For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: What is Iran planning for Thursday?

Khamenei, whose public statements should be taken seriously, is promising some sort of devastating "punch" against the West on Thursday the 11th, the same day as the Green Movement is calling for a monster protest against his regime.

What might he have in mind? I don't know; they say a lot of things just for effect, but threats/promises from the supreme leader have a certain standing. If I were an Israeli official, I'd recheck my information on Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.

What do you think, NBers? A legitimate threat, or more posturing?

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: the debt bomb is China's ultimate weapon.

By their carelessness Congress and the Obama administration are steadily handing over control of America's economic and financial future to a handful of Chinese officials and generals in Beijing. Those who think the Chinese won't use that control if they feel they have to are ignoring history -- and the Chinese.

The ancient military strategist Sun Tzu said that the best strategy was to render an opponent's army helpless even before the battle began. America may still have the biggest and best military in the world.

But many at the Pentagon are starting to realize that, thanks to our growing fiscal irresponsibility, we may be surrendering control of America's destiny to a rival superpower -- and all without a shot being fired.

What will it take to avert catastrophe?

Will it be a game to remember, or another Super Bowl bust?

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: you tell us.

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

As historic amounts of the white stuff fall on part of our nation, many look at this event as another example of how absurd the manmade global warming myth is. On the other hand, the climate alarmists claim that not only don't single weather events have anything to do with long-term climate trends, but also that extreme events such as blizzards are actually part of climate change.

What do you think this weekend's mid-Atlantic blizzard means to this debate if anything?

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: the real GlacierGate fallout begins.

The Indian government has established its own body to monitor the effects of global warming because it "cannot rely" on the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the group headed by its own Nobel prize-winning scientist Dr R.K Pachauri.

The move is a significant snub to both the IPCC and Dr Pachauri as he battles to defend his reputation following the revelation that his most recent climate change report included false claims that most of the Himalayan glaciers would melt away by 2035. Scientists believe it could take more than 300 years for the glaciers to disappear.

Is India playing politics with science, or avoiding others who do?

 

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: Clarence Thomas notes liberal media hypocrisy regarding the "Citizens United" decision (via Freedom's Lighthouse).

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: the federal payroll hits an all-time high.

The Obama administration says the government will grow to 2.15 million employees this year, topping 2 million for the first time since President Clinton declared that "the era of big government is over" and joined forces with a Republican-led Congress in the 1990s to pare back the federal work force.

Most of the increases are on the civilian side, which will grow by 153,000 workers, to 1.43 million people, in fiscal 2010.

To paraphrase candidate Obama, "government is the one you've been waiting for."

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: a spirited defense of the Tebow ad from...the Washington Post?

I'll spit this out quick, before the armies of feminism try to gag me and strap electrodes to my forehead: Tim Tebow is one of the better things to happen to young women in some time. I realize this stance won't endear me to the "Dwindling Organizations of Ladies in Lockstep," otherwise known as DOLL, but I'll try to pick up the shards of my shattered feminist credentials and go on...

I'm pro-choice, and Tebow clearly is not. But based on what I've heard in the past week, I'll take his side against the group-think, elitism and condescension of the "National Organization of Fewer and Fewer Women All The Time." For one thing, Tebow seems smarter than they do.

Does anyone else find it troubling that "femenist" organizations call for "tolerance" while demanding the suppression of speech?

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: Walter Russell Mead proclaims the "death of global warming" (the movement).

The global warming campaigners got into this mess because they had a deeply flawed political strategy.  They were never able to develop a pragmatic approach that could reach its goals in the context of the existing international system.  The global warming movement proposed a complex set of international agreements involving vast transfers of funds, intrusive regulations in national economies, and substantial changes to the domestic political economies of most countries on the planet.  As it happened, the movement never got to the first step — it never got the world’s countries to agree to the necessary set of treaties, transfers and policies that would constitute, at least on paper, a program for achieving its key goals...

For better or worse, the global political system isn’t capable of producing the kind of result the global warming activists want.  It’s like asking a jellyfish to climb a flight of stairs; you can poke and prod all you want, you can cajole and you can threaten.  But you are asking for something that you just can’t get — and at the end of the day, you won’t get it.

Is he calling in the mortician a bit early, or are we actually hearing death rattles?

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: Despite ClimateGate, junk science on Himalayan glacier melts, junk science on deforestation, and polls showing global warming is now at the bottom of Americans' priority list, our President STILL wants to curb carbon dioxide emissions?

Is this yet another example of Obama's arrogance and how it doesn't matter what happens in the real world or what the public wants, he knows more than everybody else, and will force down our throats what he believes is good for us whether we like it or not?

