Sobering, and appropriately critical where criticism is warranted:

This is nowhere near as problematic as things seemed just four weeks ago.

Mitt Romney avoided utter utter humiliation in his “home” state by what appears to be three points. We’re supposed to be impressed that this is a momentum change? I don’t think so.

And in Arizona, where I understand the other three candidates did very little, Romney still couldn’t win a majority.

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As is the case with so much that is being reported in other countries about how much of the rest of the world is walking itself back from the extreme statist agenda supposedly necessitated by “climate change,” a presentation at the British House of Commons made by Professor Richard Lindzen, whom James Delingpole at the UK Telegraph describes as “one of the world’s greatest atmospheric physicists: perhaps the greatest,” has gone virtually unreported in the U.S. establishment press.

There’s a reason for this. As Delingpole notes (“Lindzen totally pwns the alarmists”): “… even if you’d come to the talk he gave in the House of Commons this week without prejudice or expectation, I can pretty much guarantee you would have been blown away by his elegant dismissal of Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming theory.” Here are excerpts from the PDF supporting Lindzen’s appearance, followed by proof that the self-described outlets of record in the America have ignored it (bolds are mine):

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You might have missed this from the 2008 presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton:

You know, it’s very easy to excite the base with incendiary comments. We’ve seen throughout the campaign if you’re willing to say really outrageous things that are accusative, attacking of President Bush, that you’re going to jump up in the polls. I’m not willing to light my hair on fire to try and get support. I am who I am.

I’m a person with extensive experience in government. I understand how government works from a personal standpoint and from a theoretical standpoint. I want to use those skills to help the country. And if I get selected, great, and if I don’t, I can live with that too. I’m putting myself out there because I think I can do a better job getting America back on track. I think this president has taken us in a very dangerous direction, and that we’ve got to get him out of the White House. But I’m not willing to say anything to get that nod.

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At the Associated Press, covering today’s durable goods report from the Census Bureau, Martin Crutsinger wrote that “Orders for durable goods fell 4 percent last month.”

No they didn’t. They fell by a seasonally adjusted 4%. The raw data before seasonal adjustment says that they fell by over 15%:

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Rules are here. Possible comment fodder may follow later. Other topics are also fair game.

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An Internet sensation — and it should be (HT GodVine):

The telephone changed the world and birthed a new way of doing business. When transmitting documents via those same phone lines first arrived on the scene, it was almost like witnessing magic. In the late 1980s, the squealing sound of the facsimile machine – or “fax” machine – became part of the modern office’s background music. We had entered a new age of speed and convenience in document sharing.

Soon, nearly every office was using the new-aged tool to receive nearly 1 page per minute, even if they needed to send something halfway across the world. Contracts, proposals, and other very important and time-sensitive documents were no longer delayed by the limitations of postal or courier services. The pace of business quickened even more.

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It’s here.

It will go up here at BizzyBlog on Wednesday (link won’t work until then) after the blackout expires.

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Obamavilles: The column references and lightly excerpts a BBC report (related narrative where the video isn’t available here; YouTube video of the program here) which notes the proliferation of “tent cities” throughout the U.S. This post will extend what the Beeb found.

These aren’t Occupy encampments, and to a large extent they aren’t hangouts for the solitary homeless by choice.

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There was a great question over the weekend in a Wall Street Journal editorial:

Three Cheers for Super PACs
The money isn’t “secret,” and it’s a political-speech windfall for democracy.

Everyone hates Super PACs, or claims to. The campaign-finance scolds deplore “secret money” in politics. The candidates who benefit feel compelled to wish for some alternative. Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart recently set up a Super PAC to mock and denounce Super PACs.

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