NEWS: Obama Places Himself On The Continuum Of Greatness.

PULP FASCISM: John Boot reviews The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

THEY DON’T CALL IT THE “STUPID PARTY” FOR NOTHING: Jay Cost: A Very Beatable President — But The GOP Can Still Blow It.

Of course, it’s not like there’s a smart party in opposition. . . .

KENNETH ANDERSON: A Couple of Other Good Reads on Drones and Targeted Killing.

WAIT, DIDN’T JOE BIDEN JUST DECLARE VICTORY? Crisis Unfolds In Iraq.

But don’t worry: Biden calls Iraqi prime minister after reports of renewed sectarian tensions.

ACE ENDORSES RICK PERRY. Mike Flynn agrees.

ASK SLASHDOT: Entry-Level Robotics Kits For Young Teenagers?

I nearly gave my 7-year-old genius nephew a Lego Mindstorm kit, but I decided to wait one more year.

AT AMAZON, lots of holiday markdowns, and new “lightning deals” every couple of hours.

PHIL BOWERMASTER: We need to think about backing up civilization.

SO I’M INTERVIEWING MARK RIPPETOE FOR PJTV TOMORROW about his book Starting Strength. Any suggested questions? I’ll work a couple in if I can.

IS THERE A CONNECTION BETWEEN antibiotic use and obesity and stroke risk? I’m skeptical.

THE PROBLEM WITH GPS WATCHES FOR RUNNERS. “It seems clear enough that a GPS watch is not very accurate, yet online runners’ forums, like one at the Web site of Runners World, are filled with comments from confused athletes who rely on the devices.”

They’re also kind of pricey, at least to me, though that’s gotten better. My take: First, people sure expect a lot from devices that are basically kind of miraculous. Second, if I were to start running again, I’d get one of these anyway because the motivation-value would outweigh any problems with accuracy. Then again, the athletes described here are a lot more serious.

TOM MAGUIRE: “We all understand that Elizabeth Warren liked to pretend that medical bills were driving people into bankruptcy. But is Obama really dumb enough to believe his side’s talking points?”

GUN LAW NIGHTMARE: Tea Party Leader’s Gun Arrest Highlights Tyranny of Law. “Tea Party Patriots co-founder Mark Meckler was arrested on a firearms violation for declaring a locked, cased, unloaded gun at LaGuardia. Don’t you feel safer?” It’s clear that he did nothing actually wrong, but gun laws are full of traps for the unwary and — although violation is mere malum prohibitum — are often enforced more stringently than laws banning behavior that is actually wrong. Back when the Second Amendment right to arms wasn’t recognized, you could perhaps justify an in terrorem approach where traps for the unwary were seen by law enforcement as features, not bugs. (Though even there I believe there were due process issues that weren’t properly aired.) But once you recognize a right to arms, the whole chilling-effect approach is weak.

This is a topic I discuss in my Second Amendment Penumbras piece, forthcoming in the Southern California Law Review. I also note that a patchwork of confusing (often even to law enforcement) and overlapping laws regulating the exercise of a fundamental right is a burden on the constitutionally recognized right to interstate travel. At the very least, they should warn you when you’re entering a repressive regime.

And here’s a guy with some related thoughts on gun control and mens rea.

INVESTING: Are guns and ammo the new gold? Well, I know a lot of people who are stockpiling them as a commodity-inflation hedge. Unlike bullion, they’re self-defending, too. . . .

You might consider some laser sights while you’re at it.

UPDATE: Reader Marc Greendorfer writes:

Your laser sight link reminds me of a recent purchase I made on Amazon- a holographic weapons sight made by EOTech for my AR type rifle. The one I bought, an XPS2, is small and easily mounted on just about any rifle with a rail. It also works amazingly well for quick target acquisition. The best part is it’s made in the USA, which is something that I have been focusing on more over the past few years. So though it’s not cheap ($400 range) it’s a quality piece of gear for shooting. And if you watch Amazon regularly, the price dips at times and you can pick up the unit for about $380 on the dips.

