GOP's celeb-Obama message gains traction  —  Barack Obama's critics laid down the foundations of the strategy months ago: The Republican National Committee started the “Audacity Watch” back in April, and Karl Rove later fueled the attack by describing the first-term Illinois senator as “coolly arrogant.”

What's the Word, John?  —  Miscegenation (Latin miscere “to mix” + genus “kind") is the mixing of different racial groups, that is, marrying, cohabiting, having sexual relations and having children with a partner from outside of one's racially or ethnically defined group.  —  Obama.  Britney.

Rising Oil Prices Swell Profits at Exxon and Shell  —  Exxon Mobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, reported on Thursday that second-quarter income rose 14 percent, to $11.68 billion, the highest-ever for an American company.  —  Net income of $2.22 a share compared with $10.26 billion …

McCain ad attacking Obama's celebrity is a ‘zero’  —  THE AD: “Celeb,” 30 seconds PRODUCER: The McCain campaign  —  WHERE TO SEE IT: On Ohio broadcast TV stations and in other key battleground states and above.  —  SCRIPT  —  (Announcer): “He's the biggest celebrity in the world.

Police Raid Berwyn Heights Mayor's Home, Kill His 2 Dogs  —  A police SWAT team raided the home of the mayor in the Prince George's County town of Berwyn Heights on Tuesday, shooting and killing his two dogs, after he brought in a 32-pound package of marijuana that had been delivered to his doorstep, police said.

Homeward Bound: Recent Immigration Enforcement and the Decline in the Illegal Alien Population  —  Monthly data collected by the Census Bureau through May 2008 shows a significant decline in the number of less-educated, young Hispanic immigrants in the country.

Is John McCain Stupid?  —  Is John McCain losing it?  —  On Sunday, he said on national television that to solve Social Security “everything's on the table,” which of course means raising payroll taxes.  On July 7 in Denver he said: “Senator Obama will raise your taxes.  I won't.”

Obama's Iraq Fumble  —  In a race supposedly dominated by the economy, both Barack Obama and John McCain have spent a lot of time talking about Iraq.  Why?  Because both men have Iraq problems that are causing difficulties for their campaigns.  —  How each candidate resolves his Iraq problems …

China to Limit Web Access During Olympic Games  —  BEIJING — The International Olympic Committee failed to press China to allow fully unfettered access to the Internet for the thousands of journalists arriving here to cover the Olympics, despite promising repeatedly that the foreign news media could …

From ‘straight talk’ to smear campaign  —  The Straight Talk Express has taken a nasty turn into the gutter.  Sen. John McCain has resorted to lies and distortions in what sounds like an increasingly desperate attempt to slow down Sen. Barack Obama by raising questions about his patriotism.

The Paris Hilton comparisons  —  (CNN) — John McCain is facing criticism from many Democrats for likening Barack Obama to Paris Hilton, but the Illinois senator made the same comparison himself at a dinner in 2004.  —  “Andy Warhol said we all get our 15 minutes of fame,” …

Olmert to step down in September, vows to push for peace first  —  Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday that he has decided not to contend in the Kadima primary election and would resign as soon as the new party leader was chosen, due to the criminal investigations in which he has been embroiled in recent months.