Experts to Obama: Here Is What to Do in Syria  —  A big group of foreign policy experts, from across the ideological spectrum, is calling on President Obama to impose “meaningful consequences on the Assad regime” for their use of chemical weapons.  —  “At a minimum, the United States …

Ben Bradlee's daughter-in-law reveals (almost) all on Facebook  —  Ben Bradlee, one of the great men of American journalism, celebrated his 92nd birthday yesterday, and his daughter-in-law paid tribute by posting a photo of them and saying “it is a dream to be part of his family.”

Robertson: Gay People Deliberately Spread HIV/AIDS By Cutting People With Special Rings  —  Today on the 700 Club, Pat Robertson told co-host Terry Meeuwsen that gay men in cities like San Francisco attempt to spread HIV/AIDS to others by cutting them with a special ring when shaking hands.

New Jersey's Cory Booker: A perfect senator for ‘This Town’?  —  “That's really a phenomenon of the last two years,” Booker acknowledges, “when people started projecting me, not as this guy working in the inner city, but maybe as somebody who was going somewhere.”

Teens face ethnic intimidation charges after brutally beating woman in North Side  —  PITTSBURGH —  Three teenage girls are facing several charges, including ethnic intimidation, after police said they brutally beat a 32-year-old woman Sunday in Pittsburgh's North Side.

Boehner visits Boise; vows to succeed with entitlement reform this fall  —  The House speaker predicts ‘a whale of a fight’ but he says the timing is right.  —  House Speaker John Boehner said Monday that getting the GOP-controlled House to agree to raising the U.S. debt ceiling will only come …

Brian Lewis Speaks Out: Roger Ailes and Fox News Should Fear Him  —  Brian Lewis's attorney Judd Burstein just provided this statement to Gawker: … Fox News President Roger Ailes fired Lewis in late July following accusations of “financial irregularities” and “multiple, material and significant breaches of his employment contract.”

Why are Feminists Judging Miley Cyrus?  —  RUSH: This Miley Cyrus incident from Sunday night, “twerking” on the MTV Music Awards, continues to be discussed.  I ran across something today I really want to share with you about the curriculum at many (one particularly, but I'm sure at many other) universities and colleges in this country.

Twerking: A Scientific Explanation  —  Twerking is such a complex, technical subject, only a Ph.D. researcher can explain how the body does what it does to make it happen.  —  Twerking is a combination movement involving a deep squat and a pelvic tilt, Michelle Olson, a professor …

Rape victim, 93, bravely speaks out after she was ‘attacked by 17-year-old boy who kicked in back door of her home as she slept’  —  A 17-year-old boy has been charged with rape following a sickening assault on a 93-year-old woman.  —  Iquise Taylor of Anderson, Indiana …

Al Jazeera America Launch Ratings  —  Al Jazeera America launched last week, and we have the ratings from Nielsen for its first few days.  —  Not surprisingly given the low-rated channel it replaced (Current TV), and the fact that it lost a few million homes from AT&T before launch …

Michaud leads in Maine Gubernatorial race  —  Mike Michaud is the new leader in the Maine Governor's race, benefiting from the continued unpopularity of incumbent Paul LePage and declining support for independent Eliot Cutler over the last seven months.  Michaud is at 39% to 35% for LePage and 18% for Cutler.

MSNBC's Karen Finney bails on Hugh Hewitt  —  MSNBC's Karen Finney on Monday hung up on conservative talker Hugh Hewitt after he repeatedly asked her during an interview on his radio show to say whether Alger Hiss was a communist.  —  Hewitt had Finney on his program to discuss her statement …

Holder pressed on U.S. drug agency use of hidden data evidence  —  (Reuters) - Eight Democratic senators and congressmen have asked Attorney General Eric Holder to answer questions about a Reuters report that the National Security Agency supplies the Drug Enforcement Administration …

Bubonic plague outbreak feared in central Asia  —  Health officials on alert after teenager who ate infected barbecued marmot dies and three others are admitted to hospital  —  Health officials fear an outbreak of bubonic plague in central Asia after a teenage boy died from the disease …

Officer Is Indicted on Charges of Lying About Photographer's Arrest  —  A New York City police officer who had arrested a photographer working for The New York Times has been indicted on three felony counts and five misdemeanors accusing him of fabricating the reasons for the arrest, the Bronx district attorney announced on Monday.

Ickes Returns to Democratic Committee's Rules and Bylaws Panel  —  SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Democratic National Committee's summer meeting here late last week was starkly different from the gathering of its Republican counterparts earlier in the month.  There were no surefire news-making speakers …