McCain Prepares Rezko Ad; Wright “Now Fair Game”; GOP 527 Attacks  —  Sen. John McCain's campaign is finishing a hard-hitting television ad highlighting Barack Obama 's ties to shady Chicago land dealer Tony Rezko, the one-time Obama patron who was convicted earlier this summer of fraud.

Obama says he's chosen his VP — won't reveal who it is yet  —  Barack Obama told USA TODAY this afternoon that “yes,” he has made up his mind about whom his running mate will be — but he would not reveal the name or just when he will tell the nation about his choice.  —  USA TODAY's Kathy Kiely writes that:

Born in the U.S.A.  —  The truth about Obama's birth certificate.  —  In June, the Obama campaign released a digitally scanned image of his birth certificate to quell speculative charges that he might not be a natural-born citizen.  But the image prompted more blog-based skepticism about the document's authenticity.

Two McCain Offices Receive Envelopes With White Powder, Threat  —  Two John McCain campaign offices received envelopes supposedly containing an unidentified white powder and a threatening note Thursday afternoon — so far one of the envelopes has been deemed safe by authorities.

International Olympic Committee launches probe into He Kexin's age  —  Tim Reid in Washington, Jeremy Griffin and Jane Macartney in Beijing  —  The International Olympic Committee has ordered an investigation into mounting allegations that Chinese authorities covered up the true age …

Video: Volleyball team wins gold, blindsides NBC with shout-out to Bush  —  A palate cleanser by popular request; you'll remember our heroines here from the Butt-Pat That Wasn't.  The official Olympics site has highlights of the match but this snippet had to be rescued from oblivion by Tivo.

Limbaugh: Obama's Nomination “Really goes back to the fact that nobody had the guts to stand up and say no to a black guy.”  —  Audio and more from Media Matters: … Yes, someone should have told this young, uppity negro to STFU and know his place in American society.  You knew he was a baby killer, right?

More Americans Question Religion's Role in Politics  —  Some Social Conservative Disillusionment  —  Some Americans are having a change of heart about mixing religion and politics.  A new survey finds a narrow majority of the public saying that churches and other houses of worship should keep …

OBAMA VS. BALDILOCKS  —  A blogger's African dad came here on the same airlift as Obama's dad.  All similarities end there  —  Los Angeles blogger Juliette Ochieng has a lot in common with the man who might be the next president, Barack Obama.  A lot.  —  Both were born to Kenyan fathers …

Obama gives nod to success of surge  —  Sen. Barack Obama, edging away from a long-held position, tacitly acknowledged the success of the Iraq troop-surge strategy during an appearance Tuesday before the country's largest organization of combat veterans.  —  “Let's be clear …

Ohio Voting Machines Contained Programming Error That Dropped Votes  —  A voting system used in 34 states contains a critical programming error that can cause votes to be dropped while being electronically transferred from memory cards to a central tallying point, the manufacturer acknowledges.

NOTES ON A SCANDAL  —  A soldier in Iraq decided to write about his experiences.  He never suspected he'd start a war  —  Soldiers at war rarely write magazine stories.  But on July 13, 2007, a 24-year-old army private named Scott Thomas Beauchamp who had been serving in Iraq …