WHAT TO COOK in your Dutch Oven.

A GRAPHENE NANO-CAPACITOR BREAKTHROUGH:

Building a test capacitor out of curved graphene sheets produced a device with an “specific energy density” of 85.6 Wh/kg (watt-hours per kilogram) at room temperature. A practical graphene battery would have a capacity of around 28 Wh/kg. Nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries have an energy density of 40-100 Wh/kg, while lithium-ion batteries (used famously in PCs, cellphones, and MP3 players) top them both at 120 Wh/kg. But since NiMH or lithium batteries are often operated in the middle range of their discharge cycle, only 20 to 50% of their capacity is actually used. So a graphene capacitor “battery,” with the potential of being charged in seconds or minutes and which do not suffer from degradation upon recharging over possibly millions of cycles– they store energy electrostatically (by the accumulation of electrons) and not chemically – might become competitive for many applications.

Faster, please.

TALKING CARS, with the Car Lust guys.

DUNCAN CURRIE: Tom Coburn’s Achievement.

IF THE FCC HAD REGULATED THE INTERNET. Some 1990s alternate history that seems all too timely now . . . .

IN THE MAIL: Original Sinners: Why Genesis Still Matters.

By the way, Pomplamoose is doing a Hyundai Christmas commercial you’ve probably seen, which is cool.

PEJMAN YOUSEFZADEH: TSA: Crushing The Critics. “I don’t know what the point of this is, other than for the TSA to inform all of us that it does not like being shown up by mere airline pilots. . . . In a sane world, of course, higher-ups at the TSA, and at the Department of Homeland Security would be forced to answer for the huge security lapses documented in the pilot’s video. But we do not live in a sane world.”

Things aren’t any better at Kathleen Sebelius’ HHS.

GOOD NEWS: Jerry Pournelle emails: “It has been a good year for me. The physicians can find no traces of the brain cancer: the radiation seems to have eradicated it entirely. Hurrah.”

THE CHRISTMAS DEALS ARE OVER, but now Amazon’s running Year-End Deals. They don’t miss a trick, do they? Hey, there are a lot of people with gift cards out there, now.

And if you’re stuck for a last minute gift, you can still send Kindle books or gift cards. Otherwise, you’re out of luck, unless you stop at Walgreen’s on the way over or something . . . .

POLIWOOD: Christmas in Poliwood: How The Boomers Killed the Spirit of the Season.

RETAIL SUPPORT BRIGADE SITREP: Not a “Broken Army” After All: “Shoppers came back in force for the holidays, right to the end. After two dreary years, Christmas 2010 will go down as the holiday Americans rediscovered how much they like to shop. People spent more than expected on family and friends and splurged on themselves, too, an ingredient missing for two years.” The surge is working!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

TAXPROF: Increasing Tax Rates on Top 1% Would Make Tax System Less Progressive. As I’ve said before, I think we need fewer people who vote but don’t pay any income tax at all.

UPDATE: Reader Mike Smyth writes:

What we need is to replace the current AMT with a flat 5% minimum income tax rate. No deductions, no credits. All income, includiing wages, interest, dividends, capital gains, inheritance. If you make $10,000, you pay $500. Make $10,000,000, pay $500,000.

Hmm. What I’d like to see is for tax rates for all taxpayers to go up and down each year in tandem with spending.

BABY IT’S frozen outside.

DECEMBER 24, 1968: Christmas Eve Greetings From Lunar Orbit.

HAPPY HINDI CHRISTMAS.

EIGHTH LARGEST ARMY IN THE WORLD deploys, vanquishes foes without suffering any losses. “A rifle behind every blade of grass.” Not sure Yamamoto ever actually said that, but it’s true enough . . . .

THE FAT GUY in Ann Arbor.

A CHRISTMAS-EVE TRADITION: From the London Symphony Orchestra.

JOE BIDEN: Pat Robertson is a squishy pothead-lover. “The more glaring concern for Biden and Obama is that come 2012, there could be several Republicans running for president who are more progressive on pot. Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, and Gary Johnson have all expressed support for drastically reforming marijuana laws. (Johnson and Paul are in favor of legalization, Palin said she supports a person’s right to use it in their home.) You also have establishment Republicans and Tea Party groups citing the 10th Amendment argument for repealing health care–the same argument most libertarians cite when calling for the repeal of the Controlled Substances Act and allowing states to legislate their own drug laws.”

Plus this: “In the unlikely event that someone primaries Obama from the left, I’ll bet money that person agrees more with Pat Robertson than with Joe Biden.”

DAVID HARSANYI TO MIKE HUCKABEE: Actually, Huck, It’s Palin Who Gets It. “In this case, Huckabee is either confused or, judging from his prior work, the kind of guy who dismisses the distinction between convincing someone and coercing someone.”

CONGRATULATIONS TO G.M. ROPER: 5 Long Years and Cancer Free!