Lunchtime Links (17 Articles, February 19, 2010)

Senator Frank Lautenberg Has Stomach Cancer

http://washingtonindependent.com/77092/lautenberg-has-stomach-cancer

---

There's No Such Thing as a Free Market -- Just a Matter of Who Pays for It

Raj Patel argues that the corporate capture of government and our current financial crisis are the result of our bankrupt political system.

http://www.alternet.org/economy/145726/there%27s_no_such_thing_as_a_free_market_--_just_a_matter_of_who_pays_for_it

---

Red Tape Delayed Stimulus Projects

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703983004575073863977092290.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_us

---

Fighting the War -- and Irrelevance
    
With the war in Afghanistan now in its eighth year, the movement for peace looks to revamp itself.

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=fighting_the_war_and_irrelevance

---

10:35 AM -- Pawlenty: "Take a nine iron and smash a window out of big government." A day after a suicide bomber struck an IRS building after penning an anti-government manifesto, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty took up the theme of violence against the state -- albeit in a metaphorical way. He joked that the most important event going on in America on Friday is Tiger Woods' impending press conference. "We can learn a lot from that situation. Not from Tiger, but from his wife. So she said, 'I've had enough.' She said, 'No more,'" he said. "I think we should take a page out of her playbook and take a nine iron and smash a window out of big government in this country. We've had enough."

---

Franni Franken vs. Michele Bachmann On Social Security

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/18/franni-franken-vs-michele_n_467263.html

---

Right-Wing Activists Make Case

Grass-Roots Conservatives Push Back Against Establishment Figures at Conference

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704269004575073810414616330.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_us

---

Bulgarian women's ice hockey loses 82-0; gives up more goals in four tournament games than Red Wings did last regular season.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Bulgarian-women-s-ice-hockey-loses-82-0-gives-u?urn=nhl,106362

---

Slide Show: Obama's Challenges in 2010

http://www.thenation.com/slideshow/20100111/slideshow_obamain2010/1

---

James O'Keefe's race problem

A photo of the righty stuntman at a white-nationalist confab illustrates a career marked by racial resentment.

http://www.salon.com/news/james_okeefe/index.html?story=/news/feature/2010/02/03/james_okeefe_white_nationalists

---

Brad Ellsworth Running For Bayh's Senate Seat In Indiana

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/senate/ellsworth-to-run-for-indiana-s.html

---

Poll: Potential Dem Candidates Trail GOPers In Indiana Senate Race

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/poll-potential-dem-candidates-trail-gopers-in-indiana-senate-race.php

---

Signs of Rebound in Antiques Market

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/your-money/18ANTIQUES.html?em

---

Time to Party Like It’s 1854

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/opinion/18collins.html?em

---

U.S. Cracks Down on ‘Independent Contractors’ as a Tax Dodge

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/business/18workers.html?em

---

State Pension Plans Face $1 TRILLION Shortfall: Pew Center

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/19/state-pensions-plans-face_n_468638.html