(DES MOINES REGISTER BLOGS) — Sarah Palin’s scheduled political trip to Iowa this month marks a shift from near silence in the leadoff presidential nominating state to the kind of outreach common among White House prospects. Palin’s plan to headline the Iowa Republican Party’s annual fall fundraiser on Sept. 17 is solely to help raise [...]

Oh, this might explain the sudden spate of food recalls. — PID (POLITICO.COM) — The Senate’s yearlong failure to pass a food safety overhaul has hampered the ability of Obama administration to quickly recall the 600 million eggs connected to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened nearly 2,000 people, experts and lawmakers say. The House [...]

(DEBKAfile) — The Obama administration and Netanyahu government greeted the start-up of Iran’s first nuclear reactor at Bushehr with extraordinary meekness, given the grim military and strategic hazards it represents for the region and Israel in particular. Yet nary a squeak of protest came from Washington or Jerusalem when Russian technicians began loading 162 rods [...]

Judge says the same-sex marriage ban was rooted in ‘moral disapproval’ and violates constitutional rights to equal protection and due process. Opponents vow to appeal all the way to the Supreme Court. via Proposition 8: Ruling against Prop. 8 could lead to federal precedent on gay marriage – latimes.com.

(HUMAN EVENTS) — The latest version of the CLEAR Act is slated for a floor vote in the House this week as Democrats look for ways to use the Gulf oil spill as a means to pass elements of their unpopular energy agenda. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stripped out authorization for an independent investigation [...]

(WALL STREET JOURNAL) — In an odd historical twist that all Americans see but few can understand, many programs allow recently arrived immigrants to move ahead of similarly situated whites whose families have been in the country for generations. These programs have damaged racial harmony. And the more they have grown, the less they have [...]

(Arutz Sheva) – A car bomb that exploded July 15 in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, may indicate that Mexican drug cartels are being assisted by Hizbullah terrorists. This possibility means that the U.S. may be faced with a Muslim terror threat south of its border that is not completely unlike the terror presence Israel deals with [...]

(Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis) — No doubt quite a few inquiring minds will be wondering how a financial reform bill that failed at 100% of its objectives while accomplishing virtually nothing can possibly be considered a “stunning success”. In sharp contrast to medical reform, I cannot come up with any financial reform provisions that [...]

(ABC NEWS) — Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Monday he’s seriously considering seeking the Republican presidential nomination and will announce his decision early next year. Gingrich, 67, told The Associated Press that he would focus on helping Republican candidates through the midterm elections in November, then decide in February or March whether to [...]

(THE DAILY BEAST) — You’d think the well-heeled and enlightened eggheads at the Aspen Ideas Festival–which is running all week in this fashionable resort town with heady panel discussions and earnest disquisitions involving all manner of deep thinkers and do-gooders–would be receptive to an intellectually ambitious president with big ideas of his own. In a [...]

(Christianpost.com) — America currently stands in a very dangerous position, said renowned pastor and author Dr. Charles Stanley. Today more than ever, the country is turning away from God and moving closer toward socialism, he warned. And the consequences will be grave. via Influential Pastor Warns of Socialism, Departure from God | Christianpost.com.

(HEARKEN THE WATCHMEN) — In a development little noticed by the American public, President Obama’s subordinates have quietly let it be known that he reserves the right to have American citizens overseas assassinated. Not imprisoned. Not spied upon without a warrant. Killed in cold blood with no oversight whatsoever. via Appoint For Us a King.

(AP) — Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, the longest-serving senator in history, has died at 92. via The Associated Press: US APNewsAlert.

(CNN) — America’s top military commander in Afghanistan is unlikely to survive the fallout from remarks he made about colleagues in a magazine profile to be published Friday, according to a Pentagon source who has ongoing contacts with the general. Gen. Stanley McChrystal will likely resign Wednesday, the source said. McChrystal’s fate is expected to [...]