03/02/06 FOX Poll: Most Oppose Port Deal; Republicans Lose Ground  —  NEW YORK — Most Americans oppose allowing a Dubai company to run some U.S. ports, even as a majority understands the U.S. would continue to control port security, according to a new FOX News poll.

What Bush Was Told About Iraq  —  Two highly classified intelligence reports delivered directly to President Bush before the Iraq war cast doubt on key public assertions made by the president, Vice President Cheney, and other administration officials as justifications for invading Iraq …

The President's Indian Fantasy  —  The rash nukes pledge is typical of Bush's strategic shortsightedness.  —  It takes a great strategic mind, something like a chess master's, to think three or four moves ahead in plotting international diplomacy.  It would be nice if the Bush administration, now and then, could think one move ahead.

Bush Is Warned on Katrina in Video  —  Footage of a briefing full of dire predictions renews criticism of the government's response.  —  WASHINGTON — Newly released video footage taken just hours before Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast shows that federal officials delivered stark warnings …

Cartoonist's Daughter Hunted by 12 Jihadists  —  Update: I have now posted the transcript of the interview with Jens Rohde at the bottom of this post.  —  Update: See below for comments from the Police Intelligence Service  —  Hmmm.. It seems that all I had to do to get back to blogging was getting my indignation recharged.

Senate Approves Patriot Act Renewal  —  WASHINGTON - The Senate on Thursday gave its blessing to the renewal of the USA Patriot Act after adding new privacy protections designed to strike a better balance between civil liberties and the government's power to root out terrorists.

Religious broadcasters fear lost viewership under pay-by-channel idea  —  The idea of paying for only the cable channels they want might have strong appeal for consumers, but to religious programmers, the prospect seems just short of apocalyptic.  —  Pay-per-channel pricing …

Rice shows off her fitness regime  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Condoleezza Rice, the nation's top diplomat, is appearing in a three-part TV interview in which she rides a bike, works on her abs, pumps iron and talks about her weight.  —  Public figures usually do not go public when they work on their figures …

Miss. House Advances Bill to Ban Abortion  —  JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Gov. Haley Barbour said Wednesday he would probably sign a bill under consideration in the state House that would ban most abortions in Mississippi.  —  The measure, which passed the House Public Health Committee on Tuesday …

Times Diversity Report: "A Newspaper at Risk"  —  After a 10-month study, the New York Times Diversity Council issued its confidential internal report yesterday.  The 39-page document, made available to staffers, describes The Times as "a newspaper at risk" on diversity matters and says the paper is …

Editor's Note: What Happened to That Cover Story?  —  Early Wednesday morning, the Voice learned that the concluding section of this week's cover story, "Do You Wanna Kiss Me?" by senior associate editor Nick Sylvester, contained fabricated material.  In that section, Sylvester says he met …

We Can't Force Democracy  —  Creating Normality Is the Real Mideast Challenge  —  The whiff of incipient anarchy in Iraq in recent days has provided a prospect so terrifying as to concentrate the minds of Republicans and Democrats, Iraq's sectarian political factions, and even the media.