WHEN YOU’RE 80, You’ll Want To Live Like Stirling Moss.

THREE UNANSWERED questions about our Moon.

UH OH: The Volt: G.M.’s Electric Lemon. “So the future of General Motors (and the $50 billion taxpayer investment in it) now depends on a vehicle that costs $41,000 but offers the performance and interior space of a $15,000 economy car.” Whether it’s good or not, as a taxpayer, you’ve already bought it!

AIRBRUSHING: Who Got to Chris Matthews?: ‘Hardball’ Defense of Breitbart Memory-Holed. The first instinct is Stalinist, again. . . .

IN THE MAIL: From Lawrence Kane, Blinded by the Night.

UH OH: Did The Government Cause The Gulf Oil Spill? “A new report by the Center for Public Integrity, based on testimony from people on scene and Coast Guard logs, contains evidence that the platform sunk because of a botched response from the Coast Guard, which failed to coordinate firefighting efforts and to have the proper resources to fight the fire.”

The White House isn’t talking about this.

TAXPROF: A Rangel Ethics Reader.

THIRD HOUSE DEMOCRAT CALLS FOR RANGEL TO RESIGN. “It’s not quite a chorus, but it’s become at least a three-part harmony. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) joined Betty Sutton (D-OH) and Walt Minnick (D-ID) in demanding that Charlie Rangel resign from office in disgrace. Murphy’s statement came after the House Ethics Committee produced 13 charges of unethical behavior by the New York Democrat and former Ways and Means chair.”

WHY HE WENT ON “THE VIEW:” Obama Losing Ground With Women. “Mr. Obama averaged a 59% approval rating among women in 2009, but seven months into 2010, that’s dipped 14 points to just 45%.”

MAX BOOT: Impact of past defense cuts should warn of risks. “If there were ever evidence that it’s impossible to learn from history — or at least that it’s difficult for politicians to do so — this is it. Before they rush to cut defense spending, lawmakers should consider the consequences of previous attempts to cash in on a ‘peace dividend.’” If you want peace, prepare for war.

SO MUCH FOR “GEORGIA OVERDRIVE:” Coasting in Neutral Does Not Save Gas. “Coasting downhill in neutral consumes less fuel than in gear, right? Wrong. Coasting in neutral is dangerous and it burns up more fuel. Here’s why.”

AMAZON ROLLS OUT THE NEW KINDLE. I still like the Kindle app on my iPhone.

RAND SIMBERG: The Space Policy Battle Continues. Follow the link to see what you can do.

PJTV: The World’s Funniest Klavan On The Culture Bloopers.

TIM PAWLENTY’S FIRST Presidential Campaign Ad.

A JOURNOLISTA WONDERS: Was It All For Nothing?

RANGEL CONSTITUENT: “Wrong Is Wrong No Matter Who It Is.”

TIM CARNEY: Calling bull on Biden’s pretend war against ‘corporate interests’.

TIME: The BP Spill: Has the Damage Been Exaggerated? “Yes, the spill killed birds — but so far, less than 1% of the number killed by the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska 21 years ago. Yes, we’ve heard horror stories about oiled dolphins — but so far, wildlife-response teams have collected only three visibly oiled carcasses of mammals. Yes, the spill prompted harsh restrictions on fishing and shrimping, but so far, the region’s fish and shrimp have tested clean, and the restrictions are gradually being lifted. And yes, scientists have warned that the oil could accelerate the destruction of Louisiana’s disintegrating coastal marshes — a real slow-motion ecological calamity — but so far, assessment teams have found only about 350 acres of oiled marshes, when Louisiana was already losing about 15,000 acres of wetlands every year.”

DAVE KOPEL: Human Events’ Ridiculous “Obama The Muslim” Article.

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY: Hillary Clinton still begging supporters to retire campaign debt as Clintons spend $3-$5 million on daughter’s wedding.

WHY DO EMPLOYERS use FICO scores.

NOSTALGIA for Muzak?

RAND SIMBERG: Saving Suborbital: Will Congress Kill NASA’s Reusable Space Program?

