Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) says President Obama needs Congressional authorization for the military action in Libya.

Pakistan's intelligence agency has detained several people who gave information to the United States before the U.S. killed Osama bin Laden, officials in Pakistan said Wednesday, and Fmr. CIA Officer Peter Brookes says the action hurts US-Pakistani relations. FULL POST

Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood says the political battle over abortion puts women's overall health care at risk. FULL POST

Former Vice Chairman of General Motors, Bob Lutz, says the government had to step in to save the U.S. auto industry.

CLICK HERE for an exerpt from Lutz's new book, "Car Guys vs Bean Counters."

Irshad Manji promotes concept of "ishtihad" following Herman's Cain's comments on Muslims during Monday's GOP debate.

Cain repeated that he would be uncomfortable with a Muslim in his Cabinet unless he was sure it wasn't one "trying to kill us." FULL POST

Bob Lutz, who spent 47 years in the auto industry–nine of them as vice chairman of General Motors–is scheduled to meet Eliot In The Arena on Wednesday, June 15, 2011.

Here is an excerpt from his new book, in which he explains how GM and other car companies lost their way, and how they can achieve greatness again.

Excerpted from Car Guys vs Bean Counters by Bob Lutz by arrangement with Portfolio Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc., Copyright © 2011 by Bob Lutz.

It was in 1979 in the United Kingdom. I had just been elevated to president of Ford Europe and was conducting my first monthly quality meeting.

Ford’s quality was about average for Europe at the time, but we were having a major problem with our UK-built four- cylinder engines: camshafts (an essential part that controls the valves) were wearing out at a totally unacceptable rate. Some camshafts failed after as little as 10,000 miles, few lasted more than 15,000 miles, and the bulk of the repeat failures occurred soon after the expiration of the then-prevalent 12,000-mile warranty.

I asked what we were going to do to achieve industry- standard durability on camshafts. Manufacturing and Engineering had a number of solutions, all requiring some increase in parts cost and a nominal investment in equipment. I authorized these on the spot, and emphasized the need for speed in incorporating the changes.

End of story? Not quite! FULL POST

The Number of the Day is 8,421.

That’s the number of Syrians who have crossed into Turkey, Syrians fleeing the violence of an oppressive regime turning on its own people.

Amnesty International reports so far more than 1,100 people have died in the past three months as Syrian security personnel try to quiet anti-government demonstrators.

"It is impossible for us to remain indifferent to the developments there," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters.

"For us, the Syrians are people who have common future and destiny with us," he said. "Therefore, it is out of question to close the door to our Syrian brothers or the (refugee numbers) to stop after 10,000. However, when this turns into a big wave, it also has the potential to become a regional and an international matter."

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad became president in 2000 after the death of his father Hafez al-Assad, who had ruled Syria for 29 years. Human rights is not their forte.

In May, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Bashar al-Assad and six other senior Syrian officials because of the bloody crackdown on activists there.

But the U.N. Security Council—hindered by China and Russia—are yet to demand an immediate end to the violence in Syria and condemn systematic human rights abuses.

So the number of day will keep growing. FULL POST

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Answering today's OFF-SET questions is the award-winning filmmaker Babar Ahmed, who produced the short video "Global Aging" for the International Monetary Fund.

CLICK HERE to see "Global Aging."

In this video, what alarm are you sounding?

Over the next few decades the population over age 60 will grow by one billion to a total of two billion. The proportion of the working population will fall rapidly. This could pose significant financial problems for the world economy. 

The consequences of global aging directly affect us, and impact future generations.  FULL POST

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Answering today’s five OFF-SET questions is Evan Wolfson, President of Freedom to Marry.

Citing his national leadership on marriage and his appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court, the National Law Journal named Wolfson one of "the 100 most influential lawyers in America," in addition to being named one of Time magazine's list of "the 100 most influential people in the world." Wolfson is author of  "Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry."

On Tuesday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo submitted a bill to bring marriage equality to New York State. What does the The Marriage Equality Act permit to happen?

If passed by the Republican-controlled Senate and Democrat-controlled Assembly and signed into law by the Governor, the marriage bill will secure for committed same-sex couples the freedom to marry - with the same rules, same responsibilities, and same respect. 

It will more than double the number of Americans living in a state where gay couples can marry - from 16 million to 35 million.  And it will permit more families to strengthen their love and commitment and ability to care for one another, while taking nothing away from anyone else.

How is marriage, as it would be defined by this law, different from a civil union?

One of the main protections that comes with marriage is, well, being married.  It's a statement of love and commitment so important that most people wear its symbol on their hand.  Everyone knows who you are in relation to the primary person you're building a life with.  FULL POST

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Answer today’s six OFF-SET questions is Tom Shales, America’s foremost television reviewer, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1988.

He and James Andrew Miller wrote the national best-seller, “Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live.” Their new book is now at the top of  New York Times hardcover non-fiction bestseller list.  An oral history that tells the story of one of America’s most successful—and sometimes outrageous—cable TV channels, it’s titled, “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside The World of ESPN.”

Sports programming was on TV a long time before ESPN came along in 1979. What did ESPN discover about covering sports that makes it the powerhouse it is today?

They discovered that people could tolerate a TON of it (sports programming) for one thing. 

Remember that when ESPN came along, not only was the idea of an all-sports network new and nutty, but so was the notion of 24-hour service. Local TV stations in Washington routinely signed off with "The Star-Spangled Banner" by 1 or 2 a.m., earlier on Sundays.

ESPN discovered a latent market and turned it into a bonanza. What amused me in tracing the history is that in the VERY beginning, that wasn't the founders' intention at all. They thought small - only as far, really, as the borders of Connecticut. It was their successors who thought bigger and bigger. FULL POST