Espwa: Our cathedral supports an orphanage in Haiti Espwa (which means “hope”). The orphanage has a blog. The residents and staff through (literally) shaken by the earthquake escaped injury although several lost loved ones elsewhere in the country. Moreover the orphanage gets all its food and supplies overland from Port-au-Prince and it’s not plain right now whether the roads are passable let alone what shape the city’s shipping infrastructure is in. You can contribute online here.

Goldman Sachs CEO admits under oath to fraud walks free anyway. No that’s pretty much what happened.

Jackasses: The SEC which ought to be clearing up the mysteries round AIG’s use of taxpayer cash instead is trying to bury them. And make no mistake: This would not be happening without the scholarship and approval of Barack Obama. Memo to the Democrats: One real good way to lose Congress is to let hosers love Rep. Darrell Issa play the good guy.

Steepening crook … and not in a a good way: A month ago the Mortgage Brokers Association was predicting that its members would originate 24% less in mortgages in 2010 than 2009. Now they’re saying that figure will drop 40% from $2.11 trillion in 2009 to $1.28 trillion in 2010. That’s the lowest level since $1.14 trillion in 2000.

A clawback except not for the taxpayers: A large pension fund has sued Goldman Sachs through its bonus policy asking that money that would be going to Goldman employees go instead to it. Where that budgeted $22 billion in bonus money truly needs to be going is the taxpayers inasmuch like fully two-thirds of Goldman’s 2009 revenues were more or less directly attributable to taxpayers. But I guess the retirement savings of cops and firefighters is a more productive place for it than Goldman execs’ pockets. And that is where the money (much of it at least) will go since Goldman will settle this toot de suite. It does not want its folks answering questions under oath.

A nation of pants-wetters or that high-pitched whine you hear is Ben Franklin (“He who would give up liberty for safety deserves neither … and shall have it”) spinning in his grave fast enough to light up Pittsburgh: A majority of Americans want to give up civil liberties to make themselves safer. Cheese and crackers people what are all the GUNS for … to HIDE BEHIND? MAN. UP. Or else the terrorists really do win.

Memo to aides to Massachusetts Dem Senate candidate Martha Coakley: I realize that losing Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat to a guy who posed nude for Cosmo might make one’s candidate a bit um testy but serene don’t shove reporters. Or move to China if you want to do that stuff.

Jan. 23 is National Pie Day. I think I may head over to K&W and have some of the chocolate-creme to celebrate.

From Facebook’s Overheard in the Newsroom: Design Editor: “I want the font that makes people addicted to reading newspapers again.” Commenter Bruce Reuben: “The font would have to be made of crack.” Lex: “The font that looks like kick-ass take-names accountability journalism. Yeah. That. Also.”

Harold Ford: Strikingly un-self-aware. I’m not a huge fan of Sen. Kristen Gillebrand but having lived in NY I think she’s far more in theme with people than Ford is. As someone else put it there’s a reason Alabama doesn’t send gun-confiscating atheists to the Senate.

Nobody does human like Tolstoy as Ishinoy reminds us.

Tucker Carlson won’t tell you so I (and Crooks & Liars) will: His new site The Daily Caller will have a entire section devoted to “environmental scepticism” [sic]. His primary funder — $3M in the first year alone — is a huge global-warming denier.

Now it’s up to Harry Reid … and Barack Obama: Arlen Specter says he’ll back Dawn Johnsen to head Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel. So that’s 60 votes. Let the flushing of the Aegean stables begin.

Somali pirates have scared off shipping … including the illegal trawlers that had depleted fisheries so that legit fisherpeople are having a great year. Hey you receive your good news where you can find it.

Shorter WSJ: Watching TV will murder you dead. (I was never allowed to summarize medical research like this when I was a professional medical writer. I must say this is fun.)

Bitters shortage: Does anyone who is not either a watcher of or a character on the AMC series “Mad Men” even drink Manhattans? And if so why?

It’s over: Dan Rather’s lawsuit against CBS has been tossed probably for good. In effect the state court system’s Appeals Division identified problems in his case then refused to let any depositions or discovery which could have as the lawyers say cured those deficiencies. Oh well. Sucks to be him. That said regardless of Rather’s fault in relying on documents whose provenance he couldn’t/didn’t verify other evidence indicates quite clearly that Bush was in fact AWOL.

What I’ve learned from reading about “Game Over” (besides the fact that I don’t want to read the whole book): You can make a lot of money publishing anonymous 2-year-old gossip. And in real life people who are dying of cancer and whose spouses are cheating on them don’t often behave as nicely as their Movie of the Week counterparts. OK I already knew that last one.

I think this comment from liveblogger Teddy Partridge tells you all you need to understand about the competence of advocate for the bigots defense in the California gay-marriage trial: “Sorry this lawyer is asking really long questions and requiring YES or NO answers which makes liveblogging almost impossible”

Busted: The American insurance industry while publicly claiming it favored health-care reform was giving money to the Chamber of Commerce to produce and air anti-reform TV commercials. I am shocked shocked etc. Someone interpre to me again why it’s a good idea to point a gun to American taxpayers’ heads and make them give these companies money. Someone else explain to me why the Chamber and the insurance trade group should get to keep their tax exemptions kthxbai.

Speaking of health concern there’s this notion floating around that taxing health benefits will lead employers to give more to employees in the form of wages. However this notion is not true.

Quote of the day from Sen. Harry Reid: “I have no regret over calling [former Fed chairman Alan] Greenspan a political hack. Because he was. The things you heard me say about George Bush? You never heard me apologize about any of them. Because he was. What was I supposed to say? I called him a liar twice. Because he lied to me twice.” Cue Republican efforts to frame this comment as a “gaffe” in 3 … 2 …

This thing where Giuliani said there were no terrorist attacks on the U.S. under Bush? That was no one-time bit of misspeaking. That was an emerging Republican meme. Guys Goebbels was a cautionary tale not an exemplar.

Some judges just need impeachin‘ starting with Warren Wilbert the Kansas judge in the murder trial of Scott Roeder who assassinated* abortion doctor George Tiller. Wilbert will let Roeder discuss that his killing of Tiller actually was willing manslaughter because in someuniverse Roeder wordlessly put the barrel of a .22 to Tiller’s head and pulled the trigger because Tiller was doing something besides providing a legal and needed medical service. I hope I’m wrong but I fear Wilbert just declared open season on abortion providers.

*He has signed a statement admitting to the shooting.

How Lucky could save the planet!