AT AMAZON, bestsellers in Mystery, Thrillers, and Suspense.

FRANK CAGLE ON HOMEOWNERSHIP: America Is Going Back To Being A Renter Nation. “Up until the 1950s, the percentage of homeowners stayed at 40 percent. Aggressive government subsidies drove the percentage in recent years to above 65 percent. The housing ‘industry’ ran out of buyers. A good 35 percent of Americans prefer the freedom of movement and lack of responsibility that comes from being a renter. We will likely return to being maybe a 55 percent homeowner nation.”

Plus this: “We will likely go back to having multi-generational families living in the same house. Can your children buy a house?”

Hope and change!

MICKEY KAUS: Tom Edsall, Murdoch Stooge?

“THANK GOD FOR THE LAWYERS:” In light of the ongoing ClimateGate revelations, I thought some people might be interested in this paper on science fraud that I published a while back. It’s adapted from a chapter in The Appearance of Impropriety. Download early and often — it’s free! (Bumped).

UPDATE: As about a gazillion readers tell me, the scan’s missing a page. Sorry — I’m on travel, so I’ll have to try to get my secretary to fix it on Monday. I’ve never had that happen before. (Bumped again.)

JOSEPH BOTTUM WRITES FOR A PLUG:

As part of their “Kindle Singles,” Amazon asked me for a slightly expanded version of my old essay of childhood memoir, “Dakota Christmas,” to help lead the Kindle sales for Christmas this year, and it’s now available.

I know I’m in no position to ask a favor, but you’ve posted about my work on Instapundit in the past, and if you get a chance, do you think could mention this?

Only 99 cents, and a Christmas classic, says Andy Ferguson. Of course, he’s a friend, so what else is he going to say? Still, he points to lines like these, of which I’m a little proud:

“Her hair was the same thin shade of gray as the weather-beaten pickets of the fence around her frozen garden. She had a way with horses, and she was alone on Christmas Eve. There is little in my life I regret as much as that I would not stay for just one cookie, just one cup of tea.”

No worries if you don’t have space.

I found some. That’s the nice thing about these website thingies.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: The Ancient Virtues And Modern Sins. “Without memory we are nothing. That is what scares me about the present electronic age: everything is the next nanosecond; the last one had become absolutely nothing.”

CREEPY CONDOM AD causes controversy.

Brazilian ad agency, AGE Isobar, has come up with a novel campaign for their client, Olla condoms. They’ve created Facebook profiles of the babies guys could have if they don’t practice safe sex.

The company actually targeted specific guys’ profiles (like poor William Silva, above) and created a fake profile of their hypothetical “jr.” version (see William Silva Jr.). Once accepted, Jr. posts an innocent comment about how awesome Olla condoms are on dear old dad’s page.

The campaign is called “Unexpected Babies” and it’s bound to scare at least a few guys into double-bagging it.

Adfreak, Adweek’s industry blog, called the concept “kind of clever…[but] surely against Facebook’s usage guidelines.”

You think?

YES, THERE ARE women gamers.

#TSAFAIL: Teen stopped at airport for design on purse. “Vanessa Gibbs, 17, claims the Transportation Security Administration stopped her at the security gate because of the design of a gun on her handbag.”

But wait, there’s more. Read this:

Gibbs said she had no problem going through security at Jacksonville International Airport, but rather, when she headed home from Virginia.

“It’s my style, it’s camouflage, it has an old western gun on it,” Gibbs said.

But her preference for the pistol style didn’t sit well with TSA agents at the Norfolk airport.

Gibbs said she was headed back home to Jacksonville from a holiday trip when an agent flagged her purse as a security risk.

“She was like, ‘This is a federal offense because it’s in the shape of a gun,'” Gibbs said. “I’m like, ‘But it’s a design on a purse. How is it a federal offense?'”

After agents figured out the gun was a fake, Gibbs said, TSA told her to check the bag or turn it over.