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN WE’D SEE . . . Oh, hell, what’s the point? Feds want to let FBI access people’s Internet data without probable cause. Well, they were right!

POLL: Support For Mexican Border Fence Up To 68%. “Support for the fence is strong across all demographic groups. But while 76% of Mainstream voters think the United States should continue to build the fence, 67% of the Political Class are opposed to it.”

ADVICE ON DEALING WITH NAZIS from Woody Allen.

PETER SUDERMAN ON E.J. DIONNE: Wouldn’t It Be Easier If We All Just Agreed that the Stimulus Worked? “Let me correct this: On the contrary, studies alleging to show that the stimulus created or saved up to 3 million jobs are based on scant real-world evidence, and, in the case of the Congressional Budget Office’s reports, are explicitly acknowledged not to serve as independent checks on or measurements of the actual results of the program.”

D.C. SNIPER HAD coconspirators?

PROGRESS: Nanotech-based Electronic Noses Getting Smaller.

WISCONSIN: Feingold falls behind?

HOW TO DRIVE for fuel economy.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR the boy who harnessed the wind?

PJTV: Stephen Kruiser talks with Republican Mike Pence On Taking Back The House in November.

SILENCE OF the sheep.

THE IMPORTANCE OF APEX PREDATORS: What would happen if sharks disappeared?

UPDATE: Reader Rosie Moore writes:

I couldn’t help thinking, while watching the clip, of an analogy with the “economic ecosystem”. Many of the statements made about overfishing of sharks can be applied to the Fed’s punitive actions on the “predators” of the economy. Call the “makers” (entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, etc.) the “predators” and call the “takers” (those on gov’t entitlement programs) the “prey”. This Fed passes measures that discourage the “makers” from doing what they do well (for which, yes, they are sometimes paid obscenely) – invent new technology or drugs, create wealth (in the form of shareholder value), add jobs, supply competitors with incentive to be stronger, etc. – in the form of “sunsetting tax cuts”, handcuffs of new health care legislation, higher costs of securities and regulatory compliance, etc. So the “predators” are getting overfished – and we won’t know the final effect on the total “economic ecosystem” for a while, but you can bet it will strengthen the meek, the bunnies and deer, and be bad for the overall functioning of our free market system.

And to close the loop with the link – it will cost us plenty of clams!

I’m pretty sure the predator/prey relationship goes the other way . . . .

MATTERA V. RANGEL headed for trial.

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED REPUBLICAN, WE’D HAVE A PRESIDENT WHO CALLED BLACK AMERICANS “A MONGREL PEOPLE.” And they were right! President Obama calls African-Americans a ‘mongrel people’. “Obama did not appear to be making an inflammatory remark with his statement and the audience appeared to receive it in the light-hearted manner that often accompanies interviews on morning talk shows.” Well, sure. It’s only racist if a Republican says this kind of thing.

But actually, I think Obama’s just channeling Bill Murray’s “mutts” speech in Stripes. Which is a great speech!

NEO-NEOCON: Does It Make Me Look Fat?

Plus, some thoughts from the Insta-Wife.

And whatever you do, don’t base your body image on the words of an “Equalities Minister.”

DRAINING THE SWAMP: Ethics panel brings 13 counts against embattled Rep. Rangel.

OLD, BUT STILL CAPABLE: Aging Odyssey Orbiter Creates Most Detailed Map of Martian Surface.

VIA RAND SIMBERG: Your Help Urgently Needed to Save the Future of Human Spaceflight.

PANTS: Markdowns on men’s Dockers and Levi’s.

REASON TV: On The Set of Atlas Shrugged — 53 Years In The Making.

JOHN PODESTA, UFO Guy. Hey, he probably knows something.

FASTER, PLEASE: Speeding Up Diagnosis Of Infectious Disease.

MICHAEL S. MALONE: A Gathering Of Eagles.

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY? Enterprise Rent-A-Car to offer Nissan Leaf rentals early next year.

IN THE MAIL: The World for Ransom: Piracy Is Terrorism, Terrorism Is Piracy.

JOHN LEO: Yes, Elite Colleges Are Biased Against Poor Whites.

