Bank Bailout Is Potent Issue for Both Parties in Fall Races  —  WASHINGTON — The vote in 2008 to bail out Wall Street was framed as the only way to avert an economic meltdown and relieve financial institutions of their most poisonous holdings.  For many members of Congress, it turns out that the vote itself was toxic.

First rig sails away over drilling ban  —  Lawmakers and experts fear loss is only the start of offshore exodus  —  WASHINGTON — Diamond Offshore announced Friday that its Ocean Endeavor drilling rig will leave the Gulf of Mexico and move to Egyptian waters immediately …

‘The Crisis at Which We Are Arrived’  —  Don't fear the Tea Parties. … We are not now quite at a founding moment, or even a re-founding moment.  But we have arrived at a genuine crisis, or a set of crises, and we may well be at a decisive moment for the country.  —  This sense of crisis is what animates the Tea Parties.

Obama Finalizes Plans For 3rd Vacation Since Gulf Oil Spill Crisis Began  —  “I'm not going to rest or be satisfied until the leak is stopped at the source, the oil in the Gulf is contained and cleaned up, and the people in the Gulf are able to go back to their lives and their livelihoods.”

Dead for a Century, Twain Says What He Meant  —  Wry and cranky, droll and cantankerous — that's the Mark Twain we think we know, thanks to reading “Huck Finn” and “Tom Sawyer” in high school.  But in his unexpurgated autobiography, whose first volume is about to be published a century after his death …

Israel: We won't let ship reach Gaza  —  MK Tibi: Activists on Libyan ship still plan to sail straight to Gaza.  —  Talkbacks (50)  —  Make JPOST.COM your Home Page  —  Iranian Threat  —  Jewish World  —  Local Israel  —  Arts & Culture  —  Français  —  Classifieds  —  Israel

Wall St. Hiring in Anticipation of an Economic Recovery  —  While much of the country remains fixated on the bleak employment picture, hiring is beginning to pick up in the place that led the economy into recession — Wall Street.  —  The shift underscores the remarkable recovery …

Box left at woman's door explodes  —  HOUSTON (KTRK) — Local and federal investigators were at a northwest Houston home Friday night where an explosion sent a woman to the hospital.  —  The woman was opening a package left at her doorstep in the 2100 block of Seamist Court Friday evening.

Ivy Cred  —  OK, so the FBI has said they were Russian spies, the Russian government has said they were Russian spies, and the Russian spies have said they were Russian spies, and Vladimir Putin has cracked jokes about it.  —  That leaves ... Harvard.  The nation's premier Ivy League U.S …

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Obama can't shake gay-rights fights  —  When President Barack Obama agreed to back legislation in May that could eventually repeal the military's “don't ask, don't tell” policy, the resolution seemed to offer twin benefits for the White House:  —  Quell the anger of gay activists who accused Obama …