John Nichols, a pioneering political blogger, has written the Beat since 1999.

Former Sen. Alan Simpson spoke to NPR's Steve Inskeep this morning and the conversation was wide-ranging and spirited, but one thing was crystal clear: Simpson, who served as a Republican senator from Wyoming, was not happy about the Congressional "horror show" that lead to Standard & Poor's downgrade of U.S. debt.

Soy pills for the hot flashes and bone loss menopausal women may endure seemed like a great idea – a cheap way of getting the benefit of estrogen without the risks.

But alas, a new study concludes they don't work.

Woman who took a daily soy pill had no less bone loss after two years than others who took a sugar pill. (Women in both groups didn't know which pill they got.)

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.