By the time security wrapped up the inspection, the pregnant teen missed her flight, and Southwest Airlines sent her to Orlando instead, worrying her mother, who was already waiting for her to arrive at JIA.

Really, that’s just pathetic.

HMM: ARE YOU SAVING TOO MUCH FOR RETIREMENT? This seems politically convenient at a time when so many people’s 401k funds have taken a hit.

UPDATE: Reader John MacDonald writes that no, you’re not saving too much:

Financial planners factored in 6-8% returns on your nest egg.We’re in an environment where the banks pay a whopping 1% on your money.So if you had $500,000 and took out 4% a year ($20,000)- supposedly it would last 25 years.However real inflation is about 3% (gas gone down? food prices gone down? what about the printing presses?) so you’d be taking out 4% + 3% inflation so you’d run out of money sooner….and if taxes, “service” fees go up??

Today’s seniors are having a difficult time since their stocks have been shot, housing’s in the dumps and their CD rates are negligible….and that’s for those who have diligently saved for 40 years.

Yeah, as I’ve said before, if we had a Republican President there’d be a lot of tear-jerking press pieces about senior citizens living on dog food because of low CD rates. Now, not so much.

WELL, THAT SAYS IT ALL: Meghan McCain: Bachmann Is ‘Just More Smarter’ Than Palin.

WE’RE FROM THE GOVERNMENT AND WE’RE HERE TO HELP: Federal Housing Authority Poised to Re-Sink the Economy. “Back in the innocent days of 2007 or so, it was customary for experts to say that housing had led the recession and housing would lead us out. Whatever measure of truth there may have been in that cliché, the reality is that by refusing to accept the real estate correction as the healthful and decades-overdue solution it is, America’s leaders have created a new dynamic: Housing led us into the recession, and it continues to lead us into newer, deeper and more destructive recessions.”

IT’S COME TO THIS: Barbi twins: Obama abandoned the horses.

TEN YEARS AGO ON INSTAPUNDIT: I brag about my nanotechnology speech being quoted in Wired.

AT AMAZON, post-Cyber-Monday deals on watches.

Also, last-chance Cyber Monday deals on electronics.

HOW TO GIVE A GOOD GIFT: Despite an Asperger’s-induced empathy deficit, I’ve learned to choose meaningful presents for my wife. You can, too.

SHOCKING NEWS: Men think about other things besides sex sometimes.

FINALLY: The World’s First Stretchable, Elastic Electrical Cord.

AT THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, A CONVENIENT “MISTAKE:” “The Justice Department on Friday provided Congress with documents detailing how department officials gave inaccurate information to a U.S. senator in the controversy surrounding Operation Fast and Furious, the flawed law enforcement initiative aimed at dismantling major arms trafficking networks on the Southwest border. In a letter last February to Charles Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Justice Department said that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had not sanctioned the sale of assault weapons to a straw purchaser and that the agency makes every effort to intercept weapons that have been purchased illegally. In connection with Operation Fast and Furious, both statements turned out to be incorrect.”

UPDATE: Law Prof. Joseph Olson emails: “It was so simple to lie and they thought it would do the trick. Exactly how every cover up commences. Then the ball of string unravels.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Prof. Stephen Clark writes:

They dump this stuff on Friday afternoon. Why? Does anyone even pretend to be surprised anymore?

You lie to the DOJ and you go to prison. The DOJ lies to you and it’s just another day at the office.

Indeed.

AT AMAZON, Up to 70% off on Jewelry.

MICKEY KAUS SPOTS “the latest, strange GOP trend: reasonableness. What caused it and what does it mean?”

100 CAMERAS IN 1: An iPhone Camera App review.

THIS IS A REAL DEAL: Today Only: Panasonic Lumix LX5 Camera for $269. I’ve got one, and it’s a great camera. (Bumped, because this is a good deal.)

TECHNOLOGY: Can big companies harness disruptive innovation?

TIM BLAIR: The Sacrament Of The Bulb.