McCotter resigns after ‘nightmarish month’  —  Capping a very rough month of bad publicity stemming from his failure to make the ballot after a nominating petition snafu, Michigan GOP Rep. Thad McCotter announced his resignation Friday afternoon.  —  From his statement:

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 …

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 …

White House declares Afghanistan a ‘major non-NATO ally’  —  President Barack Obama officially designated Afghanistan a “major non-NATO ally” on Friday, putting the country on par with some of the United States' closest international partners.  —  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton …

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 …

Mixed Message as Republicans Claim Health Law Cuts Medicare  —  WASHINGTON — For much of the past year, Republicans assailed President Obama for resisting the Medicare spending reductions they say are needed to both preserve health benefits for older Americans and avert a Greek-style debt crisis.

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.

California Senate Narrowly Approves Rail Project  —  LOS ANGELES — Despite deepening doubts about the cost and feasibility of a $70 billion high-speed rail proposed to cross California, the State Senate on Friday narrowly approved legislation to spend $8 billion in federal and state money …

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.

Simpler search  —  We're constantly working to make Twitter search the simplest way to discover what's happening in real time.  To that end, today we're introducing search autocomplete and ‘People you follow’ search results to twitter.com.  In addition to recent improvements like related query suggestions …

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:

LaHood: Golly, I envy the Chinese government  —  It's bad enough to have a columnist at one of America's most prominent newspapers regularly singing the praises of Chinese authoritarianism.  It's worse when high-ranking members of the American government do it.

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.

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 …

8.2% unemployment rate unchanged in June  —  WASHINGTON - The employment market remained in a spring slump in June as employers added 80,000 jobs.  —  The nation's unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2% for the second consecutive month, the Labor Department said Friday.

Dutch lawmaker brings his crusade against Islam to conservative confab  —  Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders brought his crusade against the Islamic religion to Denver last weekend, warning an audience at the Western Conservative Summit that Europe and the United States are vulnerable …

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 …

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 …

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?