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: Bin Laden blames the U.S. for global warming.

Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden has called for the world to boycott American goods and the U.S. dollar, blaming the United States and other industrialized countries for global warming, according to a new audiotape released Friday.

In the tape, broadcast in part on Al-Jazeera television, bin Laden warned of the dangers of climate change and says that the way to stop it is to bring "the wheels of the American economy" to a halt.

Sounds like an endorsement of Cap and Trade. Thoughts?

 

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: two ways to consider the SOTU speech:

As with many Obama pronouncements, you can take his statements on health care in one of two ways.

(1) I haven't learned anything from the public's turning against me, and I still think my plan will win people over if I just explain it better.

or

(2) I'm genuinely open to other ideas and will do what it takes to pass a consensus measure.

... This was a clever speech, in that it all hinges on the president's personal credibility, which is higher than his job approval. But it's also a dangerous speech, because it all hinges on the president's personal credibility, which is also the last political asset in his account.

 Was Obama sincere, or was he simply reverting to campaign mode?

Post your thoughts and observations here. Spot any media bias or other newsy articles? Join the conversation...

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: a different type of stop sign.

 

U-turn ahead?

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: Obama wants an across-the-board spending freeze. But wait:

Will the media notice?

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: Americans do not want to be stimulated!

Nearly three out of four Americans think that at least half of the money spent in the federal stimulus plan has been wasted, according to a new national poll.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday morning also indicates that 63 percent of the public thinks that projects in the plan were included for purely political reasons and will have no economic benefit, with 36 percent saying those projects will benefit the economy.

What's next for the White House, changing course or attacking the right-wing extremists at CNN?

Question one: Will we actually get at least ONE good game today, or is this year's playoff season destined to be one of the most boring in decades?

Question two: Is 8 1/2 points too much for the Colts to give the Cinderella Jets?

Question three: Will Brett Favre have more support in New Orleans than Drew Brees?

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: Is the global warming myth crashing and burning?

First we had ClimateGate. Now in the past few days have come numerous revelations about the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change clearly employing junk science to further climate hysteria.

Will this lead to a complete unraveling of the IPCC along with even greater public skepticism about man's role in global warming, or can the alarmists recover?

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point. Ben Bernanke -- should he or shouldn't he be reconfirmed as Federal Reserve Chairman?

Clearly, the stock market wants him to be. After all, much of the market's decline last week was due to fears of him not having enough votes. Some analysts think if he's dumped, the market will drop at least another 1,000 points.

On the other hand, some feel he not only had a huge hand in providing the cheap money that lead to the financial crisis in the first place, but also didn't do enough to solve the collapse once it began.

What say you, NBers: thumbs up or down for Bernanke?

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: the punditry's up in arms over the First Amendment.

Free speech really does mean free speech, and the laws that the "Citizens" ruling overturned directly and heinously restricted the stuff. Forget for the moment the broad characterization of the ruling -- such as The New York Times claim that it "sweep[s] aside a century-old understanding"...

We are living in a fragmented media age in which many nontraditional sources are producing journalism, even and especially of the advocacy variety (my opinion magazine, Reason, is funded by a nonprofit 501(c)(3). Why should nonprofit journalism producers -- like the Sierra Club, say -- have to ask for the government's permission to send a political documentary across the airwaves?

Does the Times want a monopoly on political speech?

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: DoD's Fort Hood report makes some, er, strange omissions.

Frustrated by the Department of Defense's description of the Fort Hood rampage as an "incident" by an "alleged perpetrator," several members of the House Armed Services Committee wondered if political correctness is besting common sense as the US tries to understand the nature and strategy of its enemies...

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: Brown's election overshadows another GOP victory.

In a statement, [Obama's choice for TSA head] Erroll Southers said he was pulling out because his nomination had become a lightning rod for those with a political agenda. Obama had tapped Southers, a former FBI agent, to lead the TSA in September but his confirmation has been blocked by Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, who says he was worried that Southers would allow TSA employees to have collective bargaining rights.

Questions have also been raised about a reprimand that Southers received for running background checks on his then-estranged wife's boyfriend two decades ago. Southers wrote a letter to lawmakers earlier this month acknowledging that he had given inconsistent answers to Congress on that issue.

At least the confirmation process weeded this one out.

Post your comments on the Massachusetts Special Senate Race or keep track of things with the widget above...

For general discussion and debate, but NBers are encouraged to discuss the special election in Massachusetts and to post updates and breaking news. A primer to get everyone going: