IN THE MAIL: Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle’s Escape from Hell, the long (and I mean long) awaited sequel to Inferno, which was like Dante with a modern sensibility, and a better sense of humor.

A RATHER EXPANSIVE DEFINITION OF “HATE SPEECH,” from UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research Center. Well, really it’s pretty much the same old definition: “Speech I don’t like.”

From the comments: “One of the most remarkable aspects of the paper’s position in my view is that it describes vigorous disagreement, mockery, and condemnation of government policy and leaders as hate speech. One might ask whether much of the left’s political discourse over the past eight years doesn’t fall within this category, but, regardless, once political criticism of those in power is defined as hate speech, what’s left of the First Amendment?” That seems to be the position of the Oklahoma City police.

LOOKING FOR AN INTERESTING INTERNSHIP IN WASHINGTON, D.C.? The Charles G. Koch Foundation “offers promising leaders and entrepreneurs the opportunity to work on significant assignments within non-profit organizations while learning and applying Market-Based Management®.” Tony Woodlief emails that “The Koch Associate Program is a very selective, competitively paid career opportunity for bright, talented young professionals who are interested in the free-market non-profit sector. During the year-long program, each Associate works in a full-time position with a market oriented think-tank or policy organization, while also receiving valuable management training in a seminar setting one day out of each week at the Foundation.” If Tony likes it, then it’s probably worth your time.

ASSOCIATED PRESS: Analysis: Democrats self-destructing over ethics.

TORN FROM the flag.

FREE SPEECH IN THE AGE OF OBAMA: “An Oklahoma City police officer wrongly pulled over a man last week and confiscated an anti-President Barack Obama sign the man had on his vehicle.” Plus this: “”When I was on my way there, the Secret Service called me and said they weren’t going to ransack my house or anything … they just wanted to (walk through the house) and make sure I wasn’t a part of any hate groups.” Since when do government officials search homes to ensure the absence of impure political thoughts?

If something like this had happened with Bush, it would have been proof that fascism was descending had descended upon America.

THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD — with the generous support of your tax dollars!

CONNECTICUT POST: Dodd On Hot Seat Again. “Dodd, who is up for re-election in 2010, has been ripped by Republicans for getting favored treatment on two mortgages from Countrywide Financial, which was at the heart of the nation’s subprime meltdown. He’s now under the gun for accepting $27,500 in campaign contributions since 2002 from Stanford Financial Group, whose Texas offices were raided Tuesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission.” He’s not the only one, of course, but . . . .

THE STIMULUS PROTESTS AND FINDING COMMON GROUND: Michelle Malkin and I talk about how Obama is bringing conservatives and libertarians together again. Plus the Rangel, Dodd, Burris and Murtha scandals, Tim Geithner’s not-so-cunning plan, and the tragic giant-puppet gap.

HOW CONVENIENT: Congress Stymies Investigations With Hidden Provision.

GOOD FOR THEM: American Muslims Call for Swift Action Against Domestic Violence.

POLITICO: Housing Plan Leaves Out Critical Pieces.

HAVE YOU NO DECENCY, SIR? “Bill Moyers, a White House aide now best known as a liberal television commentator, is described in the records as seeking information on the sexual preferences of White House staff members.” (Via NewsAlert). Moyers now says his memory of this is “unclear.”

IN NEW JERSEY, A TAX REVOLT: No pitchforks, but angry protesters storm Hoboken City Hall. “Holding posters and megaphones, an angry mass of about 250 Hoboken residents assembled outside Hoboken City Hall tonight, taunting Mayor Dave Roberts and the City Council and angrily shouting against the recent 47 percent property tax increase.” I think we’ll be seeing more of these.

ASSOCIATED PRESS: Republicans poised to leap on spending abuses.

A BAILOUT FOR THE Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation? Sure, why not! Bailouts for everybody!

Except the taxpayers.

HERE ARE SOME MORE PICTURES from yesterday’s taxpayer protest in Mesa, Arizona.

SOME BIG Blu-Ray markdowns.

EARLIER, I MENTIONED AN ARTICLE ON MANLINESS AND THE CONSTITUTION, and now, via Feminist Law Professors, I find an article entitled Our First Unisex President?: Black Masculinity and Obama’s Feminine Side, by Frank Rudy Cooper. Is this a trend?

A CALCULATOR TO TELL CALIFORNIANS how much the proposed budget will cost them personally.

Can somebody do one of these for the “stimulus?”

BARACK OBAMA, WAR CRIMINAL? “The United States’ presence in Pakistan and Afghanistan is only furthering the spread of terrorism and President Obama could be charged with war crimes, former Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.) wrote Wednesday.” Boy, that didn’t take long. I suspect that Obama will feel more and more sympathy for Bush as time passes . . ..

HEY, THEY CALL IT THE “INTERGENERATIONAL THEFT ACT” FOR A REASON: Dobson students question Obama’s plan.

At one point, when he talked about the costs of his stimulus plan, senior Maaike Albach and Daudfar looked at each other and said, “uh-oh.” . . . “This puts us more into debt,” said Albach, 18. “It’s a horrible situation we’re in.”

You don’t know the half of it, kid.

MEGAN MCARDLE ON OBAMA’S HOUSING PLAN: “Well, the obvious point is that it represents a massive transfer to borrowers from lenders and the rest of us. As far as I can tell, there is no penalty for having borrowed more than you could realistically afford to repay–not so much as a speck of dirt on the credit report. The administration’s release talks a lot about ‘responsible homeowners’, but very few responsible homeowners have payments that amount to 43% of their monthly income.”

My take — let’s see what they’ve done with the first trillion before we give them any more money to play with . . . .

UPDATE: Tab for Obama’s Homeowner Aid Swells to $275 billion.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Is the Administration Winging It?

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Here’s more on that Murtha earmark scandal:

More than 100 House members secured earmarks in a major spending bill for clients of a single lobbying firm — The PMA Group — known for its close ties to John P. Murtha , the congressman in charge of Pentagon appropriations.

“It shows you how good they were,” said Keith Ashdown, chief investigator at the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. “The sheer coordination of that would take an army to finish.”

PMA’s offices have been raided, and the firm closed its political action committee last week amid reports that the FBI is investigating possibly illegal campaign contributions to Murtha and other lawmakers. . . . In the spending bill managed by Murtha, the fiscal 2008 Defense appropriation, 104 House members got earmarks for projects sought by PMA clients, according to Congressional Quarterly’s analysis of a database constructed by Ashdown’s group.

Those House members, plus a handful of senators, combined to route nearly $300 million in public money to clients of PMA through that one law (PL 110-116).

And when the lawmakers were in need — as they all are to finance their campaigns — PMA came through for them.

Stay tuned.

ABC NEWS ON fugitive financier Allen Stanford: “A video posted on the firm’s web-site shows Stanford, now sought by U.S. Marshals, being hugged by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and praised by former President Bill Clinton for helping to finance a convention-related forum and party put on by the National Democratic Institute.”

Plus, “culture of corruption?”