The ‘Cap And Tax’ Dead End  —  There is no shortage of threats to our economy.  America's unemployment rate recently hit its highest mark in more than 25 years and is expected to continue climbing.  Worries are widespread that even when the economy finally rebounds, the recovery won't bring jobs.

Sotomayor Surprises Sessions  —  Jess Bravin reports on Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing.  —  Ouch!  —  Sen. Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.), seeking to discredit Judge Sonia Sotomayor's judicial philosophy, cited her 2001 “wise Latina” speech, and contrasted the view that ethnicity …

The Economy Is Even Worse Than You Think  —  The average length of unemployment is higher than it's been since government began tracking the data in 1948.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  The recent unemployment numbers have undermined confidence that we might be nearing the bottom of the recession.

Steele: GOP woos blacks with “fried chicken and potato salad”  —  The Young Republicans convention was held in Indianapolis last weekend and their election of a racist, middle-aged woman as President isn't the only controversial item to come out of the GOP gathering.

The Same-Sex Marriage Switch  —  Former President Bill Clinton has come out in support of same-sex marriage.  —  After speaking at the Campus Progress National Conference in Washington, DC, on July 8, the former president was asked if he supported same-sex marriage.

Sanford's office couldn't locate missing governor  —  E-mails, phone calls outline efforts to contact, cover for AWOL leader  —  Gov. Mark Sanford's chief of staff, Scott English, called the governor's cell phones 15 times during the governor's secret trip to Argentina to visit his lover last month.

C.I.A. Had Plan to Assassinate Qaeda Leaders  —  WASHINGTON — Since 2001, the Central Intelligence Agency has developed plans to dispatch small teams overseas to kill senior Qaeda terrorists, according to current and former government officials.  —  The plans remained vague and were never carried out …

America's Affordable Health Choices Act  —  The Chairmen of the three Committees with jurisdiction over health policy in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced comprehensive health care reform legislation on July 14 that will reduce out-of-control costs, encourage competition among insurance plans …

Ensign to stay in Senate, seek reelection  —  Fallout from affair, including ethics complaints, leaves him undeterred  —  WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. John Ensign said Monday that not only does he have no intention of resigning in light of his affair and his parents' payout to the woman's family …

Isaac Chotiner Gets Jonah Goldberg Wrong  —  So Ruth Bader Ginsburg recently said this in an interview with Emily Bazelon: … Ginsburg is saying that her perception of the situation in 1980 is that there was a lot of concern on the right about Bell Curve-style dysgenics and that, therefore …

Obama Numbers Follow The Economy  —  Shift Among Independents May Have Been Overstated, But Bad Economic News Corresponds To Downward Trend  —  President Obama's job approval rating has fallen over the last two months, prompting two questions for pundits and pollsters.

Hamas says Israel dumping aphrodisiac gum on Gaza  —  GAZA CITY (AFP) — Hamas suspects that Israeli intelligence services are supplying its Gaza Strip stronghold with chewing gum that boosts the sex drive in order to “corrupt the young,” an official said on Tuesday.

Bare-Faced Go-Away Bird  —  First, I'm going to Rwanda this weekend, on vacation.  I'm looking forward to it immensely, especially since I discovered that the Bare-Faced Go-Away Bird, which topped my list of Best Bird Names Ever nearly five years ago, lives there.  (And did you know that the name ‘Watusi’ comes from the Tutsi?

The Little Scandal That Could  —  “We're not there yet,” one Democratic source on Capitol Hill said last week, when asked about the prospect for hearings on the Obama administration's firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin.  Congressional investigators are still conducting interviews …

The Small Business Surtax  —  The Obama Democrats pick income redistribution over job creation and economic growth.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Jason Furman owes an apology to Michael Boskin, the Stanford economist who wrote a year ago on these pages that Barack Obama would raise American income tax rates nearly to 60%.

Bride's bouquet brings down plane  —  The traditional throwing of a bride's bouquet for luck ended in disaster at an Italian wedding when the flowers caused a plane to crash.  —  The bride and groom had hired a small plane to fly past and throw the bouquet to a line of women guests, Corriere della Sera reported.

A Bad Week for House Republicans  —  Republicans Reps. Mark Kirk, Jim Gerlach and Mike Castle are either in or considering statewide bids.  AP Photo/George Widman  —  Twin decisions this week by Reps. Mark Kirk (Ill.) and Jim Gerlach (Pa.) to run for statewide office in 2010 …

Upcoming Military Robot Could Feed on Dead Bodies  —  It could be a combination of 19th-century mechanics, 21st-century technology — and a 20th-century horror movie.  —  A Maryland company under contract to the Pentagon is working on a steam-powered robot that would fuel itself by gobbling …

Sen. Reid adds to campaign finance advantage  —  WASHINGTON—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has raised more than $3.2 million during the past three months.  —  The haul gives Reid more than $7.3 million in the bank and widens an already significant financial advantage as he seeks re-election to a fifth term representing Nevada.

Sundry Thoughts on Health Care  —  As I ponder an Obama Administration health care reform bill, whatever that turns out to look like, I am struck by how different the debate is on the left, where Ezra Klein and other wonks are deep in the weeds on health care policy, and the right …

THE WHITE HOUSE PAY GAP.  —  An enterprising college student, Ariel Boone, has used the White House staff/salary list to do some digging on gender and pay disparities.  Here's what she found:  — On average, a White House woman earns $9,168 less than a White House man.

Nearly all my professors are Democrats.  Isn't that a problem?  —  After I posed that question, two faculty railed against me.  That's a sure sign that universities should address the lack of ideological diversity.  —  EUGENE, ORE. -  —  When I began examining the political affiliation …

A Bit More About Hillary...And a Tidbit About Her Friend Sidney  —  Apropos my last posting: what J.F.K. did was to substitute Mac Bundy for his secretary of state Dean Rusk.  —  What Barack Obama has done is make himself his own secretary of state.  No crime.