GIANT ASTEROID VESTA has mountain taller than anything on Earth.


The three craters at the far left have been named 'the snowman'. More pictures and a short video at the link above.

ARE WE WORTHY OF OBAMA? "I’m beginning to think he thinks we don’t deserve his brilliant leadership."

REID CONSIDERS 5% surtax on millionaires. The Democrats simply don't get it -- there is absolutely no stomach for more taxes on anyone in America today.

SOCIAL SECURITY IS NOT A PONZI SCHEME; it's worse than that.

OBAMA: "All we've gotten from them [Republicans] is 'no'." With children, it's impossible to say 'no' too often.

SARAH PALIN chooses to not run for President in 2012. Her statement is here.

TWO FOR TWO: THAAD takes out two ballistic missiles over the Pacific.

HEADLINE: Democrats' Progressive Caucus signs suicide pact with OccupyWallStreet.

THE BANKING INDUSTRY "defended a controversial new fee on debit cards as some Democrats called on consumers to abandon financial institutions that impose the charge." If I were the banking industry, I'd abandon debit cards.

NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION launches self-serving ad campaign for Obama jobs bill.

According to our estimates, the bill would generate $35.4 million in dues revenue for the NEA. In other words, the teachers union is spending $350,000 in hopes of getting over $35 million in “saved” dues payments – a return 100 times greater than the initial investment.

Not a bad investment strategy -- if you like soaking up taxpayer money.

HOPE AND CHANGE to slash and burn.

NICE GIG IF YOU CAN GET IT: the Obama daughters are 'senior staff'?

THAT HOPE DON'T FLOAT -- if it's hope that government will solve all problems.

WE ARE OCCUPY WALL STREET, and we're not going home until it gets really cold.

MORE: "a socialist wish list so thorough and overarching, it lacks only a chicken in every pot and a unicorn in every four-car garage."

SAMUEL L. JACKSON says Tea Party racism is obvious.

It’s pretty obvious what they are. The division of the country is not about the government having too much power. I think everything right now is geared toward getting that guy out of office, whatever that means. It’s not politics. It is not economics. It all boils down to pretty much to race. It is a shame.”

I'm supposed to listen to someone who has his head on backwards?

UNEXPECTEDLY? REALLY? U.S. Factory Orders Fell Unexpectedly in August.

WHEN LYING DOESN'T WORK, try screaming.

ANN ALTHOUSE: "Eight new Dodge Grand Caravans, purchased 10 months ago with $186,192 in federal stimulus funds are sitting unused in storage at a county park because Waukesha County has found no takers for its proposed workers' van pool program."

WOW! I DIDN'T KNOW THAT: Scientific truth is determined by majority vote. Of properly vetted and duly certified 'scientists' ....

HEH: The Politics of Puberty. Pre-puberty is more like it.

NASA issues award in green aviation competition.

Pipistrel-USA.com and the second-place team, EGenius of Ramona, Calif. -- both of which used electric-powered aircraft -- achieved twice the fuel efficiency requirement of the competition. That means they flew 200 miles using just over a half-gallon of fuel equivalent per passenger.

That's roughly 400 passenger-miles/gallon of aviation fuel (equivalent) at 100 mph, which compares very favorably with the ~70-80 passenger-miles/gallon for a fully-loaded commercial airliner. However it would take roughly 6 times as long to get to your destination.

UPDATE: Now we find out that Pipistrel does not plan to commercialize the winning aircraft ....

PROGRESSIVES OF PALLOR on pointless parade. 99% pure.

MORE ASPIRATIONAL THAN SCIENTIFIC: That's a kind depiction of [liberals'] "unwavering aspiration to frame themselves as leaders in any trendy cause. They want so much to do good that they can't wait to find out whether there is a real problem."