FIGHTING INEQUALITY: Why ‘The Family’ Matters in Economics. “Rising income inequality, wealth disparities, and disproportionate health outcomes are all impossible to understand without taking a hard look at families. . . . The end result is that American families now seem to follow two tracks: those of the upper-middle class, where family institutions remain relatively strong, and those of the lower-middle class, where family instability is distressingly common.”

A review of Nick Schulz’s Home Economics: The Consequences of Changing Family Structure. Currently $1.00 on Kindle. I just bought it.

THE SECOND HUNDRED DAYS BEGIN: TaxProf Roundup: The IRS Scandal, Day 101.

TO BE FAIR, THAT’S A MAJOR PART OF THEIR SKILLSET: Egypt’s Embattled Coptic Church Lashes Out at Western Media for Giving ‘Political Cover’ to ‘Terrorist and Bloody Groups.’ I mean, if they reported accurately, Americans might get angry, and that’s not allowed unless it’s at Republicans.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? China’s Xi “Lurches” to the Left, Promotes Maoist Revival.

In a move sure to dismay the people inside and outside China who hoped Xi Jinping would begin a new era of democratic reform, China’s president has “lurched” to the left, as the WSJ reports, promoting a revitalized version of nationalist Maoism across the country. ”Our red nation will never change color,” Xi said during a ceremony at Mao’s old lakeside mansion in Wuhan, declaring that the villa should become a center to educate young people about patriotism and revolution.

“It isn’t just Mr. Xi’s rhetoric that has taken on a Maoist tinge in recent months,” the Journal reports. “He has borrowed from Mao’s tactical playbook, launching a ‘rectification’ campaign to purify the Communist Party, while tightening limits on discussion of ideas such as democracy, rule of law and enforcement of the constitution.”

Xi appears to have capitalized on some uncertainty at the top levels of the Party after the fall of Bo Xilai, a charismatic and popular leader who also led a Maoist revival campaign and became a threat to the stability of the Party leadership. “Many of Mr. Bo’s former supporters and several powerful princelings have thrown their weight behind Mr. Xi’s efforts to establish himself as much a stronger leader than his predecessor,” party insiders told the WSJ.

Xi’s nationalist streak comes as the country prepares for Bo Xilai’s trial and amid an economic downturn that has caused worry among investors and analysts. At the same time, China and other Asian powers are engaged in a dangerous and accelerating game of military one-upmanship.

Luckily, we’ll have the “smart diplomacy” crew to deal with this problem.

THE HILL: Rep. Aaron Shock: IRS can’t stop illegal behavior. “The Illinois Republican, in an interview with Fox News, said that the agency was continuing to engage in the illegal targeting of conservative political groups, even after President Obama vowed the practice would stop when abuses were revealed earlier this summer.”

K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE: Summer Michelle Hansen, Special Ed Teacher, Charged With Sex Crimes Involving 5 Boys. You know, a lot of schools are prejudiced against hiring male teachers because they’re afraid they might be sexual predators. But if you look at the “student-teacher sex scandal” slide show, the offenders are overwhelmingly female.

Related: HIV-positive woman admits to New Year’s Eve sex with boys: Woman avoids 30-year sentence on teen sex charges.

AT AMAZON, deals and markdowns on Cookware Sets. Stainless, cast iron, ceramic, etc.

Also, wineglasses.

Also, today only: 23% Off Strathwood Anti-Gravity Adjustable Recliners.

J. CHRISTIAN ADAMS: Local Government Graft, Corruption and Retaliation in Democrat-Run Virginia. “Big wasteful government isn’t only a federal phenomenon. And if you’re an honest government employee in the City of Alexandria in the Virginia suburbs of Washington D.C., you better watch out. Because if you ‘blow the whistle’ on inappropriate, unethical, or improper government spending, your bosses will retaliate and fire you for speaking up on behalf of the tax-payers. All across America, billions of taxpayer dollars are wasted or mismanaged by local governments every year because of little-to-no government transparency or accountability. Alexandria, Virginia, provides an example of why.”

DISGRACEFUL: Texas Police Hit Organic Farm With Massive SWAT Raid. “A small organic farm in Arlington, Texas, was the target of a massive police action last week that included aerial surveillance, a SWAT raid and a 10-hour search. Members of the local police raiding party had a search warrant for marijuana plants, which they failed to find at the Garden of Eden farm. But farm owners and residents who live on the property told a Dallas-Ft. Worth NBC station that the real reason for the law enforcement exercise appears to have been code enforcement.” Code enforcement.

