L.A. TIMES: Americans’ faith in Obama fading: Poll. “The new Post/ABC News poll of 1,001 Americans between Aug. 13-17 shows that only 49% now believe Obama will make the right decisions for the country. That’s down from 60% at the 100-day mark of his presidency.”

DEBACLE, DISCONTINUED: Obama admin. to end cash for clunkers on Monday. Smart move — people were starting to wonder why they could handle healthcare when they can’t even deal with used cars.

Plus, from Dan Riehl: “The announcement of the end of the Cash for Clunkers program combines that special type of honesty you can only get when government and the media both join in.” Otherwise known as dishonesty, of course. . . .

BUT AT LEAST HE’S NOT A “CHRISTIANIST:” Obama would like you to see government as religion. “Bearing false witness? Breaking the 9th Commandment? So his opponents are sinners. I’m trying to imagine the separation-of-church-and-state freakout if George Bush had taken this approach to arguing for one of his policies.”

UH OH: Mounting joblessness fuels US housing crisis.

Plus, What rebound? Foreclosures rise as jobs and income drop.

IS THE IVY LEAGUE COLLEGE BUBBLE going bust?

THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE BROWNSHIRT MENACE: Well, his shirt was white.

Plus, from Damon Root, The long, sordid tale of anti-black brutality on the American left. With some history lessons for Chip Berlet and Josh Marshall.

I’VE LOVED MY PANASONIC LX-3, for its fast, wide lens, low-light capability, and excellent color resolution — even though it’s not tops in megapixels. Now Canon is taking a similar approach with the Powershot G11 and the S90. This seems right to me: “Low-light quality is more important to the average user than absolute resolution under the best conditions, even if they don’t know it. Most of life happens under poor photographic conditions, and pocket cameras are made to capture all aspects.” Both cameras support RAW mode, too.

GERARD VAN DER LEUN ANNOUNCES the official artist of the CRF.

HONESTY ABOUT THE STIMULUS: “No one has the faintest idea what effect the stimulus has had.”

UPDATE: A hedge-fund reader emails:

“No one has the faintest idea what effect the stimulus has had.”

That’s not entirely true. In the bond and currency markets, the effect of elephantine borrowing is well-understood. A fiscally weakened America is the baked-in-the-cake default assumption of big finance players, from the hedge fund titans to the sovereign wealth funds of Asia and the Middle East.

The lack of Main Street impact is on the front pages. The corrosive longer term effect preoccupies the capital markets.

Uh oh.

FLYING CARS: Arguments pro and con.

YOUR INSTAGUIDE TO ALL THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION’S CZARS. Which is rather a lot of them.

THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES TRUCK: Its surprising history.

U.S. LIFE EXPECTANCY IS up to a record 77.9 years. “We are making gains against some of the big diseases such as cancer and heart disease.” But there’s also this: “Conventional drugs and diet can only take us so far. What we need for bigger steps toward longer lives: Rejuvenation therapies. We need stem cells, gene therapies, immune therapies that remove accumulated junk, and nanodevices that do repairs. When do these therapies start hitting clinics and hospitals in substantial numbers? Hard to say. But experiments on animals with some of these therapies make me think most of us will live to see these therapies hit the mainstream.” Let’s hope. Faster, please.

STEVE CHAPMAN: An Odd Silence on Gay Marriage.

SEXISM IN OUR TIME: “‘People see a naked woman and they smile,’ he said. ‘They see a penis and they freak out.'”

UPDATE: Sigh. “This isn’t really a difficult question, is it? After decades of demonization of male sexuality by the feminist movement, a penis is considered practically an assault weapon. It’s a rape waiting to happen.”

GRAPHIC-NOVEL VOTING GUIDES for the Afghan elections.

NEW MOSQUITO REPELLENTS that are better than DEET.

THIS IS YOUR BRAIN on Neurotechnology. An Interview with Zack Lynch, author of The Neuro Revolution.

BOOSTING HYBRIDS’ EFFICIENCY with ultracapacitors.

CHEVY VOLT’S 230MPG CLAIM comes under fire.

IN THE MAIL: From Esther Friesner, Witch Way To The Mall.

THEY CAN’T HANDLE THIS, BUT THEY’LL HANDLE HEALTHCARE? Dealers stiffed as clunkers pile up. “Some New Mexico auto dealers have backed out of the cash-for-clunkers program and more may do so as the federal government takes its time providing cash reimbursements. Dealers across the state are owed more than $3.6 million, according to a dealers’ group which says that so far Uncle Sam has only written three checks totaling about $14,000.”

(Emphasis added). They promised FedEx, but they’re delivering the Post Office. . . .

BOINGBOING TV: The final segment on The Mighty Boosh.

MICHELLE MALKIN EMAILS that her book Culture of Corruption will be #1 on the New York Times bestseller list for third week. I interviewed her about that book here.

FROM C-SPAN: Barney Frank Town Hall video.