8.8-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Chile  —  RIO DE JANEIRO — A powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, shaking the capital of Santiago for 90 seconds and sending tsunami warnings along much of the Pacific basin.  —  Enlarge This Image  —  A woman sat in front a quake-damaged house in Talca, Chile.

Transformation — By: Andy McCarthy  —  On Sean's panel last night, when the conversation turned to how nervous Democrats supposedly are over what for now is teeing up like a very bad November, I felt like I was channeling Mark Steyn, Mark Levin and Rush.  That is, I think our side is analyzing …

Liberalism, atheism linked to IQ  —  (CNN) — Political, religious and sexual behaviors may be reflections of intelligence, a new study finds.  —  Evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa at the the London School of Economics and Political Science correlated data on these behaviors with IQ …

Rep. Trent Franks: African-Americans were better off under slavery.  —  Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) — one of the most conservative member of Congress, according to a new National Journal ranking — decried the strained state of political discourse in an interview today with blogger-activist Mike Stark.

DoD Official Policy on New/Social Media  —  The Department of Defense released its official policy on new/social media today.  The policy (Directive-Type Memorandum 09-026), which is effective immediately, states that the default for the DoD non-classified network (the NIPRNET) is for open access so that all of DoD can use new media.

TEA Party's power: ‘Really in charge’  —  One year into a still loosely defined and generally leaderless movement known as the TEA Party — for “Taxed Enough Already” — the relationship between the Republican Party and an angry and voluble faction which some view as little more than the base of the party still is a work in progress.

Desiree Rogers will resign  —  White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers will leave her post next month, according to a White House source, months after she drew criticism for a major security breach at a state dinner in November.  —  The leading candidate to replace Rogers is Julianna Smoot …

Sen. Jim Bunning holds floor: ‘Tough s—t’  —  Increasingly, more Democratic senators came to engage in the debate - and increasingly, those Democrats were angry.  —  “It is simply unfair for one senator to attempt to hold the Senate hostage on this issue,” Durbin said.

MEET THE NEW WAY FORWARD (SAME AS THE OLD WAY FORWARD).... The road to legislative success on health care reform has been readily apparent for several weeks: the House passes the Senate bill, the Senate approves changes through reconciliation.  It's been the pass-the-damn-bill solution since last month's unpleasantness in Massachusetts.