PUNCHING BACK: Police use pepper spray on union thugs protesting Michigan right-to-work law.

JOHN LOTT: Bob Costas can't shoot straight when it comes to guns. I would only add that my concealed-carry instructor is a police officer. Further, he emails regularly to remind me to continue my training and improve my shooting skills.

SAVE MONEY; put public employees to work. "Private employees spend around an extra month working each year compared with public employees. If the public sector worked that additional month, governments could theoretically save around $130 billion in annual labor costs without reducing services."

A LOOK at how measurement—or, more particularly, mismeasurement—fueled Christopher Columbus’ conviction that he could reach the Indies by sailing west across the Atlantic.

OOPS! wrong side.

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'. Lock your doors and load your guns; we can't afford police any more.

SUPPORT THE SALVATION ARMY. I have; for over 20 years.

WWII VETERAN remembers 'date which will live in infamy'.

ALL IS NOT WHAT IT SEEMS:

The Bush tax cuts increased government revenue.

ACCORDING TO PLAN: Iraqi terrorist bombs Arizona Social Security office, Daily Kos declares it a right-wing extremist act (it's Arizona, right?), law enforcement investigates as 'workplace violence', and media is silent.

WHAT'S THE EPA SMOKING? Whatever it is, it's a lot more dangerous than cigarettes.

SARAH PALIN: Tim Scott would be a 'great choice' to replace South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, who is leaving to head the Heritage Foundation.

SAVING THE PLANET? Or protecting power grabs and cash cows?

MORE THOUGHTS: Pearl Harbor in Perspective.

DAY OF INFAMY: Pearl Harbor occurred 71 years ago today. Based on recent events, I have to wonder if the Obama administration isn't encouraging another 'day of infamy' from the Mideast.

ANN COULTER: Let the Democrats raise taxes on the wealthy. Sean Hannity nearly went apoplectic, but Ann's right: let the Democrats have two years to prove their tax increases don't work, then take back the Senate in 2014 and the White House in 2016.

Dr. Milton Wolf agrees.

BADLY DINGED: Grail probes show moon 'more broken up' than previously thought.

RANDOM THOUGHTS from the retirement lane: Thanks to government nannies, when the big snow and power outages come this winter, I'll be able to safely freeze in the dark.

With the forecast for a colder, snowier winter ahead, I've put in a wood stove insert in my fireplace and now have an emergency power generator ready to go in the basement so that theoretically I can remain warm, lighted, in touch, and clean (we have an electric well pump) when the power goes out and the driveway becomes impassible.

I gave a fair amount of thought to buying a propane generator, but our house is all-electric and the thought of storing propane canisters indefinitely gave me pause, so knowing that I have two 18-gallon gas cans (i.e., cars) in the garage, I decided on a gasoline-powered generator, siphon pump and hose, and a 5-gallon gas can.

Except that ...

Thanks to those friendly government safety nannies alluded to above, both cars appear to have anti-siphon devices in the filler tubes and the 5-gallon gas can has an anti-spill nozzle that is wholly incompatible with the filler port on the generator.

So ...

While no thief can steal gasoline from my cars while they are parked in my (locked) garage, and while I can't burn my house down by spilling gasoline outside refilling the generator, I can safely freeze in my cold, dark house.