DUDE, WHERE'S MY CIVIL WAR?  —  I'M trying.  I've been trying all week.  The other day, I drove another 30 miles or so on the streets and alleys of Baghdad.  I'm looking for the civil war that The New York Times declared.  And I just can't find it.  —  Maybe actually being on the ground in Iraq prevents me from seeing it.

Live-Blogging the Oscars 2006  —  Does anybody care what Nicole Kidman is wearing (or not)?  Does anybody care how many times Jon Stewart disses Dick Cheney?  Does anybody care who even wins the Academy Awards anymore?  —  Yes, we all care - even if we say we don't... It's the Oscars, after all!

Transcript for March 5  —  MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: Iraq.  Hundreds of civilians die as Iraqis, Sunnis and Shiites kill each other.  Is this a civil war?  What does it mean for the 130,000 American troops on the ground?  With us: the top military man at the Pentagon …

Gergen: Bush worst than Nixon on Secrecy  —  Gergen: Bush worst than Nixon on Secrecy  —  David Gergen appeared on "Reliable Sources," this morning and said this administration is trying to put journalists in jail.  Lock em' all up.  More intimidation and attack the messenger tactics …

The New York Times and the Great Wal-Mart Blogger Conspiracy  —  New York Times reporter Michael Barbaro is working on a story about the fact that public relations people working for the giant retailer Wal-Mart have been feeding news tips and information to sympathetic bloggers around the country.

LIVEBLOGGING AIPAC 2006  —  Hey guys, got into DC late yesterday for the AIPAC conference.  Huge turnout.  Should be interesting.  Postings will be lighter than usual but action packed ...........stay tuned.  —  Meanwhile Hamas Sets Up Standing Army in Gaza to Spread Jihad  —  LIVEBLOGGING David Kay

Primary is a barometer for DeLay  —  "I'm like a cemetery — I'll take anything!"  —  That was the exhortation from U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, Sugar Land Republican and certified auctioneer, as he squeezed $16,600 from the crowd during a live auction at a Harris County Republican Party dinner last week.

We Are (Aren't) Safer With India in the Nuclear Club  —  HAS President Bush just made the world a safer or a more dangerous place?  —  That question lingered after he reached a deal with India last week recognizing that India is never giving up its nuclear weapons, and declaring …

Control and Sex  —  I earlier linked to Digby's post about the South Dakota ban on all abortions except when the woman's life is threatened by the pregnancy.  In that post Digby quotes an example of the type of abortion which would not be allowed under this ban:

Holland to allow 'baby euthanasia'  —  WHEN Frank and Anita's daughter Chanou was born with an extremely rare, incurable illness in August 2000, they knew that her life would be short and battled against the odds to make it happy.  —  They struggled around the clock against their baby's pain.

Life After Roe  —  For the first time in 14 years, legal abortion in the United States is in serious jeopardy.  —  In recent days, the shape of this assault has become clear.  First, on the morning of Justice Samuel Alito Jr.'s debut, the Supreme Court announced that it would review …

Democratic Leaders Question Whether Dean's Right on the Money  —  Democratic congressional leaders aren't happy with the way Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is spending money.  At a private meeting last month, they let him know.  —  Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid …

Kristol: Conservatives Believe The Bush Administration Is Incompetent  —  Today on Fox News Sunday, Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol said that conservatives have come to believe the Bush administration is incompetent: … Kristol is right, and it's a dynamic that makes policy debates almost irrelevant.

Dark Portrait of a 'Painter of Light'  —  Christian-themed artist Thomas Kinkade is accused of ruthless tactics and seamy personal conduct.  He disputes the allegations.  —  Thomas Kinkade is famous for his luminous landscapes and street scenes, those dreamy, deliberately inspirational images …

The Book of Bart  —  In the Bestseller 'Misquoting Jesus,' Agnostic Author Bart Ehrman Picks Apart the Gospels That Made a Disbeliever Out of Him  —  CHAPEL HILL, N.C. Where does faith reside?  In the soul?  The mind, the marrow of the bones?  —  In the long hours of the night …

URGENT: Tell Chuck Hagel to Stand Up to Bill Frist  —  Day 3: "The Kansas Project"...continues....  With the prospect of hearings investigating the Bush Administration's domestic spying program looming - pending what should prove a decisive March 7th vote - Senate Republican leader Bill Frist …

Words Speak Louder Than Actions  —  Blaming the media less about deflecting ownership and more due to their own inability to see Iraq as an actual place, instead of as a square in their personal game of risk or some sort of k000l virtual reality game, and their own belief that words on the page …