ONE-WEEK TEST REPORT: The New Macbook Airs.

MARKDOWNS ON Kitchen Tools.

R.I.P., Dino De Laurentiis. They don’t make ’em like this anymore.

NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: Nanogenerator Powers Up.

Other nanotechnology news: Nanoparticle gut check could help colon cancer, Crohn’s.

DO PROTEIN SPORTS DRINKS WORK? “Protein is poor fuel.” Bodybuilders drink protein shakes to build muscle over the long term, but I don’t see why anyone would expect a short-term performance boost.

CLAIM: An “altruism gene.” My skepticism gene is activated.

DAMON ROOT: Stop Smearing Federalism: “From consumer advocacy to gay marriage, liberals routinely embrace federalism. So why do they keep comparing it to slavery?”

What else have they got?

IS GENERAL ELECTRIC gobbling up EV tax credits?

MARKING VETERANS’ DAY at Google.

A LOOK AT THE Nemesis “Wind Car.”

SOME VETERANS’ DAY THOUGHTS from Lt. Col. John Tammes.

IN THE MAIL: The Compulsive Empath: A Guide to the Hard Parts of Adult Primary Care.

INSTAVISION: I talk with Utah Tea Party founder David Kirkham and Cincinnati Tea Party founder Mike Wilson about the elections and what comes next for the Tea Party movement. In an InstaVision rarity, this is YouTubed so no PJTV registration is required! Key lessons: The importance of showing up, the role of activism in taking over local / state party apparatuses and legislatures, the many opportunities for political neophytes, and the role of fun. DIY politics at its best! But you’ll have to stick around to the end to see what t-shirt I’m wearing. . . .

And here’s the PJTV link, for those who prefer that to YouTube.

If you like this kind of thing, please consider subscribing to PJTV.

ZOMBIE: Gerrymandering 101.

THOUGHTS ON WHY THE LEGAL JOB MARKET IS CHANGING. Not exactly higher education bubble stuff, but related. “Obviously, beyond intelligence as applied to legal doctrine, many of the attributes needed for success in the “new normal” legal economy are not attributes emphasized in law school. Virtually all law professors were vetted based on a world where academic credentials really mattered. As a group, law professors are ill-equipped for the changes that are occurring. In reality, national law schools owe their place in the law school hierarchy to the allegiances of legal employers. When employers start looking elsewhere for recruits, a new hierarchy will emerge — one based on educational quality, as perceived by employers, and connection to the profession. That day is not too far off.”

WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Federal pay hike? Let’s start with a freeze, then cut 10 percent.

GARY LARSON REVIEWS James Robbins’ book, This Time We Win: Revisiting The Tet Offensive.

RAILROADING: Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood leans on 2 new GOP governors about the high-speed rail project.

DAN MITCHELL: Co-Chairmen of Obama’s Fiscal Commission Unveil Real Tax Increases and Fake Spending Cuts. This is just the political class’s opening bid, to see if people are serious. Let ’em know that you are . . . .

GALLERY: Capturing The Atom Bomb On Film. With interesting narration.

ERIC SCHEIE: First, they came for other people’s children . . . .

BECAUSE WE DO, IN FACT, LIVE IN THE 21ST CENTURY: Cheap, programmable gaming robots.

DANIEL HENNINGER: The 1099 Democrats: The Democrats decoupled from business—and lost the election.

Calvin Coolidge once said, “The chief business of the American people is business.” The Democrats just lost America because they forgot that.

On second thought, you can’t forget what you never knew. The Democrats running things the past two years proved they have no clue about the business of business. In their world, the real world of the private economy is an abstraction, a political figment.

Funny, after I taped my PJTV interview yesterday with David Kirkham — whose Utah Tea Party toppled Bob Bennett and brought a new Speaker into the Utah State House to boot — and Mike Wilson, whose Cincinnati Tea Party helped paint Ohio red last week, they stayed on the hookup and were talking about how the biggest surprise to both of them, each a political neophyte, was how comparatively easy politics was compared to running a business.

CHANGE: Democrats Pressing Pelosi To Step Aside.

In a fresh sign of turmoil among defeated Democrats, a growing number of the rank and file say they won’t support House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a politically symbolic roll call when the new Congress meets in January.

“The reality is that she is politically toxic,” said Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley, one of several Democrats who are trying to pressure Pelosi to step aside as her party’s leader in the wake of historic election losses to Republicans last week.

I’d say that a majority of the Dems would like her gone, but most don’t want to openly oppose her unless they’re sure it’ll work. Meanwhile, the Republicans should hope that she stays as the face of the House Democrats . . . because she really is toxic, and not in that sexy, Britney Spears way . . . .

THE SHOOTIST: More Paul Kanjorski gaffes.