OBAMA’S Moscow Retreat.

WHAT CALIFORNIA STATE WORKERS think of the taxpayers.

BLOOMBERG: Democrats Split on Stimulus as Job Losses Mount, Deficit Soars. Well, the whole deficit-soaring thing is no surprise. But who knew that shoveling out cash to cronies wouldn’t prevent unemployment from mushrooming? Plus this: “The Treasury is increasing debt sales to pay for the spending. After more than doubling note and bond offerings to $963 billion in the first half, another $1.1 trillion may be sold by year-end, according to Barclays Plc. The second-half sales would be more than the total amount of debt sold in all of 2008.”

IN THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, Katherine Mangu-Ward and I talk about Sarah Palin.

IOWAHAWK: Fans Flock to Mourn California, 1849-2009.

DETROIT, CALIFORNIA, AND NOW THE WHOLE U.S.? Beware the Economic Doomsday Machine! With bonus Star Trek video.

UPDATE: Locusts.

MORE LISTS: Best 2009 Albums You (Probably) Haven’t Heard, but Should.

Plus, Best Americana Music of the Year… So Far. The latter reminds me that the Nebraska Guitar Militia really needs to put out another album.

NANOTECH UPDATE: A new solar-cell design could cut costs and is suitable for large-scale flexible panels.

TIME-LAPSE VIDEO of a 1990 mall. I’d really like to see time-lapse, on a scale of years, for my local mall, say from when it opened to now. I have a couple of photos from the 1970s and my daughter can’t believe it’s the same place.

FOUR NEXT-GENERATION MEDICAL TREATMENTS. Faster, please.

A LIST: The Best Books of the Year, So Far.

CHRISTINA HOFF SOMMERS: The “Mancession” is Upon Us.

SILICON GRAFFITI: Ed Driscoll posts video from the July 5th Tea Party protest in San Jose, where about a thousand folks turned out.

THE BIG PUBLIC-PENSION SQUEEZE.

TURKISH STUDENTS CREATE Hydrogen-Powered 1300-MPG Car.

LET’S HOPE: Incandescent Bulbs to Close Efficiency Gap with Fluorescents?

TAXPROF: Does Judge Sotomayor Have A Tax Problem?

UPDATE: Related item here.

GORDON CHANG: What the riots in China really mean.

UPDATE: Angry Chinese Mob Turns on ABC Reporters, Crew.

THE FEYNMAN PATH to nanotechnology.

AN OPTICAL TRANSISTOR made from a single molecule.

IT’S OKAY TO QUESTION your patriotism!

THEY WATCH YOU. THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO WATCH THEM. Police chief denounces ‘cowardly’ iPhone users monitoring speed traps.

MORE ON THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL SCANDALS. “Notes from a contentious meeting of the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service are sure to raise more questions on Capitol Hill about whether the firing of Inspector General Gerald Walpin was rooted more in the agency’s desire to get him off its back than legitimate concerns about his ability to perform his official duties.”

TODD ZYWICKI: Treat Borrowers Like Adults: The problems with a financial products safety panel..

VOLKSWAGEN ROUTANS RECALLED because their owner’s manuals don’t include a required warning not to put items on or near the airbag. Good grief. But the best line is from the comments: “I just purchased a Routan. I really like it. My friends tell me it’s a Chrysler. I firmly say ‘No!’ to them. I proudly point to my Routan and announce that it’s an American engineered German branded Fiat, manufactured in Canada, using some Japanese parts, by a company that is majority owned by American taxpayers. They stare.”