MORE THOUGHTS ON living well for less.

I HOPE IT WORKS: Chinese say they’re building “impossible” space drive. Reactionless thrusters are cool. But will it work?

Whether it does or not, though, the Chinese are showing a penchant for expansion and risk-taking in these areas that we might want to emulate.

SO HOW PRIMITIVE COULD THEY HAVE BEEN? Sushi-eating Neanderthals.

HOW TO BLOW A SCOOP: “Did politics blind the national press on the Palin hacking story?”

In a word, yes.

WILL OPEN SOURCE METHODOLOGY work for nanotechnology?

IS BARACK OBAMA LACKING IN AUTHENTICITY? (Via Bob Owens).

EXONERATED HADITHA MARINE suing Rep. John Murtha. “One of the Marines cleared in the killings of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha plans to sue his congressman today for statements he says defamed him and other members of his squad.”

REVIEWING THE 2009 AUDI A4 QUATTRO 3.2. Some people think the A4 looks kind of angry.

THE 2008 MACARTHUR “GENIUS” AWARDS announced.

UPDATE: Disappointment.

I AGREE: “Mankind’s very survival depends on the future exploration of space, said NASA chief Michael Griffin in an interview with AFP marking the 50th anniversary of the US space agency.” Which is why I’m a little impatient with the progress to date.

I HAD MISSED THIS GALLERY OF HURRICANE IKE PHOTOS from last week. Thanks to reader Joseph Gautier for sending the link.

WOW, GREAT SET OF ANTIBODIES ON THAT ONE: New research says our immune systems dictate attraction. I was always more of a leukocyte man myself.

GOOD: Ford to bring six fuel-efficient European models stateside. I think they’ll find a market.

POPULAR MECHANICS: 5 Ways Google’s Android Beats the iPhone… And 5 Ways It Doesn’t. Unlike the iPhone you can cut-and-paste, which means it may work as a blogging tool.

JOHN ALTHOUSE COHEN FOLLOWS UP on his “how Obama lost me” post, here and here.

TV WEBCASTS AND AN INTERNET CAFE, all from Market Square in Knoxville.

RICHARD EPSTEIN on the financial mess:

One bad regulatory turn leads to another, and lo, the bailouts come thick and fast. At the nth hour, wise heads often rightly conclude that some desperate measure has to be taken to prevent the financial disintegration brought on by, well, prior government regulation. Those bailouts, of course, come from the hides of taxpayers who borrowed prudently. The entire system subsidizes destructive behavior, which means that we will get more destructive behavior in the future. We might as well sell flood insurance at bargain prices in Galveston, Texas, and New Orleans.

The moral of this story is that bad regulation metastasizes. Short term heroics are no substitute for dispassionate deregulation, which won’t happen so long as our political leaders are fixated on greed. Taking steps to prevent financial meltdowns is more likely to hasten their unwelcome arrival, so says the libertarian.

Read the whole thing. (Via Tom Smith).

LAW SCHOOLS BOOSTING THEIR U.S. NEWS RANKINGS by ditching the LSAT?

T. BOONE PICKENS WILL BE PLEASED: Toyota gets interested in natural-gas-powered cars. Cool picture here.

Plus, reviving the RAV4-EV. People seem to like ’em.

MICHAEL SILENCE on why teachers should be using blogs. “All of them represent a relatively new style of writing. Anecdotal is out. Concise clarity is in. In these days of the Internet Attention Span, if you don’t get me in one sentence – two tops – then I’m gone. It’s safe to say George Will would not be on my aggregator. (Newpapers: hint).”

IN THE MAIL: Home Girl: Building a Dream House on a Lawless Block.

SUN-TIMES: Obama state earmark being probed. “A $100,000 state grant for a botanic garden in Englewood that then-state Sen. Barack Obama awarded in 2001 to a group headed by a onetime campaign volunteer is now under investigation by the Illinois attorney general amid new questions, prompted by Chicago Sun-Times reports, about whether the money might have been misspent. The garden was never built. And now state records obtained by the Sun-Times show $65,000 of the grant money went to the wife of Kenny B. Smith, the Obama 2000 congressional campaign volunteer who heads the Chicago Better Housing Association, which was in charge of the project for the blighted South Side neighborhood.”

INSTA-POLL:

UPDATE: Bill Clinton is going with option 1. “McCain’s acting in good faith in pulling out of the debate, says Clinton.” Plus this: “We know he didn’t do it because he was afraid, since Senator McCain wanted more debates.” McCain’s lucky to have such a supporter.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Did McCain answer a 3 A.M. call from Paulson?

OBAMA AND BILL AYERS: The Annenberg Files reveal a close working relationship between the presidential candidate and the former terrorist.

IS SAYING “IF YOU DON’T HAVE SEX WITH ME, I’LL LEAVE YOU” tantamount to rape? Only if you’re an idiot. Which means, for some people, the answer is “yes.”