IT’S CALLED “COOLING THE MARK:” Jim Treacher: “They’re just trying to prepare you for the inevitable crash. Their ideas don’t work and they know it, so now all they can do is try to make you think their failure is somehow a statement of principle.”

TOP HOLIDAY DEALS IN Movies & TV for Kids. Keep ’em occupied when they’re out of school for Christmas Vacation!

Also, big markdowns on Toys & Games.

THE SHADOWS: Apache.

WELL, THAT’S A RELIEF: “Yes, Republicans stink right now. But no, this isn’t permanent.”

FROM JOHN HAWKINS: The Top 60 Conservative Blogs.

COMING: A revolt of the Kulaks?

AMAZON’S HAVING SHIPPING PROBLEMS WITH THE PAPERBACK, but the Kindle version of Roger Simon and Sheryl Longin’s The Party Line is now out.

PUNCHING BACK TWICE AS HARD: George Zimmerman Sues NBC Universal Over Edited 911 Call. Well, now that the need for pre-election agitprop is gone, maybe they’ll apologize and settle.

JUST LIKE OBAMA AND THE “FISCAL CLIFF:” CBS News: Egypt’s president offers nothing to defuse crisis. Perhaps Morsi thinks the crisis offers an opportunity for a power-grab. But he faces spirited opposition:

Speaking in a nationally televised address, Morsi accused some in the opposition of serving remnants of Hosni Mubarak’s authoritarian regime and vowed he would never tolerate anyone working for the overthrow of his “legitimate” government.

That brought shouts of “the people want to topple the regime!” from the crowd of 30,000 Morsi opponents — the same chant used in the protests that brought down Mubarak. CBS News correspondent Holly Williams reports that protesters gathered around his palace during the speech, holding their shoes over their heads as a clear sign of disrespect.

Stay tuned.

HMM: Chris Christie Vetoes ObamaCare Exchange In New Jersey.

Also: Michigan Legislature Passes Right-to-Work Law.

OKAY. BUT HOW’S, YOU KNOW, ACTUAL LIBERTY MAKING OUT IN ALL THIS? The GOP Is Dying Because The Liberty Movement Is Thriving.

PLUMP DJs: Acid Hustle. Also, their Everybody Needs A 303 Remix.

COMMERCIAL SPACE: Golden Spike Company: A Man Sells the Moon (PJ Media Exclusive). “We talked to a number of private experts; about 20 accepted, and over a period of four months, we put together proposals. This culminated in a meeting in Telluride, Colorado, where we concluded it really was possible to make Moon travel commercial. . . . Our business line is simple: selling lunar expeditions to any country. In the ’80s and ’90s, the Soviets were selling countries trips to the Mir space station. Japan, Austria. … France bought six trips! We think that trips to the Moon will be at least as popular. $1.5 billion for two people to the surface of the Moon — countries already spend that much on robot exploration.”

21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: Woman Breastfeeds Her Husband’s Monkeys.

SOME THINGS MAY BE HARDWIRED: “Slut” Label Refuses To Die. “For women, engaging in casual sex still carries a stigma, and the prospect of being judged dampens their interest in one-night stands. That’s the key finding of a newly published study that suggests sexual mores remain stubbornly stable. It concludes that, more than a half-century after the introduction of the birth control pill, the sexual double standard is alive and well and still influencing women’s everyday behavior.” Perhaps there’s an evolutionary reason for this, not simply a question of social mores.

SHADOWY MEN ON A SHADOWY PLANET: Our Weapons Are Useless.

HANDS-ON TOYS, AND THE LIKE: I mentioned the Snap Circuits toys this morning, and it occurred to me that I should also mention this post on learning electronics. There’s also Penny Norman’s Inventions Kit. And I should also mention The Dangerous Book For Boys and, of course, The Daring Book For Girls.

VIK RUBENFELD: Maybe It Is All About Race. “One more possible element to Obama’s reelection deserves sufficient consideration: it appears likely that a substantial percentage of Americans may have voted for Obama in order to demonstrate that Americans have put racism behind us. . . . For decades, adults have been told, and more importantly our children are now taught, that America owes penance due to a past history of racism. It is inevitable that this would play a key part in the reelection of the nation’s first black president. This was a massive error on the part of pro-Obama voters.”

HAND DRYERS: Less sanitary, and less energy-efficient, than paper towels.

THE WHITE ANIMALS: Ecstasy.

Also Girls.

STEELY DAN performs what I think should have been the Obama 2012 campaign song.

AT AMAZON, coupons galore in Kitchen & Dining.

LOVE LETTERS FROM PEANUTS CARTOONIST Charles Schulz.

TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE: What the condom of the future might look like. The challenge is to come up with a condom that makes sex better, so that people will actively want to use it.

DAN MITCHELL: Exposing Washington’s Dishonest Budget Math.