Ted Sorenson has died at 82. He was JFK's speech writer and is credited with the 1961 inaugural and Profiles in Courage.

AP: After five years, Tiger Woods is no longer the world's top ranked golfer. Now it's Lee Westwood of England.

New Geography: "Ideologues may set the tone for the national debate, but geography and demography determine elections." I'm a big believer in both of these forces, having studied them for years in one way or another.

Here's a look at the current status of Medicare Advantage plans.

AP: In India more people have access to cell phones than to toilets.

College tuition costs are up again this fall.

Jessie Jackson has come to the defense of Juan Williams, calling him a martyr.

The Hil: Dems will have a blowout next week.

John Steele Gordon: Obama is no FDR.

How reliable is your car?

The end of the college textbook as we know it may be drawing near. I predict they will be electronic.

Nevada Voters: Harry Reid's name is already checked on ballots.

Sony has stopped production of the Walkman. It became a classic, but I never had one of them.

Why are we discussing Woodrow Wilson?

Firesheep is intriguing but not sure what to make of it. Hacking for the masses, according to this site.

Jack Neely on why Southerners don't like Obama. It's not race, he says, and I agree with him.

And I suspect many Americans, and especially Southerners, resent him for this reason: If you survey the men we’ve elected to the presidency over the last 150 years, those elected to office tend to be people with either several years experience legislating in U.S. Congress, or major administrative experience as governor of a state. The only exceptions we’ve made are men with a record of supreme military leadership....
In terms of these traditional qualifications for the presidency, when he was inaugurated last year, Obama was arguably the least experienced commander in chief since maybe Chester A. Arthur, who was never actually elected president. That fact has probably hurt him in practical ways. He hasn’t learned how to slap backs like Bill Clinton or LBJ, whose liberal changes were more sweeping than Obama’s. And few in Washington owe him any favors.
A final prejudice may be personal. No Democratic president in history has ever had the leisure to so fully ignore the Southern vote and still get elected. That’s hard to get over.

See also this link via Instapundit on the Gentry vs. Populist conflict within the Democratic Party.

When you probe into political and social conflict, you quickly find yourself mulling deep kinds of prejudices, not the modern racial kind, but older geographic and ethnic rivalries that go back hundred of years. Even if the don't make sense, they are still real.

Michael Barone:

Why has the Democrats' theory of history moving left worked out so badly? One reason is that it is factually untrue. We've moved from regulation to deregulation in the last century, for example.
Another reason is that when government is small and deft, as it was in the 1930s, a little more of it may help folks. But when it is big and plodding, as it seems to be now, a lot more of it may just be a deadweight on the private sector economy which, most Americans seem to realize, is the only generator of real economic growth.
A third reason is that big government can be overly bossy. Voters who have learned to navigate their way through life may not believe that they need Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to set the terms and conditions of their health insurance policies, as Obamacare authorizes her to do. "Don't tread on me," read the flags at Tea Party rallies. That's not a contradiction of "facts and science." It's an insistence that the Obama Democrats' policies would strangle freedoms and choke off growth. You may disagree. But if so, it looks like you're in the minority this year.

The Israelites were supposed to have settled in the only place in the Middle East without oil reserves, but this may not be true at all.

FoxNews Video: Juan Williams reacts -- and I mean reacts! -- to NPR and Vivian Schiller.

Jason Tolbert says that Mike Ross and Chad Causey should say how they will voted on Nancy Pelosi as Speaker if the Democrats retain control of the House. Absolutely. Other Blue Dogs are taking sides, they should as well.

Victor Davis Hanson discusses the Juan Williams-NPR flap. He manages to say it all.

AP: Obama is already plotting his post-election presidency.

Stephen Hayes: Is Nina Totenberg next?

Sense of Events puts the Juan Williams story in perspective. As we already know other people have said the same thing as Williams.

Juan Williams: Defund NPR.

Juan Williams explains his side of the NPR flap.

AP: The Center for Disease Control estimates that the number of Americans with diabetes could increase from 1 in 10 to 1 in 3 by 2050 if current trends continue. That's an increase from 24 million people to the range of 76 to 100 million.

That sucks.

The Conglomerate: "Law schools. . . responded to the worst recession in the legal market in at least two decades by letting in more law students."

If anything is clearer than the fact that we have too many lawyers already, I don't know what it is.

I've been reading about the Boston College law student who wants a full refund of his tuition over two and a half years. He didn't finish school, and probably wouldn't have gotten a job anyway.

Here's a twist: "When I'm on a plane, If I see people who are in NPR garb, I get worried & nervous. Because they probably won't shut up the whole flight."

