THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama Is Facing His Jimmy Carter Moment.

Obama’s re-election is no longer guaranteed; some pollsters think it is unlikely. Day by day, the odds are improving that Mitt Romney will be the next President of the United States.

What changed? For a start, voters are getting gloomier about the economy. Joblessness remains high and debt is out of control. According to one poll released this week, only 33 per cent of Americans expect the economy to improve in the coming months and only 43 per cent approve of the way that the president has handled it. Voters think Obama has made the debt situation and health care worse. The man who conducted the poll – Democrat Peter Hart – concluded that “Obama’s chances for re-election… are no better than 50-50.”

The president has tried to distract from America’s economic misery by playing up the so-called culture war. Earlier in the year he decided that he would force Catholic employers to provide contraception to their employees through their insurance plans, and he followed that swipe at social traditionalism by endorsing gay marriage. This embrace of Sixties liberalism has backfired.

Plus this:

But it isn’t just Obama’s flaws that are making this race interesting. Mitt Romney might not be the most charismatic candidate, but that’s a hidden strength in an election that’s all about competence and getting back to the basics of what once made America work so well. This week, the pro-Obama journalist Andrew Sullivan wrote that with his wealth, good looks and apple-pie conservatism, Romney is like “a focus-group tested model president from 1965”. Sullivan obviously doesn’t realise how popular the TV show Mad Men is. Who wouldn’t warm to a candidate that represents an age marked by low unemployment, stable families and a laissez-faire attitude towards drinking at work?

Poor Obama. He’s on the wrong side of history, at both ends.

HEY, KIDS, STAY OFF MY LAWN: NASA Asks Future Moon Visitors to Respect Its Stuff.

In the next few years a slew of countries, including China, India, and Japan, are looking to put unmanned probes on the lunar surface. But more unprecedented are the 26 teams currently racing to win the Google Lunar X Prize – a contest that will award $20 million to the first private company to land a robot on the lunar surface, travel a third of a mile, and send back a high-definition image before 2015.

With all this activity, NASA is somewhat nervous about its own lunar history. The agency recently released a set of guidelines that aim to preserve important heritage locations such as the Apollo landing and Ranger impact sites. The report, available since 2011 to members of the private spaceflight community, was publicly posted at NASA’s website and officially accepted by the X Prize foundation on May 24.

“NASA has recognized that these sites are important to mankind and have to be protected to make sure there’s no undue damage done to them,” said John Thornton, president of Astrobotic Technology Inc., a company competing for the prize.

Though NASA has no way of enforcing the requirements, they are designed to protect materials and scientific equipment at historical lunar sites as well as future landing sites. The guidelines have been made available internationally, and the agency welcomes other nations to participate in and improve upon them, said NASA spokesperson Joshua Buck in an e-mail.

NASA is asking anyone that makes it to the lunar surface to keep their landing at least 1.2 miles away from any Apollo site and about 1,600 feet from the five Ranger impact sites. The distance should keep the old equipment safe from a terrible accident or collision. It will also would put the new equipment “over the lunar horizon” relative to the relics, and prevent any moon dust – known to be a highly abrasive material – from sandblasting NASA’s old machines.

Much more interesting stuff at the link.

SOUND INCREASES THE EFFICIENCY OF BOILING: “Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology achieved a 17-percent increase in boiling efficiency by using an acoustic field to enhance heat transfer. The acoustic field does this by efficiently removing vapor bubbles from the heated surface and suppressing the formation of an insulating vapor film.”

21T CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: Man sues ex-fiancée after she breaks off engagement.

TYLER COWEN: There is no serious evidence that GMOs are harmful.

AT AMAZON, warehouse deals in grilling.

Also, generators and inverters.

REASON TV: Bob Zubrin talks about his new book, Merchants of Despair: Radical Environmentalists, Criminal Pseudo-Scientists, and the Fatal Cult of Antihumanism.

IN INDIA, MORE WOMEN ARE PACKING HEAT:

“I don’t have faith in the police to protect me. There are so many attacks on women these days. It’s everybody’s right to defend themselves. I think all women who are vulnerable should be carrying guns,” Sidhu said. She is not alone. A growing number of well-off, educated Indian women are turning to firearms for protection.

It’s nice to see civilization spreading.

READER JEFF TAYLOR WRITES: “Before anyone starts off with ‘Choomgate,’ can we get ahead of the curve with ‘Choomaquiddick?'”

DON’T STEP OFF THE PLANTATION: Democrats Now Mad At Cory Booker.

MICHAEL LEDEEN: Modern Times.

REVIEW: The 2013 Nissan Altima. “With the redesigned 2013 Altima, Nissan will be happy if potential buyers learn only one thing about the car, its EPA rating of 38 MPG highway. No one else’s midsize sedan comes close without burning oil or discharging batteries.”

HUMAN STEM CELLS GROW IN HEART MUSCLE. “Human skin tissue, genetically reprogrammed into human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), was able to inject the cells into rat hearts and get new heart tissue integrated to the rat hearts.”

Plus this: “I think we need a legal environment that allows a more aggressive approach to human trials. For someone within 5 years of dying from heart failure the risks (notably cancer) of therapy using hiPSC should be weighed against otherwise inevitable death from heart failure.” Indeed.

UNSUSTAINABLE: Study: Alt-fuel cars unsustainable without government assistance.

ONLY THREE? WaPo: Three Pinocchios to WH over their defense of Obama spending. “In FY2008, federal spending equaled 20.8% of GDP. In FY2009, it jumped to 25.4% — an increase of 22% in the rate of spending. Where did Kessler come up with this data? From the White House, where Jay Carney presumably has just as much access to it.”

Related: Byron York: Two Years Ago Today: Obama Celebrates Solyndra.

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: California City Saves Itself By Ditching Blue Model. “Cities and towns all over the country should take a close look at these ideas, especially those in dire financial straits. The trick, however, is to do these things before going bankrupt, to provide better government at a lower price. Then you can cut taxes, attract new industry and businesses—and give your residents a better life with more money and lower taxes. It’s simple really, but it involves breaking some blue taboos.”

TWEET OF THE DAY, FROM SPACEX: Astronauts on the space station say the air on ‪#Dragon‬ has a “new car smell.” Thanks to reader Douglas Bass for the tip.

DO TELL: Study: Most Tariff Bills Would Count As “Earmarks.”

TOM BLUMER: Nuts to Nutting: Under Obama, Real Spending Has Exploded.

BUT YOU CAN TRUST THEM WITH YOUR MEDICAL RECORDS: Federal employee financial information hacked. “According to the FBI, in 2011, a hacker gained access to a computer that held the financial information of 123,201 federal employees who participate in the Thrift Savings retirement program. . . . The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board sent letters on Friday to everyone whose information was in the affected files.” A bit late now, isn’t it?

MARKDOWNS: Father’s Day Gift Ideas in Computers, Office & Software.

Also, today only: Jabra CLIPPER Bluetooth Stereo Headset, $26.99.

FROM BILL WHITTLE: Afterburner: Into The Sea.

SHAMING the Guy Brain.

WELL, GOOD: The Hill: Opposition to Law of the Sea Treaty heats up.