Katrina Tape Transcripts Show Media Hack Job  —  For those who want to see the transcripts themselves of the video conferences, the New York Times has them for the August 28th and August 29th briefings.  The transcript for the 29th makes one garbled mention of the levees around New Orleans (page 6).

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 …

U.S., India Seal Nuclear Deal  —  Accord Sets Up Sharing of Data, Fuel to Satisfy Rising Energy Needs  —  NEW DELHI, March 2 — President Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh struck what both leaders called an historic agreement Thursday to provide U.S. nuclear power assistance …

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.

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 …

AL-SADR VS. EVERYONE  —  The rising star of Moqtada al-Sadr has been the subject of much recent speculation: how his bloc became the biggest in the Shia UIA alliance, how he controls one of the most extremist militias in the country, and how he has become one of the most important politicians in Iraq's development toward democracy.

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 …

The NSA scandal now clearly includes interception of domestic communications, perjury and presidential lying  —  Alberto Gonzales sent a letter (.pdf) to the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday which contained what Gonzales called numerous "clarifications" of the testimony he gave on February 6 regarding the NSA program.

The Best Blogging Newspapers in the U.S.*  —  "Who seems to really know what they're doing...?"  —  That was the starter question for the Blue Plate Special team: fifteen undergraduates in journalism at NYU, two graduate students, one professor.  (A.k.a. "the Specials" or "Blue Plates.")

International Islamist Front's Bangladeshi Commander Captured  —  Abdur Rahman, one of the original signatories of Osama bin Laden's 1998 fatwa declaring war against the West, is arrested; CNN obscures his ties to al-Qaeda  —  In late January, reports indicated Indian police arrested Sheikh Abdur Rahman …

Black Flight  —  The exodus to charter schools.  —  MINNEAPOLIS—Something momentous is happening here in the home of prairie populism: black flight.  African-American families from the poorest neighborhoods are rapidly abandoning the district public schools, going to charter schools …

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 …

Embarrassing the Angels  —  Or, that's no way to treat a lady.  —  I want to revise and extend my remarks, as they say, from last week's column on airport security.  The reaction was great, but I have two reasons to amend.  The first is that I didn't really get to the heart …

Prisons Often Shackle Pregnant Inmates in Labor  —  Shawanna Nelson, a prisoner at the McPherson Unit in Newport, Ark., had been in labor for more than 12 hours when she arrived at Newport Hospital on Sept. 20, 2003.  Ms. Nelson, whose legs were shackled together and who had been given nothing stronger …

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.

New York Is Sued by U.S. on Delay of Vote System  —  ALBANY, March 1 — The Justice Department sued New York State on Wednesday for failing to overhaul its election system and replace its aging voting machines.  It is the first lawsuit the federal government has filed to force a state to comply …

The Clintons of Dubai  —  WASHINGTON — While Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was ripping President Bush's handling of American ports management, Bill Clinton was pushing for one of his favorite White House aides to be hired to defend the deal.  The former president proposed to the United Arab Emirates …

Operation Enduring Service Update  —  Back in December I tried to help spread the word about Operation Enduring Service.  Yesterday Bob Owens (Confederate Yankee) reminded us that this opportunity could be slipping away.  —  Here is some background for those of you who are not aware of this project.

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 …