COMING FROM NASA: Inflatable Space Stations, In-Orbit Refueling, Space UAVs and More.

UPDATE: Reader Richard Cox writes:

We’re about to become a less wealthy version of the Philippines…NASA can dream all it wants (though, it’s clear from Obama, that he could care less what they dream about), but after the first year of the Obama administration, I’m pretty sure we’ll do well to afford public sewage systems. I love the optimism behind these posts…but seriously. We have a generation of hard times ahead of us, even if we get rid of this monstrous political class we now have. I used to dream of going to space. Since Obama took over, I dream of not dying of consumption in a state run hospital when I’m 60.

Our current “monstrous” political class will pass. Sooner, rather than later, I suspect.

MARKDOWNS ON Rowing Machines.

SO I THINK THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A PARODY OF SARAH PALIN REPORTING, but it reads pretty much like Newsweek.

IDAHO FALLS, ID—Speaking unto an audience of anti-immigration advocates, global-warming deniers, and members of the Tea Party Nation, former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin gave forth utterances Monday that reportedly opened the sixth seal of the Book of the Apocalypse.

“Wow, it’s good to be here, just shootin’ the breeze with a bunch of real, hardworking Americans who love their freedom,” said Palin, her words echoing across the Idaho Falls Civic Auditorium as mighty tremors caused great unrest beneath the land and the sea. “So are the little guys like you and me gonna fight these Washington insiders with their big government agenda? You betcha we are!”

And lo, there was then a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair; and the moon became as blood; and “gosh” was spoken repeatedly; and the stars of heaven fell upon the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken by a mighty wind. These disturbances reportedly went unnoticed by the audience, however, as their thunderous applause drowned out the sound of the foretold cataclysm.

Nope, not much difference.

ED DRISCOLL: Things I Learned Watching The Joy Behar Show.

THAT’LL WORK: Travel Promotion Act To Tax People Who Travel.

HARVEY SILVERGLATE: How Corrupted Language Moved From Academia To The Real World.

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN being overweight and mental decline. Plus this advice: “The press release also describes how people with a history of cyclical weight loss and gain have more problems in their old age. Try to lose weight in a way that you can keep it off. Of course, that’s much easier to say than do.”

YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP:

Atlanta Progressive News has parted ways with long-serving senior staff writer Jonathan Springston. Apparently, Springston’s affinity for fact-based reporting clashed with Cardinale’s vision.

And, no, that’s not sarcasm.

In an e-mail statement, editor Matthew Cardinale says Springston was asked to leave APN last week “because he held on to the notion that there was an objective reality that could be reported objectively, despite the fact that that was not our editorial policy at Atlanta Progressive News.”

Good grief.

SHOCKER: Thirty-one House Dems quizzing Toyota execs got UAW campaign cash. “Why is that significant? Because the UAW is a major stockholder of Toyota’s top U.S. rival, General Motors. Also, Toyota has successfully resisted UAW attempts to organize the Japanese firm’s estimated 31,000 assembly line workers employed in five plants here in America.” Yeah, but it’s only special interest money when it goes to Republicans.

JOSEPH CAO IS SHORT OF CASH: “The lone Republican lawmaker to support Democratic health care legislation has seen his fundraising drop by nearly 40 percent since his vote, and he is quickly burning through a dwindling bank account after resorting to a costly national fundraising operation.”

I interviewed Cao a while back. Nice guy, but he’s what you’d expect of a Republican elected in an overwhelmingly Democratic district — squishy. Republicans need to decide whether they’d rather have him, or somebody like his predecessor, William “Freezer Cash” Jefferson. On the other hand, I think he made the wrong decision here.

FRANK TIPLER on the ClimateGate / Jack Vance connection. I confess that’s one that hadn’t occurred to me.

SO IS RIK HERTZBERG “Disingenuous or stupid?”

TRYING TO FIND biofuels’ sweet spot.

SO I’M DOWNTOWN AT THE S&W GRAND, where the Knoxville Social Media Association is having an all-day confab. You can see it’s a packed house, as people talk about various uses of Twitter, blogs, etc.

UPDATE: Here’s the view from the dais.

DRUG LAWS having painful consequences for cancer patients.

STAR TREK CARS: The Jupiter 8.

FROM THE INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: City of Dallas Bans Window Signs for Small Business.

NOT THAT THERE’S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT: Gay Conservatives take over Hot Air.

ROGER SIMON: Right and Left upside down: Geert Wilders and the Tea Party Movement.

A FIELD GUIDE to UAVs.

BLACKWATER CRITIC ALAN GRAYSON saved by Blackwater in Niger?

HEY, THOSE ARMS WON’T TWIST THEMSELVES: David Axelrod dreams of autocracy. From Axelrod to Friedman to many others, we’re hearing that a lot from frustrated Democrats at the moment. So is this the hope, or the change? Plus, a lesson from The Federalist Papers.

MICHAEL YON REMEMBERS Col. Robert L. Howard.

LIKE TAXES, RULES ARE FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE: More than 70 percent of congressional offices violate OSHA safety standards.

WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE? Mike Stopa: He’s a nanotechnologist, a blogger, and a Tea Party candidate for Congress in Massachusetts.