LONGEVITY UPDATE: Has universal ageing mechanism been found? “An overworked protein that causes yeast to age when it neglects one of its functions may trigger ageing in mice too. If the same effect is found in people, it may suggest new ways to halt or reverse age-related disease.” Faster, please.

UH OH: “A series of small earthquakes that rattled central Arkansas in recent weeks could be a sign of something much bigger to come.” Just a little disaster-preparedness reminder . . . .

FROM AMIT VARMA, a followup on the Mumbai attacks.

INSTA-POLL:

SOUNDS LIKE THE GREAT DEPRESSION HASN’T ARRIVED: Worker dies at Long Island Wal-Mart after being trampled in Black Friday stampede.

Shop online — you may save a life! (Thanks to Dan Collins for the link.)

IN THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, Steve Chapman on Chicago’s defiance of the Second Amendment.

When it comes to firearms, Mayor Richard Daley is no slave to rationality. “Does this lead to everyone having a gun in our society?” he asked after the ruling came down. “Then why don’t we do away with the court system and go back to the Old West, where you have a gun and I have a gun and we’ll settle it in the streets?”

From listening to him, you might assume that the only places in North America that don’t have firefights on a daily basis are cities that outlaw handguns. You might also assume that Chicago is an oasis of concord, rather than the site of 443 homicides last year.

Read the whole thing. And Daley needs to get hip to the times, when even Democrats are buying more guns.

UPDATE: Nice to know that some places still respect the Constitution: S.C. firearm purchases are tax-free today, Saturday in recognition of Second Amendment.

BLACK FRIDAY UPDATE: “November and December sales at stores open at least a year may rise 1 percent, the smallest gain since 2002, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, a New York-based trade group.” Not exactly Depression territory, but anemic. It’s up to the Retail Support Brigades, once again! The Insta-Daughter and an Insta-Niece hit the mall at 5 a.m. this morning (without me, fortunately) and, having returned, report lots of bargains but only an average number of shoppers. Then again, it was 5 a.m.

HAPPY “BLACK FRIDAY.” I’ll be doing my shopping online at Old Reliable. But if you venture out to the malls and see anything interesting, send me a report.

I’m getting spam announcing big sales at J. Crew (stores only), Victoria’s Secret, Joseph A. Bank, Cobb Grills, and lots of other places. My guess is that the markdowns will be pretty dramatic all over. Consider it a bonus of all this recession-talk. Also in my spam today, an assortment of nice apartments for rent in Ulan Bator. No, really — and they must know me because one is advertised as being close to Khaan’s Irish Pub. Which, according to Google, is a nice place.

UPDATE: Reader Anthony Calabrese writes:

I was driving from my brother in laws house to the hotel we are staying in at about 9:30 last night and saw people lined up outside Best Buy.

Another sister in law works for JC Penney and she was told to come to work at 3:30 AM today.

The Retail Support Brigades may save the economy yet!

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Amanda Cross writes:

Count me in as doing my part for the economy! I was up and in line at Target by 5am. Longer line this year than last, but some of their big doorbusters were still available after the first wave of people – flat-screen TVs, cameras, etc. I was at K-Mart yesterday and they had plenty of their flat-screen TV’s left as well. And I went to Wal-Mart at 8am and they still had some of their deal computers. Not sure what everyone is buying but it was quite crowded.

Our economy thanks you, Amanda!

ANOTHER OVERNIGHT ROUNDUP ON MUMBAI, from BarcePundit.

ADVICE TO OBAMA: Don’t renege — reframe!

BRIDGET JOHNSON on Pakistan and the Mumbai attacks.

TOP 10 HOLIDAY GIFTS for fifty bucks or less.

Plus, lots of electronics markdowns at the pre-Black Friday sale.

SOMETHING ELSE TO BE THANKFUL FOR: Rosie O’Donnell TV show flops. How bad? This bad: “If the TV variety format weren’t already dead, the ghastly ego trip of NBC’s Thanksgiving-eve turkey Rosie Live would surely have killed it.”

SOME THANKSGIVING THOUGHTS from Bill Whittle.

JAMES LILEKS: “What could be more perfect for Thanksgiving than the nation’s only turkey-based motel and supper club?”

WELL, WE HAD A GREAT THANKSGIVING: The food was great — the lamb and turkey turned out especially well, and all the side dishes, brought by various family members, were probably the best we’ve ever had. It was great to hang out, and everyone helped with the washing-up. Now it’s over, and I feel like a zeppelin. But a happy one.

I like Thanksgiving; when I was a kid it seemed like a pale imitation of Christmas, without all the presents. Now it seems like a purer version of Christmas, where the focus is on family instead of . . . all the presents.

FRED KAPLAN: “Keeping Robert Gates as secretary of defense is a great idea.”

HOW TO BUY a digital SLR.

BEST HOLIDAY TOYS for under fifteen bucks.

A COMEBACK FOR CLASSIC TOYS:

Without a “must-have” toy fad this holiday season, and with parents facing a deteriorating economy, tried-and-true toys are being embraced by parents and toy makers alike – what one analyst calls a “back to the toy box” approach.

” ‘Retro’ or ‘nostalgia’ toys can be viewed as the ‘comfort food’ of the toy industry, and I do think folks naturally gravitate to what made them happy when they were young, or what is familiar to them,” said Anita Frazier, a toy analyst at NPD Group, a market research firm.

Ken Moe, general manager of Backtobasicstoys.com, a Web site owned by Scholastic Corp. that offers classic toys like “Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robots,” Slinky and Colorforms, said sales so far this season indicate a rising interest in old favorites.

Rock’em, Sock’em robots. I had those. My favorite was the Johnny Astro, though.

ARNOLD KLING: “If Singapore were situated in Baltimore Harbor and there were free mobility, my prediction is that Maryland’s government would improve considerably.”

CHARLES RANGEL UPDATE: “Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday that she expected a quick resolution to a wide-ranging House investigation into ethical questions surrounding Representative Charles B. Rangel, the powerful Democrat from New York.”

Quick’s fine, so long as it isn’t a whitewash.

Plus, Pelosi’s In A Rangled Web. “Republican critics and watchdog groups have been attacking Pelosi and the Ethics Committee for a lack of action in the Rangel case. Meanwhile, a watchdog group filed a new ethics complaint against Rangel, calling for congressional investigators to broaden their ongoing probe.”

Now, what about Chris Dodd?

MAJOR JOHN TAMMES, BACK FROM IRAQ: Thanksgiving — And I Mean It!

GIVE THANKS! “Congressional Democrats have spent the past eight years itching for a chance to undo their least favorite Bush-era policies. But it increasingly looks like one of the administration’s most unpopular initiatives among Democrats — tax cuts for top earners — won’t get touched by the 111th Congress.”

HAVE A HAPPY Craigslist Thanksgiving!