Fox News logic: "High gas prices are a sign of economic recovery, and Obama is to blame for the gas prices, but should not get credit for the recovery [...] Low gas prices are a sign of a flagging economy, which is Obama’s fault, but the low gas prices have nothing to do with him."

"The Republican Party is becoming less and less like a traditional political party in a representative democracy and becoming more like an apocalyptic cult, or one of the intensely ideological authoritarian parties of 20th century Europe."

Year after year, Americans are driving less, young people are waiting longer to get their license, and more people are relying on mass transit. When will policymakers notice?

When you see "taxes withheld" on your paycheck, you assume that money is going to the government. But in 16 states, large corporations like Sears, Ford, GE, Google, and Procter & Gamble are allowed to keep a portion of that money -- as pure profit.

A frightening concept: "Confidence in science as an institution has steadily declined among Americans who consider themselves conservatives."

An unknown group, "Victory Ohio Super PAC" (not officially registered as a PAC), may have had a measurable impact on one Ohio primary race.

"[AAAS president Nina Fedoroff] confessed that she was now 'scared to death' by the anti-science movement that was spreading, uncontrolled, across the US and the rest of the western world."

Local talk radio extremist Eric Deters calls for an "Armed Revolution", encouraging citizens to "gather in Washington with guns and demand the peaceful resignation and departure from the Presidency of Barack Obama."

The Chicago Sun-Times ends the practice of endorsing candidates in political races and bans their executives from contributing financially to campaigns.

Supporters of the supposed "anti-piracy" bill don't seem to take copyrights very seriously themselves.

How does your tax rate compare to Mitt Romney's?

Anil Dash provides some meaningful questions for the GOP presidential candidates.

"Two weeks after Portland mayoral candidate state and Rep. Jefferson Smith publicly challenged Portland to move some of its money to local credit unions, Mayor Sam Adams this morning said he would pursue the cause. [...] When Portland follows through, it will cost Wells Fargo tens of millions of dollars."

"A winner-take-all society is not very conducive to hard work; I'm not going to bust my butt for 30 years for a 1% shot at getting into The 1%. But I am going to bust my butt for 30 years if I think this gives me a 90% chance of having a decent house, a family, some security, a reasonably pleasant job, a dog, and a couple of cars in my garage."

"On day one of my presidency I would form a committee of libertarians to recommend ways to shrink government. But I would require them to describe in detail how the country would look when those government functions disappear."

Scott Adams: "I think we're experiencing a worldwide creativity boom. I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like it."

"Two Senators are preparing to introduce a bipartisan bill Thursday that would give residence visas to foreigners who spend at least $500,000 to buy houses in the U.S."

"When Texas joined the Union in 1845, voluntarily giving up its independence, it was granted the right by Congress to form 'new States of convenient size, not exceeding four in number and in addition to the said State of Texas.'"

"Thursday's legislation would have provided an immediate $50 billion investment in roads, bridges, airports and transit systems."

"In late August, contractors from DTE Energy began rolling through the streets, taking out two-thirds of the light poles."

"In Las Vegas, where the president made his announcement, about 30 counselors do foreclosure prevention in a city with 270,000 underwater properties. In Lakeland, Fla., it's one counselor for 59,000."

The Infrastructurist covers the most projects needed most to fix the United States' crumbling infrastructure and create jobs.

"Mass transit is underfinanced; after all, Mercedes-Benzes and private jets are much more practical, no?"

"People invest to make money, and potential taxes have never scared them off."

"Buying things locally for immediate gratification will be a premium service because it is far more efficient — in terms of inventory cost, real estate, staffing — to consolidate and fulfill merchandise at a distance."

"If the national office of the NAACP had any idea what Chris Smitherman is doing to their brand here in Cincinnati, they would’ve shown him the door years ago."

“The consumer should have saved anywhere from $25 to $50 round trip. Instead, it’s a windfall for the airlines.”

The Tea Party wants to reverse the law phasing out incandescent bulbs despite the fact that "61 percent [of the public] judged the law to be good... More than seven in 10 said they've switched to more energy-efficient light bulbs, and 84 percent said they were satisfied with their non-incandescent light bulbs."

Auto industry is claiming high fuel standards will kill jobs, yet the United Auto Workers union is in support of raising the standards.

"When the college was set up in 1965, two-thirds of the cost of running it was supposed to be covered by state and local governments, and one-third by students. The reality today, Dr. Ryan says, is that students bear 78 percent of the cost."

"Canada managed to come through the financial crisis unscathed — what was it about its banking regulations that protected it? Why is Finland the best country for education? Why does Australia have the world’s lowest jobless rate? How are Germany’s highways so darned good? What is it about Japan’s health-care system that has made it the best in the world? Norway has the highest adult literacy level and is often ranked as having the best quality of life; what is it doing right? And Singapore has the highest per-capita GDP and one of the recession’s fastest-growing economies. Why?"

Fascinating in-depth look at how Fox News came to be.

Griff boils down the absurdity of the situation.

The language is generic, but it's good to see this many senators agree that funding mass transit is essential.

After lobbyists interject, the state drops proposal to allow beers with higher alcohol content.

Media literacy is essentially non-existent in America today: "Roughly half the US population doesn't know the media is supposed to be trusted as a public watchdog."

Jason Kottke: "A recent pair of articles demonstrates that the US as a whole might have something to learn about the US Armed Forces' liberal leanings."

Summary: Yes.

Palin thinks "picking winners and losers in Washington, D.C., is a dangerous thing to do" -- unless she's the one picking the winners.