Republicans Propagating Falsehoods in Attacks on Health-Care Reform  —  As a columnist who regularly dishes out sharp criticism, I try not to question the motives of people with whom I don't agree.  Today, I'm going to step over that line.  —  The recent attacks by Republican leaders …

First on the CNN Ticker: Florida senator to resign seat  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Florida, will announce that he is resigning his seat, three GOP sources tell CNN.  —  The sources said that Martinez will officially announce his intention to step down on Friday.

247,000 Jobs Lost in July; Rate Falls Slightly to 9.4%  —  The American economy lost 247,000 jobs in July, and in a reversal, the unemployment rate fell slightly, to 9.4 percent, the government reported Friday.  —  Although businesses are expected to keep cutting jobs through the rest of the year …

Taliban Leader in Pakistan Is Reportedly Killed  —  ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Baitullah Mehsud, the main leader of Pakistan's fearsome Taliban movement, was killed Wednesday in a C.I.A. drone missile strike, two Taliban fighters said Friday, though American and Pakistani officials could not confirm the reports.

Dodd, Conrad cleared in Countrywide probe  —  The Senate Ethics Committee on Friday dismissed complaints against Democratic Sens. Chris Dodd (Conn.) and Kent Conrad (N.D.) over their participation in Countrywide Financial Corp.'s VIP lending program.  —  But the panel cautioned the senators …

Widening Gyre  —  We had a number of emails last night discussing how much of what we're hearing from the right now should be considered incitement.  There are numerous instances of anti-reform advocates explicitly comparing President Obama's health care plan to the Holocaust, for instance …

Reactions to Rush Limbaugh's Obama/Hitler comparison  —  [updated below (ADL) - Update II (Simon Wiesenthal Center)]  —  As I noted yesterday, the comparison of an anonymous person in the 2004 MoveOn.org ad contest of Bush to Hitler generated a massive media firestorm for a full week …

Twitter, Facebook attack targeted one user  —  A Georgian blogger with accounts on Twitter, Facebook, LiveJournal, and Google's Blogger and YouTube was targeted in a denial-of-service attack that led to the sitewide outage at Twitter and problems at the other sites on Thursday, according to a Facebook executive.

Another Hurdle for the Jobless: Credit Inquiries  —  Digging out of debt keeps getting harder for the unemployed as more companies use detailed credit checks to screen job prospects.  —  Out of work since December, Juan Ochoa was delighted when a staffing firm recently responded to his posting …

Sincerely, John Hughes  —  I was babysitting for my mom's friend Kathleen's daughter the night I wrote that first fan letter to John Hughes.  I can literally remember the yellow grid paper, the blue ball point pen and sitting alone in the dim light in the living room, the baby having gone to bed.

Gillibrand Rival Won't Run in Primary  —  WASHINGTON — Representative Carolyn B. Maloney announced Friday that she had changed her mind and had decided not to mount a Democratic primary challenge against Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand in next year's election.

Presenting new rules for radicals  —  If you're a virtuous and patriotic American, you may find this column either offensive or misleading.  If so, please forward it to White House authorities at the Department of Fishy Activity.  (E-mail the good people at flag@whitehouse.gov.)