At Flagging Tribune, Tales of a Bankrupt Culture  —  In January 2008, soon after the venerable Tribune Company was sold for $8.2 billion, Randy Michaels, a new top executive, ran into several other senior colleagues at the InterContinental Hotel next to the Tribune Tower in Chicago.

Beck On Family's Home Burning Down As Firefighters Watched: ‘We Are Going To Have To Have These Things’  —  As ThinkProgress reported yesterday, last week South Fulton Fire Department firefighters from Obion, Tennessee, stood by and watched as the Cranick family's home burned down …

Obama Strains to Get Liberals Back Into Fold Ahead of Vote  —  WASHINGTON — With four weeks until Congressional elections that will shape the remainder of his term, President Obama is increasingly focused on generating enthusiasm within the base that helped put him in the White House two years ago …

POLL: GOP leads widely, Dems in danger but race for House tight  —  In a poll of 12 hotly contested races that could decide who controls the House in the 112th Congress, Republican challengers are beating freshman Democrats in 11 — and in the last one, the race is tied.

Do Jews Really Control the Media? … Like This Story … - In 2008, Ross Douthat Said the GOP Needed To Change To Win.  What Does He Say Now?  - Finally, the Feds May Crack Down on Loathsome, Predatory Payday Lenders- The Beauty and Horror of the Shiloh Battlefield- The Weird Chinese City …

A Clinton-Biden swap ‘on the table’?  Absolutely not, says Axelrod.  —  A tantalizing notion has gained steam around Washington in recent months: President Obama will toss Vice President Biden off the ticket in 2012 and replace him with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Chris Christie Expected to Kill ARC Transit Tunnel  —  Gov. Chris Christie is expected to kill the critical ARC transit tunnel project, reports say.  Photo: Star-Ledger.  —  The largest federal transit investment in American history is on its deathbed, reports Andrea Bernstein at Transportation Nation.

Average Versus Typical  —  Michael Kinsley's Politico column debuted yesterday with an argument about why I'm wrong and the rigors of “intellectual honesty” demand so much more than accuracy.  And I agree with many of his points, there's more to life than accuracy.

Taliban in high-level talks with Karzai government, sources say  —  Taliban representatives and the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai have begun secret, high-level talks over a negotiated end to the war, according to Afghan and Arab sources.  —  The talks follow inconclusive meetings …

MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell: Michael Steele is dancing for his GOP ‘master’  —  I don't believe in reading racial tea leaves just for political gain, but what was Lawrence O'Donnell thinking?  Here's how he described RNC Chairman Michael Steele on his MSNBC program tonight:

Judge Bars Major Witness From Civilian Terrorism Trial  —  Minutes before a major terrorism trial was about to begin, a federal judge barred prosecutors in Manhattan on Wednesday from using a key witness.  —  The government had acknowledged it learned about the witness from the defendant …

Limbaugh Calls President Obama a ‘Jackass’  —  ABC News' Steven Portnoy reports:  —  Derision of the president on his program is nothing new, but Rush Limbaugh's tone today may have struck the ears of regular listeners as particularly disdainful, taking his contempt of the president to a new level.

Daschle: Public Option ‘Taken Off The Table’ In July Due To ‘Understanding People Had With Hospitals’  —  Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD)'s new book Getting It Done: How Obama and Congress Finally Broke the Stalemate To Make Way for Health Care Reform comes out next week …

Voter Disgust Isn't Only About Issues  —  KEANSBURG, N.J. — If you tune in to any of this week's candidate debates around the country, or watch any of the ads that are beginning to dominate the airwaves, you will hear that next month's midterm elections are about all the things you probably thought …

Presidential seal falls off podium as Obama speaks  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - The presidential seal has fallen off President Barack Obama's podium and clattered to the stage as Obama delivered a speech to a women's conference.  —  The president was joking with the audience and getting some laughs when he realized what happened.

‘Likely’ Voters: How Pollsters Define And Choose Them  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  We have seen the “likely voter” polling problem rear its head several times in recent weeks, but few examples have been as vivid as three national surveys released in the last 24 hours.

Kevin McCarthy The Comeback Kids  —  America loves a great comeback.  Stories of redemption and second chances serve as metaphors for the tenacity of the American spirit.  The 1980 “Miracle on Ice,” the 2004 victory of the Boston Red Sox in the World Series, the 1997 return of founder Steve Jobs to Apple …

Obamacare waivers: Torquemada Sebelius spares McDonald's, unions  —  After an embarrassing leak about the dire potential consequences of forcing one of America's largest companies to abide by onerous Obamacare coverage mandates, HHS Secretary Kathleen “Torquemada” Sebelius decided that McDonald's …

The Do-Lots 111th Congress  —  Greg Sargent reports a striking finding: … This is sort of nuts.  Among other things, this congress passes a comprehensive overhaul of student loans.  It also mandated calorie labeling on chain restaurant menus nationwide.

Inhofe: GOP will win Senate majority, and I'll be EPW chairman  —  Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) said he's counting on Republicans to win back the majority in the Senate, which would make him chairman of a key environmental panel.  —  Inhofe, the ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works …

Democrats Look to Cultivate Pot Vote in 2012  —  Party Considers Legalization Efforts in Swing States Amid Signs California Measure Is Exciting Young, Liberal Voters  —  Democratic strategists are studying a California marijuana-legalization initiative to see if similar ballot measures could energize young …

Spaghetti Tacos: Silly Enough for Young Eaters  —  IT started as a gag: spaghetti tacos.  —  On an episode of the hit Nickelodeon series “iCarly,” the lead character's eccentric older brother, Spencer, makes dinner one night.  Glimpsed on screen, the dish consists of red-sauce-coated pasta stuffed into hard taco shells.

Arnold Schwarzenegger: Obama will win in 2012  —  California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger predicted that President Barack Obama will win re-election in two years, especially if the Republican Party re-takes control of the House of Representatives in the November midterm elections.

Monetary Versus Fiscal  —  Karl Smith has his own version of the models people are using to think about this crisis.  I don't have much disagreement, except that I would group the various non-Keynesian models together as all various attempts to see this as a supply problem …

Tea Parties Forge Alliances in Bid to Advance Agendas  —  RICHMOND, Va.—The tea-party movement is turning more professional.  —  Around the country, tea-party groups are building increasingly sophisticated political organizations and overcoming early bickering to push legislative platforms …

The midterms: Hey, big spenders  —  The New York Times editorial page: “The United States Chamber of Commerce ... is actively soliciting foreign money, and government enforcers seem to be doing nothing to stop it... The possible commingling of secret foreign money into these groups raises fresh questions …

Portman Holds 19-Point Lead In Ohio Senate Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Angry, Pessimistic Voters Back Republican  —  Republican Rob Portman remains far ahead of Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, 55 - 36 percent among likely voters, in Ohio's U.S. Senate race according to a Quinnipiac University …