GIVE VOTERS A REASON.... The latest Research 2000 poll for Daily Kos included the usual question on the generic congressional ballot, with Dems still enjoying a modest edge over Republicans, 37% to 32%, with 31% unsure.  Democratic numbers were strongest in the Northeast (53% Dems, 7% GOP) …

Tiger Woods: Injuries Caused by Wife, Not SUV  —  Tiger Woods did not suffer facial lacerations from a car accident.  They were inflicted by his wife, Elin Nordegren — according to a conversation Woods had Friday after the accident.  —  Tiger has yet to be formally interviewed …

Ten ‘principles’ could keep thinkers away from the GOP  —  Some people can't stand prosperity, my father used to say.  Today, he might be talking about Republicans, who, in the midst of declining support for President Obama's hope-and-change agenda, are considering a “purity” …

Towns will investigate Secret Service  —  The chairman of the House's top investigative committee said he will review Secret Service security practices after the agency allowed an uninvited couple into the Obama administration's first state dinner.  —  Rep. Ed Towns (D-N.Y.) …

U.S. Still Running Secret Prison in Afghanistan  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — An American military detention camp in Afghanistan is still holding inmates for sometimes weeks at a time and without access to the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to human rights researchers …

The right fix for the Fed  —  For many Americans, the financial crisis, and the recession it spawned, have been devastating — jobs, homes, savings lost.  Understandably, many people are calling for change.  Yet change needs to be about creating a system that works better, not just differently.

A Climate Scientist Who Engages Skeptics  —  I've been in touch all week with Judith Curry, a seasoned climate scientist at Georgia Tech with a particular focus on hurricanes and warming.  She has no skepticism about a growing human influence on climate.  But she has split with many of her peers …

China Jails Environmentalist Wanted in U.S.  —  DALI, China — Justin Franchi Solondz, an environmental activist from New Jersey who spent years evading charges of ecoterrorism in the United States by hiding out in China, was sentenced to three years in prison by a local court on Friday …

He Can't Take Another Bow  —  An icon of a White House that is coming to seem amateurish.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  This week, two points in an emerging pointillist picture of a White House leaking support—not the support of voters, though polls there show steady decline …

Dubai Debt Woes Raise Fear of Wider Problem  —  Of the many countries that gorged on debt in the boom years, Dubai stood out.  In the space of a few years the emirate's investment arm, Dubai World, racked up $59 billion in debt, borrowing to build lavish developments like a giant island shaped …

‘Bomb’ caused Russian train crash  —  Richard Galpin reports on the causes of the train disaster  —  A bomb blast caused the Russian train crash in which at least 26 people were killed, intelligence officials say.  —  The Nevsky Express derailed with nearly 700 on board …