Mr. Bush Unvarnished  —  PRESIDENT BUSH should hold more news conferences.  In his hour-long exchange with reporters at the White House yesterday, he was considerably more effective in explaining and defending his commitment to the war in Iraq than in the three carefully worded speeches he has delivered in the past week.

Late Nite FDL: Aw Shucks, Brady, You Shouldn't Have  —  Update: They are having some fun with Bughouse Ben already over at the post.blog.  Ben seems to be yet another home school Intelligent Design afficionado, a barking Yellow Elephant, and as Red Dan mentioned, the blogger "Augustine" over at Red State Racists.

Afghan Convert May Be Unfit to Stand Trial  —  KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan man facing the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity may be mentally unfit to stand trial, a state prosecutor and presidential adviser said Wednesday.  —  Abdul Rahman, 41, went on trial last week in Kabul.

Grants Flow To Bush Allies On Social Issues  —  Federal Programs Direct At Least $157 Million  —  For years, conservatives have complained about what they saw as the liberal tilt of federal grant money.  Taxpayer funds went to abortion rights groups such as Planned Parenthood to promote birth control …

GALLUP POLLING DROPS CNN AFTER 'LOW RATINGS'; FULL MEMO REVEALED  —  The GALLUP polling company has dropped CNN as its outlet for electronic distribution.  —  GALLUP, CNN and USA TODAY have been polling partners since 1992.  —  "CNN has far fewer viewers than it did in the past …

THE U.N. ATTEMPTS A WHITEWASH  —  Well, well, well.  The United Nations has removed its anti-Danish poster from its website.  This morning, it was featured prominently as a graphic and available as a special download in PDF.  —  It was also available in Arabic:  —  Now, no trace of it at all.

Fears grow over new Dubai revolt  —  By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington and James Boxell in London  —  Arab and US officials are growing nervous at the prospect of a second congressional uprising against the acquisition of American assets by a Middle Eastern-controlled company in the wake of the Dubai Ports World debacle.

President Finally Calls on Helen Thomas, Says He Only Semi-Regrets It  —  NEW YORK Unlike several of his predecessors, going back decades, President Bush has largely avoided calling on veteran reporter Helen Thomas, one of his harshest critics, in press conferences.

My McCain 2008 PRO & CON Analysis  —  PROS:  —  1. Has always been fiscally responsible, voting against pork, excessive spending, etc.  He is currently working with Sen. Coburn to highlight each individual earmark.  —  2. Has consistently favored higher defense spending …

POLITICAL INSIDER: Legislature 2006: Poll: Reed a drag on GOP ticket  —  A tough race for Sonny could be even tougher with Reed at his side.  Or so sayeth the pollster.  —  On Monday, pollster Matt Towery raised Republican blood pressure with the news that President Bush's approval ratings in Georgia had dropped significantly.

No Breach Seen in Work in Iraq on Propaganda  —  WASHINGTON, March 21 — An inquiry has found that an American public relations firm did not violate military policy by paying Iraqi news outlets to print positive articles, military officials said Tuesday.  The finding leaves to the Defense Department …

Microsoft to Delay Next Version of Windows  —  Microsoft's long effort to deliver the next version of its Windows operating system suffered another setback yesterday when the company said that the system would not be ready for consumer personal computers for the holiday sales season.

U.S., Iraqi Forces Capture 50 Insurgents  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgents attacked a police station Wednesday for a second day in a row, but U.S. and Iraqi forces captured 50 of them after a two-hour gunbattle.  —  About 60 gunmen attacked the police station in Madain, south of Baghdad …