"The Head of the Snake"  —  SULEIMANIYA, IRAQ - Suleimaniya is the most liberal city in Iraqi Kurdistan, partly because of its long-standing and deep ties to nearby Iran, one of the most culturally liberal countries in the Middle East.  The Iraqi Kurds I met who have been to Iran wanted me to know …

Brown shouldn't be administration's scapegoat, experts say  —  WASHINGTON - For months now, former FEMA Director Michael Brown has been the butt of late-night TV jokes and a punching bag on Capitol Hill for his handling of the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe.  —  Surprisingly, redemption seems at hand.

U.S. Cites Exception in Torture Ban  —  McCain Law May Not Apply to Cuba Prison  —  Bush administration lawyers, fighting a claim of torture by a Guantanamo Bay detainee, yesterday argued that the new law that bans cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees in U.S. custody does not apply to people held at the military prison.

Oscars for Osama  —  Nothing tells you more about Hollywood than what it chooses to honor.  Nominated for best foreign-language film is "Paradise Now," a sympathetic portrayal of two suicide bombers.  Nominated for best picture is "Munich," a sympathetic portrayal of yesterday's fashion in barbarism: homicide terrorism.

Antarctic Ice Sheet Is Melting Rapidly  —  The Antarctic ice sheet is losing as much as 36 cubic miles of ice a year in a trend that scientists link to global warming, according to a new paper that provides the first evidence that the sheet's total mass is shrinking significantly.

Bush Likely to Face Opposition on Atomic Deal With India  —  WASHINGTON, March 2 — In concluding its nuclear deal with India, the Bush administration faces significant opposition in Congress and tough questions from its allies on whether the arrangement could set a precedent encouraging …

Has Washington Gone Insane?  —  The Plame kerfuffle and the decline of rational problem-solving.  —  With President Bush away for a week in Asia, the rest of Washington has had to find something to do with its time other than run amuck over the latest piddling folly.

Senate Passes Legislation to Renew Patriot Act  —  WASHINGTON, March 2 — The Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation renewing the sweeping antiterror law known as the USA Patriot Act on Thursday, ending a months-long impasse on Capitol Hill and virtually guaranteeing that the measure will go to President Bush to be signed.

AFTER THE PORT DEAL, HOW ELSE DOES THE TIPPING POINT AFFECT OUR POLITICS?  [03/02 06:53 PM]  —  I'll be traveling for a couple of days, so here's some food for thought until we get back.  —  More polls showing strong, strong opposition to the DPW ports deal - 66 percent opposed in the USA Today poll …

Kurtz On Katrina  —  Howard Kurtz reviews the raging storm over the media coverage on Katrina and the supposedly new revelations that Bush was somehow warned about levee breaches without the word "breach" ever being mentioned.  He also notes that the "newly uncovered" video footage actually …

Ethics Office For Hill Rejected  —  Bipartisan Defeat For Independent Lobbying Overseer  —  A Senate committee yesterday rejected a bipartisan proposal to establish an independent office to oversee the enforcement of congressional ethics and lobbying laws, signaling a reluctance in Congress …

Snorer in the court?  Ruth Bader Ginsburg snoozes  —  Justice dozes off during political redistricting hearing, colleagues let her sleep  —  Was it a case of dreaming of a better America, napping on the job, or just being asleep at the switch?  —  Serving on the highest court in the land …

Oscar nominee: People hate Israelis for a reason  —  Hany Abu-Assad, Israeli-born director of Oscar-nominated film 'Paradise Now,' which has stirred controversy for its depiction of two young Palestinian suicide bombers, says in interview with Yedioth Ahronoth terror derives from another terror …

Gonzales Denies More Extensive Domestic Spying  —  Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales told a key House Democrat yesterday that the administration is not conducting any warrantless domestic surveillance programs beyond the one that President Bush has acknowledged, the Democrat said in an interview.

Gallup: 2 Out of 3 Americans Want U.S. Pull Out from Iraq  —  NEW YORK While newspaper editorials remain virtually silent on the subject, the American public seems to have made up its mind.  A new Gallup/CNN/USA Today poll out tonight shows that 2 out of 3 adult Americans now want U.S. troops to start to come home from Iraq.

Clinton Challenger Pulled From Reagan-Era Hat  —  It was supposed to be a marquee Republican campaign of the 2006 elections — a fusillade-style effort to defeat Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, which, even if it did not succeed, would excite donors nationally, raise millions for the party …

Carter Seeks Vote in U.N. Against U.S.  —  President Carter personally called Secretary of State Rice to try to convince her to reverse her U.N. ambassador's position on changes to the U.N. Human Rights Commission, the former president recalled yesterday in a talk in which he also criticized …