Legal Authority for Fighting ISIS  —  As the Pentagon gears up to expand its fight against ISIS, a fundamentalist Sunni militant group that controls large areas of Iraq and Syria, Congress appears perfectly willing to abdicate one of its most consequential powers: the authority to declare war.

Obama's strategy: Kill ISIS before they kill us  —  Obama lays out ISIS strategy … (CNN) — Think that President Barack Obama has done a back flip on Iraq and Syria, gotten that old-time religion and is now a convert to the “let's kill them wherever we find them” approach of his predecessors?

Shedding Light on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC): Court Findings from Our 2007-2008 Case  —  Today we are pleased to announce the release of more than 1,500 pages of once-secret papers from Yahoo's 2007-2008 challenge to the expansion of U.S. surveillance laws.

Loose Lips: Hell hath no fury like a Palin family visit.  Campaigns gear up.  Mayor Dan grabs a Tiger by the tail.  —  About 65 people showed for the fundraiser for gubernatorial candidate Bill Walker and lt. gov. candidate Byron Mallott on Monday night.  It wasn't the usual Dem crowd.

New Comic to Anchor ‘Update’ on ‘S.N.L.’  —  The new season of “Saturday Night Live” will have a significant change in its cast and its most prominent segment, “Weekend Update.”  —  Michael Che, a comic perhaps best known for his role as a correspondent on Comedy Central's “The Daily Show …

Democrats' whopper of a strategy flop  —  President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies hoped to capitalize on the recent wave of companies ditching the U.S. to slice their tax bill as a populist issue to fire up the progressive base and bash Republicans as slaves to corporate interests.

U.S. seeks up to 16 months in prison for Dinesh D'Souza  —  (Reuters) - The U.S. government wants conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza to be sentenced to as much as 16 months in prison, following his guilty plea to a campaign finance law violation.

Convicted high school shooter TJ Lane back in custody after prison escape  —  (CNN) — T.J. Lane, a remorseless killer who escaped from an Ohio prison where he was serving three life sentences for a school shooting, has been recaptured, a law enforcement official said.

Ray Rice told Goodell he hit fiancee  —  Ray Rice told NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on June 16 that he punched his then-fiancee in a casino elevator, four sources have told “Outside the Lines,” an assertion that contradicts Goodell's statement this week that “when we met with Ray Rice …

Missouri Enacts 72-Hour Wait for Abortion  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Republican-controlled Missouri legislature has enacted one of the most stringent waiting periods for women seeking abortions, overriding a veto by the state's Democratic governor, Jay Nixon.

Westlake Lives!  —  Tasty morsels from the late master's larder  —  Imagine that a beloved family member has died unexpectedly, leaving a huge void in your life.  Logic dictates that you will never hear another word from the deceased again.  But then, the departed contacts you in an hours-long séance!

Court won't release costs of Gitmo camp  —  A federal judge ruled Thursday that the Pentagon need not make public a document detailing the costs associated with a Guantanamo Bay prison camp used to house so-called high-value detainees.  —  In a ten-page opinion (posted here) …

Obama losing the confidence of key parts of the coalition that elected him  —  Kimberly Cole was part of the coalition that voted in 2008 to make Barack Obama the 44th president and in 2012 gave him another four years to deliver on his promises of hope and change.