to steal elections. Gosh. Democrats trying to steal elections. Knock me over with a feather.

The reality of Obama and the Democrat leadership as blithering idiots:
What a mess -- The Obama Administration's Afghanistan Strategy (Strategies) Of The Week, that is.
Obama at 10:10 am: I Shall Not Rest Until These Terrorists Are Captured . . . Obama at 10:40 am: Okay, Now Watch This Drive! -- Obviously, we simply don't understand the meaning of the phrase "I shall not rest" . . .
MUST READ: Regular Americans Turning Away From Democrats
'I Am Not a Spendthrift'
What Irony: Could Democrats Lose Kennedy’s Seat
Dodd cut aviation security funding in July
Ponzi Schemer Rothstein and the Democrats -- this is actually more towards the category of "the reality of the Democrats as cynically corrupt and quite probably evil power-grubbing monsters" than mere blithering idiotry. . .
Rasmussen: Ben Nelson down 30 points to Heineman after health-care reversal
Ben Nelson (D-Free Medicaid For Nebraska) Trails Potential Challenger By 31 Points In Rasmussen Poll -- from Ace of Spades HQ, which (sorry, Ed Morrissey) usually guarantees that it will be a more entertaining (if occasionally more scatological) take on the issue . . .
The Obama Way
Poor Obama: Being president is exhausting
Putin to Obama: Thanks for those missile-defense concessions but we’re going ahead with new weapons
Ashcroft v. Napolitano
Suddenly, Obama’s not so fluent any more


War and terror and diplomacy and peace:
Spin versus spool -- PANIC!
What Went Wrong? -- PANIC!
It's not that we give up our Constitutional rights, but to whom? -- I wasn't entirely sure where to place this one . . .
Iran on Fire
Lawyers at war
"Why do we fail to detect or defeat the guilty, and why do we do so well at collective punishment of the innocent?" -- PANIC!
Armageddon alert? Israelis convene meeting of diplomatic corps
Iran again
Inside Our OODA Loop -- PANIC!
Obama's Second Major Terror Failure in Two Months -- PANIC! PANIC!
Iranian Officials Face Tens of Thousands of Protesters, Blame "The West"
Too good to check: Khamenei’s plane being overhauled in case he has to leave Iran?

"Global warming" aka "Climate change" -- or should that be "Climate Reform?":
CRU’s forecast: UK winter snowfall will become “a very rare and exciting event” -- file this one under WRONG!!!
The Arctic Oscillation Index goes strongly negative -- file this one under UH-OH!!!
2,780 Climate Lobbyists and Counting
Censorship Threatens Truth on Climate
The Green Religion and ClimateGate: Interview With Steven Mosher
Global Warming and Melting Ice: The seas are rising, but you've still got time to enjoy your beach house
USGS: Arctic sea too warm for sea ice 3 million years ago

The Economy:
Will the Market Rise or Fall? -- "The long-term outlook for the stock market is not good, and here is why . . ."

Media bias and/or incompetence:
In which the Strib arrives late to the case
The Left's Blind Eye to the Obvious
John Yoo (of "torture memo" fame) brings teh funny in an NYT interview
Big Journalism’s Bronx Cheer For The Common Man
If Sarah Palin Had Done This
Too Much Decline For CNN To Hide
The Collapse of Professional Journalism, Cont'd


Health care "change" (called by some "reform"):
The Health Care Fight is Not Over
Health Care Reform – Left and Right
DO YOUR PART TO STOP HEALTHCARE RATIONING TODAY -- caps in original
Health Care: Now's the Hard Part
Aborting Health Care Reform
The Real Healthcare ‘Chart of the Day’

Miscellany:
Delhi sex workers concerned over poor quality of free condoms
Itchy skin can be psychologically stressful
Projects that have changed Kansas City’s identity this decade
Broadcasters' woes could spell trouble for free TV
Bristol Palin seeks full custody; no comment from 'Ricky Hollywood'
Coffee. Is there anything it cannot do?
University of Hawaii cuts faculty salaries
Alcohol substitute that avoids drunkenness and hangovers in development


