Boehner's Market Signals?  Did August 2nd Just Become Tomorrow?  —  Unbelievable.  The scripting of this high stakes drama between House Speaker John Boehner balancing the White House on one side and the never compromise, never surrender Tea Party on the other keeps getting better and better.

Cornel West Flunks the President  —  What's with the black suit, white shirt, black tie outfit you always wear?  Do you have anything else in your closet?  —  I've got four black suits that I circulate, and they are my cemetery clothes — my uniform that keeps me ready for battle.

Republicans, Zealots and Our Security  —  IF China or Iran threatened our national credit rating and tried to drive up our interest rates, or if they sought to damage our education system, we would erupt in outrage.  —  Well, wake up to the national security threat.

A Rock-Solid Conservative Who's Willing to Bend  —  WASHINGTON — Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma was a Tea Partier long before the movement even had a name, the family physician who came to Washington to hammer on Democrats and Republicans alike.  His years of bill blocking earned him the nickname Dr. No.

Troubled David Wu reaches out to Nancy Pelosi  —  Rep. David Wu spoke to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other top Democrats on Saturday about his political future in the wake of allegations of a sexual encounter with a teenager, but it is not clear whether the Oregon Democrat will step down from office.

Bad Food?  Tax It, and Subsidize Vegetables  —  Mark Bittman writes about food for the opinion section.  —  WHAT will it take to get Americans to change our eating habits?  The need is indisputable, since heart disease, diabetes and cancer are all in large part caused by the Standard American Diet.

The shuttle as you've never seen it before: Space Station astronauts capture Atlantis re-entering the atmosphere from above ...hours before it is wheeled into hangar for the last time  — Now Atlantis is home, 3,200 of the shuttle program's 5,500 contract workers will lose their jobs tomorrow

Anders Behring Breivik: profile of a mass murderer  —  A right-wing fundamentalist with a hatred for Norway's left, multiculturalism and Muslims  —  Not far from of Elverum, 80 miles north of Oslo, a cluster of clapboard buildings, white and red, sits under a low mountain ridge at the end of a dirt track.

Make Way for the Radical Center  —  DID I mention that I've signed a pledge — just like those Republican congressmen who have signed written promises to different political enforcers not to raise taxes or permit same-sex marriage?  My pledge is to never vote for anyone stupid enough to sign a pledge …

Amy Winehouse, British Soul Singer With a Troubled Life, Dies at 27  —  Amy Winehouse, the British singer who found worldwide fame with a smoky, hip-hop-inflected take on retro soul, yet became a tabloid fixture as her problems with drugs and alcohol brought about a strikingly public career collapse …

Right-Wing Pundits Jumped To Blame Muslims And ‘Jihadists’ For Norway Attacks  —  When news began to unfold on Friday of the terror attacks in Norway that has left more than 90 dead, many blogs and Twitter accounts immediately lit up with speculation about who was behind the massive bombings …