Democrats Seem Set to Go Alone on a Health Bill  —  WASHINGTON — Given hardening Republican opposition to Congressional health care proposals, Democrats now say they see little chance of the minority's cooperation in approving any overhaul, and are increasingly focused on drawing support for a final plan from within their own ranks.

David Axelrod's Very Big Problem  —  The allegations in this Bloomberg story —if true— pose a huge problem for a senior advisor to the president, David Axelrod.  This is the heart of the problem: … The problem is that Axelrod's former firm is currently receiving huge fees …

Science proves zombies could annihilate humans  —  If zombies actually existed, an attack by them would lead to the collapse of civilisation unless dealt with quickly and aggressively.  —  That is the conclusion of a mathematical exercise carried out by researchers in Canada.

Woman yells ‘Heil Hitler’ to Jewish man praising Israel's national health care system.  —  Conservatives have strenuously denied that there is any anti-Semitism on display by anti-health reform protesters at town hall meetings nationwide — despite all the evidence to the contrary.

Labor Warns Dems: We'll Sit Out Election If You Oppose Public Plan  —  One of the country's most prominent union officials is warning that big labor may pull its support from Democrats who don't fight for a government-run insurance plan.  —  In an interview with the Huffington Post on Saturday …

I Am Vaguely Calling You Out  —  This is a message for all you Chicken Littles, you handwringers, you wannabe strategists, you people who have suggestions or doubts: I am vaguely calling you out.  —  Who you are is not really important.  Why I am vaguely calling you out is also not important.

60 Votes  —  Quick background: Republicans will filibuster any healthcare bill that reaches the floor of the Senate, and it takes 60 votes to break a filibuster.  If a healthcare bill includes a public option provision, it's vanishingly unlikely that we can find those 60 votes.

NBC POLL: PLURALITY OPPOSES PUBLIC OPTION  —  From NBC's Mark Murray  —  The question of whether or not the eventual health-care reform legislation will include a public/government option to compete with private insurers has dominated the health-care debate over the past two days.

In Appraisal Shift, Lenders Gain Power and Critics  —  Mike Kennedy, a real estate appraiser in Monroe, N.Y., was examining a suburban house a few years ago when he discovered five feet of water in the basement.  The mortgage broker arranging the owner's refinancing asked him to pretend it was not there.

ObamaCare Is All About Rationing  —  Overspending is far preferable to artificially limiting the availability of new procedures and technologies.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Although administration officials are eager to deny it, rationing health care is central to President Barack Obama's health plan.

Sweden newspaper: Israel kills Palestinians, harvests their organs  —  A leading Swedish newspaper reported this week that Israeli soldiers are abducting Palestinians in order to steal their organs, a claim that prompted furious condemnation and accusations of anti-Semitic blood libel from a rival publication.

I am finally scared of a White House administration  —  The members of that ultimate federal board will themselves not have examined or seen the patient in question.  For another example of the growing, tumultuous resistance to “Dr. Obama,” particularly among seniors, there is a July 29 …

A Conservative's Road to Same-Sex Marriage Advocacy  —  Theodore B. Olson's office is a testament to his iconic status in the conservative legal movement.  A framed photograph of Ronald Reagan, the first of two Republican presidents Mr. Olson served, is warmly inscribed with “heartfelt thanks.”

Howard Dean Says Senate Republicans Want Obama Dead  —  A QUIET SCREAM  —  Former DNC Head Plays Games With Incendiary Language  —  Apparently, libtalkers aren't the only ones asserting that conservatives want Obama dead.  After a week of reckless rhetoric from the left side of the dial …

Robert Novak, 1931-2009  —  Robert Novak terrified Washington.  Elected and appointed officials, Democrats and Republicans, lobbyists and self-styled defenders of the “public interest” — few were comfortable when Novak had them in his sights.  Nor should they have been.

Keep Off the Astroturf  —  WITH the “public option” part of President Obama's health care reform plan looking dead in the water, many of its supporters are taking issue with the legitimacy of its opposition.  “We call it ‘Astroturf,’ ” Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said of the protesters at town-hall meetings.

Fiorina takes a step toward challenging Boxer in 2010  —  SACRAMENTO — Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina inched closer Tuesday toward a run for U.S. Senate next year, filing paperwork that will allow her to begin raising money for polling, political consultants and other preparations …

Why ‘Obama-care’ is failing  —  The president and his supporters are blaming the wrong people for his healthcare woes — they should look in the mirror.  —  To listen to the White House and its supporters, in and out of the media, you would think that opposition to “Obama-care” is the hobgoblin of a few small minds on the right.

Obama Goes Postal, Lands in Dead-Letter Office: Caroline Baum  —  Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) — “UPS and FedEx are doing just fine.  It's the Post Office that's always having problems.”  — Barack Obama, Aug. 11, 2009  —  No institution has been the butt of more government- inefficiency jokes than the U.S. Postal Service.

Danish Conservatives Call for Burqa Ban  —  The immigration spokesman for Denmark's Conservative Party is calling for a ban on the wearing of burqas in public.  He says the garment was introduced by the Taliban and is “not Islamic at all.”  —  Denmark's Conservative Party said this week …

RHO1953  —  I can't say that I agree with her about anything, but at least she's consistent and not a hypocrite, unlike the vast majority of democrats.  They were anti-war until their man decided to be a war-monger.  Now they are silent.  I suppose they will go back to being anti-war after Obama leaves office.

Honesty about the Stimulus  —  On August 6, Christina Romer, the chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, gave a talk (it can be read at http://blog.prospect.org/blog/weblog/ DCEconClubprint.pdf) entitled “So, Is It Working?  An Assessment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act at the Five-Month Mark.”

Voters Say 4 - 1 New York State Government Is Broken, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; More Would Dump Their State Senator To Clean House  —  New York State government is dysfunctional, voters say 77 - 19 percent, and 58 percent say it is “the worst” or “among the worst” in the nation …

Senator Moves to Block Medical Ghostwriting  —  A growing body of evidence suggests that doctors at some of the nation's top medical schools have been attaching their names and lending their reputations to scientific papers that were drafted by ghostwriters working for drug companies …