LOOKING FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT TO LEAVE UNDER THE TREE? How about a Bureaucrash t-shirt? My “Enjoy Capitalism” shirt always gets a second look.

ANTI-SEMITISM IN AMERICA: Does Helen Thomas Have Blood On Her Hands? “Helen Thomas belongs to the Sirhan Sirhan wing of the Democrat Party, and it is high time we begin to speak frankly about how far and how deep this dangerous radicalism has spread.”

THE BELMONT CLUB’S RICHARD FERNANDEZ HAS A NEW NOVEL OUT: No Way In: Freedom is the greatest addiction of all.

It’s also on Kindle. I just ordered a copy.

MORE THOUGHTS ON the college debt bubble.

A MINI ICE-AGE?

MCCAIN BAITS THE HOOK, and it’s bitten.

OOPS: Russian Satellites Fall Into Pacific.

TOBY BUCKELL: How I lost 30 pounds while eating a donut every day. Donuts. Is there anything they can’t do?

PUBLIC PENSIONS and your right to know. “Estimates of the problem’s true size vary, because the governments with the biggest shortfalls often try to conceal their dire circumstances. In jurisdictions across America, pension funds attribute unrealistic values to investments and assume unrealistic rates of return. They protect themselves with exemptions from freedom of information laws, or even withhold information despite those laws.”

TEN REPUBLICANS duck out on tax vote.

ED MORRISSEY: Do We Need A “Repeal Amendment?”

OH, GOODY: You’ve Met Government Motors. Now Meet Government Computers.

HEADSHOTS AND taking zombie anatomy seriously.

Related: List: Zombie Apocalypse Survival Supplies. Note that the Committee on American-Zombie Relations condemns these sorts of stories as “zombiephobic.”

SOME OF THIS WEEK’S food news.

HOW TO PRINT TO ANY PRINTER FROM YOUR IPAD OR IPHONE.

FROM BITS TO ATOMS: Delivering Freight Through A Series Of Tubes. A hundred years ago, there were vacuum-pipe networks within cities. Back to the future!

SOME RECOMMENDED gifts for teenagers.

SOLVING the Stop Sign Mystery.

A FICTIONAL STORY OF a Flash Mob gone terribly wrong.

DON’T OVERSHOOT THE OPTIMAL SUGAR-CAFFEINE DOSAGE.