Huckabee digs in behind Akin  —  Todd Akin hasn't had many high-profile supporters with him in the trenches this week, but Mike Huckabee became an important and emphatic exception Thursday afternoon, sending a message to his own supporters accusing Republican elites of trying to drum a good man out of a winnable Senate race.

The Bain Files: Inside Mitt Romney's Tax-Dodging Cayman Schemes  —  Mitt Romney's $250 million fortune is largely a black hole: Aside from the meager and vague disclosures he has filed under federal and Massachusetts laws, and the two years of partial tax returns (one filed and another provisional) …

Lance Armstong's Statement of August 23, 2012  —  There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, “Enough is enough.”  For me, that time is now.  I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999.

Rev. Grant Storms, critic of Southern Decadence, convicted of obscenity for public masturbation  —  The Rev. Grant Storms, the former “Christian patriot” pastor whose marches against homosexuality at New Orleans' Southern Decadence festival briefly put him in the national spotlight …

The Party of No: New Details on the GOP Plot to Obstruct Obama  —  TIME just published “The Party of No,” an article adapted from my new book, The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era.  It reveals some of my reporting on the Republican plot to obstruct President Obama …

Botched Restoration of Jesus Fresco Shocks Spain  —  MADRID — A case of suspected vandalism in a church in a northeastern village has turned out to be probably the worst art restoration project seen in Spain.  —  An elderly woman stepped forward this week to claim responsibility for disfiguring …

Cardinal Timothy Dolan's GOP convention blessing prompts debate  —  The news that New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the nation's most prominent Catholic prelate, will deliver the closing blessing to the Republican National Convention in Florida next week was seen as a huge coup for Mitt Romney, the party's presumptive nominee.

Romney Campaign Forbids Local Reporter From Asking About Akin, Abortion  —  This post has been updated.  —  Denver TV reporter Shaun Boyd wanted to ask Mitt Romney about Todd Akin and the abortion controversy roiling the GOP Thursday.  But the Romney campaign refused.

News Analysis: Romney Would Give Reins to States on Drilling on Federal Lands  —  By proposing to end a century of federal control over oil and gas drilling and coal mining on government lands, Mitt Romney is making a bid for anti-Washington voters in key Western states while dangling the promise …

Ambassador Crocker arrested for hit and run, DUI  —  Author: Jeff Humphrey, KXLY4 Reporter , jeffhu@kxly.com  —  Ambassador Ryan Crocker, one of the most decorated State Department diplomats in the last half century, was arrested on August 14 by the Washington State Patrol for hit-and-run and DUI in Spokane Valley.

Romney says his Mormon tithing shouldn't be public  —  • Mitt Romney says in a new interview that one of the reasons he's distressed about disclosing his tax returns is that everyone sees how much money he and his wife, Ann, have donated to the LDS Church, and that's a number he wants to keep private.

Fox News poll: Race for the White House tightens  —  Less than a week before the Republican convention begins, the race for the White House is a virtual tie.  According to a Fox News poll of likely voters, the Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan ticket receives the backing of 45 percent, while the Barack Obama-Joe Biden ticket garners 44 percent.

Study: Romney criticism of controversial cancer ad effective with swing voters  —  A new study by Vanderbilt University found that an ad from Mitt Romney criticizing President Obama over a super PAC attack that insinuated the presumptive Republican nominee was responsible for the death …

China Besieged by Glut of Unsold Goods  —  GUANGZHOU, China — After three decades of torrid growth, China is encountering an unfamiliar problem with its newly struggling economy: a huge buildup of unsold goods that is cluttering shop floors, clogging car dealerships and filling factory warehouses.

Galt, Gold and God  —  So far, most of the discussion of Paul Ryan, the presumptive Republican nominee for vice president, has focused on his budget proposals.  But Mr. Ryan is a man of many ideas, which would ordinarily be a good thing.  —  In his case, however, most of those ideas appear …

Family Groups Urge FOX NEWS to Stop Providing Unchallenged Prime Time to Agitator  —  Bill O'Reilly ignores repeated requests to drop SPLC's Wayne Besen from show  —  Contact: Regina Griggs, Executive Director, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays, 804-453-4737, pfox@pfox.org

Noonan: America Meets Mr. Romney  —  Anticipating the highlights of the GOP's Tampa convention.  —  It is good that Joe Biden is going to the Republican National Convention to hold high the flag of his party.  People make fun of his gaffes, of his embarrassing verbal forays …

Paul Ryan to Obama: ‘Put up or shut up’ on sequester  —  FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Speaking south of Fort Bragg military base here, Paul Ryan said the White House should “put up or shut up” and lay out just how painful the sequester will be.  —  “The House has already passed, as well as the Senate …

Republicans eye return to gold standard  —  The gold standard has returned to mainstream US politics for the first time in 30 years, with a “gold commission” set to become part of official Republican party policy.  —  Drafts of the party platform, which it will adopt at a convention in Tampa Bay …

The unkindest cut of all: German rabbi faces charges for performing newly outlawed circumcision procedure  —  The rabbi will be the first to face potential legal action following controversial ruling that banned the ritual for causing ‘bodily harm’ to a child.

Obama Supporter Suggests Anti-Mormon Whisper Campaign  —  “I'm thinking that even though we don't LIKE campaigns to get nasty, we in the south (TN) come to EXPECT it,” a “team member” writes on the campaign Dashboard.  The campaign removes the post after an inquiry.