Obama's new mission for NASA: Reach out to Muslim world  —  In a far-reaching restatement of goals for the nation's space agency, NASA administrator Charles Bolden says President Obama has ordered him to pursue three new objectives: to “re-inspire children” to study science and math, to …

Op-Ed Columnist: Punishing the Unemployed  —  There was a time when everyone took it for granted that unemployment insurance, which normally terminates after 26 weeks, would be extended in times of persistent joblessness.  It was, most people agreed, the decent thing to do.  —  But that was then.

On The Economist's Cover, Only a Part of the Picture  —  It was the ideal metaphor for a politically troubled president.  —  There was President Obama on the cover of the June 19 issue of The Economist, standing alone on a Louisiana beach, head down, looking forlornly at the ground.

Dow Repeats Great Depression Pattern: Charts  —  The Dow Jones Industrial Average is repeating a pattern that appeared just before markets fell during the Great Depression, Daryl Guppy, CEO at Guppytraders.com, told CNBC Monday.  —  “Those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it …

WAYNE ALLYN ROOT: Barack Obama: The great jobs killer  —  As former President Ronald Reagan might have said, “Obama, there you go again.”  —  The current occupant of the White House claims to know how to create jobs.  He claims jobs have been created.  But so far the score …

Sen. Brown: 'I'm liking what I see' on financial reform legislation  —  Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) offered a hint that he may support the financial reform bill when it comes to a final vote later this month.  —  “I'm going to be making a decision soon, but I'm liking what I see,” …

Why I Don't Celebrate July 4  —  It's July 4th, my least favorite holiday.  —  And I'm not referring to the bugs, or the crowds, or the traffic on the highways.  —  I'm talking about the mindless patriotic bubble bath we're all supposed to soak in all weekend long.  —  Well, not me.

Health Care Law  —  60% Favor Repeal of Health Care Law, Just 41% See Repeal as Likely  —  Sixty percent (60%) of voters nationwide favor repeal of the recently passed health care law, including 49% who Strongly Favor repeal.  —  A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 36% oppose repeal.

A Reasonable Man  —  In a world of loud voices and extreme positions, David Brooks manages to be both irrelevant and absolutely essential.  —  D avid Brooks is angry—for David Brooks, at least.  “This is a damn outrage, to be honest,” he tells David Gregory on Meet the Press.

Planck reveals ‘spectacular sky’  —  This is the extraordinary place where we all live - the Universe.  —  The picture is the first full-sky image from Europe's Planck telescope which was sent into space last year to survey the “oldest light” in the cosmos.

Debt, Gov't.  Power Among Tea Party Supporters' Top Concerns  —  Eight in 10 say government is doing things that should be left to businesses, individuals  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Self-described Tea Party supporters differ from those neutral or opposed to the movement on the issues they perceive …

Obama's CEO problem — and ours  —  The American economy is sputtering and we are running out of options.  Interest rates can't go any lower.  Another burst of government spending — whether a good or bad idea — looks politically impossible.  Can anything protect us from the dangers of stagnation or a double dip?

Judges rule Obama can't close Yucca Mountain nuclear dump  —  WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. John Spratt and Republican Rep. Joe Wilson don't agree on much, yet the South Carolina congressmen are cheering a new ruling that denied the bid by the U.S. Energy Department to withdraw its application …

Tea party gatherings on the Fourth mix the educational and the patriotic  —  BEALETON, VA. — “Tea party” activists across the nation tried to put the “independence” back in Independence Day this weekend with festivals and other gatherings focused on the Constitution — and how to use it for political gain.

With the US trapped in depression, this really is starting to feel like 1932  —  The US workforce shrank by 652,000 in June, one of the sharpest contractions ever.  The rate of hourly earnings fell 0.1pc.  Wages are flirting with deflation.  —  “The economy is still in the gravitational pull …

Confusion at The Washington Post  —  Washington Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander gives us another case study in how difficult it is for established institutions to transition into a new world: … Someone's sure confused here!  But are readers really going to be “confused” if someone …

Dutch agency admits error in UN climate report  —  THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A leading Dutch environment agency reported Monday that the seminal 2007 U.N. scientific report on climate change is too generalized and has even more errors than discovered so far — including one contributed by the agency itself.

Companies Find Ways to Bypass Ban on Earmarks  —  TOLEDO, Ohio — Just one day after leaders of the House of Representatives announced a ban on earmarks to profit-making companies, Victoria Kurtz, the vice president for marketing of a small Ohio defense contracting firm, hit on a creative way around it.

We elected Blago —what were we thinking?  —  The headlines say, “Blagojevich trial,” but the former governor is not the only one who needs to explain himself.  —  If the latest farcical revelations from the Rod Blagojevich trial tell us anything, it's that the people of Illinois …