Harlan Ellison (NSFW):

“House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) invited Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to sit next to him at the State of the Union address — but the former House Speaker says she’s already committed.” [The Hill]

Tennessee teabaggers present their demands to the state legislature:

The material calls for lawmakers to amend state laws governing school curriculums, and for textbook selection criteria to say that “No portrayal of minority experience in the history which actually occurred shall obscure the experience or contributions of the Founding Fathers, or the majority of citizens, including those who reached positions of leadership.”

Fayette County attorney Hal Rounds, the group’s lead spokesman during the news conference, said the group wants to address “an awful lot of made-up criticism about, for instance, the founders intruding on the Indians or having slaves or being hypocrites in one way or another.”

Hmmm… Let’s try “All White Landholding Men Are Created Equal.” That work?

Tea parties issue demands to Tennessee legislators [Memphis Commercial Appeal, via ThinkProgress]

Larry King gets to the bottom of The Great Fetus Jar Mystery:

KING: You also disclose, Barbara — George discloses something very personal about you, which he says you gave him special permission to write about. He wrote that when you once had a miscarriage, you showed him the fetus in the jar.

BARBARA BUSH: No, really, the truth is…

KING: We touched on it before. But we didn’t elaborate.

BARBARA BUSH: I didn’t put it in the jar.

KING: What?

Read more »

“A politician in a New York suburb called police on two 13-year-old boys for selling cupcakes and other baked goods without a permit, according to a report Monday… New Castle Councilman Michael Wolfensohn called the police after discovering the sale was not for charity.” [MSNBC]

Well, this explains the strange reply we encountered yesterday…

A software developer has created a Twitter bot that automatically discovers and responds to tweets that are skeptical of global warming.

Nigel Leck’s chatbot @AI_AGW, who goes by the name “Turing Test,” scans Twitter every five minutes in search of hundreds of terms and phrases that tend to be used by those who think global warming is not occurring or that humans are not responsible for it.

This isn’t the first “twitterbot” we’ve seen — tweets about “teabaggers” provoked automated angry responses awhile back. But at least the Teabagger Geek got one thing right: We were making fun of him.

Twitter bot argues with climate change deniers [Raw Story]

The next time Juan Williams boards a plane, this enterprising new website provides a handy guide to gauge his personal Threatdown.

Left: “Muhammad Yunis, a Muslim, is sporting a (Nobel) prize-winning smile.”

Center: “Fatima Mernissi, who is Muslim, is wearing red lipstick and a red hat.”

Right: “This is Jamal Baadani. He’s Muslim, a Marine, and he’s wearing a lot of medals.”

Pictures of Muslims Wearing Things [via Ana Marie Cox]