U.S. Shelves Nuclear-Missile Shield  —  Czech Interim Prime Minister Gets Midnight Call  —  WASHINGTON — The White House will shelve Bush administration plans to build a missile-defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, a move likely to cheer Moscow and roil the security debate in Europe.

Mad Man: Is Glenn Beck Bad for America?  —  On Sept. 12, a large crowd gathered in Washington to protest ... what?  The goals of Congress and the Obama Administration, mainly — the cost, the scale, the perceived leftist intent.  The crowd's agenda was wide-ranging, so it's hard to be more specific.

Tea Party Protesters Protest D.C. Metro Service  —  Brody Mullins reports on money and politics.  —  Protesters who attended Saturday's Tea Party rally in Washington found a new reason to be upset: Apparently they are unhappy with the level of service provided by the subway system.

Video: Nancy Pelosi Worries About Tea Protest Violence.  Chokes Up.  Likens It To What Killed Harvey Milk  —  Good grief:  —  Isn't this the same woman that trotted out the protesters = Nazis meme, after which union thug plants started showing up at townhalls and tea parties with Nazi signs to try to paint the protesters as such?

ACORN Video: Prostitution Scandal in San Diego, CA  —  With 70 miles of stunning beaches and picture-perfect weather all year round, having fun during the summer in San Diego doesn't require a lot of money.  —  The city combines old-fashioned Mexican charm with a modern edge.

Grassley: Bipartisan health bill would have been possible within weeks  —  Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) would have been able to craft a health bill with broad bipartisan support had he been given more time, a key Senate colleague claimed Thursday.  —  Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) …

HOUSE VOTES TO DEFUND ACORN-FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL  —  FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 718 (Democrats in roman; Republicans in italic; Independents underlined)  —  H R 3221 RECORDED VOTE 17-Sep-2009 2:06 PM  —  QUESTION: On Motion to Recommit with Instructions

Another pipeline closed off: House cuts ACORN funding, 345-75  —  Better late than never: … Just the beginning.  Far from the end.  —  Here's the roll call vote.

Obama Gets Highest Approval on Iraq, Lowest on Deficit  —  Little change in Obama approval on economy, healthcare  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Of the seven specific issue approval ratings measured in a Sept. 11-13 USA Today/Gallup poll, President Obama gets his highest rating (56%) on his handling of Iraq …

Essay: Chop and Crop  —  [David Hume Kennerly is a former contributing editor of Newsweek.  He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1972 for his photographs of the Vietnam War.  A response from Newsweek follows immediately below.]  —  The Sept. 14th Newsweek cover line — “Is Your Baby Racist?”

Sotomayor Challenges Corporate Law  —  WASHINGTON — In her maiden Supreme Court appearance last week, Justice Sonia Sotomayor made a provocative comment that probed the foundations of corporate law.  —  During arguments in a campaign-finance case, the court's majority conservatives seemed persuaded …

Teen birth rates highest in most religious states  —  Link may be due to communities frowning on contraception, researchers say  —  U.S. states whose residents have more conservative religious beliefs on average tend to have higher rates of teenagers giving birth, a new study suggests.

Dodd Inching Back Up In Connecticut, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Obama Slide Continues  —  Connecticut voters disapprove 49 - 43 percent of the job Sen. Christopher Dodd is doing, his best score in six months and better than his 52 - 42 percent disapproval July 23, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

AP NewsBreak: Nuke agency says Iran can make bomb  —  VIENNA (AP) - Experts at the world's top atomic watchdog are in agreement that Tehran has the ability to make a nuclear bomb and is on the way to developing a missile system able to carry an atomic warhead, according to a secret report seen by The Associated Press.

Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary Dies at 72  —  Mary Travers, whose ringing, earnest vocals with the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary made songs like “Blowin' in the Wind,” “If I Had a Hammer” and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” enduring anthems of the 1960s protest movement, died on Wednesday at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut.

John Boehner struggles to keep up with base  —  “I would point out that the greatest anxiety about the president's policies tends to come from independents,” he said.  —  Long before the tea parties or Wilson's outburst, Boehner and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) had struggled to moderate …

Toplines - Texas Republican Primary - September 16, 2009  —  Survey of 790 Likely GOP Primary Voters  —  1* How would you rate the job Barack Obama has been doing as President... do you strongly approve, somewhat approve, somewhat disapprove, or strongly disapprove of the job he's been doing?