HOW GOVERNMENT FAILURE caused the Great Recession.

POPULAR MECHANICS: Can E15 Ethanol Really Damage Your Engine? Yes. Here’s How.

CHARLES LANE SLAMS “OBAMA’S ELECTRIC-CAR CULT.” Well, I put down a $99 deposit on a Nissan Leaf, and if I’m less excited than I was back when I did, I’m still not part of a cult, Obama-driven or otherwise. On the other hand, this is a good point: “For a president who claims to make policy based on ‘facts and science and argument,’ lavishing subsidies on electric cars is an intellectual scandal.”

There are plenty of good reasons to be an early adopter where new technology is concerned. But when I’m an early adopter, I’m doing it with my own money. When the government subsidizes these things, it’s distorting the market, and using money extracted from others. Meanwhile, I found Lane’s column via Autoblog Green, where they’re not persuaded.

DAVID HARSANYI: Save The Internet: Abolish the FCC!

BOB OWENS: What Do the ‘Holiday Terror Warning’ Targets Have in Common? “All are places where some states have outlawed concealed carry, which has saved plenty of lives in Israel and elsewhere. . . . Laws of course vary from state to state, but the simple fact is that the large majority of states — even those that allow concealed carry — have lacked the foresight to see a concealed carry permit holder as anything other than a civilian protecting himself or herself. They have yet to grasp the fact that concealed carry permit holders are the first line of defense against a Mumbai-style attack.”

IN THE MAIL: From Ron Reagan, My Father at 100.

AUSTIN BAY: Season’s Greetings From Al Qaeda.

MICHAEL BARONE: Census Reveals Fast Growth In States With No Income Tax. Say, I wonder if that has any implications for, you know, national tax policy? . . . .

GULF OIL SPILL VOTED TOP NEWS STORY OF 2010. I guess it really was Obama’s Katrina.

RADLEY BALKO: How To Record The Cops: A Guide To Keeping Law Enforcement Accountable. I think we need a federal statute protecting people’s right to record police in public places. Any suggestions for sponsors in the House and Senate?

OOPS: Banks Foreclosing On Wrong Houses.

ONE-DAY-ONLY SALE: DeWalt 18v Hammer Drill, $159.99.

UPDATE: Reader Darryl Boyd emails: “They are also giving another $25 off at checkout for a total price of $134.99.” Wow. I had missed that.

DAN MITCHELL: John Galt tells Oregon politicians to screw off.

MORE COPYRIGHT TROLLING FROM RIGHTHAVEN, this time over images. I love that the image is reproduced in the story, with this note: “Image: Vdara ‘death ray’ graphic as it appears in a Righthaven court filing.”

TOP CHRISTMAS DEALS in Electronics.

JOHN FUND: The Net Neutrality Coup: The campaign to regulate the Internet was funded by a who’s who of left-liberal foundations.

COVERING THE NEWS: The Washington Post’s unique genre: ‘That pattern we never told you about, of corporate lobbyists favoring Democrats, is ending.’

HOW BIG is the Chinese property bubble? “Property investment in China in 2009 was 10% of GDP, up from 8% in 2007. In Japan, at the peak of its bubble, it did not exceed 9%; in the U.S. it never exceeded 6%. . . . As usual, the identifcation of the bubble is not the hardest part, it’s the timing of the pop. Bubbles have a habit of going on a lot longer than most think they can and given the political pressure to keep it going and the financial resources available to the central planners, this bubble may have a way to go yet.” This is a couple of weeks old, but still seems pretty relevant. It’s not like things in China have improved since. . . .

RON RADOSH ON Hugo Chavez’s syncretic approach to tyranny.

LINDSEY GRAHAM: GOP to blame for ‘capitulation … of dramatic proportions’ in lame-duck. When Lindsey Graham is calling you spineless. . . .

IT’S THE SHARIA SOLUTION! “Over 30 and still single? Try polygamy!”

A CONSTITUTIONAL CORRECTION FOR SNARLIN’ ARLEN SPECTER:

Bleh. You just disagree with the call. I hate this sort of political posturing. It’s not the massiveness of the congressional record that makes a statute constitutional. It’s fitting within the Constitution.

Specter is acting as if the question at the confirmation hearing was: If we put a really, really huge number of words into the record, do you promise to let us do anything we want? And the answer was: Yes, of course. When I see a lot of pages, I always think, wow, that must be true.

Specter is a rare creature. Most Senators only disgrace one party, but he’s managed to embarrass both.

“SMART POWER:” U.S. Director of National Intelligence on London terror arrests: Er, what terror arrests? That’s what he gets for skipping Drudge.

THE BUTTER IS spread too thick.

STILL ROLLING OUT THE last-minute holiday deals. Well, it’s only the 21st, so it’s not quite the last minute, but you can see it from here. . . .