I favor the Aimpoint myself, but I’ve fired one of SayUncle’s AR-15s with the Eotech and it’s a nice sight.

WOW, THEY’RE STILL BLOWING UP IRAN: “Two more explosions today. One at the big refinery in Isfahan, the other at the very important Revolutionary Guards base in Kerman, which is the headquarters for the RG’s operations in the East (think Afghanistan, etc.).”

AT AMAZON, warehouse deals on toys and baby goods.

PJTV: What Do We Do About The Donald?

STUDY: EATING LESS KEEPS THE BRAIN YOUNG. “Many studies suggest that obesity is bad for our brain, slows it down, causes early brain aging, making it susceptible to diseases typical of older people as the Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. In contrast, caloric restriction keeps the brain young. Nevertheless, the precise molecular mechanism behind the positive effects of an hypocaloric diet on the brain remained unknown till now. The Italian team discovered that CREB1 is the molecule activated by caloric restriction and that it mediates the beneficial effects of the diet on the brain by turning on another group of molecules linked to longevity, the ‘sirtuins’. This finding is consistent with the fact that CREB1 is known to regulate important brain functions as memory, learning and anxiety control, and its activity is reduced or physiologically compromised by aging.”

WHEN IS $16 TRILLION NOT ENOUGH: “I’ve participated in many such discussions over the years, and I’m always struck by the core assumptions of many on the Christian Left: First, that America has not done enough — either charitably or through government programs — to improve the plight of the poor; second, that the right kind of governmental investment will make substantial differences in American poverty; and third, that America’s poor are largely victims of the wrong kind of government policies and individual greed. For these individuals, the $16 trillion we’ve spent on means-tested welfare since the War on Poverty began represents a grossly inadequate expenditure, and the answer (it’s the same answer with public education, by the way) is more, more, more — more money, more programs, and more taxation. Yet after $16 trillion, we have a different kind of more, more, more — more illegitimacy, more citizens in poverty, and more inequality, with growing stickiness at the bottom.”

HOW TO GET A JOB if you’re a 40-something woman.

HMM: Two Days After Dean Blasts American Bar Association, ABA Denies Duncan School of Law Provisional Accreditation.

Here’s a copy of the ABA letter that was sent to all law school deans, and which gives no reasons.

CAREERS FOR 2012: Phil Bowermaster rounds up advice.

UPDATE: Link was wrong before. Fixed now. Sorry!

SCIENTIFIC CONSENSUS: When Lobotomy Was Seen As Advanced. “When used for psychiatric illness, lobotomy was once seen as a huge advance. Dr. Egas Moniz, a Portuguese neurologist who developed the procedure in the 1930s, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1949. Surgeons performed many types of lobotomies, but most involved severing nerves that ran from the frontal lobes to other parts of the brain to disrupt supposedly faulty connections that had developed in schizophrenia or depression. Lobotomies for mental illness fell out of favor in the 1960s because of the development of effective antipsychotic medications, misuse of the procedure and a growing unease among doctors with the confusion and stupor that resulted from the operation. . . . One of the ironies of Dr. Nijensohn’s story, if true, is that another method already existed for treating Perón’s pain: aggressive use of opiates like morphine. Doctors of the era, however, so feared that their cancer patients would become addicted to these drugs that they saw lobotomy as a suitable alternative. Today, our understanding of cancer pain has certainly changed. The liberal use of narcotics, accompanied by other medications to treat side effects, is seen as appropriate, not indicative of untoward behavior by patients.”

UPDATE: Reader Brad Merriman writes: “So when Moniz won the Nobel prize, was the science settled about lobotomies?”

21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: My BabyDaddy Isn’t Supporting Our Child. “I am 19 years old and my boyfriend is 17. We just recently had a daughter. His mother won’t let him support his own child. She takes his whole paycheck to pay for rent and she doesn’t even allow him to have his own bank card.”