Following the script  —  (updated below - updated again)  —  By Anonymous Liberal  —  Sometimes it's all so predictable.  Yesterday I wrote that despite the bipartisan consensus that President Bush acted illegally, Sen. Feingold "will undoubtedly be labeled as a rabid partisan by the GOP …

Myths of Iraq  —  During a recent visit to Baghdad, I saw an enormous failure.  On the part of our media.  The reality in the streets, day after day, bore little resemblance to the sensational claims of civil war and disaster in the headlines.  —  No one with first-hand experience of Iraq …

Recruiting "top drawer blacks" for the GOP  —  Adele Fergusen  —  Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal  —  Dear Mrs. Fergusen,  —  I think you answered your own question about why black people aren't flocking to the Republican Party.  If, as you point out, slavery was a godsend to them …

Bush delegates most issues, focuses only on Iraq, '06 campaign  —  President Bush has decided to stay out of the lion's share of decisions made by his administration.  —  Sources close to the administration said that over the last year, Mr. Bush has chosen to focus on two issues …

On Religion and Politics  —  Since I'm now getting angry emails about things I've never even said let's clear a few things up.  —  I'm not hostile to religion.  I don't much care about religion.  I'm not much interested in it.  This isn't strange.  Most people aren't much interested in religion other than their own, if that.

Web Magazine Raises Doubts Over a Symbol of Abu Ghraib  —  The online magazine Salon is challenging the identity of a man profiled by The New York Times in a front-page article on Saturday who says he is the iconic hooded figure in a published photograph who was abused by Americans at Abu Ghraib prison in 2003 and 2004.

Mike Wallace Retiring From '60 Minutes'  —  When asked in an interview last April if he would ever consider retiring from "60 Minutes," Mike Wallace said that he planned to do so only "when my toes turn up."  —  "Well," Mr. Wallace said, amending that statement in an interview today, "they're just beginning to curl a trifle."

Jail siege ends as PFLP chief Sa'adat, 5 others surrender  —  A tense, gunfire-punctuated nine-hour IDF siege of a Jericho prison complex ended after dark on Tuesday with the abrupt surrender of Ahmed Sa'adat and five other militants.  —  Sa'adat, leader of the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine …

WHEN HAWKS RUN  —  March 14, 2006 — CAN the War on Terror be won?  America's inability to secure a victory in Iraq against the insurgency suggests to many people of good will and good sense that it really can't be.  They believe the enemies of the United States are motivated by a force …

Study Links Ambien Use to Unconscious Food Forays  —  The sleeping pill Ambien seems to unlock a primitive desire to eat in some patients, according to emerging medical case studies that describe how the drug's users sometimes sleepwalk into their kitchens, claw through their refrigerators …

Federal aid programs expand at record rate  —  A sweeping expansion of social programs since 2000 has sparked a record increase in the number of Americans receiving federal government benefits such as college aid, food stamps and health care.  —  A USA TODAY analysis of 25 major government programs found …

Tehran elite turning on extremist presidency  —  TEHRAN — Iran's clerical and business establishments, deeply concerned by what they see as reckless spending and needlessly aggressive foreign policies, are increasingly turning against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Informant: Zawahiri Attended Lodi Mosque  —  SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An FBI informant testified Monday that a top Al Qaeda official lived in California's Central Valley in the years before the 2001 terrorist attacks, but the statements were attacked immediately as unreliable.

News Release: U.S. International Transactions  —  Available for this release: Full Release: PDF (85 kb), Tables: XLS (55 kb), Quarterly Highlights (42 kb), Annual Highlights (53 kb)  —  In order to view the PDF files on this page, the free Adobe Acrobat Reader must be installed.  —  Note:

Campaign Doubts Arise for a Divisive Candidate  —  MIAMI, March 13 — In the nine months since Representative Katherine Harris announced that she would run for the Senate, her campaign has struggled to stay afloat.  Her fund-raising lagged even before she was tied to a corruption scandal last month …

Bush's Approval Ratings Slip In the Latest Harris Poll  —  President Bush's job-approval ratings continue to slip, according to a recent Harris Interactive poll, while job-approval ratings for most of his key cabinet members also remain low.  —  Mr. Bush's current job-approval ratings stand at 36% in March …

New Panel to Investigate Iraq War Policy  —  WASHINGTON - Ten prominent Americans, including former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, are forming a bipartisan group to assess the Bush administration's policies in Iraq and political and economic developments in the troubled country.