Op-Ed Columnist: Punishing the Unemployed  —  There was a time when everyone took it for granted that unemployment insurance, which normally terminates after 26 weeks, would be extended in times of persistent joblessness.  It was, most people agreed, the decent thing to do.  —  But that was then.

Obama tasks NASA with building Muslim self-esteem  —  In the video below, Charles Bolden, head of NASA, tells Al Jazeera that the “foremost” task President Obama has given him is “to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with predominantly Muslim nations to help …

Conservatives Are More Than Twice as Likely as Liberals to Be Strongly Patriotic, Says Gallup Poll  —  (CNSNews.com) - Conservatives are more than twice as likely as liberals to express very strong patriotism, according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll in which 48 percent of conservatives said they were …

Companies Find Ways to Bypass Ban on Earmarks  —  TOLEDO, Ohio — Just one day after leaders of the House of Representatives announced a ban on earmarks to profit-making companies, Victoria Kurtz, the vice president for marketing of a small Ohio defense contracting firm, hit on a creative way around it.

Lieberman: Rules of engagement protecting civilians ‘hurt morale’  —  Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) called on President Barack Obama and the top general in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, to “loosen” the rules of engagement put in place to lessen civilian casualties.  —  Fox News reported:

Former hot dog eating champ arrested  —  New York (CNN) — He didn't compete for the hot dog eating title this year, but he did cause a scene at the contest.  —  Takeru Kobayashi was arrested at Coney Island after his rival, Joey Chestnut, won the annual Nathan's International Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Teachers' Union Shuns Obama Aides at Convention  —  NEW ORLEANS — For the last two years, Barack Obama addressed educators gathered for the summer conventions of the two national teachers unions, and last year both groups rolled out the welcome mat for federal Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

On The Economist's Cover, Only a Part of the Picture  —  It was the ideal metaphor for a politically troubled president.  —  There was President Obama on the cover of the June 19 issue of The Economist, standing alone on a Louisiana beach, head down, looking forlornly at the ground.

Dying Lockerbie bomber ‘could survive for 10 years or more’  —  The Lockerbie bomber could survive for 10 years or longer, according to a cancer specialist who last year said he would be dead within three months of his release.  —  Professor Karol Sikora, who assessed Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi …

Islamist leader Burhan Hanif tells Aussie Muslims to ‘shun democracy’  —  Briton Salim Atchia from global Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir addresses the conference yesterday.  Picture: Amos Aikman  —  The Australian Protectionist Party said Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir have no place in society.

Determining oil spill's environmental damage is difficult  —  How dead is the Gulf of Mexico?  —  It is perhaps the most important question of the BP oil spill — but scientists don't appear close to answering it despite a historically vast effort.  —  In the 2 1/2 months since the spill began …

Steele Scrambles to Contain Fallout From War Remark as GOP Criticism Mounts  —  Shown here are Sen. John McCain, left, RNC Chairman Michael Steele, center, and Sen. Jim DeMint, right.  (AP Photos)  —  Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele was scrambling to contain the fallout …

Strike warning over redundancies  —  Unions are warning of strikes after the government confirmed plans to change civil service redundancy payments.  —  One union leader called industrial action an “inevitability” if payouts to axed staff were to be reduced.

Declaration of Independence: A Fisking  —  This post was originally published July 4, 2006.  —  Today marks the 230th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  Jim Lynch sent out an email to several of us asking us to blog the event as if we were there.