Morning Whip, January 18, 2010

Special afternoon edition.

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 Big Stories:
1.1: The Massachusetts Senate Race–(With BONUS correct spelling of the state in question!):
The race in Massachusetts… [*1]
In Massachusetts, voters’ discontent threatens Democrats [*2] — Your turn . . .
Obama Heckled at Coakley Rally in Boston… At a University? (Video) [*3]
Smear, and parry [*4] — “Scott Brown believes in evolution but in the case of Bob Kerrey he’s willing to make an exception.” — Nicely played, Mr. Brown . . .
Massachusetts Is the Game Changer [*5]
Snow Is Falling in Massachusetts [*6]
“The whole nation is watching” [*7]
AWESOME… Scott Brown Responds to Elitist Obama’s Attack on Truck Owners [*8]
The uniter: Scott Brown’s center-right-indie coalition [*9]
Martha Coakley: A Democratic Canary in a Coalmine? [*10]
Latest polling has Brown pulling away from Coakley [*11]
Still Blaming Bush [*12] — In the words of the Eagles: Get Over It . . .
Coakley volunteers energize Brown voters [*13]
Barack Obama Slams Scott Brown and His Truck… It’s a GM Truck [*14]
Thinking about the unthinkable, Part Three [*15]
Former Quincy Mayor & Lifelong Dem Endorses Scott Brown [*16]
John F. Kerry at Coakley Rally: The Only Things Republicans Say Yes to Are Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Tea Parties & FOX News! (Video) [*17] — As a Rogue Palinista, I am offended by the omission of Sarah’s name by John F’ing Kerry . . .
Massachusetts Democrats for Brown? [*18] — And that’s not just Democrats, that’s “elected Democratic officials” . . . well, at least one . . .
Even if Brown Loses [*19] — “the message to the Democrats should be deafening” . . .
Shovel Ready. Martha Coakley’s Phone Bank Is Empty – Needs Workers (Video) [*20]
Suffolk’s bellwether areas showing double-digit lead for Brown on final day [*21]
Video: David Shuster wonders whether Massachusetts voters have lost their minds [*22] — Which, I guess, is fair, since I’ve been wondering for a long time if David Shuster has lost his mind . . .

More after the “Read More” . . . 1.2: Haiti, with bonus coverage of why Pat Robertson is a blithering idiot:
Real Economic Reform for a Hurting Haiti [*23] — Freedom and liberty work, if you have the nerve to try them . . .
For doctors in Haiti, worst is yet to come [*24]

1.3: “Global warming” aka “Climate change” — or should that be “Climate Reform?”:
Oops: IPCC to withdraw claim that AGW will wipe out Himalayan glaciers by 2035 [*25] — Brick by brick, the house of Anthropogenic Climate Change continues to crumble . . .
Pielke Senior: NASA GISS Inaccurate Press Release On The Surface Temperature Trend Data [*26] — “The GISS news release is symptomatic of the continued attempt to ignore science issues in their data analysis which conflict with their statement in the press release. This is not how the scientific process should be conducted.”
When Speculation Becomes “Science” – More AGW “Meltdown” [*27] — Anthropogenic Global Warming: A collection of assertions, assumptions, and conjectures seeking to be a theory one day when and if they grow up . . .
Told ya so…IPCC to retract claim on Himalayan Glacier Melt – Pachauri’s “arrogance” claim backfires [*28]
Climategate: The Truth Hurts When It Hits You in the Head [*29]

1.4: Health care “reform” aka health insurance “reform” — or should that be health care “change?” Perhaps “Global healthing?:
Can Paul Kirk cast the 60th vote for ObamaCare? [*30]
Dems’ Health Care Strategy: Seek Forgiveness Instead of Permission [*31] — “Oops, we screwed you over bigtime and totally demolished the American Health Care system in a naked power grab. Sorry, everyone! Sorry!”
Progressives Abandon Universal Coverage Forever: Understanding the Senate’s plan to ban undocumented aliens from buying health coverage [*32] — er, no. “Progressives” never abandon forever any of their pet political fantasies . . .
Cornhusker Proxy Senator drops to 42% approval rating [*33]
IF OBAMACARE IS SO POPULAR IN MASSACHUSETTS, why didn’t Obama mention it? [*34] — Excellent question . . .

Section Two: Things That Amuse Me:
2.1: Simians:
Again, a simian-free day. Stop the madness!

2.2: Travel:
The Right to See You Naked [*35] — Freedom of Association as a partial solution to the airline security problem . . .

2.3: Sports:
Johnson leads No. 4 Lady Vols in victory over No. 22 Commodores [*36]
Facts from Fargo [*37]

2.4: Science Fiction and Writing:
No SF/writing links today.

