Why Has Islam Become So Controversial in America? (The Atlantic Wire)

The Atlantic Wire - What began with the right-wing political campaign against the "Ground Zero Mosque," an Islamic community center that is neither a mosque nor located at ground zero, has now become a national phenomenon. Crowds of protesters, sometimes aligned with the conservative Tea Party movement, are now rallying against proposed mosques in such locations as Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Sheboygan, Wisconsin; Bridgeport, Connecticut; and Temecula, California. What's behind this sudden and severe backlash against Muslim-American families? And where is it headed next?

Boehner, Pence: Raising Social Security Retirement Age An Option (Huffington Post)

Huffington Post - Top Republican leaders in the House offered a fairly strong signal on Sunday that they would favor a down-the-road raising of the Social Security retirement age as part of an effort to revamp the entitlement program.

Kagan sworn in as fourth woman on Supreme Court (AP)

AP - Elena Kagan was sworn in Saturday as the 112th justice and fourth woman ever to serve on the Supreme Court.

Obama says employment growth 'needs to come faster' (AFP)

AFP - President Barack Obama on Friday hailed new private sector job creation figures as a "good sign," but acknowledged that "progress needs to come faster" for Americans facing high unemployment levels.

Sherrod not sure she would go back to Ag Dept (AP)

AP - The woman at the center of a racially tinged firestorm involving the Obama administration and the NAACP said Wednesday she doesn't know if she'd return to her job at the Agriculture Department, even if asked.

THE INFLUENCE GAME: Victims' families persuasive (AP)

AP - Congress is on the verge of passing far-reaching airline safety legislation, and a lot of the credit goes to an unlikely band of lobbyists: the families and friends of the 50 people who died in a regional airline crash in western New York more than a year ago.

Sherrod not sure she would go back to Ag Dept (AP)

AP - The woman at the center of a racially tinged firestorm involving the Obama administration and the NAACP said Wednesday she doesn't know if she'd return to her job at the Agriculture Department, even if asked.

Afghanistan pull-out could start in 2011: PM (AFP)

AFP - The government could start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan next year, Prime Minister David Cameron told BBC radio on Wednesday, following talks with US President Barack Obama.

Obama set to sign finance reform bill (AFP)

AFP - US President Barack Obama will claim a moment of history on Wednesday when he signs into law the most sweeping regulatory reform of the US finance industry since the 1930s Great Depression.