HEH: “Among actual scientists, in the physical and biological sciences, the percentage who identify themselves as Marxists is zero.”

MAUREEN DOWD: “About as funny as a David Duke speech.”

KEEPING IT QUIET, at the Los Angeles Times.

BACK AT THE AIRPORT: Don’t ask. Wish us better luck this time.

A LOOK AT PHOTO-UNSCRAMBLING TECHNOLOGY and its implications for privacy.

CAR LUST: The 1968 Mercury Cyclone 428 Cobra Jet. Iowahawk probably has two, one of them converted to a low-rider version. “Big-hearted, torquey, and happy either purring along or in full snarl, the Cobra Jet was a world-class engine worthy of legendary status–not its current anonymity.”

Plus, rare appreciation for the Mazda MX-6: “to my eyes, the smooth, flowing contours of the MX-6 are both lovely and understated in a way that is, admittedly, thoroughly out of style today.” I had one of those, and I liked the looks — inside and out — very much. The V6 it came with was reasonably powerful, and extremely smooth.

LAUNCHING HUMANS VIA AIR CATAPULT: “This crazy giant catapult, probably built by Will E. Coyote out of two construction cranes and ACME industrial-grade rubber bands, is designed to send a man into space with no security cables or net. As you will see in the video, after surviving the bazillion-G-force launch in one piece, he has to open a parachute to return safely to land.”

RED LIGHT CAMERAS: Literal money machines! “They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in Albuquerque pictures of traffic violators are worth $10 million, according to an audit which renews the debate over excessive fines.”

TURNING FUEL EFFICIENCY INTO A VIDEO GAME.

A LOOK AT ANTI-AMERICAN BIGOTRY IN NEW ZEALAND: Just respond with the sheep-jokes they tell about Kiwis in Australia.

UPDATE: Reader J.D. Bell emails: “This is not a new phenomenon. Robert Heinlein noted it in ‘Tramp Royale’ which covers his around the world tour in the 1950’s.”

I’M STUCK AT THE AIRPORT but Pajamas Media is covering the Republican debate. And Stephen Green is liveblogging.

UPDATE: Still stuck. But there’s more at The Corner.

MORE: Stephen Green, above, didn’t seem very impressed with Fred’s performance but Emily Zanotti reports: “The general feeling around here is that Fred Thompson pulled out a narrow win over Rudy and McCain, though a few hardcore Mitt supporters are attributing that to low expectations. I have to disagree. Mitt looked scripted, and even if it was calculated, Fred looked free and easy by comparison, and stayed consistently on message.”

Plus, comments here, including Mitt Romney’s startling handsomeness, and missed opportunity re Scalia.

AL QAEDA’S QUAGMIRE IN IRAQ: Hey, I thought we had the quagmire thing all sewed up. They’re stepping on our turf!

THANKS, DELTA: At the Knoxville airport. Nonstop flight to NYC cancelled. Now being routed though Atlanta. Air travel sucks, which is why I do it less and less.

BAINBRIDGE on the Stoneridge case.

HOWARD KURTZ’S NEW BOOK, Reality Show, is out. And he’s blogging the book, here. My copy hasn’t come yet, but I expect it’s interesting.

EVEN THE COOKING BLOGS think media Hillary-hype is out of control: “As Newsweek gets more and more excited about the impending Hillary Clinton coronation nomination, they decided to highlight various women who have made it to the upper-echelon of their respective fields and make a by-proxy comparison to how Clinton might lead the country. The most prominent woman on the cover is the ubiquitous Rachael Ray. Who are the other two? Does it really matter? Actual female leaders don’t help magazine sales.”

HILLARY CLINTON will unveil her new retirement-security plan today, and I’m told that much of it is based on the thoughts of Gene Sperling. I certainly hope so, as there’s a lot worse advice out there — and, as I’ve said, the Clinton economic team in the 1990s was good.

MAX BOOT: Our man in Mosul: “What the article doesn’t mention is that the U.S. troop presence in Mosul is down to a battalion—about a thousand men. In other words, Col. Qader and other members of the Iraqi security forces are managing to maintain order in this populous and volatile region pretty much on their own. That’s a cause for long-term optimism.” So long, he says, as we don’t draw down too fast.

CROSSING THE LINE.

And inspiring this response from Dan Riehl.

MICHAEL MOYNIHAN: “Porkbusting Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ) is still preaching the limited government gospel to his congressional colleagues, though they are, obviously, not paying much attention (I’m looking at you too, Ron Paul).”

NOPE. No escape.

ROGER SIMON: Why they hate the neo-cons.

THANK GOD IT didn’t say Allah.

A LOOK AT WHAT WON THIS YEAR’S Nobel prize in medicine.

THE SOLUTION TO GLOBAL WARMING: More meetings!