PALIN NOT ON the same 'intellectual stage' as Obama.

The "Obama is smart" meme is getting tiring. As one commenter noted, an Ivy League degree is no substitute for thinking. More here.

THEY'RE BACK: the Death Panels return by regulatory fiat. Under the guise of helping you make the "proper" (read that as "preferred") decision.

AMERICA'S STUBBONLY LIBERAL LEADERS keep millions looking for work.

‘COMPLIANCE’: The word that sunk a million U.S. jobs.

And you thought tort lawyers were bad ....

ECONOMIST MATTHEW KAHN (Climatopolis: How Our Cities Will Thrive in the Hotter Future) offers more optimism than solutions to the problems of climate change.

But optimism leads to more solutions than does pessimism.

THE SKY IS FALLING. Do something!

More here.

A WHINY PAEAN TO PORK AND POWER: Sen. [Arlen] Specter on Tuesday wanted to show us what was wrong with Washington -- and, unwittingly, he did.

MICHAEL BARONE: States with no income tax grew faster in the last decade.

CANADA'S OIL SANDS DEVELOPMENT gets (mostly positive) top-level review. Which annoys IEEE's resident environmental activist.

Never let facts interfere with your vision.

O HOLY NIGHT: some thoughts on the meaning of Christmas.

STANDING WATCH ON CHRISTMAS: attributed to Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Giles, U.S. Navy, Al Taqqadum, Iraq.

Read it all.

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS from 42 years past.

THE SPIRIT OF SANTA is alive and well in America.

MERRY CHRISTMAS


The National Christmas Tree in front of the White House.


Our family tree.

A GOOD QUESTION: Would global warming be so bad? Myself, I've never heard a satisfactory answer.

SMART STANDARDS for the smart grid. Unfortunately, there’s no standard for “No (control).”

THE NEW YEAR CANNOT COME TOO SOON: Voters elected Republicans to end Obamaism, not expand it.

MORE YEARS wandering in the desert.

Small businesses, like my 53-person outfit, see no reason whatsoever to do anything but hold tight to our cash for the next two years.... This is not fear; rather it is a rational business approach to having low confidence in future conditions.

The next election is only 2 years away. Will business continue to sit on the sidelines? I fear they will unless the next Congress aggressively moves against the current administration.

OBAMACARE: who decides? I would hope the Constitution, but I’m not confident the judiciary will agree. The key element appears to be judicial interpretation of the Constitution’s Necessary and Proper clause, and I hope Judge Hudson’s interpretation (“[the Necessary and Proper Clause] is not unbridled.”) is sustained.

PAUL GREENBERG: the end of books. The quote, I think, is from Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, but I've been unable to find my copy to confirm it.