2.5: Miscellany:
Nerd Night Report [*38]
Top 10 Most Overrated Directors of All Time [*39]
Turner’s bid for park bison stokes wildlife debate [*40]
Shirky: Women Need to Strap On Some Balls [*41] — I’m not sure what brought this on. It was weird.
Beware of uninsured drivers in Kansas and Missouri [*42]
10 Celebs Who Give PETA The Middle Finger [*43]

Section Three: All Politics All The Time:
3.1: Strategy and tactics for defending human freedom and liberty:
Is New Jersey’s State Constitution Unconstitutional? Campaign to Recall Senator Menendez Turns Into Battle of the Constitutions [*44]
Tucker Carlson to Katrina Vanden Heuvel: Stop Saying ‘Teabaggers’[*45]
Grass roots convention, minus the grass roots? [*46]
Fabian Conservatism [*47]
King Represented the Conscience of a Nation [*48]
Old GOP Doesn’t ‘Get’ Tea Parties [*49]
Wanted: Fiscal Responsibility [*50]

3.2: The reality of Obama and the Democrat leadership as blithering idiots:
U.S. poll: fewer see Obama advancing racial ties [*51] — Obama has in one year severely damaged the cause of a color-blind society–he truly is the first (and, God willing, will be the only) Affirmative Action President. He was elected in large part because of black racism and white guilt. That would be a difficult legacy for a skilled statesman to overcome. Obama is clearly not a skilled statesman. There are some Americans with enhanced skin melanin content who might make a good President–Obama is not in that group, for a variety of reasons having nothing to do with melanin.
Can Barack Obama turn things around? [*52] — I suspect no, although the legacy media will do its damndest to try to keep him propped up through the 2012 election . . . and the capacity for self-delusion in the human animal is nearly boundless . . .
WaPo/ABC poll a vote of no confidence in Obama [*53] — . . . But sometimes, you just can’t spin hard enough to hide reality . . .
The Content of Obama’s Character [*54]

3.3: The reality of the Republican leadership as blithering idiots:
No blithering idiots with (R) behind their names raising their heads out of the foxholes today . . .

3.4: Opposition Research: The enemies of human freedom and liberty:
Day by Day: That Big Sucking Sound [*55]
After year, hope turns into disappointment: Many say Obama has not delivered; some urge patience [*56] — When the air goes out of the balloon, the balloon comes down . . .
Governor Palin Rails Against Racist Comments; Updated [*57] — Illustrative of the “Moby” method of falsely, cynically seeking to discredit the Right . . .
Liberals’ troll attacks and harassment have reached new heights over the Scott Brown race [*58] — More illustrations of the tactics of the collectivist, thuggish Left . . .
The Great Hate of the Left [*59] — Simply, They Hate All The World As It Really Is–and everyone and everything in that world–and wish to arrogate to themselves the power to change the World in accordance with whatever whimsical vision strikes them . . .
Democrats’ Plan for Election 2010: Cheat [*60]
Words and Politics [*61] — The continually shifting goalposts of the leftist/collectivist lexicon–I mean, they even managed to abscond with the word “liberal” to make it mean the exact opposite of what it meant through the 1800’s . . .
Stealth Propaganda [*62]
FCC Flooded with Comments Opposing Internet Regulation But Left Claims Victory Anyway [*63] — It’s simple . . . control the mechanisms of political speech, control the people . . .
Lies, Myths, and the Leftist Bias of History Part II [*64] — I seem to have missed Part I[*65] . . . “Remember the best weapon against leftist bias in the history textbooks, on college campuses, and in the media is to read a well researched book.”
Did Obama Let the Progressive Cat Out of the Bag? [*66] — When they say “progressive” they mean “collectivist” . . .

3.5: Media bias–and incompetence:
NY Times Apparently Planning To Commit Suicide Online With Paywall [*67] — “Hey, it didn’t work before, so it’s sure to work now!”

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 [*68] –Semi-permanent link for Palinmania . . .

Section Four: The Rest of the News:
4.1: The Economy:
Chart of the day: Jobs and consumer confidence [*69]
CNBC’s Cramer Says a Scott Brown Win Will Mean a HUGE Stock Rally (Video) [*70] — Well, yeah. But it’s Cramer.
Recession takes toll on university president pay [*71] — Um . . . why is this even a story? I don’t recall it being written in the Ten Commandments that University President’s Salaries Shalt Always Rapidly Increase . . . the story says they’re only up an average of 2.3% . . . gosh, that’s tough . . .
Official prediction: gas will hit $3 this summer in U.S. [*72] — And some people fervently believe that this is a good thing . . .
Government Takeover of 401(k)s and IRAs? [*73] — And some people fervently believe that this is a good thing . . .

4.2: Foreign affairs and National Security:
Not everything in Tom Friedman’s latest column is wrong or stupid . . .[*74]
Improve National Security with Quality Assurance Principles [*75]
Man arrested in JFK airport security breach [*76] — Is this kind of thing happening a lot more lately, or is it just being reported more now?
Chile Elects A Conservative President [*77]
National Security is a Full-Time Job, Mr. President [*78] — Why are the home ports of the Somali pirates still standing? We know where they are . . .
Courting Disaster: One of the most important books of the year [*79]

4.3: Science, technology, and space:
No sci/tech/space today.