Obama sets his own pace in a world whirling with crises  —  Short of world war, it's rare that a chief executive goes through a foreign policy month like President Obama's August.  —  U.S. warplanes struck in Iraq for the first time in years, as U.S. diplomats struggled to establish a new government in Baghdad.

Mayor Forces Man To Leave Public Meeting Because He Won't Stand During Prayer  —  Mayor John Rees (center) at Thursday's meeting  —  CREDIT: Freedom From Religion Foundation YouTube video  —  A Florida mayor ejected one of his constituents from a City Commission meeting on Thursday …

Myth of arctic meltdown: Stunning satellite images show summer ice cap is thicker and covers 1.7million square kilometres MORE than 2 years ago...despite Al Gore's prediction it would be ICE-FREE by now  — Seven years after former US Vice-President Al Gore's warning, Arctic ice cap has expanded for second year in row

Stop Hiding Images of American Torture  —  A hooded man standing on a box, electrodes wired to his fingers.  A naked prisoner lying on a cement floor, a leash around his neck held casually by an American soldier.  The bloody bodies of dead inmates with their heads bashed in.

Exclusive: GOP poll of women: Party ‘stuck in past’  —  One bright spot in the poll responses was among married women.  Married women without a college degree view Republicans favorably, the poll shows.  Married women prefer a Republican over a Democrat, 48 percent to 38 percent.

Considering Catcalls  —  No one is catcalling Rosie O'Donnell, Barbara Bush, or Janet Napolitano.  No one is catcalling my plump elderly mother as I wheel her down the sidewalk in her wheelchair.  Marilyn Monroe once observed that she could walk down the sidewalk without drawing attention …

Rubio's new tune on immigration  —  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is singing a new tune on immigration as he eyes a possible 2016 presidential run, but it may not be enough to win over disaffected conservatives just yet.  —  Rubio was a leading champion of the comprehensive immigration reform bill that passed the Senate last year.

Hillary's summer: Five takeaways  —  The political world is still waiting for a decision from Hillary Clinton on the 2016 presidential race.  —  But observers have recently got a preview of what would lay in store from, and for, Clinton should she take the plunge.

After Ferguson, Race Deserves More Attention, Not Less  —  MANY white Americans say they are fed up with the coverage of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. A plurality of whites in a recent Pew survey said that the issue of race is getting more attention than it deserves.