FROM BOOMERANG CHILDREN to boomerang parents. “Between 2000 and 2007, the number of people 65 and older living with their adult children increased by more than 50 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.”

IN THE MAIL: The Vorkosigan Companion, which fans of Miles Vorkosigan will find interesting.

GETTING CREATIVE, with leftovers.

RUSSIA TIGHTENS Europe’s energy noose.

THOUGHTS ON those Mumbai policemen who didn’t shoot.

UPDATE: Lots of interesting discussion in the comments. Related item here.

DAVE HARDY: High-tech shipping sets up vessels for pirate attack.

MUMBAI — AN EPIC FAIL: Plan was to kill 5,000. Underperforming by 95%.

CREATING RECEPTIVITY TO HIGHER TAXES via a recession? If the politicians think they can get more of our money by making the economy suck, well . . . isn’t that a bad incentive?

MORE MEN ARE TAKING THE LEAD in caring for elderly relatives. I’m not surprised to hear this, as it matches what I’ve seen in my own life.

NOW THEY TELL US: Obama’s “Not Black,” according to a piece in the Washington Post. Hmm. Gates reappointed at Defense, an Iraq-Hawk Secretary of State, keeping the tax cuts, and now the next President turns out not to be black — hey, they told me if I voted for McCain we’d get a third term for Bush, and I guess they were right!

L.A. TIMES: Liberal Groups Feel Welcome in Washington Again. “Their vision includes federal laws banning job discrimination against gays; expanded hate-crime laws; public land protections from logging and oil drilling; and easier union organizing of workers.”

LITTLE MISS ATTILA has moved.

ANOTHER EDITORIAL ON CHARLES RANGEL:

Are congressional Democrats truly committed to dealing with the economic and fiscal policy challenges they face next year? The answer will be seen in how they address their increasingly problematic Charlie Rangel situation.

Scarcely a day goes by without yet another ethical impropriety coming to light regarding the chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee.

Read the whole thing.

WHAT BIG THREE AUTOWORKERS MAKE, and what they cost.

UP TO 65% OFF in this big kitchen and home sale. Panic sales are yielding good savings this year. . . ..

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: Stop Covering Up and Kill the Community Reinvestment Act.

YOU REALIZE, OF COURSE, THAT THIS MEANS WAR: In his latest tape Ayman Al-Zawahiri warned America to convert to Islam and give up beer.

A WOUNDED WARRIOR speaks out.

IT’S THE BARBIE DOLL’S fiftieth anniversary. She still looks good, but a bit plastic-y — guess she’s had some work done . . . .

HMM: Muslims protesting online against violence and fundamentalism find themselves cornered by radical elements in their community.

Plus, from Pakistan: I am a Mumbaikar today.

UPDATE: First link was bad before. Fixed now. Sorry!

THE MUMBAI ATTACKS: Racist: “And as Indian commandos ended the bloody 59-hour siege at the Taj yesterday by killing the last three Islamic gunmen, baby-faced Kasab was dispassionately detailing the background to the mayhem. He described how its mastermind briefed the group to ‘target whites, preferably Americans and British’.”

ANOTHER UNIT CITATION FOR THE RETAIL SUPPORT BRIGADE: Early Data Shows Strong Black Friday. “Sales during the day after Thanksgiving rose 3 percent to $10.6 billion, according to preliminary figures released Saturday by ShopperTrak RCT Corp., a Chicago-based research firm that tracks sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets.” Thanks, folks: You may have saved the economy! The only bad news is, the discounts may not be as deep after this weekend . . . .

A SIGN THAT THE LAW IS BAD LAW AND NEEDS TO BE CHANGED? Or is it just an excuse? Legal Hurdles in West Slow Pursuit of Pirates. “While the pirates have been buying GPS devices, satellite phones and more-powerful outboard motors, officials in Europe have been discussing jurisdictional issues surrounding the arrest of pirates on the high seas and even the possibility that the pirates might demand asylum if brought onto European Union shores.”

If the 21st Century nation-state can’t even fight pirates, what’s it good for, exactly? Collecting taxes? What happens when taxpayers decide they’d rather be pirates?

THAILAND: Violent Coup That’s All Rather Quiet.

NOW THERE ACTUALLY IS a WKRP in Cincinnati.