ANOTHER CATASTROPHIC FAILURE OF GUN CONTROL. Follow the links.

BONEHEAD STUPID. I saw this at a payment window recently.

If your check is dishonored or returned for any reason we will electronically debit your account for the amount of the check plus a processing fee of $35.00.

Uh, yes. If your check bounces, we'll add $35 to it and electronically send it to the same bank that refused it the first time.

WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, go fly a kite.

PEGGY NOONAN: Out of the Way, Please, Mr. President. The President might not have been smart enough to take Noonan's advise, but Speaker John Boehner was: "I have decided to end discussions with the White House and begin conversations with the leades of the Senate in an effort to find a path forward."

LAME DUCK PRESIDENT: 2012 can't come soon enough.

"AS NASA RETREATS from an ambitious human spaceflight program for the foreseeable future, foreign countries are moving ahead with their own multibillion-dollar plans to go to the moon, build space stations and even take the long voyage to Mars." I will not be surprised to see a significant number of space workers expatriate to countries with active space programs.

ON THE DEBT: reality and repercussions. Read it all, particularly reader Michael McFatter's comments, with which I tend to agree. Speaking broadly, those of the liberal progressive persuasion seem to genuinely believe that money comes from ATMs and electricity from wall outlets. That it is not so is completely beyond their comprehension.

YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORK: FAA Orders Pilot to Give Himself Surprise Drug Tests.

Does the government over-regulate much? A helicopter pilot who runs his own one-pilot charter company has been ordered by the FAA to adopt a random drug testing program, with the same requirements as major airlines. In other words, "I'm responsible for periodically surprising myself with a random drug test," says Philip Greenspun, the only official "safety sensitive" employee in his small company.

Recently, Greenspun wrote to Cato-at-Liberty.org, elaborating on how an FAA inspector took a look at his company's drug testing policy, and found it wanting. In order to comply with government regulations, as an employer Greenspun must undergo training that would enable him to recognize when an employee is on drugs, presumably so he can bust himself.

As an employee, he needs to take another training course so that he'll know about the many ways his employer can surprise him with a random drug test. "So really I'm learning about how I might trap myself," he says.

Doesn't the FAA have anything more important to do than regulate drug testing at a one-man show? Apparently not. Greenspun reports that about five minutes after the FAA inspector left, he received a call, from none other than the FAA, wanting to schedule an audit of his drug testing program. At least he won't have a problem rallying his staff.

From my email.

FAA HAS PARTIAL SHUTDOWN. Nobody notices.

From the comments: "Think of it as a defunding test case and an exercise in prioritizing funds expenditures so that the money available is effectively spent rather than spread around in a thick layer, like [the] wastrels usually do."

A PROLIFERATION of robot babies.

THE END OF AN ERA: Atlantis reentry, captured from the International Space Station.

BERNIE MARCUS: Obama Is Choking Recovery.

JONAH GOLDBERG: The Terminology of Taxation.

AFTER YESTERDAY'S performance by the President, Speaker Boehner was right. It's time to take the keys back.


The cartoon is here.

WHY OBAMACARE MUST BE REPEALED: It Should All Be Free.