At Ramadan Iftar dinner, Obama supports new mosque on private property near Ground Zero  —  Text of President Obama's remarks at the White House Iftar dinner on Ramadan  —  Good evening.  Welcome to the White House.  To you, to Muslim Americans across our country, and to more than one …

Longshot US Senate candidate from SC indicted  —  COLUMBIA, S.C. — Longshot U.S. Senate candidate Alvin Greene was indicted Friday on two charges, including a felony charge of showing pornography to a South Carolina college student.  —  A Richland County grand jury indicted Green for disseminating …

Conservative Bloggers Select The 25 Worst Figures In American History  —  Out of all the gangsters, serial killers, mass murderers, incompetent & crooked politicians, spies, traitors, and ultra left-wing kooks in all of American history — have you ever wondered who the worst of the worst was?

Judge Doubts Gay Marriage Ban's Backers Can Appeal  —  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The federal judge who overturned California's same-sex marriage ban has more bad news for the measure's sponsors: he not only is unwilling to keep gay couples from marrying beyond next Wednesday …

CNN Poll: Who's on top in hunt for 2012 GOP nomination?  —  Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul (left to right) top a list of potential 2012 GOP contenders, according to a new CNN poll.  (PHOTO CREDITS: Getty Images)  —  Manchester, New Hampshire (CNN) …

1993 flip-flop: Sen. Reid introduced bill ‘clarifying’ birthright citizenship  —  For all the brouhaha over Republicans wanting to review the interpretation of the 14th Amendment, the citizenship/birthright clause, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, once supported revising …

Tea Party groups out against net neutrality  —  Tea Party groups are staking out an anti-regulatory position in the fight over net neutrality rules for phone and cable companies.  —  A coalition that included 35 Tea Party groups sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) …

CONTENTS NOT VERIFIED  —  It seems a bit strange to me that the media carefully warn about and label any content that involves sex, violence or strong language — but there's no similar labelling system for, say, sloppy journalism and other questionable content.  —  I figured it was time to fix that, so I made some stickers.

Facing Ethics Charges, Rep. Waters Points Finger at Bush Administration  —  Embattled Rep. Maxine Waters on Friday blamed the Bush administration for her ethics problems — saying she had to intervene with the Treasury Department on behalf of minority-owned banks seeking federal bailout funds …

Defying Others, Germany Finds Economic Success  —  BERLIN — Germany has sparred with its European partners over how to respond to the financial crisis, argued with the United States over the benefits of stimulus versus austerity, and defiantly pursued its own vision of how to keep its economy strong.

U.S. Civil Rights Commission hearing erupts into shouting  —  Washington (CNN) - Members of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission shouted at each other Friday over the Justice Department's decision to drop most of the charges in a 2008 incident in which black militants confronted voters at a Philadelphia …

Quayle stands by ‘worst president in history’ critique  —  Arizona House candidate Ben Quayle stood by his latest campaign ad on Friday.  —  Editor's Note: Watch John King USA on CNN at 7 p.m. ET  —  (CNN) - Arizona House candidate Ben Quayle on Friday stood by a statement in a new campaign ad …

Unemployed Man Reacts To Gingrich's Accusation That ‘Welfare’ Is Making Him Lazy: I Paid Into It For 35 Years  —  Time and time again, conservatives have claimed that extending unemployment benefits for the unemployed is breeding laziness and lack of productivity.  Newt Gingrich was the latest to adopt this meme.

‘Rapid recovery’  —  Destatis also revised up the German growth figure for the first three months of the year, to 0.5% from 0.2%.  —  As well as the “strong contribution” from exports, the office said household and government spending also helped to boost growth in the second quarter.

Presidential Reading  —  Karl Rove once claimed that President George W. Bush read 95 books in a year as part of a bet.  —  Apparently, President Obama is not as well read.  —  Reporter Michael Powell to the Columbia Journalism Review: “I got talking to him about what he reads and was telling me about these different policy tomes.

A Prescription for Ruin  —  If the least-popular parts of health-care reform are repealed, we could end up with its cost controls wrecked but its spending intact.  —  I've got some good news for deficit hawks: earlier this year, Congress passed legislation reducing the deficit by about $125 billion over the next 10 years.

Obama closes curtain on transparency  —  President Obama has abolished the position in his White House dedicated to transparency and shunted those duties into the portfolio of a partisan ex-lobbyist who is openly antagonistic to the notion of disclosure by government and politicians.

U.S. Approval of Labor Unions Remains Near Record Low  —  More Americans want unions to have less influence than more  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A slim majority of 52% of Americans say they approve of labor unions, the second lowest approval rating in Gallup's 70-year history of this trend, behind only last year's 48%.