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 …

Sharia vs. The New Deal.  —  Andy McCarthy on the central political question of our time: … Sure.  —  In any case, McCarthy has been tying all of his likes and dislikes to elaborate conspiracy theories involving Sharia for some time now, and his paranoia about Elena Kagan …

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 …

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 …

The Big Question: Will breaking off their recess to pass a state aid package help Dems this fall?  —  Will breaking off their recess to pass a $26B state aid package help House Democrats this fall?  —  Dean Baker, co-director, Center for Economic Policy and Research:

Boehner derides police officers and teachers as ‘special interests.’  —  Yesterday, the Senate finally overcame a Republican filibuster to approve $26 billion in funding to bolster state budgets, including $10 billion to prevent massive teacher layoffs.  Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi …

Fact-checking the Fact-checkers on the $3.8 Trillion Obama Tax Hike  —  Yesterday, PolitiFact.com fact-checked my statement about the coming $3.8 trillion Obama tax hike - the largest tax increase in history.  They did such a bad job of it, however, that I feel compelled to fact-check the fact-checkers.

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)

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 …

Summary of Key Findings  —  An extensive new survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life details statistics on religion in America and explores the shifts taking place in the U.S. religious landscape.  Based on interviews with more than 35,000 Americans age 18 and older …

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?

Pentagon demands documents back from Wikileaks, wants files deleted  —  The Pentagon demanded Thursday that Wikileaks hand over classified Afghanistan war documents published July 25 on the website.  —  Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell at Thursday's briefing said “the only acceptable course” …

The Return of the $1,000 Down Mortgage  —  In Wisconsin and other states, home buyers might be eligible for 100 percent financing on mortgages.  (Creative Commons.)  —  “Buy new with $1,000 down,” the advertisement says, the words resting atop a trim green clapboard house offset by a bright blue sky.

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 …