Akron restaurant owner dies hours after meeting Obama  —  The owner of an Akron restaurant where President Barack Obama stopped for breakfast this morning died, apparently of a heart attack, shortly after meeting him.  —  Josephine “Ann” Harris, 70, of Copley Township …

“Strike Another Match, Go Start Anew”  —  Cites the totality of this past ‘nightmarish’ month and a half's effect on his family  —  LIVONIA, MI - Today, U.S. Representative Thaddeus McCotter made the following statement:  —  “Today I have resigned from the office of United States Representative …

Federal Judge Richard Posner: The GOP Has Made Me Less Conservative  —  Judge Richard Posner, a conservative on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, has long been one of the nation's most respected and admired legal thinkers on the right.  But in an interview with NPR …

Gov. Chris Christie — Fightin' Words On the Jersey Shore [VIDEO]  —  GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE  —  FIGHTIN' WORDS  —  On the Jersey Shore  —  EXCLUSIVE  —  Things got downright HOSTILE on the Jersey Shore last night — with NJ Governor Chris Christie getting into a heated verbal altercation right …

There's Battle Lines Being Drawn  —  This year's presidential election is shaping up as the starkest choice since 1980, a year with which 2012 has much in common.  (OK, 1984 was a stark contrast too, but with a foregone conclusion.)  The Obama administration tells voters that 8% unemployment and 15% underemployment is the new normal.

Turncoat Roberts  —  Chief justice's surprise ruling means limited government is dead  —  Yogi Berra said that when you come to a fork in the road, take it.  When supposed-conservative Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. came to a judicial conservative-liberal fork in the road, he veered left.

Jordanian MP pulls a gun on his critic during live TV debate  —  After trading insults with activist, parliamentarian first throws a shoe and then points a gun at adversary.  Host tries to break up brawl.  No shots fired  —  A Jordanian member of parliament pulled a gun on a political activist during …

The Escalating Campaign Against Anita Sarkeesian And The Long-Term Weakness of Sexist Trolls  —  I can't even bring myself to embed it here: some trogolodytes have created a game that lets players beat up Anita Sarkeesian, the feminist video blogger who's been subject to an unremitting campaign …

June jobs swoon: America's labor market depression continues  —  This was not the employment report either the American worker or the Obama campaign wanted to see right now.  The Labor Department said the U.S. economy created just 80,000 jobs in June, less than the 90,000 economists had been forecasting.

So.  It Has Come To This.  —  The scene is a security screening station at Los Angeles International Airport, August 2012.  —  Screening Officer Jules: Greetings, prospective passengers!  Looking to travel through the public airways?  Now don't be distressed!  You know who we are?

Mollie Hemingway, Ed. : Just Imagine The Mess Obama Will Inherit If He's Reelected!  —  When the June jobs report came out, showing 80,000 net new jobs and the unemployment rate stuck at 8.2%, Washington Post wunderkind Ezra Klein sarcastically responded:

The Worst Marriage in Georgetown  —  Dinners were served in the basement.  Ambassadors, generals with many stars, senior White House officials and closely read columnists — all would walk past the yellowing kitchen, which looked as if it hadn't been updated since the Ford administration …

Natalie Wood Death Certificate Changed — Cause of Death Now “Undetermined”  —  Death Certificate Changed  —  “UNDETERMINED”  —  EXCLUSIVE  —  Natalie Wood's death certificate has been changed from “Accident” to “Undetermined” ... TMZ has learned.  —  Law enforcement sources tell TMZ …

IN OBAMA WE TRUST  —  For the first time in decades, The Advocate has a candidate it can endorse for president.  That candidate is Barack Obama.  —  Never has the substantial progress in equal rights and treatment of LGBT people been more at risk than in this presidential contest.

Workingman's Constitution  —  WORK and opportunity, poverty and dependency, material security and insecurity: for generations of reformers, the constitutional importance of these subjects was self-evident.  Laissez-faire government, unchecked corporate power and the deprivations and inequalities …

Texas: Ted Cruz Internal Poll Shows Lead Over David Dewhurst  —  Ted Cruz (above) led Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in a recent internal poll.  (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)  —  Ted Cruz led Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst by 9 points in a recent internal poll conducted for the former Texas …

Some Health Care For All, but not Too Much  —  Tyler Cowen caught a lot of flak recently for saying something that is clearly correct.  A lot of the flak has come from people who have misunderstood the implications of what he wrote.  —  Here's the relevant passage: … Cowen is right.

Romney-Rice?  —  Erin McPike's “close examination of the [Romney] campaign's activity” at RealClearPolitics suggests four leading contenders for Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick—former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, Ohio senator Rob Portman, Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan, and Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal.

Life after Herman Cain  —  When I spoke out about our 13-year affair, my world crumbled.  Meanwhile his eccentric political career carries on  —  If I had one wish, how would I use it?  Would I wish I had never taken him up on his offers to fly me around the world?

North Korea's Kim Jong-un gets new official theme song  —  Onwards Toward the Final Victory airs on state media as part of propaganda drive to build up image of ‘great successor’  —  Over the past decade or so, the bubblegum pop and kitsch dance routines of South Korean K-pop bands have taken …

Honor Code  —  Henry V is one of Shakespeare's most appealing characters.  He was rambunctious when young and courageous when older.  But suppose Henry went to an American school.  —  By about the third week of nursery school, Henry's teacher would be sending notes home saying that Henry “had another hard day today.”

Duke Energy CEO Bill Johnson resigns after one day, gets $44 million in severance  —  When Duke Energy announced its merger with Progress Energy last year, the two companies agreed that Progress CEO Bill Johnson would assume the same position at the combined company.

A plan that offers Obama a fighting chance  —  At this point in 1980, Jimmy Carter was on the path to oblivion but didn't know it.  Barack Obama may share Carter's fate if he doesn't change course soon.  —  The 1980 presidential race was neck and neck until the end.

Is the government reading your email?  —  Does the U.S. government read your email?  It's a simple question, but apparently there's no simple answer.  And the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service are reluctant to say anything on the topic.  —  In March, the American Civil …

Ralph Nader: ‘Cowering’ Democrats face defeat  —  If the “cowering” Democrats — who “are tortured daily by Republican leaders” — come away the losers in November, they will have only themselves to blame, according to Ralph Nader.  —  “If the Democrats in Congress were all drinking water …

Former U.S. President spearheading women's health issues in Africa  —  George W. Bush opens new health clinic in Zambia  —  While former U.S. President George W. Bush faces some often harsh criticism as commander in chief from those who claim he led the nation into unpopular wars …