Judge Walker's decision to overturn Prop 8 is factual, well-reasoned, and powerful. … - Charging the WikiLeaks Leaker With Treason Would Be Absurd- How Many Americans Can't Swim?  - Profitable Companies That Refuse To Restore the Benefits They Axed in 2008- Is It Possible To Write an Interesting Novel About a Nanny?

An August Surprise from Obama?  —  Main Street may be about to get its own gigantic bailout.  Rumors are running wild from Washington to Wall Street that the Obama administration is about to order government-controlled lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to forgive a portion of the mortgage debt …

Material girl Michelle Obama is a modern-day Marie Antoinette on a glitzy Spanish vacation  —  Sacrifice is something that many Americans are becoming all too familiar with during this economic downturn.  It was a key theme in President Obama's inaugural address to the nation …

Google and Verizon in Talks on Selling Internet Priority  —  WASHINGTON — Google and Verizon, two leading players in Internet service and content, are nearing an agreement that could allow Verizon to speed some online content to Internet users more quickly if the content's creators are willing to pay for the privilege.

Briton held for wearing a bikini in Dubai shopping mall after fight with Arabic woman  —  A British holidaymaker has been charged with indecency in Dubai after walking through the world's largest shopping centre in a bikini.  —  The woman was buying clothes and gifts in the Dubai Mall …

Portland lemonade stand runs into health inspectors, needs $120 license to operate  —  It's hardly unusual to hear small-business owners gripe about licensing requirements or complain that heavy-handed regulations are driving them into the red.  —  So when Multnomah County shut down an enterprise …

Jobless Claims in U.S. Unexpectedly Climb to Three-Month High  —  More Americans than projected filed applications for unemployment insurance last week, indicating firings remain elevated as the recovery moderated.  —  Initial jobless claims climbed by 19,000 to 479,000 in the week ended July 31 …

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 …

Marcela Hoeven Bikini Scandal?  —  North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven is 47 points ahead in a Senate campaign that is, by all odds, the closest thing to a surefire pick-up for Republicans this fall.  And yet it appears that there are some fiendish Democrats who hope that “family values” …

Is the GOP shedding a birthright?  —  Rather than shout, I'll just ask the question in a civil way: Dear Republicans, do you really want to endanger your party's greatest political legacy by turning the 14th Amendment to our Constitution into an excuse for election-year ugliness?

Justice: 14 charged for supporting Somalia group  —  WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday that 14 people are being charged with providing support for the Somalian terrorist group al-Shabab.  —  Holder said the charges reflect a disturbing trend that leaders in Muslim communities …

Reid decries ‘Charlie Brown theory of government’ in the Senate  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) decried on Thursday the “Charlie Brown theory of government” that, he said, has plagued the Senate this year.  —  Reid knocked Senate Republicans for forcing delays …

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 …

You Know How Jesus Prized Wealth.  —  The mainstays of conservative Christian activism — the Family Research Council and the Christian Coalition — are launching a new campaign to protect the wealthy from tax increases, according to subscription-only Roll Call.  The tax hikes, they say, are a “family values issue.”

Todd S. Purdum's big question of Obama's presidency: Can he play the game, yet transcend the game?  - GPG hires top Republican - How Malia used her one phone call from camp  —  BULLETIN — Michael Hastings, the Rolling Stone contributing editor who wrote “The Runaway General,” tells Mika …

After flood of outrage, police will investigate shooting of husky in dog park  —  A day after dog's death becomes public, officials vow to look into the incident  —  Bea-Bear the Siberian husky was shot and killed at an Anne Arundel County dog park.  (Baltimore Sun / August 3, 2010)

Against Fatalism  —  Sometimes people can be wrong without actually saying anything that isn't true.  That's how I felt about the posture of fatalism that Carmen Reinhart adopted talking to Ezra Klein: … To be clear, I don't disagree with any of that.  But the message seems to be—calm down.

China Tests to Check Risk of Cash Crunch Among Developers  —  China's stress tests of banks will assess the risk that a possible slump in property prices may strain developers' finances and cause homebuyers to default, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

What Missouri showed me  —  One of the most interesting of Tuesday night's primary results came in Missouri's Proposition C. What did Missouri show us?  In the words of the joke: The peasants are revolting.  —  Proposition C asked voters whether Missouri law was to be amended to deny …

Priorities In an Era of Deficit Anxiety  —  Mark Kleiman sums it up well—in order to overcome filibusters in the Senate, Harry Reid's had to agree to pay for avoiding teacher layoffs by cutting nutrition assistance to poor families while in order to secure passage of the New START arms …