Miller holds slim lead in early Senate vote  —  Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was battling for her political life against Republican challenger Joe Miller in early primary election returns on Tuesday night.  —  Miller was leading Murkowski with nearly 52 percent of the vote to her 48 percent …

A city cab driver is in the hospital after being stabbed by a passenger who allegedly asked if he was Muslim, police tell NY1.  —  Investigators with the New York City Police Department say it all began Monday night when a 21-year-old man hailed a cab at 24th Street and Second Avenue in Manhattan.

Scott upset ripples beyond Florida  —  HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - Millionaire businessman Rick Scott's surprise win in the Florida Republican gubernatorial primary Tuesday left both parties scrambling over how to cope with a candidate who possesses both glaring flaws and considerable assets.

Alan Simpson: Social Security Is ‘A Milk Cow With 310 Million Tits’  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Alan Simpson believes that Social Security is “like a milk cow with 310 million tits,” according to an email he sent to the executive director of National Older Women's League Tuesday morning.

ObamaCare Threatens College Health Plans  —  Kaiser Health News reports that those cheap, stripped down college health plans offered to students may be imperiled by Obamacare: … (H/T Jonathan Adler)  —  I imagine that the administration has been blindsided by this one.

Am I also a bigot?  Pols clueless on Ground Zero mosque  —  If one of her sleuths knocks on my door, this opponent will readily state that I need no outside funding as a reporter who is deeply investigating the motivation of Imam Rauf's choice of this site of mass murder for the mosque.

Sales of U.S. New Homes Dropped to Record Low in July  —  Sales of U.S. new homes unexpectedly dropped in July to the lowest level on record, signaling that even with cheaper prices and reduced borrowing costs the housing market is retreating.  —  Purchases fell 12 percent from June …

Cash for Clunkers, Indeed  —  It wasn't so long ago that everyone just loved Cash for Clunkers.  People thought I was a total crank when I scoffed.  Even some of my fellow ideologues wavered.  —  On my now-defunct blog, I wrote, … No, the appropriate course would be to generalize …

Pastor says armed militia to protect church during Quran-burning event  —  (CNN) — An armed Christian organization, Right Wing Extreme, will protect a church that is planning to host an “International Burn a Quran Day” on the ninth anniversary of September 11, the church's pastor said on Tuesday.

U.S. Rejected Hen Vaccine Despite British Success  —  Faced with a crisis more than a decade ago in which thousands of people were sickened from salmonella in infected eggs, farmers in Britain began vaccinating their hens against the bacteria.  That simple but decisive step virtually wiped out the health threat.

Job Losses Over Drilling Ban Fail to Materialize  —  WASHINGTON — When the Obama administration called a halt to virtually all deepwater drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon blowout and fire in April, oil executives, economists and local officials complained …

Romney: Sylvester Stallone is ‘right,’ the U.S. ‘does apologize too much’  —  Former Massachusetts Gov. and potential 2012 White House contender Mitt Romney (R) took a cue Wednesday from Sylvester Stallone when he tweeted: “Stallone is right.  US does apologize too much.”

New Forecast Shows Democrats Losing 6 to 7 Senate Seats  —  The Democratic majority is in increasing jeopardy in the Senate, according to the latest FiveThirtyEight forecasting model.  The Democrats now have an approximately 20 percent chance of losing 10 or more seats in the Senate …

Economy Caught in Depression, Not Recession: Rosenberg  —  Positive gross domestic product readings and other mildly hopeful signs are masking an ugly truth: The US economy is in a 1930s-style Depression, Gluskin Sheff economist David Rosenberg said Tuesday.

Daniels draws a contrast with Palin  —  (CNN) - Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a possible presidential candidate in 2012, affirmed Wednesday that Sarah Palin is an energizing force among Republicans but suggested her political reach has its limits.  —  Asked his opinion of Palin in an interview …

Schoolgirls and teachers sick from poison gas in Afghanistan  —  Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) — Dozens of schoolgirls and teachers were sickened Wednesday by poison gas in Afghanistan, medical and government officials said.  —  The latest incident, this one at a high school …

After Katrina, New Orleans Cops Were Told They Could Shoot Looters  —  This story was reported by Sabrina Shankman and Tom Jennings of Frontline, Brendan McCarthy and Laura Maggi of The New Orleans Times-Picayune and A.C. Thompson of ProPublica  —  In the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina …