Muslim Outreach Not the Job of NASA, White House Says  —  White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs speaks at the daily briefing at the White House July 12.  (AP Photo)  —  White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday that NASA Administrator Charles Bolden must have misspoken …

Andrew Napolitano: Bush and Cheney Should Have Been Indicted for Torturing, for Spying and Arresting Without Warrants  —  Well, this is something you don't see every day.  Ralph Nader hosted this interview segment with Fox News' Judge Andrew Napolitano and discussed his book, Lies the Government Told You.

Confidence in Obama reaches new low, Washington Post-ABC News poll finds  —  Public confidence in President Obama has hit a new low, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll.  Four months before midterm elections that will define the second half of his term …

Michelle Obama Rouses NAACP Before Vote Condemning ‘Racist’ Elements of Tea Party  —  Tea Party Leaders Say Political Motivation Driving NAACP Agenda  —  First Lady Michelle Obama brought renewed energy to the NAACP today, delivering the keynote speech at the annual convention …

4 missionaries charged in Dearborn festival proselytizing  —  Dearborn — Four Christian missionaries were arraigned today on misdemeanor charges of disturbing the peace following their June 18 arrest at the Arab International Festival.  —  Negeen Mayel, 18, of California; Nabeel Qureshi …

Jon Kyl gives away the game on deficits  —  “[Y]ou should never raise taxes in order to cut taxes,” Jon Kyl said on Fox News Sunday.  “Surely Congress has the authority, and it would be right to — if we decide we want to cut taxes to spur the economy, not to have to raise taxes in order to offset those costs.

Felons Voting Illegally May Have Put Franken Over the Top in Minnesota, Study Finds  —  The six-month election recount that turned former “Saturday Night Live” comedian Al Franken into a U.S. senator may have been decided by convicted felons who voted illegally in Minnesota's Twin Cities.

Beyond Guns: N.R.A. Expands Agenda  —  WASHINGTON — Fresh off a string of victories in the courts and Congress, the National Rifle Association is flexing political muscle outside its normal domain, with both Democrats and Republicans courting its favor and avoiding its wrath on issues that sometimes seem to have little to do with guns.

Dems hit 60 on Wall Street bill  —  Democrats appeared on Monday to have won the 60 votes they need to move Wall Street reform through the Senate when Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe (Maine) and Scott Brown (Mass.) announced their support for a conference report.

Group to oppose President Obama's Mideast policy  —  Leading conservatives will launch a new pro-Israel group this week with a scathing attack on Rep. Joe Sestak, the Democratic Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, the first shot in what they say will be a confrontational campaign …

Administration issues revised moratorium on offshore drilling  —  The Interior Department has issued a new offshore drilling moratorium that is different, but not very different, from the one blocked recently by a New Orleans federal judge.  —  The six-month moratorium announced in May in the wake …

Congressman blames town hall incident on opponent, apologizes  —  A Texas congressman who got into a heated exchange at a town hall meeting this weekend blamed his opponent's campaign for the incident, but also apologized for his conduct.  —  Video emerged Monday that shows Rep. Ciro Rodriguez …

Sharron Angle flummoxes local press with “stimulus” non-sequitor  —  Here's the latest out of Nevada: Sharron Angle is getting attention for flubbing an answer involving job creation in a manner that raises questions about whether she grasps an enormously important local issue.

Taranis: The £143million unmanned stealth jet that will hit targets in another continent  —  Looming ominously like a space ship from Star Wars, this is the future of unmanned flight.  —  Defence firm BAE Systems today officially unveiled its first ever high-tech unmanned stealth jet.

2012: What Palin Is, and Isn't, Doing  —  Sarah Palin's PAC disclosure release has occasioned a new round of “Will she or won't she?”  If we take the dictum that one's judgment is more easily interrogated than one's motivation, we're left with a simple answer: she's seriously thinking about running for president.

EXCLUSIVE NEW AUDIO: Mel Gibson Admits Hitting Oksana, Threatens To Kill Her - Listen To It Here  —  WARNING: This audio may not be reproduced or republished.  —  Mel Gibson, under investigation for domestic violence, admits to hitting Oksana Grigorieva and TWICE threatens to kill …

Did BP play role in bomber's release?  —  (CNN) — A group of U.S. lawmakers have called for an investigation into whether BP may have played a role in lobbying for the release of Abdelbaset al Megrahi to secure an oil contract with the Libyan government.  —  Megrahi, now 58 …

Stuff  —  As I mentioned in my last entry, I've been watching Babylon 5 lately.  It's not a perfect show, but it has one big advantage: it's consistent and believable.  —  Contrast this with Doctor Who.  Doctor Who is fun to watch, but if you think about it for more than two seconds …

BP Oil Spill: Containment Cap Installed on Leak, As Anger Surges Over Slow Claims Payouts  —  Adm.Thad Allen Says BP ‘Very Close’ to Stopping Oil From Gushing Into the Gulf of Mexico  —  BP has successfully lowered a new containment cap onto its leaking well, its latest attempt to control …

Panel To Delay Kagan Vote  —  The Senate Judiciary Committee will not vote Tuesday on the nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, GOP aides said today.  —  GOP senators will use the ability of any committee member under the panel's rules to put off a vote for one week, several aides said.

Strapped Florida Banks Ask for Help  —  Hobbled by Real-Estate Bust and Oil Spill's Fallout, Lenders Seek Reprieve From Capital Raising  —  Florida banks—already weakened by the real-estate bust and hit again by customers suffering from the BP PLC oil spill—are asking federal regulators …

Lieberman, Kerry make last-ditch appeal on scaled-back climate bill  —  The Senate sponsors of a sweeping climate change bill are drafting a scaled-back version focused on electric power plants in a bid to salvage a role for greenhouse gas curbs in the Senate energy debate.

In BP's Record, a History of Boldness and Costly Blunders  —  This article was reported by Sarah Lyall and Julia Werdigier in London, Clifford Krauss in Houston and Jad Mouawad in New York, and written by Ms. Lyall.  —  Hurricane Dennis had already come and gone on July 11, 2005 …