AIRBRUSHING: New York Times Caught Editing Iran Story After White House Denials. “Normally, a pro forma denial by the White House would not send reporters and editors scurrying to cover up their work. With good sources, and reliable information, journalists could be expected to stand by their story. Now, with the Times carrying out edits that it apparently hoped no one would notice, the entire story seems like a desperate attempt to set the stage for the Third Presidential Debate in a way that favors the incumbent.”

RELATED (From Ed): Shades of the New York Times’ infamous botched “NYTrogate” October surprise from 2004.

ANSWERING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: What Does Panda Taste Like?

VIDEO: Notecards from the Underground: A visit with Gay Talese in the wine cellar he converted to his home office.

NOT OPTIMAL: “Asked about the lack of response to repeated warnings from our diplomats about the security situation in Libya, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin told Chris Wallace:”

Look at the situation on the ground immediately afterwards, when the Libyans were demonstrating in the streets in support of the United States.  It is a volatile situation.  It is always easier the day after to say how you could have won that football game.

Interesting — for Durbin, the Americans running Gitmo are the equivalent of Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot. In contrast, the terrorist attack in Libya is the equivalent of a football game. Noted.

MASS SHOOTING NEAR WISCONSIN MALL LEAVES SEVERAL DEAD, Deputies search for suspect.

UPDATE: Dispatcher: Wis. spa shooting suspect found dead.

21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: ‘Overly Attached Girlfriend’ Discusses Her Creepy Internet Fame.

QADDAFI’S SON KILLED in Libya fighting.

MAN BITES DOG, 2012: Harry Stein at City Journal, on honoring the seemingly few MSM journalists left who commit actual journalism.

CONN CARROLL: Why America Is Breaking For Romney.

NOTHING BUT UNICORNS ALL THE WAY DOWN: White Vote Surges to Romney, But Reuters Zooms In on Sliver of White Male McCain Voters Voting Obama.

FUNDAMENTAL TRANSFORMATION: Obama’s agenda at odds with founders, writes Katherine Kersten in…the Minneapolis Star-Tribune?

And note this:

American intellectuals encountered Germany in the 1870s and 1880s, when thousands of them flocked there to study the new “social sciences” at its universities. Many were dazzled by what they saw as the world’s most advanced and efficient nation, and by the top-down social welfare system Bismarck was building.

(more…)

NEUROSCIENCE: What prehistoric art tells us about the evolution of the human brain.

AT AMAZON, 55% off on Movies & TV.

Also, today only: Up to 66% Off Kwikset SmartCode Deadbolt, $78.99.

JUST FYI: NFIB v. Sebelius: Five Takes, coauthored with Brannon Denning, is still #1 on SSRN’s Top Downloads list.

‘ROMNESIA:’ Did Obama Give Gloria Allred’s Game Away?

RELATED: “Reggie, I don’t think this one quite has the distance.”

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: White House ‘lied’ on Libya because they had ‘the media in their pocket.’

TEA PARTY RALLY IN FLORIDA DRAWS THOUSANDS:  Just the tip of the iceberg, folks.  Tea partiers in the Indian River part of central Florida show up in droves to wear oven “Mitts” and tea bags– with the central message being:  We must vote.  And vote they undoubtedly will.  A lot of people (who get their news only from the lamestream media) are going to be shocked when the tea party turns out in full force on Nov. 6.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Compare and contrast: “Sandra Fluke, the woman at the center of a media firestorm earlier this year after Rush Limbaugh called her a ‘slut,’ spoke Saturday in front of about 10 people at the Sak ‘N Save in north Reno.” (Bumped). (And bumped again, because this is just too sweet).

ANOTHER UPDATE (FROM GLENN): The entire crowd fit into a single parking space! With elbow-room to spare. (Bumped one more time. I just can’t resist.)

MORE (FROM GLENN): “Why should more than 10 people show up at a Sak ‘n Save at in Reno to see Sandra Fluke? . . . What a splash of cold reality to find yourself deposited — by your promoters — at a grocery store in Reno where nobody cares.”

NOT EXACTLY A “SHOTGUN WEDDING:” An Iowa jeweler is offering free rifles for husbands-to-be who spend at least $1,999 on an engagement ring at his store near Iowa City.

THEY ENDORSED OBAMA IN 2008: Houston Chronicle Endorses Romney. “Four years later, President Obama’s deeds have failed to match his words, much less his specific vows to cut the national debt by half and bring the nation’s unemployment rate to 6 percent. As Texans, it is a particular vexation that this president’s attitude toward the interests of our state has occasionally bordered on contempt.”

SYRIA’S BASHAR AL-ASSAD BANS GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS: “The law is meant ‘to preserve the health of human beings, animals, vegetables and the environment.’” He used to do a good job mimicking the prejudices of silly Westerners and saying exactly what they wanted to hear, but no one’s buying this crap anymore.

ROBERT A. HEINLEIN, CALL YOUR OFFICE: Britain on mission to tap Moon water.

THE WORLD’S FIRST HIGH-SPEED AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLE. “The vehicle – called the Quadski – can travel at speeds of up to 45mph on water or land.”

TURNING POINT: El Alamein veterans gather in Egypt for 70th anniversary of battle.

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VODKAPUNDIT’S WEEK IN BLOGS.

READER BOOK PLUG: Reader James Miller asks me to plug his new book, Singularity Rising: Surviving and Thriving in a Smarter, Richer, and More Dangerous World. Done! Looks interesting.