Axelrod: President remains opposed to same-sex marriage  —  President Obama remains opposed to same-sex marriage despite a federal judge's decision to strike down a ban on such marriages, a top White House adviser said Thursday.  —  Senior adviser David Axelrod said the president supports …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Bush reportedly pushed back publication of his memoir until after the elections so GOP isn't tarnished.  —  Former President Bush has been working on a memoir about his tenure in the White House, titled “Decision Points,” that is scheduled to be released this fall.

Ben Dimiero & Eric Hananoki: Meet Breitbart's Sherrod writer: Racist sexual “expert” and inventor (who cured cancer)  —  In two posts on Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment website, Dr. Kevin Pezzi smears Shirley Sherrod as a racist, claiming that “if someone deserves to be put on a pedestal for overcoming racism, it isn't Sherrod.”

Kristol's Hawkish Pro-Israel Group Launches New Ad Against Endangered Dem (VIDEO)  —  What's Your Reaction: … A hawkish, pro-Israel group that includes some of the most prominent neo-conservative and evangelical voices in the country is launching the second salvo in an ad campaign targeting primarily congressional Democrats.

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.

Head of defunct lobbying firm PMA indicted on charges of illegal campaign gifts  —  A once-influential defense lobbyist was charged Thursday with making hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions — while his son agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in the case involving his father as part of a plea agreement.

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 …

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)

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?

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.

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 …

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” …

Dem senators: More drones at border  —  Sens. Chuck Schumer and Claire McCaskill want $600 million in additional funding for border security.  AP  —  Two Democratic senators want to add $600 million for border security and increase the number of unmanned drones that currently patrol the hundreds of miles of unguarded border.

The Talibanisation of British childhood by hardline parents  —  Last November, on the steps of Tate Britain, I witnessed a scene that troubles me still.  —  A furious Asian father was shaking his young son and tearing up the picture his child had drawn.  —  The boy kicked and cried.