Congressman Dana Rohrabacher: I arm-wrestled Vladimir Putin ... and lost!  —  Russian President Vladimir Putin, champion arm-wrestler.  ; Credit: AFP/AFP/Getty Images  —  KPCC's Washington correspondent Kitty Felde writes: … What happened next is the juicy part.

Poll Finds Republicans Gain Favor on Key Issues  —  The Republican Party is gaining a public-opinion edge on several key issues ahead of the 2014 elections, as Americans question President Barack Obama's leadership on Syria and worry about the country's overall direction, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows.

The House GOP Is About to Crack Up: Three Theories Why  —  Lots of people think John Boehner has lost control of the House Republican caucus.  Apparently John Boehner does, too.  —  On Wednesday, the speaker and his lieutenants had to stage yet another embarrassing retreat—this time …

Rand Paul On The War Path  —  Once dismissed by the GOP establishment as a gadfly, Paul is starting to look a lot like the leader of his party — and his enemies are panicking.  “There's a big transition in the Republican Party,” the Kentucky senator says in a BuzzFeed interview.

Senator talks “House of Cards” and football... and mentions this may be his last term  —  Would we be better off buying cable stations one at a time instead of in bundles?  Sen. John McCain says yes, and has introduced legislation that would make it happen.

Wisconsin's Third Largest Teachers Union Decertified on August 31st  —  UPDATE:  —  [Kenosha, Wisc...] The Kenosha Education Association (KEA), the state's third largest teachers union, was officially decertified on August 31, 2013 according to the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission.

Trayvon Martin's Medical Examiner: Prosecution Threw the Case  —  Fired Zimmerman trial coroner says conviction was never going to happen.  —  A recent revelation in the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin case could, and should spark a new wave of outrage.  —  Dr. Shiping Bao …

15 JOURNALISTS HAVE JOINED OBAMA ADMINISTRATION  —  According to the Atlantic, Time managing editor Rick Stengel's decision to join the Obama administration is just the latest example of a new trend among mainstream media journalists who are making it official by joining the Obama administration.

Inside the Obama campaign: A plot against Cutter  —  The Obama campaign looked in the mirror and saw a political problem.  —  It had researched every piece of its own message machine and found one area that required urgent fixing.  Focus group data suggested that the campaign needed more women on television.

Behind Microsoft Deal, the Specter of a Nokia Android Phone  —  SEATTLE — Before Microsoft reached a deal to buy Nokia's phone business, there was a possibility that Nokia could have switched its smartphones to Google's Android operating system sometime after late 2014.

In Email, Zimmerman's Local Police Chief Agrees He's Another ‘Sandy Hook’ Waiting To Happen  —  Police Chief Steve Bracknell, who is responsible for the Florida town where George Zimmerman resides, agreed in a series of emails that Zimmerman is a “ticking time bomb” and another “Sandy Hook” waiting to happen.

Death By Tweet  —  I don't tweet.  But, you may ask, what about that Twitter account?  That's a robot — it's just tweeting the titles of blog posts.  And I do blog a lot:  —  But 140-character reflections on what I just ate, or something, not.  Why?  —  One reason is that I have better things to do with my time.

COLORADO FLOOD: DAMS BREAK IN LARIMER AND ADAMS COUNTIES; OVERFLOWING IN BOULDER  —  Record-shattering rainstorms across Colorado's Front Range led to flooding that blew out at least six dams Thursday, stranding a Larimer County family on the second floor of their home and breaching a federal stormwater holding pond northeast of Denver.

Imagine this: In Germany, one TV ad per candidate  —  BERLIN — Germany is in the heat of election season: in just over a week, voters will head to the polls to determine whether Chancellor Angela Merkel and her party get a third term leading the government.  —  So where are the TV ads?

California lawmakers approve measure to allow driver's licenses for illegal immigrants  —  In the waning hours of the 2013 legislative session, the Assembly on Thursday sent Gov. Jerry Brown a bill allowing undocumented immigrants to receive driver's licenses.

Elite Syrian Unit Scatters Chemical Arms Stockpile  —  Assad Regime Has Moved Weapons to as Many as 50 Sites  —  A secretive Syrian military unit at the center of the Assad regime's chemical weapons program has been moving stocks of poison gases and munitions to as many as 50 sites …

Google's Eric Schmidt says government spying is ‘the nature of our society’  —  Tech giant's executive chairman calls for greater transparency but declines to ‘pass judgment’ on spying operations  —  Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, reiterated the tech industry's call …

The Death of Gun Control  —  Why the recall of two Colorado legislators is a major setback for gun-safety advocates nationally  —  Ever since the Senate voted down gun-control legislation in April, some advocates have remained convinced there was still hope.  As of Tuesday, that hope is officially dead.

Democrats land top recruit Tennant for Senate race in W. Va.  —  West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant (D) will launch a bid for Senate next week, sources confirm, setting up Democrats with their best remaining shot at retaining Sen. Jay Rockefeller's (D-W.Va.) seat.