DEFENSIVE GUN USES: Police: Homeowner fatally shoots intruder in midst of crime spree. “Neighbors say there had been some break-ins recently, and they were in the process of forming a neighborhood watch but had not done so. As a result of Wednesday’s trauma, shaken neighbors said that they are definitely beefing up security in their neighborhood.”

Related: Woman pulls gun, fends off carjackers. “If these were my kids and they were out at 11:30 at night, terrorizing women, I would scare the life out of them.”

UPDATE: Resident Kills Home Invader. “A 24-year-old resident of the home got into a gunfight with the trio of suspected robbers that left a scene strewn with ‘guns, multiple bullet holes and blood,’ police said.”

UPDATE: Jim Treacher notices something missing from the description of the assailants in item two.

P.J. O’ROURKE: I Came, I Saw, I Skedaddled: Decisive moments in Barack Obama history.

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Plus, coupons galore on Vitamins & Dietary Supplements.

SO MUCH FOR THAT “SMART DIPLOMACY” STUFF: Smart power? Obama’s team thought US might win Iran’s support against Syria.

THE BAD REVIEWS KEEP COMING IN — AND THAT’S JUST AT THE WAPO: The five worst things about this crummy jobs report.

NICK GILLESPIE: The Rise Of The Antiwar Libertarians.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: How To Keep Your Computer From Destroying Your Eyesight.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: NASA Moon Probe Launches Friday Night: How to Watch.

A DOUBLE-SECRET NO-TRESPASS LIST: Townie complaint: Oberlin “akin to a gated community.” “The secret list stood in contrast to the college’s emphasis on its mission page to a ‘commitment to social engagement and diversity,’ and the loud demands for diversity voiced after the racism hoax last February and March. Apparently that diversity did not include townies.”

NO FEAR OF ABUSE, HERE: NSA’s Decade-Long Plan to Undermine Encryption Includes Backdoors, Stolen Keys, Manipulating Standards.

Predictions that this will damage American information and telecom systems providers seem more and more likely to come true.

SO A FRIEND HAD A WEIRD EXPERIENCE LAST WEEK — her car was struck by lightning on the Interstate. All the electronics were fried, they managed to coast to the side of the road, and then they couldn’t get out because the door locks and windows were frozen. The guy she was with managed to kick out a window, cutting himself a bit in the process (but impressing her with his derring-do). The cops told her she should have had a Lifehammer in the car. Good idea. Or a ResQMe tool.

Nobody was seriously hurt (though she was kinda deafened for a bit) and the car looks okay but is totaled because all the electronics were ruined. First time I’ve heard of something like that happening. The old myth about the tires insulating you is just that, a myth — but, luckily, the part about the car’s frame being a Faraday cage isn’t. Unless, you know, you have a fiberglas car, I guess. . . .

CHANGE: IRS Rule Leads Restaurants to Rethink Automatic Tips.

Good. I don’t like automatic tips.

HOW TO RESOLVE A BLOGFIGHT: “Today, I received a response from Dan at ExcitingEvents.com. He was courteous and professional. He also apologized for his employee’s behavior; said his employee was overzealous; and took responsibility for not reviewing the emails before they were sent out. Also, he sent me links to their actual shirt gun in use (it’s not the one in the video) and, let me tell you, it’s pretty awesome.”

21ST CENTURY CUISINE: Campbell soup pods coming soon to a Keurig coffee brewer near you.

I like my Keurig, but . . . well, hell, I’ll probably try one of these out and report back.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: The Student Loan Bubble Is Starting To Burst.

The largest bank in the United States will stop making student loans in a few weeks.

JPMorgan Chase has sent a memorandum to colleges notifying them that the bank will stop making new student loans in October, according to Reuters.

The official reason is quite bland.

“We just don’t see this as a market that we can significantly grow,” Thasunda Duckett tells Reuters. Duckett is the chief executive for auto and student loans at Chase, which means she’s basically delivering the news that a large part of her business is getting closed down.

The move is eerily reminiscent of the subprime shutdown that happened in 2007. Each time a bank shuttered its subprime unit, the news was presented in much the same way that JPMorgan is spinning the end of its student lending.

All is proceeding as I have foreseen.

THE NEW CRASH TEST that makes cars safer. “Over the last 40 years automakers have spent considerable effort in developing and optimizing the crumple zone concept, wherein the front bumper and frame rails collapse during a crash and absorb the forces. What makes the small overlap crash so challenging is it bypasses the primary crumple zone structure, concentrating force in the front suspension, at the firewall, and at the base of the A-pillar—areas not traditionally designed to absorb and dissipate crash forces.”

WOULD IT BE WRONG TO CURE DOWN’S SYNDROME? “Here’s the thing — I’m an ‘everything happens for a reason and things are meant to be’ type of person.”

Yeah, I’m more of an “everything happens for a reason — and sometimes the reason is you’re stupid and make bad decisions” kind of person, and not curing your kid of a debilitating genetic defect if you can is one of those bad decisions.

“SMART DIPLOMACY” UPDATE: Bloomberg: Putin Overwhelms Obama at the Sulky Summit. I love the shirtless Putin photo. I really appreciate those, as they make me feel ripped.

KAY HYMOWITZ: Do Women Really Want Equality? “This hints at the problem with the equality-by-the-numbers approach: it presumes women want absolute parity in all things measurable, and that the average woman wants to work as many hours as the average man, that they want to be CEOs, heads of state, surgeons and Cabinet heads just as much as men do. But a consistent majority of women, including those working full time, say they would prefer to work part time or not at all; among men, the number is 19%. And they’re not just talking; in actual practice, 27% of working women are on the job only part time, compared with 11% of men.”

YOU CAN HELP Fight Censorship and Intolerance On Campus.

FORWARD! Could The Creepy Orwellian Vibe At MSNBC Possibly Get Any Creepier? “I was tempted to write an entire post explaining how MSNBC has maneuvered itself into its current bizarre predicament as The Bomb Syria Now Network. I Watch MSNBC So You Don’t Have To™ and I can report that it’s Crazyville over there nowadays. Viewers must find themselve’s waxing nostalgic for the calm and reasoned voice of Keith Olbermann.”

BOOTS OFF THE GROUND: America’s Workforce Loses Another 300,000 People.

WAPO WONKBLOG: Ignore the headlines. This was a very bad jobs report. How’s that hopey-changey stuff workin’ out for ya? “In almost all the particulars, you can find signs that this job market is weaker than it appeared just a few months ago, and maybe getting worse.”

IN THEIR OWN WORDS, how divorce impacts children.

JONAH GOLDBERG: Clear-Cut Stupidity On Syria: Everyone’s on the hook for Obama’s “red line” comments. Except Obama. “Obama doesn’t believe he needs authorization from Congress to strike Syria, he just wants it. He’s like a kid desperate for a prom date, but too vain to admit it. In Libya, Obama had the U.N. and NATO on each arm, so he didn’t bother with asking the dog on Capitol Hill for a date. But now, faced with the prospect of going it alone, he’s in effect telling Congress, ‘Hey, it’s not like I need your company, but you’d be crazy not to go to war with me.'”