FORGET THE FED, it’s the SPLC that’s really devaluing its currency.

JAMES PETHOKOUKIS: Even Obama’s debt panel doesn’t buy Obamacare.

THE WORLD’S STRANGEST shopping malls.

FINAL SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH will be delayed.

HOW ABOUT WE JUST ABOLISH THE FCC INSTEAD? FCC commissioners demand authority over campaign financing, free Internet.

A SYMPATHETIC DISCUSSION OF KNIFE RIGHTS in the New York Times? Dave Hardy opines: “The times, they are a changing.”

AMY ALKON: Do You Have Slutty DNA?

YOUR NEXT NEW CAR will probably have a back-up camera.

CORRECTIONS FOR DAHLIA LITHWICK, from Orin Kerr and David Bernstein.

Related: Are Conservatives Allowed to Amend the Constitution? “Here’s the trouble: This simplistic narrative bears little resemblance to the actual historical record.”

PHILANTHROPY EXPLAINED: Fear Of Malicious Envy Incentivizes Altruistic Behavior.

OTHERWISE KNOWN AS “LINDEN-ION BATTERIES:” Duke Energy, Itochu To Explore Second Life Uses For Automotive Lithium-Ion Batteries. “Batteries that can no longer function in vehicles could live on in second-life applications for decades instead of adding to the world’s growing piles of discarded trash. In addition, extending the total lifetime of li-ion batteries could help to substantially reduce the overall cost of plug-in vehicles.”

I.R.S. RELEASES 2011 Standard Mileage Rates. So we don’t know what the tax rates will be next year, but at least we’ve got this. . . .

IN THE MAIL: Of Berserkers, Swords and Vampires: A Saberhagen Retrospective.

IN CITY JOURNAL, a short story by Andrew Klavan.

CHANGE: Finally: Air Force Can’t Afford Bombers, Schools Can’t Have Bake Sales.

COOKING THE BOOKS on immigration enforcement? “For much of this year, the Obama administration touted its tougher-than-ever approach to immigration enforcement, culminating in a record number of deportations. But in reaching 392,862 deportations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement included more than 19,000 immigrants who had exited the previous fiscal year, according to agency statistics. ICE also ran a Mexican repatriation program five weeks longer than ever before, allowing the agency to count at least 6,500 exits that, without the program, would normally have been tallied by the U.S. Border Patrol. . . . The surge to break the deportation record in the final weeks of the fiscal year consumed the agency, said a high-ranking immigration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly. ”

HERB KOHL ON THE WARPATH: Dem senator threatens to block nominee over DEA painkiller rules. “President Obama’s nominee to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration is being held up over a Democratic senator’s demand that the DEA allow nurses to deliver powerful painkillers to nursing home patients. The DEA’s top spot has been vacant for more than three years, but Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) has vowed to block Michele Leonhart’s nomination unless the agency bends to his wishes.”

When I saw the headline I thought it had something to do with the Siobhan Reynolds travesty, but no such luck.

JENNIFER RUBIN: Tea Party Is About Values, Not Just Money. “What started the Tea Party? A CNBC host ranting that a responsible homeowner shouldn’t pay his irresponsible neighbor’s mortgage. In other words, underlying the Tea Party movement is a set of values — thrift, delayed gratification, personal responsibility, etc. Those are not what we have come to identify as ‘social’ issues, but these are not simply matters of dollars and cents.”

BYRON YORK: Ten Republicans Duck Out On Tax Vote. “In each case, every Democratic senator voted, including the five, and then six, who voted with Republicans. But in one case, ten Republicans didn’t bother to vote, and in the other 11 Republicans didn’t vote. Here are the 11: Bunning, Burr, Chambliss, Cornyn, Gregg, Hutchison, Inhofe, Isakson, Sessions, Vitter, and Voinovich.”

MARKDOWNS ON movies and TV.