BARACK OBAMA’S LOST YOUTH: The president’s approval rating is falling faster among young people than any other group. Will Republicans capitalise on it?

WHEN, OF COURSE, SHE KNEW THAT IT WAS JUST THAT: Hillary Clinton exploded at a congressman two days after Benghazi for suggesting that the attack was the work of terrorists, says GOP Rep.

An Illinois Republican congressman told constituents at a town hall meeting on Wednesday that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton screamed at a fellow member of Congress two days after a U.S. diplomatic station in Benghazi, Libya was destroyed, merely for saying aloud that the attack was carried out by terrorist groups.

The Obama administration later acknowledged that reality.

But White House officials initially maintained that the deaths of four Americans and the firebomb attack on the State Department mission was the result of a spontaneous protest against a low-budget YouTube film that was critical of the Muslim prophet Muhammad.

‘Two days after this attack,’ said Rep. Adam Kinzinger, ‘we were in a briefing with Hillary Clinton and she screamed at a member of Congress who’d dare suggest that this was a terrorist attack.’

‘Now we find out that while it was happening, they knew it was a terrorist attack. These are answers that we’re going to get to the bottom of.’

Kinzinger’s office told National Review Online that the meeting he referred to was a classified briefing held for all members of Congress.

The congressman appeared on the Fox News Channel on Friday, recalling Clinton ‘basically, in a very loud, angry voice, [saying] “It’s irresponsible to even suggest this is a terror attack. This is a YouTube video. We know that there are protests all over, and we need to be very careful how we’re saying this” — and basically chided this member of Congress.’

At least scapegoated filmmaker Nakoula is now out of jail.

NEWS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT MILITARIZATION: Brooklyn Is Not Baghdad: What Is the CIA Teaching the NYPD?

SUDDENLY, Iraq wants U.S. Troops back. Shoulda been nicer to us, dudes.

PROFESSOR JACOBSON: My spirits are lifted: A guard returns to the wall. “Don Surber returns to the blogosphere.”

PROTESTER FUN: Ezra Levant Goes Head-To-Head With Ignorance.

INTERESTED IN BEING A LAW PROFESSOR? Apply for the Stanford Constitutional Law Center Academic Fellowship.

JOHN HINDERAKER: The Dems Rally Their Legions of Haters for 2014. Fuck ’em. I’ve had it with this crap.

AT AMAZON, Bestsellers in Kitchen & Dining.

Also, Kindle Daily Deals.

ED MORRISSEY: Christie vetoes gun-control legislation he demanded. “Perhaps Christie has figured out that his original position was nonsense. The Barrett is no more dangerous to public safety than any other firearm; the danger is in the person who holds it and their intent in using it, as is true for every other kind of weapon one can imagine. Or maybe Christie has just figured out that he wouldn’t have a prayer of winning the 2016 GOP presidential nomination with his signature on a gun ban.”

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED REPUBLICAN, HERETICS AND APOSTATES AND UNBELIEVERS WOULD BE PUNISHED. AND THEY WERE RIGHT! “Excommunicated From The Clown Community.”

From the comments: “If Obama were a classy guy, he’d ask the folks that run the rodeo to un-fire the clown. He’d say, Hey, I can take a joke.” Well, that’s a conditional statement.

MICHAEL BARONE: Off-year Elections Will Turn on Personal Factors, Not Issues.

HMM: Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett, a Republican, said he may challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander in the 2014 election cycle.

BUT THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD IS “MOSTLY SECULAR:” Egypt’s Christians face unprecedented attacks: More than 30 churches have been destroyed in the past week as thugs launch a campaign of intimidation.

UPDATE: “After torching a Franciscan school, Islamists paraded three nuns on the streets like ‘prisoners of war’ before a Muslim woman offered them refuge.”

Related: The failure of “smart diplomacy.”

AND LEFTIES’ HEADS EXPLODE: Julian Assange calls Rand Paul the ‘only hope’ for US politics.

But wait, there’s more: “He pointed out that the principle of ‘non-violence’ could include being against both drone warfare and abortion.”