THE WAR AGAINST PHOTOGRAPHY GOES UNDERSEA! Giant Manta Ray swipes $5k camera rig from diver, shoots some video. Or maybe the manta just wanted to join in . . . .

CHANGE: Wide GOP Lead Among Interested Voters; Obama Job Approval Hits New Low.

THE CARNIVAL OF NUCLEAR ENERGY IS UP!

IN THE MAIL: From Ron Paul, End The Fed.

CALLING ALL LOBBYISTS! “Less than an hour before Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski planned to announce a write-in campaign to retain her seat, her top aide e-mailed scores of the most prominent lobbyists in Washington to ask them to join a Saturday conference call with the senator.”

The Murkowski story embodies what’s wrong with the traditional GOP: Self-centered, dynastic, and looking to lobbyists as primary allies.

UPDATE: Roger Simon: Murkowski The Jerk. “Unlike Joe Lieberman, who ran successfully as an independent in Connecticut, she has no cause, other than herself.”

Plus, some advice: “One last word to the lobbyists (Chevron, Conoco Phillips and Marathon Oil, etc) who apparently received email from Murkowski’s chief of staff, alerting them an hour early to her imminent campaign. We live in a New Media Age where your behavior is being watched as never before. And, as you know, you have already been outed in this instance. Karen Knutson, Murkowski’s chief of staff, showed herself to be a trigger-happy dolt by sending that premature email. One of you probably leaked it. Signing on for the Murkowski campaign is now bad news for your company. Stay away.”

I wonder if these companies are hearing from customers or shareholders about this?

ANOTHER UPDATE: Jonah Goldberg: “On what grounds should she run as independent? Because she really likes being a senator? Because she’s bummed the seat-for-life her father gave her turned out to be more temporary? I think independent campaigns or party switches are forgivable or understandable on some grand issue of principle. Joe Lieberman’s steadfast support for the war comes to mind. But reading this, it sounds like Murkowski thinks she should run because the people who like her have told her what she wants to hear. How is she anything more than Arlen Specter in a dress?”

MORE: A reader emails: “She’s worse: Specter was never a spoiler. At least he had the ‘dignity’ to switch parties, not run as an indie. And he did it BEFORE he lost his primary, not after. It’s hard to be a bigger creep than Arlen Specter, but I’ll be damned if she hasn’t done it.”

INTRODUCING THE PROFESSOR BAINBRIDGE STIMULUS PLAN. “Give me $420,000 and I’ll hire 10 unemployed law students to work as research assistants for a year. I’ve always wanted a few minions, after all.”

MARY KATHARINE HAM: “Can’t all us grizzlies get along?”

THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN, WE’D SEE SLAVERY RETURN TO AMERICA. And they were right! “A Florida couple pleaded guilty to conspiring to hold 39 Filipino employees against their will working in country clubs and hotels, the US Justice Department said Friday.”

UPDATE: Yes, it’s all my fault.

TOM BLUMER: The Teen Workplace Disengagement Epidemic. “In July, far more than half weren’t even trying to find work. Why? . . . One obvious current factor is that those teens who are looking for work aren’t finding it thanks to the economy.”

L.A. TIMES: “First Lady Michelle Obama, who has been unable to convince the Smoker-in-Chief to give up that dreadful habit, now has some health suggestions for other American families and for restaurant menus across the country.” Gotta love the pics.

BEST BARGAIN NONSTICK SKILLETS.

SHIKHA DALMIA: Obama Is Not An Anticolonialist Kenyan. “But there is a problem more basic than factual inaccuracies with D’Souza’s thesis. If Obama were seriously motivated by a moral desire to protect poor countries from being ruined by excessive American consumption then his biggest priority would be to rein in this consumption. But that is the exact opposite of what he has done since assuming office. His entire economic agenda is one big and desperate attempt to boost American consumption.”

BARNEY FRANK GETTING WORRIED? “Both Democratic and Republican observers said the Clinton event suggests Frank – a part of the Democratic leadership now linked to the nation’s economic woes – might feel vulnerable.”

He’s got a motivated challenger, though Frank has a lot more cash.

JAMES TARANTO CORRECTS ME:

The Herald quotes Glenn Reynolds, a libertarian law professor whom the paper misidentifies as a “conservative gadfly”: “I think the Tea Party couldn’t ask for any better publicity than to be denounced by a millionaire who dodges paying taxes on his yacht.” Actually, make that a near-billionaire who married another man’s fortune.

I stand corrected.

JENNIFER RUBIN: Justice Department Forced To Investigate Self. “It is about to get harder for both the Obama administration and the mainstream media to downplay the New Black Panther party scandal.”

PEGGY NOONAN: WHY IT’S TIME FOR THE TEA PARTY: The populist movement is more a critique of the GOP than a wing of it. Well, that’s what it takes to make Peggy happy, apparently. Then again, she’s the one who told us Barack Obama was a moderate.

EVERYBODY’S BEEN SENDING ME THIS “White House Insider” report on Obama. Given the sourcing, I wouldn’t put too much credence in it.

CHANGE: Aug 2009– Pelosi Accuses Tea Partiers of Attending Nazi-Sign Rallies… **Sept. 2010– Top Pelosi Staffer Leads Nazi-Sign Rally. “Don’t expect to see this on your nightly news.”

SHOCKER: Economic stimulus turns into hindrance in Sevier County. “Businesses that boomed a year ago now are struggling for survival because a gauntlet of concrete barricades, orange barrels and confusing detours generated by the project are obstacles for tourists, according to local business owners. One fast-food restaurant that depended on its visibility and accessibility from the highway suffered a major drop in profits after concrete barricades and piles of rubble blocked the store’s main entrance and made its sign difficult to see. . . . However, only one on-site construction worker has been hired since September, confirmed Tennessee Department of Transportation Project Manager Jennifer Stone, while local retailers have had to cut back staffing and decrease work hours because of disruption from road construction.”

This story’s from back at the beginning of the summer, but it may explain why all that stimulus spending hasn’t translated into much progress. . . .

GREG SARGENT: “It isn’t every day that Democrats target Latino challengers with nasty anti-immigrant ads, but these are apparently desperate times for certain embattled Dems.”

HOW CONVENIENT: Ethics trial for Democrats Rangel, Waters unlikely before election.

DICK MORRIS: Congressional Candidates Who Urgently Need Help. David Kirkham writes in favor of Morgan Philpot, who is only three points behind the incumbent, Democrat Matheson.

UPDATE: Reader Vin Flynn writes:

Sam Caligiuri in CT 5 is one point behind Netroots liberal Chris Murphy. Murphy called criticism of Obamacare “lies and propaganda” so we really oughta want him to leave office. Sam, on the other hand, was the only CT state senator to oppose a budget that violated the state spending cap; so we need him in DC

Well, look at the list — and around the Web — and decide for yourself if there’s anyone you want to help.

MURKOWSKI UPDATE: Incumbent sore loser to launch desperate bid to keep power.

ROBERT GIBBS: Nice magazine you’ve got there Mr. Forbes. Be a shame if something were to happen to it…

MICKEY KAUS: It’s legal, guys.