INCESTUOUS? Peter Orszag’s fiancee to anchor Good Morning America weekend. (Via NewsAlert). I’d really like to see someone do a chart of all the romantic connections between politicians on the one hand, and pundits and media folks on the other. I think it would be . . . revealing.

NEWS FROM THE FOLKS at SpaceX.

CARBLOGGING: So I drove a new Toyota Highlander Hybrid yesterday, and in comparison to my 2006 Highlander Hybrid I was . . . underwhelmed. Oh, it’s a fine vehicle, noticeably quieter and smoother. But the first-gen Highlander Hybrids were marketed as sporty (due to the electric motors’ additional torque) and while that may not have been the right marketing approach, my Highlander feels noticeably quicker and more responsive than the newer generation. Throttle response is very quick, while on the newer ones it feels like they’ve retarded it a bit in the interest of economy, making things feel more sluggish, probably, than they actually are. The steering on the new ones seems vaguer, and the suspension a bit softer, too.

On the upside, the inside is roomier, more luxurious, and prettier — the interior on mine is fine, but has that trademark Toyota busy-ness, while the new Highlander’s interior is a bit more Lexus-like. The new version’s a fine car, but I got back in mine with no desire to replace it, and with a renewed appreciation for its good qualities. Still, with mine approaching 100K miles — how did that happen? — I’m beginning to think about a replacement. Any thoughts?

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Nashville flood: The South’s self-help disaster. “While the Nashville, Tennessee, flood will bring federal aid, some complain the area became the nation’s hidden disaster. But many Tennesseans are happy to clean up the mess on their own.”

MATT WELCH: We Are Out of Money: American governance won’t begin to inch forward until the political class faces basic facts.

MARKDOWNS ON ’60s and ’70s TV Shows.

WHAT’S THE BEST WAY to pop a bubble?

VIDEO: Obama’s really bad, not good, terrible week. “Lost in the bluster of the panel discussion is the real problem for the White House this week, which is the loss of a sense of competence across the board. In that sense, the Gulf spill is akin to Katrina for Bush, and the botched Times Square attack adds onto the impression that this administration has become clueless. The Sunday talk shows will chew that over at length unless the White House dramatically changes the narrative — which is why we’ll probably get a SCOTUS leak today or tonight.”

WALL STREET JOURNAL: Meet The Unemployable Man.

UPDATE: On Facebook, Alex Lightman suggests that if you’re unemployed or underemployed, you take advantage of these free online business courses from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

Meanwhile, also via Alex, here’s a list of MIT’s most popular free online courses. Alas, this won’t help those who aren’t well-enough educated to benefit from this level of course.

ANOTHER UPDATE: A reader emails:

I had to laugh when I read this article. I especially liked this one tidbit, “…there will be some jobs for workers without much education, for the plumbers, electricians and software technicians. But not enough to go around.”

I would hope to remind the pompous ass who wrote this that electricians and plumber’s require more real (i.e. math skills, reading comprehension, etc.) education, go through more thorough training and must pass far more difficult examinations for professional competence & certification than any journalist. Which, by the way, is an occupation, not a profession.

Presently this country is facing a skills crisis because many of those skilled tradesmen & women who were the centurions of industry when this country was really great, are aging and retired or on the brink of it. When that institutional memory is lost we will not get it back because we have an education establishment that no longer values technical skills and has abandoned an entire generation of young people. As Dr. Ken Ryan at Alexandria Technical College has said, “We have duped ourselves into believing we can build a sustainable economy without the durable manufacturing activities that characterize those nations threatening to eclipse us.” So very true. I have been thinking and saying that, though not so succinctly, for years.

Nor industry without fault in this evolving debacle. in their never ending pursuit of short term profit for stock holders skilled employees have been devalued and made a commodity.

So ask yourself, when you are trying to add that room, repair leaky pipes, find the short in the wiring or fix the flood damage in your home, who do you want doing it? That Columbia School of Journalism major or that electrician, plumber, carpenter without much ‘education’? Furthermore, I’ll bet those tradesmen/women would do better a writing a story for the WSJ than that ‘journalist’ would at actually making anything.

Fortunately, the internet is rapidly making Mr. Wessel’s remaining time as a member of the employed, shorter, I hope.

Ouch.

INFOGRAPHIC: How many mp3s / albums / streams must an artist sell to make minimum wage?

THE BOY CRISIS in China.

ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE SPIN: U.S. News & World Report: ‘Why a Rising Unemployment Rate Is Good News.’ That’s the great thing about having a Democrat in the White House: Everything is good news!

CHANGE: FCC Lets Hollywood Turn Off Your Output Jacks. “Hollywood will soon have the power to remotely disable the analog outputs on your set-top box, under a decision by federal regulators on Friday intended to prevent home recording of new movie releases.” Remember — nothing belongs to you. It all belongs to them. They just let you use it. If you’re nice.

MARATHON PUNDIT: A “teabagger” attends an Organizing for America training session.

DEMONIZING WALL STREET, THEN A BIG DOW DROP: Coincidence?

LOOKING AT Warren Buffett’s disclosures.

IN THE MAIL: My Name Is Mary Sutter: A Novel.

“THE WORLD HAS NO MONEY, and the Emperor has no clothes.”

MOMS TO THE BARRICADES! ‘The tea parties are an extension of our need to protect the future for our children.’

Plus this: “Maybe if the president and Congress did the grocery shopping, they’d know why we’re mad.”

HEY, WAIT: Flag burning incident at Vintage High. I mean, what’s the “incident?” Flag-burning is just free speech, isn’t it? Oh, wait. . . .