SF and Writing:
Finding an Agent
Science Fiction is not about science
Best New Characters of the Decade

Science and space:
Decelerating at Alpha Centauri
The Problem with Warp Drive

Media bias:
AP Reports Democratic Talking Points in Health Care Debate

Reason vs. Irrationalism:
Utopian New Left Just Like Old Left
‘Avatar’ and Boycotts: When the Left Does and Doesn’t Champion Free Speech
Where Did These Guys Come From?
Is Stalinism Back?
Insist that GOP Make Repeal of Government-Run Health Care a 2010 Issue
Engineers, Scientific and Social
IP: The Objectivists Strike Back! (that's IP: Intellectual Property . . .)
Central Problem: the Central Bank That's in Barron's--not at Antiwar.com.
Counties with worst joblessness get least from stimulus package -- This is no shock to those who expected Chicago-style corruption to explode in Washington with the current Administration. The fix is in.
Give Me Liberty or Give Me Social Justice -- "This week our government chose social justice over liberty. We will get neither."
On a hopeful note, a hint that the human urge for freedom will never be fully extinguished: In N. Korea, a strong movement recoils at Kim Jong Il's attempt to limit wealth
Oh, by the way--if you don't want to be called Stalinist, stop bloody acting like Stalinists. If it walks and quacks like a duck, etc., etc. If you voted for Obama or any Democrat in the last election, and haven't publicly recanted and apologized, I'm talking specifically to you. Yes, you. You my naive friend, voted for collectivism. Thanks. How are those jackboots fitting? Any blisters yet?

Tech:
10 obsolete technologies to kill in 2010

Evil:
Cat dies after being glued to Interstate 90
What to do with the 95 Yemenis at Gitmo now?
Security Theater: A New Show Opens In Detroit

Stupid:
Obama's lost face
What to do with the 95 Yemenis at Gitmo now?
Too Funny. Far Left Finally Discovers Obama Is a Weak Leader
Vacation's Over, Mr. President -- when you've lost the Huffington Post . . .

Oh, by the way, those people still want to kill us:
The flying Dutchman and other notes on the victory in Detroit
What to do with the 95 Yemenis at Gitmo now?

Storm petrels -- Richard Fernandez--"Wretchard"--always has thought-provoking articles. "The threat may indeed be very real. Sooner or later that harsh realization may come to those who thought the War on Terror was over."
Reality intrudes on plans to close Gitmo
Analysis: Detroit terror attack is a major intelligence and security failure -- why does it seem that the foreign press covers sensitive issues in the U.S. better than our domestic press does?

"Global warming" aka "Climate change" -- or should that be "Climate Reform?":
Nearly two thirds of the continental USA gets a white Christmas
S.D. digs out, back on the move -- yes, yes, "weather is not climate."
Digging out from under -- a longer Sioux Falls Argus Leader article--get it while it's hot.
877 new snowfall records set or tied in the USA in the last week -- but this is how ice ages start. It snows a lot, and it just keeps coming. You should be praying that it doesn't keep coming.
It's not global warming you have to worry about. It's an ice age. We're in an interglacial period, people. The ice will come again, and cold will kill you far, far quicker than warmth will. And literally billions of other people who don't die of hypothermia will starve to death when the ice sheet covers over much of Europe and North America. Suddenly, "global warming" doesn't sound so bad now, does it?

Health care "change" (called by some "reform"):
The Senate Postmortem: Every Democrat cast the deciding health-care vote

Travel:
DC airport reopens after flooding closed terminal
Safety & Security in Ports of Call
Carl has updates! -- breaking the format, the link is to Carl's blog, not to a specific article.
New Restrictions Quickly Added for Air Passengers -- oh, great. How about screening the passengers to weed out the wackos rather than imprisoning innocent travelers?

miscellany:
What Makes A Good Book Blogger? (From A Writer’s Point Of View)
Should SF Die?
Oh no, Russel T. Davies, no!
High-tech vehicles pose trouble for some mechanics
Top Ten Movies You Don't Realize are Sci-Fi or Fantasy
NDSU keeps eye on Title IX
My lazy American students -- "My “C," “D," and “F" students this semester are almost exclusively American . . ."
Lazy American Students: After the Deluge -- "There are, though, the facts. Studies show that American students know less about math, science, and geography than peers in many other industrialized countries."

