RESPONDING TO A DISASTER with Android and Facebook.

JOHN HAWKINS interviews Thomas Sowell about his new book, Intellectuals and Society.

HAROLD FORD, JR.: They Will Stop At Nothing To Keep Me From Running.

CONGRESS: Thirteen Races To Watch. Well, twelve, now . . . .

ANN ALTHOUSE: Hey, rubes!

They can’t handle the truth.

WE’RE NOT AFRAID OF YOU, they said anonymously. “Do these people actually understand how this looks?”

OOPS: Now IPCC hurricane data is questioned.

FAIL: Just 6% of Americans believe the $787B “stimulus” boondoggle created any jobs according to a recent New York Times/CBS poll.

A YEAR AGO, WE HEARD THAT THE GOP WAS A RUMP REGIONAL PARTY: New England Republicans Coming Out Of Woodwork After Scott Brown’s Victory.

WEBB WILDER DOES Jumpin’ Jack Flash.

RAINING ON THE Mikulski retirement rumor. “If Mikulski is contemplating retirement, it’s not because she fears she’ll lose in 2010.”

SCOTT BROWN TO JOE BIDEN: Next time, know what you’re talking about.

Yeah, like that’s going to happen.

WELL, GOOD: Secret Joint Raid Captures Taliban’s Top Commander. “The Taliban’s top military commander was captured several days ago in Karachi, Pakistan, in a secret joint operation by Pakistani and American intelligence forces, according to American government officials.”

UPDATE: Reader David McCourt writes: “Have they flown his lawyer out there?”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Prof. Jacobson asks: “Did the U.S. deliberately not take possession of Baladar so as to avoid the now-thorny issue of Baradar’s right to counsel and to remain silent?”

INDIANA: Rallying around Marlin Stutzman?

SOMEBODY CALL RETRACTO: Frank Rich owes Sarah Palin a correction for this:

“This is about the people,” as Palin repeatedly put it last weekend while pocketing $100,000 of the Tea Partiers’ money.

Actually, she donated it back — which she said in her speech, which Rich could even have watched in its entirety online. For free. If Rich thinks she pocketed it instead of donating it, maybe he could offer a source or something?

SCIENCE: Optimal Waist-to-Hip Ratios in Women Activate Neural Reward Centers in Men.

UPDATE: Reader Jerry Davis writes: “Same reward centers booze activates, huh? I think they’ve just provided a scientific reason why the girls all look prettier around closing time.”

THE MOST SIZZLING TV COUPLES of all time. Sadly, Reuben Kincaid and Shirley Partridge didn’t make the cut.

R.I.P. DOUG FIEGER:

They’ll always be remembered for that song, but if you have a chance, give their third album Round Trip a listen. I thought it deserved a lot more attention than it got, and to my ear it still holds up pretty well, though perhaps it’s just that I associate it with a particular period in my life. Some excerpts can be heard for free here. I like Africa.

SOUNDS HANDY: Flashlight that transforms into a submachinegun. Where’s mine?

TSUNAMI ALERT: New poll: Now, signs of real vulnerability for California’s Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer.

ROGER KIMBALL: It’s Not That I Like Saying “I Told You So” About “Global Warming,” but . . .

Oh, who are you kidding, Roger? You don’t like saying “I told you so,” you love saying “I told you so.”

MARKDOWNS on electronics.

A BIT OF POST-VALENTINE’S-DAY GOOD NEWS: Poll: 9 Out of 10 Would Remarry Spouse. “Married Americans expressed few regrets about their choice of spouse and overwhelmingly said they would do it all again, according to a new CBS News poll. Nine out of ten (90%) married Americans would marry their spouse again, a percentage which has barely changed since 1995 (when it was 93%).”

EVAN BAYH, ET AL.: Dragged down by the Obama Millstone? Wow. From milestone to millstone in one year . . . .

Related: John Podesta says the American political system “sucks.” Huh. He didn’t sound that way a year ago. So is that the hope he’s feeling, or the change? . . .

UPDATE: Reader Tom Barker says I’m missing the symbolism: “Bayh announced his departure on President’s Day.” Heh.

THE ORGINAL FUTURAMA: Legacy of the 1939 World’s Fair.