'C'mon, Man!'  Exclaims VP in Deficit Meeting.  'Let's Get Real!'  —  Officials familiar with the negotiations say today's meeting began with President Obama asking House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., to lay out what was agreed upon in the deficit reduction talks led by Vice President Biden.

Michelle Obama orders 1,556-calorie meal at Shake Shack  —  First lady Michelle Obama ordered a whopper of a meal at the newly opened Washington diner Shake Shack during lunch on Monday.  —  A Washington Post journalist on the scene confirmed the first lady, who's made a cause out of child nutrition …

Half Brother of Afghan President Is Killed in Kandahar  —  By ALISSA J. RUBIN, CARLOTTA GALL and RUHULLAH KHAPALWAK  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — The powerful half brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai was shot dead on Tuesday by a close family associate, according to Karzai family friends who were nearby.

Alan Grayson To Run For Office Again  —  ORLANDO, Fla. — WFTV learned on Monday that former U.S. Congressman Alan Grayson is running for office again.  —  On Monday, Grayson said he doesn't plan to do anything different.  He said he's running again because of all the people who have reached out and asked him to.

U.S. Jobless Numbers Dragging Obama Down in Florida  —  Romney beats president in hypothetical match-up as independents swing toward GOP  —  A slipping economy has Floridians moving away from President Barack Obama and warming up to Republican Mitt Romney, a Sunshine State News Poll shows.

Darrell Issa questions White House's 2012 actions  —  House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa is probing what he sees as signs of an unseemly overlap between President Barack Obama's official and political activities.  —  In what could be considered the committee's sharpest probe …

Lawmaker points loaded gun at reporter in the Senate  —  A state lawmaker known for championing the rights of gun-owners pointed a loaded firearm at the chest of a reporter during a recent interview at the Capitol.  —  Republican Sen. Lori Klein was showing off her raspberry-pink handgun …

Michele Bachmann Clinic: Where You Can Pray Away the Gay?  —  A former patient who sought help from the Christian counseling clinic owned by GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann and her husband, Marcus, told ABC News he was advised that prayer could rid him of his homosexual urges and he could eventually be “re-oriented.”

Obama: Job Losses Prove Stimulus Worked  —  (CNSNews.com) - Three days after the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the national unemployment rate had ticked up from 9.1 percent in May to 9.2 percent in June, President Barack Obama said that the loss of jobs in the public sector is …

Israel parliament passes anti-boycott bill  —  Israel's parliament has passed a controversial bill making it illegal for any citizen advocating a boycott of Israel or West Bank settlements.  —  The Knesset voted 47-38 in favour after a stormy debate, during which opposition members accusing …

The ‘randy’ rabbi  —  A prominent Long Island Jewish leader was caught with his dreidel out in a string of sordid sex tapes, according to sensational Manhattan court records.  —  Rabbi Avraham Rabinowich — who leads the wealthy, Conservative Bellmore Jewish Center and is vice president …

Why we're in the budgetary soup  —  Just in case you hadn't noticed, no one has elected Grover Norquist to anything.  Still, he looms as a major obstacle to Congress reaching a deficit-reduction agreement needed to raise the federal debt ceiling.  Norquist heads Americans for Tax Reform …

Fresh doubt cast on Obama's health care story  —  During the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama often discussed his mother's struggle with cancer.  Ann Dunham spent the months before her death in 1995, Obama said, fighting with insurance companies that sought to deny her the coverage she needed to pay for treatment.

EXCLUSIVE: Mila Kunis Says She'll Accompany U.S. Marine to Corps Ball  —  Most men will spend their lives dreaming about going on a date with Mila Kunis - but for one U.S. Marine, that fantasy may very well turn into a reality.  —  Sgt. Scott Moore, of the 3rd Battalion 2nd Marines in Musa Qala …

Pawlenty: The answer is not more government spending  —  Democrats are saying we have no choice but to spend more and raise taxes, and they are willing to shut down government if they don't get their way.  That's the scene in both our nation's and Minnesota's capitals, where Republicans …

Debt Contagion Threatens Italy  —  Throughout Europe's debt crisis, Italy has largely managed to steer clear of the troubles that have engulfed its profligate Mediterranean neighbors.  —  But the contagion that started in the euro zone's smaller countries is suddenly moving to some of its largest.

CIA organised fake vaccination drive to get Osama bin Laden's family DNA  —  Senior Pakistani doctor who organised vaccine programme in Abbottabad arrested by ISI for working with US agents  —  The CIA organised a fake vaccination programme in the town where it believed Osama bin Laden …

Video: President Obama promises ‘massive job killing taxes’ if re-elected  —  From today's presser on the debt ceiling debate.  Check out how the prez frames the debate over taxes.  —  Click here to view the embedded video. … Re-elect me to get massive job killing tax hikes when I'm a lame duck and you can't do a thing about it.

Huntsman goes on offense against Romney  —  Greer, South Carolina (CNN) - Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman signaled Monday that he intends to sharpen his campaign message against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the front-runner in the Republican presidential race and the candidate Huntsman's team views …

Libya: France risks Nato split over call for Gaddafi talks  —  France risked opening a significant split within Nato over the war in Libya yesterday by calling for negotiations with Colonel Gaddafi and confirming it was “passing messages” to his regime.  —  France confirmed it was “passing messages” to Col Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

Pro-Voucher Tea Party Group Admits It Wants To ‘Shut Down Public Schools And Have Private Schools Only’  —  As ThinkProgress has documented, a tightly-knit group of right-wing Political Action Committees (PACs) and corporate foundations have unleashed an assault on public education …

Polygamist, Under Scrutiny in Utah, Plans Suit to Challenge Law  —  Kody Brown is a proud polygamist, and a relatively famous one.  Now Mr. Brown, his four wives and 16 children and stepchildren are going to court to keep from being punished for it.  —  The family is the focus of a reality TV show …

U.S. Tackles Housing Slump  —  The Obama administration is ramping up talks on how to revive the housing market, which is weighing on the economic recovery—and possibly the president's re-election in 2012.  —  Last year, advisers considered several housing-policy prescriptions but rejected …

DOJ gives new tools to ATF on guns  —  The Obama administration on Monday granted new powers to federal regulators fighting gun traffickers on the violence-plagued Mexican border.  —  Issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ), the new rules require border-state gun dealers to report bulk purchases …

‘South California’ proposed as 51st state by Republican supervisor  —  The 51st state should be named South California, says Jeff Stone, a Republican on the the Riverside County Board of Supervisors.  But the proposed 13 southern California counties that would split off from the Golden State would not include Los Angeles.

Fire Devastates Synagogue Under Repair in Manhattan  —  A four-alarm fire broke out Monday night at an Upper East Side synagogue that was being renovated, spitting flames through stained-glass windows, destroying the roof and heavily damaging the upper floors, the Fire Department said.

Obama's response to attack on US embassy in Damascus: He's going to file a lawsuit  —  In an earlier post, I reported on attacks on the American and French embassies in Damascus by pro-Assad ‘demonstrators.’ I now have some updates on that post. … So what does the world's only superpower do?

Judge Deanell Tacha supports former Kansas AG Steve Six's nomination to her position on appellate court  —  Former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six is getting support of the judge he's trying to replace on the federal appellate bench as the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee plans to debate his nomination on Thursday.