“Vermont, United States” on The Daily Caller

1.) Joe Biden refuses to criticize totalitarian Egyptian president, admits liking The Onion — Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak has not truly “won” an election in the 30 years that he has been president of Egypt. Instead, he’s used secret police and state-controlled media to intimidate and incarcerate his critics and political opponents, including the runner-up in the first presidential election where someone other than Mubarak was allowed on the ballot. On January 25, Egyptians rose up against Mubarak, and the Egyptian president responded by shutting down the country’s Internet and sending armed thugs into the streets to do violence against his own people. By definition, Mubarak is a dictator. Unless, of course, your dictionary was penned by Vice Pres. Joe Biden, in which case geopolitical interests supersede honesty and/or human rights. “Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things,” Biden told PBS’ Jim Lehrer last night. “I would not refer to him as a dictator.” In other Biden news, the vice president likes the Onion’s made-up coverage of him. “I think it’s hilarious, the stuff they do on me,” Biden told Yahoo! News Thursday. “I saw the one of me washing a Trans-Am automobile in the driveway shirtless with tattoos all over myself and out there,” he added. “By the way, I have a Corvette– a ’67 Corvette– not a Trans-Am.” (more)

A Vermont teenager is dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound he suffered inside a school building. (more)

1.) It’s official: Everybody hates Genachowski’s plan to regulate the Internet — And yes, we do mean everybody: The lefty nutters at Free Press, former comic Al Franken, Republican FCC Commissioner Robert M. McDowell, and now, a group of Senate Republicans. The beef from the left–Franken, Free Press, and the supposed two million Americans who accidentally signed petitions thinking they were entering a contest for free Krispy Kreme–is that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s proposed framework does not do enough to control the Internet. For instance, liberals are unhappy that cable companies would still have incentives under Genachowski’s policy to invest in creating faster, stronger, and better services, access to which could be priced at a higher rate than existing Internet services. Meanwhile, Republicans and McDowell are concerned about what the regulations would do–namely, establish “an unjustified and unnecessary expansion of government control over private enterprise.” In the middle of it all is Genachowski, a bureaucrat with the heart of a Marxist and the vertebral integrity of a plane-crash survivor. The FCC votes on Dec. 21. Don’t miss it. (more)

It’s an unlucky strike for congressional smokers. (more)

They had a whirlwind courtship and an engagement lasting only weeks, but Crystal Bowersox and Brian Walker were hardly strangers in love. (more)

Washington (CNN) — Senators are expected to continue floor debate Wednesday on the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. (more)

Here’s a pop quiz for anyone who’s miserable at work. Which action has the biggest chance of improving your happiness? (A) Getting a promotion, (B) seeing your professional nemesis move to the Mongolia office, (C) focusing on the positive aspects of your job and trying to ignore the negative or (D) quitting in a fit of anger and landing your dream job elsewhere? (more)

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said he asked Google Inc. whether it tested its Street View software before using it, which he said should have revealed the unauthorized collection of personal data from wireless computer networks. (more)

Heritage Action for America, the Heritage Foundation’s grassroots advocacy spin-off, is urging congressional leaders to sign on to Iowa Rep. Steve King’s discharge petition, aimed at repealing Obamacare. (more)

MONTPELIER, Vt. – A new audit of Vermont’s sex offender internet registry found the Web site replete with errors, and plans to add a new layer of detail are on hold now mistakes are fixed. (more)

The Arizona senate race between incumbent John McCain and former U.S. congressman JD Hayworth is heating up over a 2007 infomercial in which Hayworth hawks government money as loans that don’t need to be paid back. (more)

CHICAGO — The American Medical Association (AMA) adopted a resolution to prohibit the shackling of women during labor — a practice outlawed in seven states but still used in some prisons and hospitals for inmates who are giving birth. (more)

If there were ever a moment in time to take a stand for American pride it’s now. If we want to preserve for our children the respect our ancestors enjoyed we need to draw a line in the sand and proclaim “enough.” (more)

Nearly 2,000 miles from Haiti, there’s a ripple effect from the earthquake that devastated the country on January 12. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have arrested 140 Haitian men and women who have crossed the border from Canada into Vermont since late January. (more)

Americans are now paying $.80 more per gallon for gasoline compared to this time last year. That’s an increase of 39 percent. Specifically, the average price nationally for regular is $2.86, up from $2.06. Drivers who must use mid-grade or premium now pay $3.04 and $3.15 respectively on average. (more)

While America has been battered by the ObamaCare Putsch, other events of interest have gone a bit under-reported. One such was an e-mail written by François Houle, Provost of the University of Ottawa, to Ann Coulter in anticipation of her giving a speech on his campus. Its content was publicized by FiveFeetofFury.com and others, including columnist Mark Steyn. The e-mail threatened criminal prosecution under Canada’s hate speech laws or suits for defamation if she promoted “hatred.” More than a few observers believe Houle’s e-mail directly encouraged students at his university to violently prevent Coulter from delivering her speech, thereby violating the hate laws with which he threatened her. Coulter has filed a complaint with Canada’s Human Rights Commission and seems to be enjoying her ironic counterattack immensely. I’d like to send an open letter to Provost Houle in reply to his e-mail. (more)

JACKSON, Miss. — Author Barry Hannah, whose fiction was laced with dark humor and populated by hard-drinking Southerners, died Monday at his home in Oxford, Miss. He was 67. (more)

In a speech Wednesday night at the George Washington University, Howard Dean told College Democrats that “the Tea Party is about a generation who grew up in an America where everyone looked like them” and implied that the movement is hostile to President Obama because of his race. (more)

Abstract: Virtual or online learning is revolutionizing American education. It has the potential to dramatically expand the educational opportunities of American students, largely overcoming the geographic and demographic restrictions. Virtual learning also has the potential to improve the quality of instruction, while increasing productivity and lowering costs, ultimately reducing the burden on taxpayers. Local, state, and federal policymakers should reform education policies and funding to facilitate online learning, particularly by allowing funding to follow the students to their learning institutions of choice. (more)