Sarah Palin gets in dustup with teacher  —  Sarah Palin was involved in a short argument over the weekend with an Alaska teacher over her decision to leave her post as governor of Alaska.  AP  —  Sarah Palin was involved in a brief argument over the weekend with an Alaska teacher …

The Marriage Ideal  —  Here are some commonplace arguments against gay marriage: Marriage is an ancient institution that has always been defined as the union of one man and one woman, and we meddle with that definition at our peril.  Lifelong heterosexual monogamy is natural; gay relationships are not.

GQ Exclusive: Rand Paul's Kooky College Days (Hint: There's a Secret Society Involved)  —  When the Lexington Herald-Leader reported last week that Rand Paul was, in effect, a college dropout, it looked like the 2010 midterms might feature yet another fabulist.

Why I'm Not Hiring  —  When you add it all up, it costs $74,000 to put $44,000 in Sally's pocket and to give her $12,000 in benefits.  —  With unemployment just under 10% and companies sitting on their cash, you would think that sooner or later job growth would take off.  I think it's going to be later—much later.

Flight Attendant Pops Emergency Chute, Escapes Plane at JFK … A jetBlue flight attendant upset because a passenger refused to apologize after accidentally striking him with luggage, allegedly spewed obscenities over the PA system, then activated and slid down a plane's emergency chute …

Why Michelle Obama Vacationed in Spain: To Be With Grieving Friend  —  Michelle Obama returned to Washington on Sunday from five days on Spain's Mediterranean coast, taking a mother-daughter trip with Sasha, 9, that stirred controversy.  A White House source told me, however …

Tea Party Infiltration Done Wrong  —  It's rarely convincing when Tea Party activists brush off attacks on the movement by claiming that the bad apples at their rallies are really agents provocateurs.  That's just too convenient.  Sometimes, the people who make you look bad actually are part of your movement.

Obama to GOP: I'm pretty good at politicking, remember?  —  (CNN) — President Barack Obama warned Republicans on Monday that he is back in campaign mode.  —  In a fundraising speech in Austin, Texas, Obama complained that while his administration has been governing the country since January 2009 …

Ed Rendell: Many Republicans ‘are nuts’  —  Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell on Monday said that Republican desires to repeal the 14th Amendment are “cuckoo” and prove that many in the GOP “are nuts.”  —  Asked during an MSNBC interview about many Republicans' calls to repeal the portion …

A joint policy proposal for an open Internet  —  Posted by Alan Davidson, Google director of public policy and Tom Tauke, Verizon executive vice president of public affairs, policy, and communications  —  The original architects of the Internet got the big things right.

America Goes Dark  —  The lights are going out all over America — literally.  Colorado Springs has made headlines with its desperate attempt to save money by turning off a third of its streetlights, but similar things are either happening or being contemplated across the nation, from Philadelphia to Fresno.

Greg Gutfeld: I'm raising money to build a Muslim gay bar next to the Ground Zero mosque  —  Andy Levy assures me that he's quite serious.  Media narrative on the GZ mosque: Shining beacon of liberal values bursting through the overcast skies of American intolerance.

Ryan Rips Krugman: ‘Intellectually Lazy’ and ‘Bizarre’ Attack  —  Talking late this afternoon with THE WEEKLY STANDARD, Republican congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin blasted New York Times columnist Paul Krugman for his “intellectualy lazy” attack on Ryan's fiscal “Roadmap.”

SOAK THE VERY, VERY RICH  —  The fight on Capitol Hill over whether to extend the Bush tax cuts is about many things: deficit reduction, economic stimulus, supply-side ideology.  But at its core is a simple question: who counts as rich?  The Obama Administration's answer is that you're rich …

Horrible Obama-Smashing Carnival Game Wows Jersey Shore Patrons  —  Last week, a fair near Allentown, Pennsylvania grabbed some attention for its “Alien Attack” shooting-gallery game, where one could shoot at Barack Obama's likeness.  The game was pulled.  But there's still a similar game on the Jersey Shore boardwalk!

Gates announces major job cuts as Pentagon looks to cut spending  —  Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Monday dozens of cuts to senior military and contractor positions and the elimination of a major military command.  —  The moves are part of an effort to streamline Pentagon spending.

Self-induced Paralysis  —  Reading Jon Hilsenrath's column today, I was initially a bit skeptical about this assertion: … I knew that I had pushed that option (pdf); I was less sure that Bernanke had, since he often focused more on quantitative easing.  But Hilsenrath is right …

Republican Party starts to kill its own: S.C. Rep. Bob Inglis ousted for not hating Obama enough  —  There are landmarks all over our city named after LaGuardia and Javits and Rockefeller, names out of the city's great Republican past, when the party was one of intelligence, not fear-mongering and hate.

Frum: Bristol-Levi more significant that Prop 8 ruling  —  Editor's note: David Frum writes a weekly column for CNN.com.  A special assistant to President George W. Bush in 2001-02, he is the author of six books, including “Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again,” and is the editor of FrumForum.

An interview with Bill McCollum, Republican candidate for governor  —  Editor's note: Executive Editor James A. Smith Sr. interviewed McCollum on Aug. 3 in Daytona Beach.  The interview lasted 21:53 minutes.  What follows is a transcript with limited editing.  For more information, see www.BillMcCollum.com.

Where Americans Are Spending More..  —  Since the recession started in the fourth quarter of 2007, the common theme has been about Americans cutting back on their spending.  But the latest numbers from the BEA show aggregate personal consumption expenditures are up 2.9%, or $285 billion.