MUST-READ CUSTOMER REVIEWS: The Hutzler 571 Banana Slicer.

FIRST THE HORSE, NOW THE BARN DOOR: State Dept. focusing on ‘deteriorating security’ at diplomatic posts.

State Department officials on Thursday said the department is evaluating all high-risk posts in the wake of a report that found systemic security problems were to blame for the deadly Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Thomas Nides told panels in the House and Senate that the department would focus on a troubling pattern of “deteriorating security” at U.S. diplomatic posts. . . . An independent report released Wednesday found State should have been paying more attention to broad political changes that were affecting security.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, sidelined by a nasty case of athlete’s foot, was unavailable for comment.

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CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: Roll Call: Ethics Committee Finds Berkley Broke House Rules. “Outgoing Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., broke House rules, laws and standards of conduct related to conflicts of interest when members of her office assisted her husband’s medical practice with Veterans Affairs, Medicare and Medicaid claims, the House Ethics Committee announced late Thursday.”

THIS IS CNN: Piers Morgan’s Argument for Gun Control: ‘You’re an Unbelievably Stupid Man, Aren’t You?’ “The exchange, during which Pratt remains admirably calm, pretty accurately reflects the general tenor of the current gun control debate, with raw emotionalism and invective pitted against skepticism and an attempt at rational argument. I am not saying that every supporter of gun control is a raving bully on the order of Piers Morgan, or even that Pratt is right. (You can judge that for yourself.) But proponents of new gun restrictions are counting on emotional appeals for victory, which is why they insist that action must be taken immediately, before the grief and outrage provoked by Adam Lanza’s crimes starts to fade.”

WAIT, I THOUGHT THIS KIND OF THING WAS A GOP MYTH: Mass. Democrat Admits Absentee Voter Fraud. “Rep. Stephen Smith, 57, of Everett, Mass. will plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of deprivation of rights. Smith, who represents the 28th Middlesex District in Massachusetts, allegedly cast invalid absentee ballots for voters who were ineligible or unaware of ballots being cast in their names. The news release said ‘one or more government officials’ helped Smith intercept the ballots before they were delivered to the voters, but it did not name the officials.”

Why not?

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Unchecked Racial Tribalism. What could go wrong?

A WORD I’D NEVER HEARD BEFORE, BUT IMMEDIATELY UNDERSTOOD: “Procrastigrading.”

BUSINESS-FRIENDLY? California eliminates scary public threat: Small-business burger stand.

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WORKER EXPLOITATION: ‘Charlie Rose’ Show Agrees to Pay Up to $250,000 to Settle Interns’ Lawsuit.

JEFFREY ROSEN: We’re Still Paying the Price for the Borking of Robert Bork.

Mickey Kaus, on the other hand, says They Borked A Guilty Man. But he also has this to say about Borking-defender Jeffrey Toobin:

New Yorker’s Jeffrey Toobin declares that Bork “lacked moral courage as well as legal judgment.” Hmm. Given that Toobin a) boosted his writing career when he was an attorney by betraying his employer, special counsel Lawrence Walsh, b) tried to produce a big Clinton book by sliming Michael Isikoff and c) given his er … uninspiring personal behavior, I’d say he shouldn’t be denouncing anyone as lacking “moral courage.” But that’s just me. …

Oh, it’s not just you, Mickey. Personally, I would have voted against confirming Bork for the reasons spelled out at length here. (But I would have confirmed Doug Ginsburg in a heartbeat, and we’d have been much better off with him than with Anthony Kennedy).

A QUESTION FOR HILLARY CLINTON: Krauthammer: ‘How Can You Send Somebody Into Benghazi and Completely Misread the Situation?’ Secretary of State Clinton was sidelined by a nasty yeast infection, and was thus unable to comment.

CAYMAN: “McKeeva Bush is now the former premier of the Cayman Islands and his former deputy, 
Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, will step 
in as premier.”

MEGAN MCARDLE: Are Government Workers Overpaid, or Underpaid? The evidence suggests they make less in the private sector.

NICE JOB YOU HAVE HERE: Shame If Something Happens To It.

LARRY CORREIA: An Opinion On Gun Control.

WAPO: Two Words Missing From The State Department’s Benghazi Report.

BIGGEST REGRET IF THE APOCALYPSE HITS TOMORROW: Not Having More Sex.

AT AMAZON, An Extra 20% Off On Outerwear And Cold-Weather Accessories. Winter is coming.

PURIFICATION: Newtown 7th Grader Starts Movement To Rid America Of Violent Video Games.

TOM MAGUIRE NOTES SOME PRO-NARRATIVE FACT-TWEAKING:

I don’t want to leap to conclusions but it is possible that the NY Times and other big media are more comfortable with stories involving white shooters (normally the Times avoids reporting the race of an alleged criminal). The Mother Jones team provides an example of this liberal mindset in action as they describe their database of 62 incidents. . . .

Sixty-two incidents involving sixty-four killers (Columbine and Westside Middle School involved partners) are in the database. That means there are nineteen non-white male killers. And what is the racial breakdown? Apparently the authors know, and the answer may be available at the website but it is eluding me. They do have pictures of some of the killers, and I see an American Indian (Jeffrey Weise) and more Asians than one would expect from normal crime statistics.

Still, whites represent about two-thirds of the killers despite being more than two-thirds of the population, so some other ethnic groups are over-represented. Yet the authors are not making the breakdown easily available. Hmm… Well, the French professor has a fascinating theory about a zero-sum world in which the empowerment of blacks and women has left youg white men dispossessed, enraged, and prove to violence. That may not jibe with the trendless nature of mass shootings, the white under-representation among the shooters or the generally declining crime rate over the last twenty years, but hey – she has a piece in the Times and I don’t, so go figure.

Indeed.

PROF. JACOBSON: Plan B fails — Now the House needs to consider Plan C. Boehner could do worse than listen to Jacobson. In fact, he already has.

AT GAY PATRIOT, A REVIEW of Sarah Hoyt’s A Few Good Men.

Plus, a fitness bonus! “After receiving an advance copy electronically, I printed out various pages and read them as I did my cardio. So engaged was I in the book that I often found myself working out longer than I had intended.” (Bumped).

“THESE ARE HISTORICAL DILDOS.” Plus, from the comments: “Twitter will end up ruining more careers than booze & sex before it’s all done.”