Apparent suicide in anthrax case  —  Bruce E. Ivins, a scientist who helped the FBI investigate the 2001 mail attacks, was about to face charges.  —  A top government scientist who helped the FBI analyze samples from the 2001 anthrax attacks has died in Maryland from an apparent suicide …

Wal-Mart Warns of Democratic Win  —  Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is mobilizing its store managers and department supervisors around the country to warn that if Democrats win power in November, they'll likely change federal law to make it easier for workers to unionize companies — including Wal-Mart.

Freedom  —  Ezra's damn right about this.  Go to pretty much any populated part of the United States, buy some land, and try to build something on it and you'll find that there are a lot of land-use restrictions in place.  Some of these rules are good, some of them are bad …

You vote: Who put out the first ‘negative’ ad?  —  As they've argued over the Celeb TV ad that Republican John McCain's presidential campaign released Wednesday (best known for its use of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton), aides from both major contenders' campaigns have made a number of charges.

Too Fit to Be President?  —  Facing an Overweight Electorate, Barack Obama Might Find Low Body Fat a Drawback  —  Speaking to donors at a San Diego fund-raiser last month, Barack Obama reassured the crowd that he wouldn't give in to Republican tactics to throw his candidacy off track.

Can This Planet Be Saved?  —  Recently the Web site The Politico asked Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, why she was blocking attempts to tack offshore drilling amendments onto appropriations bills.  “I'm trying to save the planet; I'm trying to save the planet,” she replied.  —  I'm glad to hear it.

The Curious Mind of John McCain  —  Ambition and Emotion Color the Complex Intellect of the Candidate  —  In his 2002 book, “Worth the Fighting For,” John McCain offered this confession — an acknowledgment of a restless mind: “Although I seem to tolerate introspection better the older I am …

Employment Situation Summary  —  Technical information:  —  Household data: (202) 691-6378 USDL 08-1049  —  Establishment data: (202) 691-6555 Transmission of material in this release  —  http://www.bls.gov/ces/ is embargoed until 8:30 A.M. (EDT), Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Friday, August 1, 2008.

Malwebolence  —  One afternoon in the spring of 2006, for reasons unknown to those who knew him, Mitchell Henderson, a seventh grader from Rochester, Minn., took a .22-caliber rifle down from a shelf in his parents' bedroom closet and shot himself in the head.

McCain's camp suffers from a paper gap  —  While campaigns typically snow reporters with white papers and policy minutiae, many of the domestic policy plans of John McCain have been notably short on details.  —  Analysts caution that both McCain and Barack Obama have produced policy pronouncements …

Good Advice  —  As sometimes happens when I read Marc Ambinder's blog, today I'm puzzled by the mentality of the campaign reporter: … Here's my understanding of the sequence of events.  Gas prices are on the rise.  Consumers are feeling pain, harm is being done to the economy.

Obama Heckled in FL  —  ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Provocative hecklers associated with an international African socialist collective interrupted Obama's opening remarks here... Obama calmed then down by promising he'd take their questions during a Q and A, and an Obama supporter grabbed the banner away.

Pakistanis Aided Attack in Kabul, U.S. Officials Say  —  WASHINGTON — American intelligence agencies have concluded that members of Pakistan's powerful spy service helped plan the deadly July 7 bombing of India's embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to United States government officials.

Run against the GOP, Cole tells hopefuls  —  Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told GOP congressional hopefuls on Thursday that they should not be afraid to criticize both political parties - including Republican members of the House.  —  During a conference call, the National Republican Congressional …

McCain's Internet edge: Ad price  —  It has become conventional wisdom of this campaign season: Barack Obama is crushing John McCain on the Internet.  After all, Obama boasts higher online donations, more aggressive social networking and a viral video from rapper will.i.am that was viewed more than 8 million times on YouTube.

For Clinton supporters, it's a gender issue  —  Some Clinton backers want the Democratic Party's platform to recognize what they see as the pervasive bias she suffered in the primaries.  —  WASHINGTON — As her chances of becoming vice president recede, some of Hillary Rodham Clinton's supporters …

A Conservative ‘Slate’?  —  Have you ever been reading Slate and found yourself thinking, “This is great, but if only if were more conservative...”?  Then LibertyWire is for you!  The new online publication, being launched in mid-August, is billing itself as “a conservative version of Slate.”