Attorney: New audio reveals pause in gunfire when Michael Brown was shot  —  (CNN) — Could a newly released audio provide more clues on what led up to Michael Brown's shooting death?  —  The FBI has questioned a man who says he recorded audio of gunfire at the time Brown was shot …

Exclusive: American Extremist Killed Fighting for ISIS Terrorists  —  Douglas McAuthur McCain, 33, of San Diego, was killed over the weekend while fighting for ISIS, according to the Free Syrian Army.

Sofia Vergara blasts critics of ‘sexist’ Emmy pedestal  —  Backstage at the Primetime Emmys, Sofia Vergara blasted critics who called her pedestal gag sexist.  —  During the 66th annual awards, the Modern Family actress stepped onto on a slowly rotating pedestal, showing off her curves …

Scott Walker's Race for Governor Could Shape U.S. Politics for Years to Come  —  Everyone knows the most important political race in the country this fall is the race that determines control of the U.S. Senate, which is very much up in the air.  According to The New York Times prediction model …

Paul Ryan's List of 6 Favorite Books Has One Huge Omission  —  World's Most Honest Man suffers strange memory loss.  —  Shares  —  Paul Ryan was asked by the Week to list his six favorite books about economics and democracy.  The request was a bit mischievous, as Ryan has tried …

Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown calls for Burger King boycott over planned Tim Hortons deal  —  U.S. Senate Banking Subcommittee Chairman Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, listens to a testimony during a hearing on banks and the financial crisis on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 15, 2011.  (File/Reuters)

One in six French people say they support ISIS  —  TWEET SHARE +1 LINKEDIN EMAIL PRINT  —  Two polls released this week both ask a question that you would hope wouldn't need asking: how many people support the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)?  Unfortunately, in all four countries surveyed …

Republicans Open Up Wider ‘Expectations Gap’ Ahead of Midterms  —  With just over two months before the midterm elections, Republican voters are widening the “expectations gap” with the Democrats.  About six-in-ten (61%) Republican and GOP-leaning registered voters think their party …

IRS Shocker: Filing Reveals Lerner Blackberry Destroyed  —  The device was wiped AFTER Congressional inquiry began  —  The IRS filing in federal Judge Emmet Sullivan's court reveals shocking new information.  The IRS destroyed Lerner's Blackberry AFTER it knew her computer had crashed …

Lost in America  —  More and more I'm convinced that America right now isn't a country dealing with a mere dip in its mood and might.  It's a country surrendering to a new identity and era, in which optimism is quaint and the frontier anything but endless.  —  There's a feeling of helplessness …

Will there be a GOP wave or wipeout in the Senate?  —  Will there be a GOP wave in the Senate—or a wipeout?  —  So where's the wave?  This is President Obama's sixth-year-itch election.  The map of states with contested Senate seats could hardly be better from the Republicans' vantage point.

McDonnell Living With Priest Who Pleaded Guilty To Sex Crime  —  Virginia ex-Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) revealed during testimony last week that he moved out of his family home and in with his parish priest the week before his federal corruption trial began.  —  McDonnell explained on the stand …

Watch Joe Biden Flirt With A 108-Year-Old Veteran  —  Vice President Joe Biden's flirting skills are legendary and they were on full display July 25 when he met with America's oldest living female veteran, Lucy Coffey.  The White House released an adorable video of Coffey's encounter with Biden …

Boehner Shoots Bizarre Video With Wind-Up Monkey Toy  —  The official government office of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) posted to its website on Tuesday a slickly produced 40-second video centered on a wind-up toy monkey that sits in Boehner's house.  —  The website says that the toy monkey …

Steve Schmidt joins Rick Perry's legal team  —  Republican strategist and former John McCain consultant Steve Schmidt has joined the team helping Texas Gov. Rick Perry with the strategy around his indictment, POLITICO has learned.  —  Schmidt is the latest addition to a team that Perry has been expanding with legal hands.

Social Media and the ‘Spiral of Silence’  —  Summary of Findings  —  A major insight into human behavior from pre-internet era studies of communication is the tendency of people not to speak up about policy issues in public—or among their family, friends, and work colleagues …

Cornel West and the Insular World of the Obama-Hating Left  —  A revealing interview.  —  Shares  —  The political subculture of anti-Obama leftists has entered a phase by this point in the Obama presidency where the truth of its worldview is so well-established to its own adherents that it requires no exposition.

At Michael Brown funeral, Al Sharpton's double-edged eulogy evokes anger  —  MISSOURI AL SHARPTON RACE AND DIVERSITY FERGUSON  —  The shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., has been so heavily politicized that it would have been unreasonable to expect Brown's funeral to be free of politics …