SHIKHA DALMIA: The Death Of The Global Warming Movement?

DAILY CALLER: Political operatives on Journolist worked to shape news coverage. “Despite its name, membership in the liberal online community Journolist wasn’t limited to journalists. Present among the bloggers, reporters and editors were a number of professional political operatives, including top White House economic advisors, key Obama political appointees, and Democratic campaign veterans. Some left government to join Journolist. Others took the opposite route. A few contributed to Journolist from their perches in politics. At times, it became difficult to tell who was supposed to be covering policy and who was trying to make it.”

UPDATE: The Purpose Of Journalism?

THE PARTY OF THE LITTLE GUY: Chelsea Clinton’s $2M Wedding. “The rehearsal dinner is reportedly taking place at the nearby Grasmere, a 525-acre estate boasting a Federal-period manor house with formal gardens, stucco guest cottages and a large stone barn complex. Another area manse rumored to be serving the family over the weekend will be Glenburn, where the Clintons are said to be staying over the weekend. Glenburn is the Rhinebeck home of Eric and Andrea Colombel. Andrea Colombel is the daughter of billionaire financier and longtime Clinton supporter George Soros.”

IMMIGRATION: “Helplessness and anarchy.” “States have been left helpless to deal with the anarchy created by the failure of the federal government to enforce border security. Whereas yesterday it was unclear how far states (such as Rhode Island) could go, today states are powerless. The inability of a state to implement a policy of checking the immigration status even of people already under arrest for some other crime is remarkable.”

“STEP AWAY FROM THE CAMERA!” More on the war against photography.

THE WORLD’S FASTEST human beer opener.

TUNKU VARADARAJAN: The Hubristic Fraud Behind WikiLeaks.

DAN MILLER ON THE ARIZONA IMMIGRATION DECISION.

VIRGINIA POSTREL: The Chinese can’t figure out why we don’t love their World’s Fair. They’ll learn.

SEE HOW WHAT CONGRESS DOES WILL AFFECT YOUR INCOME TAXES.

ENTERTAINING IN THE 21ST CENTURY: Set Up a Simple Recharging Station for Guests.

CHEVY VOLT UPDATE: Great news: New electric car costs only slightly more than average annual per capita income.

INCUMBENTS as a special interest group. The specialest. And the most interested. . . .

THE PERILS OF error reduction.

AT AMAZON, it’s the Summer Kitchen Sale.

JOHN NOLTE: JournoList, Shame of a Nation: Politico & Roger Simon Have Some ‘Splaining to Do. Note that he means the other Roger Simon.

JOHN MCWHORTER: Back in the day, African-American kids didn’t think it was a crime to be young, gifted and black.

WELL, OKAY, I’D RATHER BE AT THE BEACH, but the Maker Faire this weekend in Detroit is sure to be cool, too.

IN 1910, POPULAR MECHANICS INTRODUCES A REVOLUTIONARY IDEA: Shoulder pads for football players.

A FACEBOOK MALWARE WARNING FROM RAND SIMBERG: “If you get a Facebook message from me or anyone saying that I liked ‘Girls Are Unable to Stare at This for 10 Seconds, but Guys Can…,’ it’s some kind of scam. Don’t follow it.”

NO, THERE’S NO “INSTAVISION” TODAY, as I’m taking a couple of weeks off. But there are lots of other great shows on PJTV this week. Check ‘em out!

SCOTT JOHNSON: “Reading the scholarly work of Woodrow Wilson is an educational experience. It is shocking to read the expressions of his disaffection for the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.”

CHINA IS PLANNING a large heavy-lift rocket.

EVERY BLACK HOLE may hold a hidden universe.

ANDREW KLAVAN: From Book Publishers to the Media: The Left’s Crusade to End Debate.

OH, GOODY: An Order of Seven Global Cyber-Guardians Now Hold Keys to the Internet. Sounding too much like John Ringo’s Council Wars for my taste. . . .

CAR LUST: The Graham “Sharknose.”

ARIZONA LAW UPHELD IN PART, BLOCKED IN PART: More from Prof. Jacobson.

