Reluctant Shoppers Hold Back Recovery (WSJ)

You're blaming us for "casting a cloud over the durability of the U.S. recovery"? Give us our jobs back and stop the banks from foreclosing on our houses and extorting us with new fees. Then we'll talk about it.

Can Twitter Be Saved? It's in danger of collapsing under its own weight. (The Big Money)

Mark Gimein's take: "[T]he volume of material that Twitter unleashes now puts impossible demands on its users' time and attention. The problem, in a nutshell, is information overload. The more Twitter grows and the more feeds Twitterers follow, the harder it gets to mine it for what is truly useful and engaging. Even as Twitter reaches a peak in the cultural cred cycle, it's time to start asking how it can be saved from itself." But don't tweet that question.

Huffington Post + Facebook = the Future of Journalism: Should we be giddy or terrified? (The Big Money)

Chadwick Matlin: "I'm sharing my HuffPo distaste so you know that I don't take the following statement lightly: On Monday, Huffington Post unveiled the future of journalism."

The Most Outrageous U.S. Lies About Global Healthcare (Foreign Policy)

Debunking the bunkum about how our health-care system is the best in the world.

MORE HEADLINES FOLLOW

AIG's new CEO takes scissors to restructuring plan (Reuters)

It looks as if AIG will continue gambling with the public's money by deciding not to sell its investment-advisory business. The huge bailout of AIG apparently didn't guarantee much government control of how the big insurer is going to repay us. Instead of AIG's being dismantled, it's keeping the grasping arm that got it into trouble in the first place. On the other hand, Citigroup is still firmly in the grip of the government in at least some ways. The feds apparently strong-armed Citi to get rid of its chief financial officer. See "U.S. regulators urged Citi to replace Kelly: report."

More Banks in Europe Identified in Tax Probe (WSJ)

Book those flights to Europe if you want to protect the money you stashed there.

Southern California home sales and prices rise in July (L.A. Times)

A glimmer of good news on the housing front in battered California, "suggesting that the two-year decline in home values may finally be over." On the national front, some slightly good news: "Housing Data Show Slowly Firming Market."

After Taking In the Clunkers, Car Dealers Report an Extended Wait for the Cash (WashPost)

Pissed off at "the government's slow pace in reimbursing them." On the other hand, GM, for the first time since its bankruptcy, is hiring back workers to help build more vehicles.

Debate's Path Caught Obama by Surprise (WashPost)

Obama's crew wasn't ready for the storm over the "public option," which they didn't see as the centerpiece of their package anyway.

Whole Foods Devotees Lash Out at CEO: Customers, Angry Over His Health-Care Views, Share Feelings of Betrayal on Web (WashPost)

CEO John Mackey's argument that health care isn't an intrinsic right — a point of view, incidentally, not shared by any other major democracy on the planet — enraged the pricey chain's liberal customer base.

Another Stimulus Package? Two economists debate the merits of more financial stimulus. (NYT)

Pointless, counterpointless. But why not read it?

Can you 'ear me now?

W.T.O. Rules Against U.S. in Dumping Case (Reuters)

"The decision, which centered on antidumping measures, clears the way for Japan to threaten Washington with trade sanctions." The U.S.'s solo stance on how to deal with what it thinks are unfairly priced imports is a vestige of the days when it was the straw that stirred the drink. Those days are over when the U.S. could dictate trade policies.

Funny little zinger, among other good stuff on Zero Hedge's new and improved site.