SCENES FROM NORTH KOREA

Film footage of the suffering in North Korea.

SPEAKING SOUTHERN

Bill Cosby tackles the "southern" language.

OBAMA'S FAITH

Jesusland is now in the White House. I think the secularists are having trouble dealing with Obama's faith statements. But on the other hand, I am not sure the religious right is willing to give him credit for his Christian faith.

WIKILEAKS

So much could be said about the Wikileaks documents, but this one on the role of China in not stopping North Korean missiles from being transported to Iran is particularly troubling.

Der Spiegel's analysis. Never before in history has a superpower lost control of such vast amounts of such sensitive information -- data that can help paint a picture of the foundation upon which US foreign policy is built. Never before has the trust America's partners have in the country been as badly shaken. Now, their own personal views and policy recommendations have been made public -- as have America's true views of them.

Jimmy Carter, deja vu.

DEMOCRATS, THE PARTY OF THE FUTURE???

Democrats are dissing "older whites" and are expecting the Republicans to go down to defeat because of their reliance on the older voters. But I don't see how younger voters have gained much under recent Democrat proposals. It will be interesting to watch how the Democrats use the African-American and the Hispanic vote to leverage future victories.

Declining to pinpoint a Republican favorite, Carville said any GOP presidential candidate would be forced to “double-down on older whites” — a strategy that becomes less reliable each cycle.

“When you get into a presidential electorate, it decidedly favors Democrats, and every year it’s going to decidedly favor them more and more,” Carville said. “Demographics don’t do anything but get better for Democrats. Every election becomes less white.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45353.html#ixzz15kCXcG5H

STATE OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

1 in 5 persons in the US has mental illness! This is troubling.

THE ROLE OF POLITICAL PARTIES

Michael Medved comments on the "pendulum swings" of voters as they switch between Democrats and Republicans.

TOP NATIONAL POLITICAL DONORS

A list of organizations giving to political candidates in 2010.

CHEATING SCANDAL

University of Central Florida. One student's response:

"This is college. Everyone cheats, everyone cheats in life in general," Ravvin said. "I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in this testing lab who hasn't cheated on an exam."

HISTORY & PROPAGANDA

History gets involved in the political battles of Washington.