In the past year, more than two dozen states have considered legislation that would prevent the use of Shariah, the Islamic code that guides Muslim beliefs and actions, in courtrooms. Several prominent Republicans, including Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann have all recently warned about the threat of Shariah law. In Tennessee, lawmakers recently debated whether to classify suspected Islamic terrorist groups as "Shariah organizations."

Good morning!

After a day that saw historic drops in the U.S. markets, the world markets continue their volatility today. The FTSE is up slightly while Japan's Nikkei was down 1.68 percent. Stock futures are forecasting another dramatic day in the U.S. The Wall Street Journal reports that in trading before opening, the Dow was up 167 points after a 300-point swing in the other direction.

Rep. Michele Bachman officially threw her hat into the presidential ring on June 27. Since then, the Minnesota congresswoman has emerged as a Republican front-runner, riding on a wave of Tea Party support and national media appearances.

Charles Kenny is a weekly columnist for Foreign Policy, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and a Schwartz fellow at the New America Foundation.

Fred Barnes is executive editor of The Weekly Standard.

President Obama's support for raising income taxes on high earners is more than a talking point. It's an obsession. In negotiations in July over a $4 trillion "grand bargain" on deficit reduction, the president proposed the tax hike as part of an agreement with Republicans. It was a clumsy mistake on his part, an unforced error. Rather than facilitate a deal, he helped kill it.

Jonathan Cohn is a senior editor at The New Republic.

Did investors dump stocks on Monday because they'd lost faith in America's ability to pay its bills? Because they thought the federal government would cut spending further, slowing down the economy? Because they were adjusting to the latest news from Europe? The list of experts qualified to address those questions is long. And it does not include me.

Half-way through what was scheduled to be a 60 hour swim, 61-year-old Diana Nyad had to abandon what she called her "Xtreme Dream" — a 103 mile swim from Cuba to Florida.

"It's over. She lasted 29 hours in an heroic attempt," said Elaine Lafferty, one of Nyad's crew members, on Twitter.

On the same Twitter account, her team said that earlier in the evening Nyad was in the water, "surrounded by dolphins and a beautiful Caribbean sunset." But, they explained, a strong wind "blew her 15mph off course."

Prime Minister David Cameron cut his vacation short and parliament was recalled as riots went into their third night in England. Last night, for the first time, the mayhem spread outside of London to Birmingham and Liverpool. The BBC reports that 450 people have been arrested.

Brent Haddad studies water in a place where water is often in short supply: California.

Haddad is a professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. About 14 years ago, he became very interested in the issue of water reuse.

Let's go back to the beginning — all the way to Adam and Eve, and to the question: Did they exist, and did all of humanity descend from that single pair?

According to the Bible (Genesis 2:7), this is how humanity began: "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." God then called the man Adam, and later created Eve from Adam's rib.