DUH — IT’S OBVIOUSLY AN ALIEN PROBE. Friendly and sending back pictures? Or hostile and dropping lethal nanobots? We’ll know soon!

CARRYING THREE CONDOMS IN D.C. makes you a prostitute? Well, that or being elected to Congress.

CHINESE CYBERATTACKS CAUSE GOOGLE to consider withdrawing from China. “These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered–combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web–have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.” Good for Google, and quite a slap in the face to the Chinese government.

UPDATE: Kind of a slap to Thomas Friedman, too.

SOME after-New-Year’s electronics markdowns.

CONAN The Contrarian.

POOR CHILDREN — FROM “AT RISK” TO “AT HOPE?” You can’t make this stuff up. Well, you can, but, you know, you don’t have to . . . .

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: The Strange Thing About Nemesis.

BYRON YORK on why the public isn’t buying ObamaCare.

THE HILL: U.S. Chamber warns of ‘double-dip’ recession because of Dem policies. “U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue warned the U.S. faces a double-dip recession because of the taxes and regulations under consideration by the Democratic Congress and President Barack Obama.”

WELL, THAT’S A RELIEF: Coakley says no more terrorists in Afghanistan.

“IT’S THE PEOPLE’S SEAT” — and, now, a t-shirt.

PROGRESS: Boat Maker of Choice for Drug Smugglers Now Marketing to Cops.

REVIEWING THE REVIEWERS: A roundup of book reviews from all over.

RACIAL TENSIONS AMONG CHICAGO DEMOCRATS? Maybe we can send Harry Reid to mediate.

UPDATE: Melissa Clouthier on double standards.

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Sen. Reid and son Rory each considered a burden for the other’s campaign in Nevada.

LOOKING FARTHER BACK IN TIME with the updated Hubble Telescope. The Hubble life-extension mission looks worth it. And here’s some background.

FINALLY: Spanx for men.

YOU COULD SEE THIS COMING: India Developing ‘Kill Vehicle’ to Knock Enemy Satellites Out of the Sky. Some related thoughts here.

WHAT MARTHA COAKLEY AND DAN QUAYLE have in common.

I kinda like the idea of a girl group named “Martha Coakley and the Massachusettes,” though.

DINOSAURS NOT EXTINCT: “Looks like the dinosaurs are mounting a comeback. Ford Expedition sales are up 45 percent, compared to a year ago, and Lincoln Navigator sales are up 60 percent for the same period. So, according to Automotive News, Ford officials are boosting production of Dearborn’s two big Sport-Utility Vehicles to meet renewed demand.”

JOHN FUND: “In the end, I don’t believe Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will run for re-election.”

HOW THE NAVY USED TO BE. Nostalgia aside, though, the new Navy seems awfully good at its job.

JOHN TIERNEY: The Madness of Crowds And An Internet Delusion. “When does the wisdom of crowds give way to the meanness of mobs?” He’s writing about Jaron Lanier’s You Are Not A Gadget, which I’ll be reviewing myself in a couple of days.

AT AUTOBLOG, liking the Cadillac CTS-V. I’d be unlikely to buy a bailoutmobile, though.

IN THE MAIL: From Michael Steele, Right Now: A 12-Step Program For Defeating The Obama Agenda. “Oil prices are now about three times what they were a year ago.”