REASON TV: Protest in Bell, California: Residents Have Had Enough Of Overpaid Civil “Servants.” “They are robbing the city blind. . . . We have a very predatory government.”

TRANSPARENCY! SEC Says New Financial Regulation Law Exempts it From Public Disclosure. “Under a little-noticed provision of the recently passed financial-reform legislation, the Securities and Exchange Commission no longer has to comply with virtually all requests for information releases from the public, including those filed under the Freedom of Information Act.”

AUTO PROPHET: THE CHEVY VOLT MATH DOESN’T WORK OUT VERY WELL. Yeah, but there are two points here. One is that if you’re an early adopter, there are reasons other than gas-savings payoffs to consider. The other is that if you’re really pessimistic about the future, a car that’s less dependent on gasoline looks better . . . .

On the other hand, reader G.L. Carlson writes:

I’ve been making consumer products for 4 decades. My most expensive failures have been those with an environmental advantage and a price disadvantage.

Consumers as a group will not pay extra for environmental goodness. A small following will, out of conviction or guilt- but the bulk of the market won’t do it. The price of an environmentally attractive option must not significantly exceed that of the conventional choice.

The Volt will be an expensive, predictable failure.

Well, we’ll see. And thanks to the GM bailout, they’re gambling with your money whether you buy a Volt or not.

TIM DANIELS: Barney Frank’s one dollar fare conundrum and the ruling class. “The ruling class disease of entrenched hubris and elitism has echoed the halls of the United States Congress for far too long and is the cause for many of the ills that we face now as a nation.”

JUSTICE: DoJ stalling on protecting voting rights of military?

UPDATE: Related: Military voters soon to be disenfranchised – again: Panther prejudice not the only problem at Justice.

NOT A BIG SURPRISE: Late Sunset Delays Teen Sleep.

SHOCKER: Unexpected Drop in Durable Goods. The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that demand for durable goods from American factories fell 1 percent in June. Excluding the volatile transportation sector, new orders decreased 0.6 percent. The report comes on heels of Tuesday’s latest take on consumer confidence, which dropped sharply in July.” Darn these constantly repeating unexpected events!

CONGRESS BLOWS IT: Commercial Spaceflight, We Have A Problem. Congress will always choose short-term pork over long-term development unless there’s strong Presidential leadership. But while the Obama space policy is good, the White House hasn’t provided the kind of legislative push it takes to make it work. Without strong leadership, a good policy will always lose out to pork.

AS LONG AS IT’S NOT ICE IX: Artificially controlling water condensation leads to ‘room-temperature ice’.

ADVANTAGES OF the risky hire.

IN THE MAIL: From Jessica Stern, Denial: A Memoir of Terror.

TAXPROF: More on the ABA’s Proposal to Dilute Law Faculty Tenure.

WASHINGTON EXAMINER: “Hysteria over Shirley Sherrod last week unfortunately overshadowed a sensible, courageous and long overdue analysis of racial politics by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.”

BRUNO BEHREND: Swapping a VAT for failing income tax is good policy. So much for the “devil you know” theory.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE NEWS: Will NYC’s College Building Boom Bubble Pop? “New York’s universities have grand expansion plans, but could the economy–and online courses–doom them to failure before they’ve even begun?”

SHOCKER: Serious Journalists Feel Betrayed By Klein’s JournoList, But Do Nothing About It.

WELL, THIS SHOULD OVERCOME ALL THE CLAIMS THAT HE’S A CORRUPT TOOL OF LOBBYISTS: K Street goes to the defense of Charlie Rangel.

Related: Report: Meeting on ethics charges involving Rangel’s lawyers may have been, er, unethical.

COMPLIANCE WITH THE LAW, LIKE TAXES, IS FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE: IRS Continues to Use ‘Tax Protester’ Label Despite Congressional Prohibition.

LOOKING FOR OPTIMISTS? Try the folks who project California pensions’ rates of returns.

WHAT MEN WANT.

FROM AMAZON, new releases on DVD and Blu-Ray.

THE ESTATE TAX: Can George Steinbrenner Change The Debate?