WHEN WIRED REVIEWS A SLOW COOKER. Of course, it’s not just any slow cooker, it’s the VitaClay VM7900-8 Smart Organic Multi-Cooker/Rice Cooker/Yogurt Maker.

AT AMAZON, up to 50% off on Electronics Accessories.

BEGONE! YOUR FIFTEEN MINUTES ARE OVER. PSY Christmas Show Bombs. “The 31st annual ‘Christmas in Washington’ concert shown on the TNT cable network December 21 suffered a dramatic 25% loss in viewers from the previous year, according to Nielsen Media Research. . . . The concert, traditionally attended by the President and his family, drew international attention over the scheduled appearance by Gangnam Style rapper PSY (given name Park Jae-sang) when it was revealed the South Korean entertainer had made highly inflammatory anti-American performances the previous decade.” Obama still showed up, though.

AN INTERVIEW WITH a Ginza Hostess.

SCIENCE: Study shows how dark chocolate may be good for your health—particularly if you are male. “Cocoa-rich dark chocolate might help protect against heart disease and stroke, but probably more so if you are a man. That’s one of the findings of scientists at the University of Aberdeen Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health who studied what happened in the blood of volunteers after they ate dark chocolate specially boosted with cocoa extract.”

JACOB SULLUM: The danger of treating gun violence as a mental health problem.

I THOUGHT THIS WAS SETTLED IN WHEN HARRY MET SALLY: Can Men And Women Just Be Friends?

NEWSPAPER PUBLISHES MAP OF GUNOWNERS, new media competitor posts map: Where are the Journal News employees in your neighborhood?

THE CHEMIST’S WAR: The little-told story of how the U.S. government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition with deadly consequences. “Frustrated that people continued to consume so much alcohol even after it was banned, federal officials had decided to try a different kind of enforcement. They ordered the poisoning of industrial alcohols manufactured in the United States, products regularly stolen by bootleggers and resold as drinkable spirits. The idea was to scare people into giving up illicit drinking. Instead, by the time Prohibition ended in 1933, the federal poisoning program, by some estimates, had killed at least 10,000 people.”

YOU SURVIVED THE MAYAN APOCALYPSE. Now what?

AT AMAZON, post-Christmas markdowns on Stand Mixers.

REASON TV ANNOUNCES 2012’s Nanny Of The Year.

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BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU DRIVE: Feds Requiring ‘Black Boxes’ in All Motor Vehicles.

If you don’t like the idea, you can submit comments here.

ACCOUNTABILITY IS FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE: Benghazi penalties “bogus,” officials returning to work? “The New York Post has learned that the four State Department officials that supposedly resigned after the Accountability Review Board report slammed Foggy Bottom for its ‘systemic failures’ and ‘leadership and management deficiencies’ will return to work after all — and all but one in the same post.”

According to a State Department spokesperson, Hillary Clinton was unable to comment because she was being treated for “a really painful hangnail.”

DESIGN: How The Coca-Cola Bottle Got Its Shape.

ASSOCIATED PRESS: Police investigating incident in which television host displayed ammunition magazine. “Police spokesman Tisha Gant said Wednesday the department is investigating whether NBC reporter David Gregory may have violated city firearms laws that ban the possession of high-capacity magazines. She declined to comment further on the probe.”

BANISHED IN THE 8TH CENTURY B.C., Lost Tribe of Jews Returns to Israel.

KURT SCHLICHTER: Liberals Panic As They Lose The Gun Narrative. “Their post-Newtown strategy was always to prevent an effective response from the pro-gun freedom side by both rapid action and by demonization. . . . But gun freedom advocates fought back.” Well, that’s what you have to do when people try to demonize you. Punch back twice as hard.

JOHN MILTON: The Father of Science Fiction?

CHANGE: Democrats Now Pushing For Tax Cuts They Once Opposed.

We can “pay for them” by repealing the Hollywood tax cuts!

PSEUDO-JOURNALISM: Cowardice: Smug Journal-News Editor Deletes Facebook Page, Hides Tweets. “Yes, she actually spells her name CynDee.”

ACTUAL JOURNALISM: CNBC Anchor Challenges Dem Senator On Cliff Negotiations; Floor Traders Erupt In Cheers. “That’s all you want to do. That’s it. It’s your way or the highway. Raise the rates on the rich. No other way. Your way or the highway. That’s it. That’s where we are. Thank you, Senator.”

More:

After Bartiromo called Cardin (and all Democrats) out for their duplicitous approach the traders erupted in cheers and applause. They were rewarding her for finally doing what most anchors and reporters refuse to do. Instead of reporting on the fiscal cliff negotiations like it’s a football game or a soap opera, we need journalists to actually know the facts and to challenge the narratives presented by the politicians who are trotted out in front of the cameras.

Cardin was not used to being challenged and he wilted. The traders were not used to seeing the challenge and they cheered Bartiromo. We need to see more of this. Who will step up and join Bartiromo? Anyone?

Let’s see.

THE PROBLEM OF Weak Student Vocabularies.

IN THE FUTURE, WE’LL START CALLING IT “the all-white New York Magazine.”

DAVID GREGORY GUN-CRIME UPDATE; D.C. Police — NBC requested and was denied permission to use high capacity magazine in news segment. Laws are for the little people. From the comments: “To paraphrase Joyce Carol Oates: If sizable numbers of journalists become gun law victims themselves, maybe there’s hope for some balanced coverage on the issue.”