They did it! They finally did it! Damn them all to HELL!!!!

Sorry the Whip is so long, and so late today. Damn Congresscritters.

The neverending struggle for liberty:
UK Press Gives Obama an “F” for His Historically Low Approval Rating
Nazis, Commies, and Death Panels
California Bailout – Not Only “No”, But “Hell No”
An Open Letter to Sarah Palin – By Patricia Melton and the Mineral City Coffee Club
AMERICA NEEDS SARAH PALIN MORE THAN EVER
USA Today Best Seller List: Going Rogue at #1 for Fifth-Straight Week
Congress back to finding ways to fund ACORN
Lucky for us, an under-performing president
Oh my: McCain working on getting another Democrat to switch?
Red, red meat: Gingrich rallies the base to take back Congress
IRS Has 70% Error Rate in Issuance of Taxpayer ID Numbers, Resulting in Fraudulent Tax Refunds
Lessons from John Galt
Sarah Palin: Democrats Will Awaken Sleeping Giant With Health Care Takeover

Health care "change" (called by some "reform"):
Markets, Not Mandates
A Bill of Goods, Maybe
A Surprise in the Health Care Bill
Obama's Truthiness
The Senate needs Martian gold, unicorns, and alien slaves to make the Healthcare Rationing bill work financially
Could the Senate Bill Eliminate Private Insurance?
It’s time to start over on ObamaCare, says … top House Democrat
Fund: Dems will probably bypass conference committee for ping-pong
Jake Tapper fact-checks Obama assertion on public option campaigning
Beyond the Constitution: The Healthcare Bill Violates the Rule of Law
CBO: You can’t spend the same dollars twice
Justin Raimondo is cool
Palin's Continued Popularity and Relevance
Christmas Back On! Build-A-Bear Surrenders, Pulls Videos
AGW: The Greens’ Tet Offensive
When legerdemain is used to pass an unpopular bill
For Their Next Trick . . .
The Fierce Urgency of February: White House To Put Health Care on Back Burner Until After He Offers Some Glib, Empty Rhetoric About the Economy?
Arrogance, corruption, stupidity
John McCormack from the Weekly Standard Slaps Dave Weigel and Others Over "Death Panels"
Coal for Christmas from the Senate
“Health Care Reform” Passes The Senate, Lady Liberty Passes Out
And, the bottom line:
If You Like Your Health Plan, You Will NOT Be Able to Keep It

Travel and cruising:
Crystal vs. Regent -- On-Board Communication
United, Continental, ANA seek antitrust immunity
NEW Cruise Reviews: Two Antarctica Expeditions
USA TODAY report: Safety of food at airports spotty
Been away from the airport? A lot has changed
Don't Blame the Airlines

"Global warming" aka "Climate change" -- or should that be "Climate Reform?":
The Climategate Timeline: 30 years visualized
Von Storch op-ed in the WSJ: ‘Climategate reveals a concerted effort to emphasize scientific results useful to a political agenda’
A Cycle of Cathay
Nothing Voluntary About Obamacare’s Mandate
Ping Pong: Dems to Avoid Conference in Favor of (Please Sit Down) Shady Back-Room Deal

The Economy:
The Deficit is Mind Boggling
Tempting the Tipping Point

miscellany:
VIDEO: Peter Jackson talks 'Hobbit'
Blizzard forms in U.S. Midwest, Plains
Holiday Movies
Reward offered after 6 colts killed

Sports:
Depressing Royals Story of the Day
SDSU men fall to Gophers
Foreign policy:
The ending year
The thrill of victory or the agony of defeat?