Rush Limbaugh, Pastor Terry Jones Were High School Classmates  —  Terry Jones, the Florida pastor threatening to burn a Koran tomorrow on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, was a high school classmate of Rush Limbaugh.  —  The Cape Central High School (Missouri) website …

Nine years after 9/11, let's stop fulfilling bin Laden's goals  —  The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, succeeded far beyond anything Osama bin Laden could possibly have envisioned.  This is not just because they resulted in nearly 3,000 deaths, nor only because they struck at the heart of American financial and military power.

Top Adviser to Lead Panel on Economy  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama on Friday will promote a longtime economic adviser, Austan D. Goolsbee, to chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers, signaling continuity even as a high unemployment rate has left much of the public dissatisfied with administration policies.

Americans OK Allowing Tax Cuts for Wealthy to Expire  —  One in three favor keeping tax cuts for all taxpayers  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A majority of Americans favor letting the tax cuts enacted during the Bush administration expire for the wealthy.  While 37% support keeping the tax cuts for all Americans …

Judge Rules That Military Policy Violates Rights of Gays  —  The “don't ask, don't tell” policy toward gay members of the military is unconstitutional, a federal judge in California ruled Thursday.  —  Judge Virginia A. Phillips of Federal District Court struck down the rule in an opinion issued late in the day.

Suddenly, their house is taken over  —  A Long Beach couple struggling with mortgage payments find out their home's been auctioned off by Wells Fargo when the new owner's representative shows up on their doorstep.  —  Mike and Ellen Kahara knew times were tough.

41 Obama White House aides owe the IRS $831,000 in back taxes — and they're not alone  —  Over the years a lot of suspicion has built up across the country about Washington and its population of opportunistic transients coming to see themselves as a special kind of person …

Christianist Watch: The Fire Next Time  —  And a deeply serious one: … I think the demagoguing of Park51 is a direct result of the GOP's turn toward Christianism.  It's a tipping point where mainstream American Muslims become indistinguishable from the mass murderers of 9/11 in the psyches …

First Living Medal of Honor Recipient from Iraq or Afghanistan Announced  —  This is an event that we have known was coming, but had to keep quiet until July out of respect for the recipient.  —  Yesterday, President Obama spoke with Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta to inform him that he will be awarded …

Pentagon Plan: Buying Books to Keep Secrets  —  WASHINGTON — Defense Department officials are negotiating to buy and destroy all 10,000 copies of the first printing of an Afghan war memoir they say contains intelligence secrets, according to two people familiar with the dispute.

Did Obama hint he's going to appoint Elizabeth Warren?  —  One interesting nugget from Obama's presser: He seemed to hint strongly that he is leaning towards appointing Elizabeth Warren as his key Wall Street consumer cop, which would throw a big bone to liberals who strongly support …

Obama to face hungry press corps  —  With his presidency at a crossroads, President Obama will face the media Friday at his first press conference since the spring.  —  As an increasing number of political analysts predict that Republicans will win the House this fall …

Bring solar power back to the White House  —  A few of us have spent the past week carefully transporting a relic of American history down the East Coast, trying to return it to the White House, where it belongs.  —  It's not a painting spirited from the Lincoln Bedroom or an antique sideboard stolen …

Afghan Protests Against Koran Burning Turn Violent  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — Numerous protests broke out in Afghanistan on Friday and two of them turned violent in response to plans by a Florida pastor to burn copies of the Koran, even after the pastor announced he had suspended those plans.

The Obama Heyday Is Over  —  With so many Democrats running against the president's agenda in the midterm, change will come in the next Congress, regardless of which party is in control.  —  Barack Obama hit the campaign trail this week to resurrect some of that hopey-changey stuff …

Secret Tape Has Police Pressing Ticket Quotas  —  For nearly every New Yorker who has received a summons in the city — caught at a checkpoint monitoring seat-belt use, or approached by a small army of police officers descending on illegally parked cars — quotas are a maddening fact of life.