“National Aeronautics and Space Administration” on The Daily Caller

As the prospects for a partial shutdown of the federal government loomed last Friday, the popular blog Gizmodo published an ominous article. Catering to its audience of tech geeks and rocket scientists, the article explained “how the government shutdown would screw the top ten science operations vital for the country.” (more)

Work is quietly underway in the South Bay on a massive 22-story rocket whose power is rivaled in the U.S. only by the mighty Saturn V rocket, which took man to the moon, in a risky private venture that could herald a new era in space flight. (more)

The growing cloud of space junk surrounding the Earth is a hazard to spaceflight, and will only get worse as large pieces of debris collide and fragment. NASA space scientists have hit on a new way to manage the mess: Use mid-powered lasers to nudge space junk off collision courses. (more)

There are many who believe the world will end next year because that is when the ancient Mayan calendar simply stops. Others read quatrains of the great seer, Nostradamus, and think he also predicts End Times in 2012. Religious zealots are again preaching the end is nigh. And then there is that multitude of Republicans absolutely certain the world will end if President Obama is reelected. If that gigantic atomic furnace we call our sun reenacts history, it will prove them all to be correct. (more)

— “It is unlikely that House Republicans will take the vote to repeal the health care law, shrug their shoulders when it doesn’t reach the Senate, and move on,” writes The Daily Caller’s Chris Moody. “We aren’t going to just check the box off and say that we had one vote and we’re going to move on to other topics,” Rep. Michele Bachmann said Tuesday. Rep. Steve King echoed Bachmann’s sentiments, saying, “This is going to be a debate that goes on not just today and tomorrow and next week. It’s going to go on for the next year or two. It’s probably going to go on until we elect a president that will sign a final repeal of Obamacare. So this is an ongoing debate.” The GOP will fight, just like the Spartans fought at Thermopylae, until they are all dead of old age/exasperation, or until Americans return both the legislative branch and the executive branch to the second worst party in the country. In the meantime, House Republicans will build their own health care bill, starting with the key accomplishment of Obamacare: “A measure to restrict insurance companies from discriminating based on pre-existing conditions.” (more)

1.) Desperate Dems attempt to rebrand the Obamacare repeal effort — House Republicans politely declined to remove the word “killing” from the “Repealing the Job Killing Health Health Care Law Act,” so Democrats decided to come up with a phrase of their own. “The Patient’s Rights Repeal Act” is what they settled on. Incidentally, the GOP’s name is pretty accurate: In June, the Boston Globe reported that “a 2.3 percent excise tax on companies that supply medical devices like heart defibrillators and surgical tools to hospitals, health centers and ambulance services will cost medical device manufacturers an estimated $20 billion in new taxes over the next decade. And they say that will force them to lay off workers and curb the research and development of new medical tools.” A report released by Senators Coburn and Barasso in October found that the outlook was equally bad in other industries. Meanwhile, “patient’s rights” is pure hogwash–as any depressed owner of a now useless health savings account will tell you. (more)

1.) House Republicans have not announced what they would cut from budget if they had power to cut budget — “House Republican leaders are so far not specifying which programs would bear the brunt of budget cutting, only what would escape it: spending for the military, domestic security and veterans,” reports the New York Times. “The reductions that would be required in the remaining federal programs, including education and transportation, would be so deep — roughly 20 percent on average — that Senate Republicans have not joined the $100 billion pledge that House Republicans, led by the incoming speaker, Representative John A. Boehner, made to voters before November’s midterm elections.” Even with security/defense/old people/catfood cuts off the table, there are still a few agencies that could stand to lose some weight: FCC, both DoE’s, FDA, IRS, NASA, &c. We could go on, but why bother? “Even if adopted by the House, the Republicans’ budget is unlikely to be enacted in anything like the scale they envision, since Democrats retain a majority in the Senate and President Obama could veto annual appropriations bills making the reductions.” (more)

Have you read Amanda Carey’s fantastic story about CINOs, AKA capitalists in name only? If not, here’s a snippet, and you can read the rest later: (more)

Obamanomics got you down?  Tired of PB&J for lunch?  Does “hope and change” leave you hoping for some substantial change — of the coin variety?  Fear not, pilgrim — there are always ways to make a buck in the good ol’ U.S. of A.  Here are the top ten: (more)

A great many people believe that the Bible, or Nostradamus, or the Mayan calendar, or all three, predict that the world will end in 2012. Now we have a prediction from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Of all the doomsayers out there, NASA is the one to take seriously. (more)

Plans for sending humans to visit an asteroid are heating up, with at least one company already scoping out the technological essentials for a deep space expedition within a decade, given the go-ahead. (more)

(CNN) — A source familiar with ongoing rescue efforts confirms to CNN that former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens has died in a plane crash near Dillingham, Alaska. (more)

Earth is bracing for a cosmic tsunami Tuesday night as tons of plasma from a massive solar flare head directly toward the planet. (more)

Despite a total blackout from the liberal media in the New Orleans area, the Northshore Tea Party attracted 2,000 people to the Fleur de Lis Center in Mandeville on Saturday. This was the group’s largest crowd in their 18-month history as part of the incredible Tea Party movement, the most substantial political force to hit this country in decades. (more)

Obama’s mishandling of economy has voters looking to Alvin Greene and his dolls for salvation — Can Democrats channel 2008 in November? (No) — Newt: Will he or won’t he? (Maybe) – The Capitol is not safe, be careful at the Capitol –White House flacks push back hard on NASA story, fail to coordinate message — Darrell Issa is coming for you, Google!  (more)

Using Microsoft’s WorldWide Telescope program, you can now take an interactive tour of Mars with the highest-resolution images available of the Red Planet — something even scientists have never been able to see before. (more)

Despite NASA Administrator Charles Bolden’s claim that President Obama told him it was NASA’s “foremost” mission to reach out to the Muslim world, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said today that this is not a NASA responsibility. (more)

Maybe it’s the Dog Days of Summer. Perhaps it’s the heat—102 degrees in Washington—that’s getting to peoples’ heads. But President Obama’s latest policy—announced by his NASA administrator, astronaut Charles Bolden—is about to melt down. (more)

Spokesmen from NASA and the White House both issued statements in response to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden recent comments that President Obama had told him that it was his  “foremost” mission to make the Muslim world “feel good about their historic contribution to science…and math and engineering.” (more)

The federal employees at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing know darn well why they go to work in the morning. (more)