Judge strikes down Prop. 8, allows gay marriage in California [Updated]  —  A federal judge in San Francisco decided today that gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry, striking down Proposition 8, the voter approved ballot measure that banned same-sex unions.

Google, Verizon Said to Strike Deal on Web Traffic Rules  —  Verizon Communications Inc. and Google Inc. reached a deal on how to handle Internet traffic, striking their own accord on policy being weighed by U.S. officials, two people briefed by the companies said today.

Gibbs dismisses Missouri vote against federal health insurance mandate  —  White House press secretary Robert Gibbs flatly dismissed Missouri's vote Tuesday rejecting a key part of the healthcare law.  —  Gibbs said Missouri's vote approving a ballot initiative to exempt residents …

Bike agenda spins cities toward U.N. control, Maes warns  —  Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes is warning voters that Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's policies, particularly his efforts to boost bike riding, are “converting Denver into a United Nations community.”

Senate Vote Clears Way for $26 Billion in Aid to States  —  WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday cleared the way to provide $10 billion to states and local school districts to prevent teacher layoffs and an additional $16 billion in federal aid to cash-strapped states, and the Speaker …

Feds admit storing checkpoint body scan images  —  For the last few years, federal agencies have defended body scanning by insisting that all images will be discarded as soon as they're viewed.  The Transportation Security Administration claimed last summer, for instance, that “scanned images cannot be stored or recorded.”

Why We Should Welcome McConnell's Demand for Hearings on Rescinding 14th Amendment  —  The “your papers, please” hysteria spreading through the Republican Party has reached a new low.  Now, they want to corrupt the U.S. Constitution to promote their opposition to immigrants and immigration.

Updated.  Must Watch: The Broken Window Fallacy  —  This brilliant video is a simple illustration on the fallacy of claiming that calamities stir economic growth.  Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize - winning economist, says the attacks of 9/11 and World War II brought great economic benefits to the nation.

The Tea Party's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Night  —  Moderates rule a series of high-profile primaries.  —  Kansas Rep. Todd Tiahrt, along with his wife, Vicki, concedes to Jerry Moran during a watch party for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate.

White House Statement on Proposition 8  —  A White House statement regarding Wednesday's ruling overturning Proposition 8 said President Barack Obama had spoken out against the measure because it was “divisive and discriminatory.”  —  A White House spokesperson sent the following statement …

Jewish group won't fight ground zero mosque, leader says  —  The Anti-Defamation League will not fight the building of a controversial Islamic center and mosque planned near the site of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in New York, the group's leader told CNN Wednesday.

CNN Poll: Quarter doubt Obama was born in U.S.  —  President Obama's birth certificate (left) has been certified authentic by the Republican governor of Hawaii.  His birth announcement (right) appeared in print in 1961.  (PHOTO CREDIT: State of Hawaii)  —  Washington (CNN) …

Angle: “What's happening (in America)..is a violation of the 1st Commandment,” entitlements “make government our God.”  —  That's what Sharron Angle, the GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate, said in an April 21 interview with TruNews Christian Radio's Rick Wiles.

Ugly Populism  —  I'd like to associate myself with everything Alan Jacobs just wrote in his post on the mosque and community center being built near Ground Zero.  Newt Gingrich is a politician I would've considered supporting in a bid for the presidency.  His behavior during this episode has cost him any chance at my vote.

The 2012 GOP Contest  —  Our national polling on the 2012 Republican Presidential contest pretty consistently shows what amounts to a four way tie between Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, and Newt Gingrich.  But to get a feel of how things might play out in reality it's interesting …

Pence: Obama ‘most anti-Israel’ president in modern history  —  President Obama is running the most anti-Israel White House in modern history, a member of the House GOP leadership charged Wednesday.  —  House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (Ind.), a staunch ally of Israel, assailed Obama for his record on that country.

Evidence and denial  —  Obama advisers refuse to believe they're failing  —  Last Friday, it was reported that economic growth was only 2.4 percent in the second quarter of this year - far below what the Obama administration had forecast.  Yet the administration and its supporters continue …