New Video Shows Blanco Saying Levees Safe  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — In the hectic, confused hours after Hurricane Katrina lashed the Gulf Coast, Louisiana's governor hesitantly but mistakenly assured the Bush administration that New Orleans' protective levees were intact, according to a new video obtained …

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.

Senate Approves Renewal of Antiterrorism Bill  —  WASHINGTON, March 2 — The Senate voted overwhelmingly today to extend the Patriot Act, clearing the way for the House to wrap up its work on the anti-terrorism bill and send it to President Bush before it expires on March 10.

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.

Jay Bennish - Communist Agent for Colorado Schools  — Thursday Thirteen - Thirteen Books for Read Across America Week  — Read Across America and Dr. Seuss's Birthday  — Worst Meal I've Ever Prepared!  Plus It Stunk Up The House  — Why Education is Important  — Carnivals!

Italian Panel: Soviets Behind Pope Attack  —  An Italian parliamentary commission concluded "beyond any reasonable doubt" that the Soviet Union was behind the 1981 attempt to kill Pope John Paul II _ a theory long alleged but never proved, according to a draft report made available Thursday.

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.

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.

Huh?  —  Nearly 50 years ago, Whittaker Chambers famously "read" Ayn Rand out of the conservative movement.  His most famous, though not really his most constructive, passage was his assertion that "From almost any page of Atlas Shrugged, a voice can be heard, from painful necessity, commanding: 'To a gas chamber — go!'"

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 …

Iraqi WMD Mystery Solved  —  Frontpage Interview's guest today is Ryan Mauro, who spoke at the recent 2006 International Intelligence Summit on Iraq.  He is the 19-year old author of Death to America: The Unreported Battle of Iraq and founder of WorldThreats.com.

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 …

Harper's Publishes AIDS Denialist  —  The latest issue of Harper's Magazine contains a stunning 15-page article by well-known AIDS denialist Celia Farber (formerly of Spin magazine) that extensively repeats UC Berkeley virologist Peter Duesberg's discredited theory that HIV does not cause AIDS.

Democratic group targets Senate GOP  —  Daschle aiding project to gather, spread criticism  —  WASHINGTON — Hoping to strike back at Republicans who mounted a yearslong effort to oust him from office, former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle is helping raise millions of dollars to form …