Here's the video of Vivian Schiller of NPR asserting that Juan Williams needs a psychiatrist.

Bob Beckel, a liberal commentator, admitted that he is afraid of flying with Muslims just as Juan Williams said.

Daily Caller: Even some Muslims are speaking out against NPR's political correctness.

After the Juan Williams firing, NPR's Nina Totenberg is catching hell for her outrageous statements over the years. Keep it coming.

Fox News signs Juan Williams to a new contract for nearly $2 million. LOL

Big Journalism: NPR has fired Juan Williams for remarks about Muslims. See also here. Williams said that he worries and gets nervous when he see Muslims on airplanes. I feel exactly the same way.

Williams made the statement on Bill O'Reilly's show. See NPR here.

Bernie Goldberg comments. 

CBS: A Tennessee pilot refused a full body scan and claimed that the TSA does not make travel safer. He said it was just a make-work program.

Rasmussen: Most voters oppose the reelection of anyone who voted for Obamacare, auto bailouts, and stimulus plan.

AP: Netflix has become a streaming company that also offers DVDs by mail.

In a new book a Secret Service Agent says he nearly accidentally shot Lyndon Johnson within hours of the Kennedy assassination. See Gerald Blaine and Lisa McCubbin, The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence.

Agent Clint Hill to Robert Kennedy: "It's as bad as it can get."

ABC News: Ginny Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, left Anita Hill a voice mail asking for an explanation and apology.

“Good morning, Anita Hill, it's Ginny Thomas,” said the voice. “I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband. So give it some thought and certainly pray about this and come to understand why you did what you did. OK, have a good day.”

Starbucks will offer incentives to get you into their stores.

AP: Say goodbye to free checking at your bank. Thank Democrats.

Someone is shooting at the Pentagon. Well, isn't that their business, to shoot and get shot at?

Psychology Today on the use of alcohol.

NYT: Esther Tuttle will be 100 years old on her next birthday. Here's how she does it.

Jonah Goldberg of National Review visited Arkansas Tech yesterday. He reported that Arkansas is "perhaps America's politest state."

AP: Democrats are planning a Hail Mary bid with a $250 check for Seniors before the election. Well, great, but it won't change my vote.

Sharon Stone's new bikini.

Some good observations on the culture of poverty concept. You either believe that poverty is caused by society, or by the poor themselves. It's that simple.

Early voting began today in Arkansas. Needing to return some books, I went to a branch library and found long lines of people waiting to vote. I've never seen longer lines for voting at that location. The parking lots were full. I've just about decided to wait until election day to vote because I like the excitement and anticipation that imbues the air.

On the way out, I almost yelled out, "I want my library back!" LOL. 

Michael Barone's latest column: Dems find careers threatened by Obamacare votes.
"The rule seems to be that casting a decisive vote for Obamacare tends to be a career-ender." Dems just didn't understand how people felt, and they did not ask until it was too late.

Rasmussen: GOP will pick up 55 House seats.

Jason Tolbert: Bill Clinton's endorsement of state candidates may not count for much this year. See also here.

Bill O'Reilly makes an appearance on The View and two of the hosts walk off the set. They just can't stand for anyone to disagree with them.

Where did the tea party come from?

It’s all because the media, like a love struck teenybopper, fell in love and decided to run off with Barack Obama. It left a vacuum that others filled. It’s too late to move back home. To carry the analogy one step further, they are carrying Obama’s love child and it’s too late for an abortion. They have it; they will nurture it and grow up with it. Meanwhile others have moved into its room at home.

A Federal judge has ruled that 20 states can go ahead with their lawsuit seeking to overturn Obamacare.

Mr. T says buy GOLD.

Obama wants Biden back. So I guess that means no VP run for Hillary.

Popular Mechanics is a magazine I subscribe to. They have articles about everything. Here's one on the AK-47 assault rifle.

Dr. Marc Siegel: Doctor Unavailability Syndrome (DUS) is caused by Obamacare and it's spreading. It is characterized by a rising shortage of doctors, both specialists and primary care.

TaxProf quoting Peter Theil on the Higher Ed bubble: "University administrators are the equivalent of subprime mortgage brokers," he says, "selling you a story that you should go into debt massively, that it's not a consumption decision, it's an investment decision. Actually, no, it's a bad consumption decision. Most colleges are four-year parties."

Krauhhammer's Take on the Corner: "And in part the reason that unemployment stays so high is because of acts of omission and commission by this administration. One example: Business, which has $2 trillion on the sidelines, has no idea what its health-care costs are going to be as a result of Obamacare, and it has no idea what the regulatory atmosphere is going to be as a result of the financial regulation, and no idea what its rates of taxation are going to be."

