NEW SCIENTIST: Infrared reveals stunning colours of asteroid's crust.

WHEN YOU'RE OUTSTANDING, you can afford to wait. (Snicker....)

MOCK HIM: The photoshoppers' revenge.

ADDED: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie joins in the mockery.

MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW: Why we will need genetically modified foods. Instapundit suggests that the environmental movement would rather see mass starvation; I suspect they'll demand it.

From the comments at Instapundit, this: "Good news on the climate change front, greenies! There's been a scientific breakthrough where a process has been developed to make tofu out of beef, pork, lamb, and chickens."

POWERLINE'S (MID)WEEK IN PICTURES Pajama Boy edition. My favorite:

Original PowerLine comment here.

WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Obama administration misuses rules to punish enemies and reward friends. If you're surprised, you haven't been paying attention.

WHAT GOES AROUND, comes around:

Republicans will eventually retake the Senate majority and when they do, don't be surprised if something like the following are their first three rules changes (which will only need 51 votes, thanks to Harry Reid):

— Senate committees will each include only one member of the minority party and the minority staff for each Senate committee shall consist of one individual whose hourly compensation will equal the District of Columbia's minimum wage (not to exceed 29 hours in any one week).

— Senators representing the minority party shall have speaking privileges on the Senate floor on alternative Tuesdays and Thursdays, with each individual minority party senator's total speaking time not to exceed five minutes for any 24-hour period and only for the purpose of introducing commemorative resolutions of interest to residents of their respective states.

— Two-thirds majorities of both the majority and minority party caucuses shall be required to change any Senate rule.

The first two would bring welcome silence from the Democrats; the third is actually somewhat sensible.

GREG GUTFELD on the difference between charity and government: "It a war between the private choices of the individual and those who know better in thee government. One embraces charity; the other, coercion.... One works, the other shirks."

Andrea Tantaros had an insightful observation that government is the liberals' charity; they prefer to give our money than their own.

And Dana Perino made note of something that I think deserves more attention: that is, that private charity is more efficient because the giver is more directly invested in the efficacy of the gift. Since it's my hard-earned money I've giving away, I've got a vested interest is seeing that it's spent well and wisely. The government, not so much....

"WHAT OBAMACARE MEANS to the uninsured who were not uninsurable is higher prices for a product they already were disinclined to buy, along with a punitive tax on not buying it. That seems more like a mugging than a benefit."

Linked from Instapundit.

FOR A PREVIEW OF OBAMACARE, check out Britian's National Health Service.

If NHS doesn't encourage you to stay well away from ObamaCare, nothing will....

THE 'CREEPIEST OBAMA STORY YET' just got creepier.

Banana republic narcissism.

YOU'VE BEEN OFFENDED (OR OFFENSIVE) and probably didn't even know it.

I think it's time for a wholesale shutdown of some universities. Let these academics try to find real work; it'll do them a world of good.

DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS:

One day, a very gentle Texas lady was driving across a high bridge in Austin. As she neared the top of the bridge, she noticed a young man fixin' ('fixin' in Texas means: has the means or abilities to take action) to jump....

She stopped her car, rolled down the window, and said, "Please don't jump! Think of your dear mother and father."

He replied, "My mom and dad are both dead; I'm going to jump."

She said, "Well, think of your sweet wife and precious children."

He replied, "I'm not married, and I don't have any kids."

She said, "Well, then you just remember the Alamo."

He replied, "What's the Alamo?"

She replied, "Well bless your heart ... just go ahead and jump, you little Yankee Democrat Bastard!"

From my email.

Historical Note: The 'Don't mess with Texas' slogan was initially part of an anti-littering campaign. Back then I thought it was over the top. Now that it's morphed into an anti-PC slogan, I'm all for it.

FRAUD, WASTE, AND ABUSE OF AMERICANS:

From my email.

I KNEW Harvard's grading standards were tough, but I didn't know they were this tough.

WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Liberals take aim at freedom of speech and religion.

RELATED: First major victim of Harry Reid's tyrannous Senate majority could be separation of church and state.

BEST NEWS YET: 2014 not likely to be a productive year for divided Senate.

PLAN 'B'? WHAT PLAN 'B'? Top Navigator official was surprised by healthcare.gov's problems, had no contingency plan.

Hell, there's never been an ObamaCare Plan 'A' beyond hope and speeches.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! US Air Force Band Flash Mob Performance At The National Air And Space Museum.

I wish I could have been there for it.

THE LIES OF OBAMACARE: universal coverage.