5.8-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes East Coast  —  A 5.8-magnitude earthquake based in Virginia sent tremors from the nation's capital to New York City and New England Tuesday afternoon, officials said.  —  Buildings throughout major metropolitan centers in the northeast were evacuated after the quake …

How to make Sarah Palin disappear  —  The safe bet remains that Sarah Palin is simply engaged in a long and tiresome tease.  Every few weeks comes some new sign of her supposedly imminent entry into the GOP presidential race, but nothing ever seems to happen.

Here's Why Bank Of America's Stock Is Collapsing Again  —  It's deja vu all over again.  —  The stock of a humongous American bank, Bank of America (BAC), is collapsing.  —  This is stoking fears that Bank of America will go bust, taking the whole economy down with it.  —  Why is Bank of America's stock tanking?

CantorQuake: Trembling at the Heart of GOP Claims We Don't Need Government  —  Back in March, after the Japanese earthquake, Eric Cantor defended Republican plans to cut funding from the USGS and warning systems to help in case of a disaster.  —  This is the epicenter of the freak 5.9 Richter earthquake that just hit Virginia.

Perry campaign distances him from book's call for repeal of 16th Amendment  —  Rick Perry's campaign is now distancing him from another controversial claim in his book: That we should repeal the 16th Amendment and replace it with a “Fair Tax,” a radical idea that's still rattling around in some precincts on the right.

Conservative elites pine for 2012 hero  —  It's a tough time to be a conservative intellectual.  —  From the Weekly Standard to the Wall Street Journal, on the pages of policy periodicals and opinion sections, the egghead right's longing for a presidential candidate of ideas …

Study: 8 in 10 lawmakers lack education in economics  —  Almost 80 percent of lawmakers might need to crack open an economics textbook before the congressional recess ends, a new study on Tuesday suggests.  —  The vast majority of members lack an academic background in business or economics …

Kucinich: Haul generals to court  —  NATO commanders who authorized the Libya bombing campaign should be “held accountable” to international law and hauled before the world court for civilian deaths, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said Tuesday.  —  “NATO's top commanders may have acted under color …

1 quake, and 2 missed golf shots  —  OAK BLUFFS, Mass. - President Obama gave the media a rare glimpse Tuesday into his treasured golf game, taking the unusual step of inviting reporters to watch him putt on a public course here.  —  The visual of a shirt-sleeved president …

How Democrats Hurt Jobs  —  The airplane's aft section arrived early Monday morning.  That's what they'd been waiting for at the final assembly plant in North Charleston, S.C. They already had the wings, the nose, the tail — all the other major sections of Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner.

Obama administration attempts to clarify Biden's one-child policy comments  —  In the wake of an onslaught of criticism for Vice President Joe Biden's comments in China about “not second guessing” the country's one-child policy, the Obama administration has issued a statement of clarification.

New Jersey School District Yanks Lesbian Sex Book From Required Summer Reading List  —  A New Jersey school district has apologized to parents after requiring high school students to read books that include graphic depictions of lesbian sex and a homosexual orgy.

Dean of Columbia College Resigns After Two Years  —  The dean of Columbia College has abruptly resigned over what she called administrative changes that would diminish or eliminate her authority, leaving the undergraduate division of Columbia University without a leader two weeks before the start of classes.

How Is Warren Buffett Like the Pope?  —  by Richard A. Epstein (Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow and member of the Property Rights, Freedom, and Prosperity Task Force)  —  They are both dead wrong on economic policy.  —  The terrible economic news from both Europe and the United States …

Rick Perry holds the record on executions  —  Darren McCollester/GETTY IMAGES - PEMBROKE, NH - AUGUST 18: Republican presidential candidate and Texas Governor Rick Perry speaks to workers at Epoch Homes August 18, 2011 in Pembroke, New Hampshire.  Perry has been campaigning since he declared …

State Senator officially announces looking at run for Giffords' seat  —  TUCSON, Ariz. — The cat got out of the bag last week when a blogger posted that State Senator Frank Antenori planned to form an exploratory committee ahead of a possible run for Gabrielle Giffords' seat in Congress.

Let's Be Honest: We're in a Depression, Not a Recession, And There's No End In Sight  —  This article is a contribution to ‘Is There Anything That Can Be Done?  A TNR Symposium On The Economy.’ Click here to read other contributions to the series.  —  If the notion that we are merely living through …

Combet accuses Abbott of climate change racism  —  Federal Climate Change Minister Greg Combet has accused Opposition Leader Tony Abbott of having a racist climate change policy.  —  Mr Abbott has warned that Australian businesses buying carbon permits under an emissions trading scheme …

Obama Needs a New Tune  —  It's time for the president to drop his weak hope of a post-partisan politics, argues Clinton speechwriter Jeff Shesol—and lay out a strong new case for his reelection.  —  Call him a neo-post-partisan.  —  “There's something wrong with our politics that we need to fix …