It's exactly the same story that occurred during the New Deal, which prolonged the Great Depression.

Today is Columbus Day, a day many people don't like to celebrate anymore. For another view, see here.

Pseudoscientific fraud

Dr. Harold Lewis of the American Physical Society and Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has resigned, saying that global warming is "the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist." See this discussion which describes Lewis' letter as on the scale of Martin Luther's nailing his 95 theses to the Wittenburg church door, and then read his letter in full. Astounding!

All academic fields are subject to their fads. Certainly historians have their screwed up notions that are passed from professor to grad students, and on and on. I won't go into fads in the so-called social sciences. But the global warming hoax is one that can cost us big bucks.

I did like Lewis' historical analogy. 

No COLA, again

Seniors will receive no Social Security increase next year for the second year in a row. No COLA. But remember, the election is about two weeks away.

TaxProf has more.

I find dates like 10/10/10 interesting. Not sure why.

James DeLong: "The Special Interest State that has shaped American life for 70 years is dying. What comes next is uncertain, but there are grounds for optimism."

Jason Tolbert: Lincoln says that hate drives her opposition. She said earlier that her critics were un-American.

FuturePundit: Low testosterone is linked to Alzheimer's disease. Well, good, I know I'm not going to get Alzheimers.

The Chicago Tribune has good advice for people enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. Starting on November 15, they can change their plans if necessary.

Track the Obamacare lawsuits here.

A study finds that many iPhone users are tea party supporters. I plead guilty on both counts.

We have two really good political flaps going on in Arkansas right now. One involves the use of state-own vechicles. Jason Tolbert has a link to Gov. Beebe's report along with his comments. See ADG story here. The governor seems most upset with the fact that the state's colleges and universities own more than 1,500 vehicles. When I was a professor and needed to attend a meeting I always checked out a school car. Why take my own car and put miles on it? With a school car you were given a credit card in case the vehicle broke down. One time this did happen on a trip with a van-load of students.

Governor Beebe is going to fix the problem to some degree, but some agencies are independent. The Game and Fish Commission has been singled out in press reports for having more vehicles than employees. Republicans claim that the main problem lies with the state's constitutional officers.

The other flap concerns pastors, as they are called in the newspaper, who receive tax-exemptions for their homes. Some of these homes are assessed at over a quarter of a million dollars. The ADG quotes tax assessor Janet Troutman, "It used to be that parsonages were right next to the church, but that's evolved over the years. The church business has changed. I hate to say it's a business, but it is a business." She has decided that several ministers are no longer exempt for property taxes.

AP: Working-class whites are flocking to the Republican party. And why not?

Nicole Johnson on men, testosterone, and dating: " Ladies, please stop treating the men like they are one of your girlfriends. They are men. A man will NEVER talk or think like a woman. Men will not engage you, or validate your feelings, to the extent of female friends. They have a penis, not a vagina."

"The majority of male energy is focused on burgers and blow jobs. They are not thinking about honing their emotional or communicative capabilities. Women need to accept this reality, and take responsibility for putting UNNECESSARY pressure on men."

Bob Woodward: Obama-Clinton ticket is "on the table" for 2012. I think you can count on it.

Google TV will be a player in the movie streaming era that we are now beginning.

Insulin was the first miracle drug, isolated in 1921.

Weather forecasters say that Europe faces the coldest winter in 1,000 years because of changes in the Gulf Stream.

Instapundit: Colleges are going to give students debit cards that draw on their student loans. What can go wrong with that?

Internet TV: Now that's an idea whose time has come. If you are considering Apple TV, Roku, Netflix and other optons, you need to read this CNet review.

Jason Tolbert: Mike Ross has a new ad emphasizing that he voted against Obamacare. But he voted for it too.

Health-care professionals are finally waking up to their mistake in supporting Democrats. It takes some people a while to catch on.

AP: Health overhaul centerpiece endures growing pains. Well, that's a nice way to put it. If you like your insurance you may not get to keep it after all. Seniors may lose Medicare Advantage. If you need protection from preexisting medical conditions, you may also be roadblocked.

AP headline: US terror warning could hurt Europe's economy. Isn't it terrorism that's hurting Europe's economy?

Tax Prof: Property taxes are highest in blue states, lowest in red states. Who would have thought?

I'm seeing more and more negative reporting on the web about Medicare, Medicare Advantage, etc. Seniors may see a slight dip in premiums next year, but already people are being dropped because of Obamacare. They will face price increases when they look for alternative insurance.

So Obama's promise that you could keep your insurance if you liked it means nothing if your insurance is no longer available. More later.