The scandal behind Romney's new attack ad  —  Mitt Romney's presidential campaign has presented the political world with an important test.  I'm eager to see whether we pass or fail.  —  First, a little background.  Some Republican governors this year asked the Obama administration …

The best Newsweek cover yet  —  Tina Brown's shock-and-awe approach to Newsweek covers is so familiar now it hardly warrants mention.  But the strategy is predicated upon ginning up false controversy and feigned outrage to call attention to the struggling print edition …

OBAMA: ROMNEY WANTS VP PETRAEUS  —  President Obama whispered to a top fundraiser this week that he believes GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney wants to name Gen. David Petraeus to the VP slot!  —  “The president wasn't joking,” the insider explains to the DRUDGE REPORT.

Woman mentioned in Priorities ad died in '06  —  The pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action lobbed a heavy-duty attack at Mitt Romney this morning, airing an ad that links the closure of a GST Steel plant in Kansas City to the loss of a family's health insurance — and the death of a woman some time later.

It's Time to Stop Celebrating Harry Reid  —  Here is Harry Reid on Mitt Romney's taxes: “I was told by an extremely credible source that Romney has not paid taxes for 10 years.”  PolitiFact rates this a Pants on Fire lie.  —  An awful lot of liberals disagree.

Allen West Offended Everyone When He Ordered Chick-Fil-A For Entire Congressional Black Caucus  —  Rep. Allen West reportedly offended the entire Congressional Black Caucus when he delivered a selection of Chick-fil-A chicken and biscuits to the members' weekly meeting.

TRENDING: Koch brothers slam ‘guy who makes obscene gestures with a monkey’  —  (CNN) - Actor Zach Galifianakis may be known for his less-than family-friendly sense of humor, but billionaires David and Charles Koch demonstrated Tuesday they don't find him so funny.

Marvin Hamlisch dies at 68: Sudden, brief illness halted busy life  —  As recently as July 21, Marvin Hamlisch had conducted a Pasadena Pops concert with Michael Feinstein.  As an emcee, he shared jokes, traded patter, was in his element.  —  Marvin Hamlisch' dies in Los Angeles after a brief illness, aged 68.

OBAMA'S COLLEGE CLASSMATE: ‘THE OBAMA SCANDAL IS AT COLUMBIA’  —  I am President Obama's classmate at Columbia University, Class of '83.  I am also one of the most accurate Las Vegas oddsmakers and prognosticators.  Accurate enough that I was awarded my own star on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars.

Exclusive: Brigham Young's Great-Great-Granddaughter on Mormonism and Mitt Romney  —  A direct descendant of Brigham Young, Sue Emmett left the church because of the very values she says would make Romney a frightening president.  She speaks exclusively with Jamie Reno.  —  Sue Emmett is Mormon royalty.

A Wall Street Trader Received This Rainbow-Colored Cover Letter  —  It's a slow news day, so seeing this is a huge thrill...  A financial industry tipster was kind enough to send us this e-mail from an aspiring trader.  —  If you read from the bottom up, you'll note that Carl asks prospective …

FIRST LOOK: Daniel Day-Lewis embodies ‘Lincoln’ in Steven Spielberg's historical drama  —  Penny for your thoughts?  —  Long-range paparazzi (and the occasional sneaky fellow diner) grabbed snapshots of Daniel Day-Lewis as he was shooting Steven Spielberg's Lincoln last fall.

Fox News analyst: Sikh temple massacre ‘not domestic terrorism’  —  Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano is insisting that it was “not domestic terrorism” for a white supremacist to shoot seven people dead at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, but a Muslim U.S. Army major killing 13 coworkers at Ft. Hood was.

Scalia Denies Stay, Texas Executes Mentally Retarded Man  —  “Seldom has an opinion of this Court rested so obviously upon nothing but the personal views of its members.”  —  The Supreme Court justices have jurisdiction over various regions of the country when it comes to injunctions, particularly when it comes to stays of execution.

Syria: Iran vows it will not allow Assad to fall  —  Iran pledged that its “axis” with Syria will “never” be allowed to break when Tehran sought to bolster President Bashar al-Assad by sending a senior envoy to Damascus.  —  Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

Romney: America Is No Kibbutz His ties to Israel only extend so far.  —  Mitt Romney bills himself as an ardent friend of Israel running against President Barack Obama who hasn't visited the American ally since taking the oath of office, but Romney's friendship only extends so far.

Papa John's: Health law hurts prices  —  Pizza chain Papa John's told shareholders that President Obama's health care law will cost consumers more on their pizza.  —  On a conference call last week, CEO and founder John Schnatter (a Mitt Romney supporter and fundraiser) …

A Surprise in a Hot Dog Cart  —  IT'S common in New York to see teams of college-age students handing out samples of goods like fruit juice and dog food.  Even seen-everything New Yorkers may do a double-take this week, however, when they encounter street teams with hot dog carts stocked with vibrators.

The self-driving car logs more miles on new wheels  —  Technology is at its best when it makes people's lives better, and that's precisely what we're going for with our self-driving car project.  We're using advanced computer science to try and make driving safer and more enjoyable.

Elizabeth Warren backs off demand that Scott Brown release more tax returns  —  Elizabeth Warren demanded Monday that Senator Scott Brown release more of his tax returns.  The only problem was that Brown, her Republican rival, had already released six years of tax returns while Warren …