DAN RIEHL: Walesa, Socialism, and the Challenges Ahead.

CHINESE not buying the whole “climate change” thing. Three strikes and you’re out?

IS PELOSI’S AIRPLANE SCANDAL a new version of the House Bank scandal? I don’t want to hear any more crap from her about my carbon footprint, that’s for sure . . . .

UPDATE: Any confirmation or denial of this from Pelosi’s office yet?

ANOTHER UPDATE: Here’s a post that suggests there’s less to this than meets the eye, though it’s not entirely conclusive. Is there, or is there not, unaccompanied travel?

MORE: Further developments at The Mudville Gazette, which says that unaccompanied flights are legal if the Speaker requests it in writing. Hmm. It’s possible that this is a Kinsleyan scandal (“the real scandal is what’s legal”) but either way, as I said, I don’t want to hear one more word from her about my carbon footprint.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Our Obama Saga. Part One—Chapters One to Four.

UH OH: “If President Obama thinks the political earthquake that hit his party last month in Massachusetts was bad, he had better read the Congressional Budget Office’s latest economic forecasts for the next two years.”

TUNKU VARADARAJAN on Islamic Terrorism, and Wole Soyinka’s British Problem. “What did the 76-year-old Mr. Soyinka—who divides his time between the U.S. and Nigeria—make of his country’s placement on a watch-list of states deemed to be incubators of Islamist terrorism? ‘That was an irrational, knee-jerk reaction by the Americans. The man did not get radicalized in Nigeria. It happened in England, where he went to university.'”

MARK WHITTINGTON: “To paraphrase a line often made by Instapundit’s Glenn Reynolds, they told me that if I voted for John McCain we would see a massive push for nuclear power—and they were right! It seems that President Obama has embraced nuclear energy.”

WORST PLAYBOY MANSION STORY ever.

NICK GILLESPIE: Meet The New Obama, Same as The Old Obama: Tomorrow We Scrimp, But Today We Spend! Great photo.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY.

EATING: Why go out?

ROSCOE POUND: Enemy of American Constitutionalism?

NAMING AND SHAMING John Edwards’ lying aides? How about the press who covered for him?

SPEAK NO ILL OF THE MASTERS: China Bosses Davos as Nobody Discusses What Happened to Google. “Google Inc.’s opposition to censorship in China was the one topic left off the table in Davos — at China’s request.”

Rich wimps talking about what to do with the world while kowtowing to dictators. How admirable.

Related thoughts from Rich Galen.

RETRACTO, THE CORRECTION ALPACA was busy this weekend.

IS THE VIOLENCE POLICY CENTER TRYING TO reinstate the “Black Codes?”

UPDATE: Bill Quick thinks this is a stretch. “I think it is a stretch to say that the VPC is calling for a ‘Black Code’ to reduce access for blacks alone to handguns. It’s pretty clear to me they are calling for reduced access for everybody, not just blacks.” They do stress the peculiar tendency toward violence among black people, though. And, you know, given the history, that’s questionable.

YOUR UNEMPLOYMENT FORECAST through 2013.

GOOD QUESTION: “Whether or not you think O’Keefe actually did what he’s been convicted in the press of doing, it is a bit odd that the New York Times didn’t find him worthy of front-page coverage until he failed at the sort of work they didn’t cover when he was successful at it. The sports section couldn’t get away with only covering the home team when they win one, yet it’s fine on the front page.”

GOOD NEWS: Scientists say crack HIV/AIDS puzzle for drugs. ” Scientists say they have solved a crucial puzzle about the AIDS virus after 20 years of research and that their findings could lead to better treatments for HIV. British and U.S. researchers said they had grown a crystal that enabled them to see the structure of an enzyme called integrase, which is found in retroviruses like HIV and is a target for some of the newest HIV medicines.” Let’s hope it pans out.

MYSTERIOUS GAMMA RAY FLASHES in Earth’s upper atmosphere.

IF THIS BEARS OUT, IT SEEMS LIKE A SCANDAL: Pelosi’s Children and Grandchildren Used Military Jets As Private Cross-Country Shuttle Service So They Could Avoid Dealing With the Rabble.

FOUAD AJAMI: The Obama Spell Is Broken. “Unlike this president, John Kennedy was an ironist who never fell for his own mystique.”

UPDATE: “Was it our unEuropeanness that defeated him?”

THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED THIS WEEKEND:

My Washington Examiner column on the future of the Tea Party movement.

Nick Gillespie makes libertarianism look good.

Climategate: Climate chief was told of false glacier claims before Copenhagen.

Plus, NASA and NOAA complicit in data manipulation. Also, Climate Panel Shamed By Bogus Rainforest Claim.

Injudicious remarks on terror trials from Robert Gibbs.

More White House Flickr Fun.

Tea Partiers go local.

Arne Duncan: Katrina saved public education in New Orleans.

Andrew Klavan on fantasy vs. reality.

Blue state Hawaii kills gay marriage.

“What’s the matter with you Americans?”

DAVID FREDDOSO: Obama nominee may have lied to Congress, but she may slip through on Monday before Scott Brown is seated.

FOR THOSE WHO WERE WORRYING ABOUT WHETHER MY TRAFFIC IS UP FROM LAST YEAR: