Michael Powell gets to the heart of the matter: “There is broken, and maddening, and politically wired, not to mention patronage-encrusted. Then there is the New York City Board of Elections, which manages to ball all of those into a wildly dysfunctional planet.”

And The Times editorial board chimes in succinctly: “Why can’t New York City count votes?”

Don Draper lives! Marty Golden is hosting a career development event for women called “Posture, Deportment and the Feminine Presence.” Women in attendance will be taught to, “Sit, stand and walk like a model,” how to, “Walk up and down a stair elegantly” and “Differences in American and Continental rules governing handshakes and introductions," Chris Bragg scoops.

Wendy Long told an audience that American soldiers “die for what Kirsten Gillibrand is saying -- for the right to force religious employers to pay for their employees' contraception."

Andrew Cuomo is undecided on whether or not to sign a bill that would allow families to send special education students to religious schools at taxpayer expense.

The City Council is pushing to end the cell-phone ban in schools.

Lawmakers in Albany passed fewer bills this year than any year since 1914; lawmakers dismissed the finding as irrelevant.

Fewer than a quarter of the state's school districts met a July 1 deadline to submit teacher and principal evaluation agreements to the state Department of Education.

The number of New York’s authorities-- independent agencies that can issue bonds and raise revenue--continues to grow.

Mike Bloomberg on his favorite vegetable: “I like chewy things. Things you can really sink your teeth into. I snack on them all the time.”

The Manhattan real estate market is holding steady.

The mayor seems to be coping with the heat by getting angry with reporters; Chris Christie meanwhile is content to just call one of them an “idiot.”

Was Christie’s insult a way of distracting the press from upcoming legislative business?

There was more violence at McCarren pool.

Democratic enthusiasm for 2012 seems to be growing.

John Roberts is not very popular right now.

Further speculation on Roberts motivations, courtesy of the poli sci blog The Monkey Cage.

The Mormon influence in the key battleground state of Nevada is still a factor, but is fading.

New Hampshire Senator and VP shortlister Kelly Ayotte will meet with Mitt Romney today.

Automobile travel costs Americans $1.08 trillion per year.

Vanity Fair ventures into Mitt Romney’s offshore tax havens.