What Putin Has to Say to Americans About Syria  —  MOSCOW — RECENT events surrounding Syria have prompted me to speak directly to the American people and their political leaders.  It is important to do so at a time of insufficient communication between our societies.

Reflecting on the Colorado recalls  —  We did a poll last weekend in Colorado Senate District 3 and found that voters intended to recall Angela Giron by a 12 point margin, 54/42.  In a district that Barack Obama won by almost 20 points I figured there was no way that could be right and made a rare decision not to release the poll.

Exclusive: The Koch brothers' secret bank  —  An Arlington, Va.-based conservative group, whose existence until now was unknown to almost everyone in politics, raised and spent $250 million in 2012 to shape political and policy debate nationwide.  —  The group, Freedom Partners …

WSJ op-ed writer Elizabeth O'Bagy fired for resume lie  —  The Syria researcher whose Wall Street Journal op-piece was cited by Secretary of State John Kerry and Sen. John McCain during congressional hearings about the use of force has been fired from the Institute for the Study of War for lying …

Trader Joe's To Drop Health Coverage For Part-Time Workers Under Obamacare: Memo  —  After extending health care coverage to many of its part-time employees for years, Trader Joe's has told workers who log fewer than 30 hours a week that they will need to find insurance on the Obamacare exchanges next year …

WATCH: College Students Chase David Petraeus and Shout at Him on First Day of Class  —  Recent video shows former CIA director David Petraeus being chased down a New York City street by student activists at the City University of New York.  —  As BusinessInsider reported …

NR v. Booker  —  Newark mayor Cory Booker has a very active imagination.  Eliana Johnson demonstrated that with her report on Booker's moving, highly detailed accounts of his involvement with “T-Bone,” a hard-luck drug dealer who Booker admitted to a friend is a fiction.

Exclusive: IAC And Daily Beast Editor Tina Brown To Part Ways  —  A source with direct knowledge of the situation says IAC does not plan to renew Tina Brown's contract when it expires in January.  A decision has not yet been made on the future of The Daily Beast.  —  Jason Kempin / FilmMagic

Sen. Corker slams Obama on credibility  —  Washington (CNN) - Sen. Bob Corker, one of the few Senate Republicans who's been eager to work with the White House on domestic and international issues like Syria, expressed utter disappointment in the president's handling of Syria and …

NSA shares raw intelligence with Israel  —  • Secret deal places no legal limits on use of data by Israelis  —  • Only official US government communications protected  —  • Agency insists it complies with rules governing privacy  —  • Read the NSA and Israel's ‘memorandum of understanding’

Obama's Zig vs. Zag  —  Two weeks of zig-zag foreign policy by President Barack Obama — marching to war one moment, clinging desperately to diplomacy the next — culminated Tuesday night, appropriately enough, in a zig-zag address to the nation that did little to clarify what will come next …

THE FALLING MAN  —  Do you remember this photograph?  In the United States, people have taken pains to banish it from the record of September 11, 2001.  The story behind it, though, and the search for the man pictured in it, are our most intimate connection to the horror of that day.  —  SPECIAL OFFER

‘2 Million Bikers’ roar into D.C. to honor 9/11, protest Muslim rally  —  Thousands of bikers from around the country roared into the D.C. area on Wednesday in a show of support for Sept. 11 victims and in solidarity against a controversial Muslim rally on the Mall.

Companies lay off thousands, then demand immigration reform for new labor  —  BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL CONGRESS IMMIGRATION LABOR JOHN BOEHNER NANCY PELOSI  —  On Tuesday, the chief human resources officers of more than 100 large corporations sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner …

Tea Party Increasingly Unhappy with GOP Leadership  —  As lawmakers return for what promises to be a busy fall session, GOP congressional leaders face mounting disapproval among Tea Party Republicans.  Just 27% of Republicans and GOP leaners who agree with the Tea Party approve …