My colleague Marc Thiessen doesn’t like the source of much of the data on Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s system of patronage. He claims that Texans for Public Justice is a “secretive, left-wing, Soros-funded organization,”and their reports should be ignored. There are three problems with this. A great deal of the data has been reported elsewhere. The Post and Texas papers , as well as other publications , have confirmed the system of pay-to-play that keeps Perry’s big donors very happy. The facts are the facts, no matter what the motives of those compiling them. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchnson (R-Tex.) also raised the issue in the 2010 campaign. In Texas Perry’s activities may have passed muster, but now he’s got to justify this conduct to a national electorate. Read full article > >

Continued here:
Jennifer Rubin:
Perry has to get the ethics issue off the deck

The economic recovery is faltering, and Washington is running out of ways to get it back on track. Two bright spots over the past few months — manufacturing and job creation by private companies — both slowed in May, according to new reports Wednesday. The data come amid other reports of falling home prices, declining auto sales, weaker consumer spending and a rising pace of layoffs. Stocks tumbled Wednesday on the discouraging economic news, with the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index off 2.3 percent. It was the index’s steepest decline since August. Read full article > >

More here:
U.S. economy: Manufacturing slowdown the latest sign the recovery is faltering

A 16-year-old boy charged with the murders of two British holidaymakers in Florida has been named by detectives as Shawn Tyson. Andy Gallagher reports.

Originally posted here:
VIDEO: Florida gun deaths suspect named

Two British papers-the Times and the Telegraph-reported Sunday that Kate Middleton has chosen to wear a gown by Alexander McQueen designer Sarah Burton at her wedding to Prince William in April. The fashion house denied the reports to both papers, but…

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Kate Middleton to Wear Alexander McQueen?

A father reports on, and a son describes, the experience of schizophrenia.

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Two Voices

Rep. Chris Lee of New York abruptly resigned Wednesday evening, hours after a gossip Web site reported that the married Republican had allegedly sent flirtatious e-mail messages and a shirtless photo of himself to a woman he met online.

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Rep. Chris Lee resigns after reports of Craigslist flirtation

Consumer Reports created a list of retailers with “naughty” or “nice” customer service policies.

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Bucks: ‘Naughty and Nice’ Retailer Return Policies

Microsoft’s new gaming system, the Kinect, is not “racist,” as a gaming site suggested Thursday when it reported that the system’s facial-recognition feature did not recognize dark-skinned employees. Consumer Reports tested the claim and found that…

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Debunked: Microsoft Kinect Not ‘Racist’

A government review finds Home Reports have encouraged a shift away from Scotland’s ‘offers over’ system.

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Home Reports ‘valued by buyers’