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.

Bush Troubled by Afghan Convert's Case  —  President Bush said Wednesday that he is "deeply troubled" that an Afghan man is being tried for converting to Christianity.  —  Abdul Rahman, 41, faces a possible death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity 16 years ago.

More Coalition & Insurgent Ops  —  In Babil province, another strike on a police station & Operation Iron Strike  —  A day after insurgents successfully overran a police station in Miqdadiyah, another attempt was made in the town of Madain, which sits at the tip of the "Triangle of Death" …

The Dabit opinion  —  The Supreme Court held in Dabit that holders of securities can't bring securities fraud class actions in state court.  Peter Lattman has the story.  —  As I have discussed, the basic problem in this case is that when Congress, in the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act …

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 …

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.

Comments About Comments  —  A few notes are in order after the impressive reaction to the premiere of this blog.  —  First off, a note of thanks to the liberal side of washingtonpost.com's readership, which has weighed in on Red America in this comment thread.

To Hell with the "To Hell With The 'To Hell With Them' Hawks" Hawks  —  Just kidding there — actually, making the point that "The 'To Hell With Them' Hawks" is a really clunky way of identifying a faction.  It used to be said of the mathematician Camille Jordan, whose papers were famously unreadable …

Sackcloth and Ashes: What's Wrong With Infanticide?  —  [Note: Sackcloth and ashes were a sign of deep mourning, among other things, in the Torah...nowadays, there are plenty of reasons to bring them back.  When we run across those reasons, we'll feature them in a continuing series, of which this is the first installment.]

Newspapers in Trouble?  —  Moody's is looking at downgrading the New York Times' credit rating.  The Times' stock is doing badly.  And other newspapers are in trouble, too — the staff of the San Jose Mercury News has resorted to launching a "save our paper" website.

Called by God to Help  —  I'VE received a lot of criticism for stating last month that I would instruct the priests of my archdiocese to disobey a proposed law that would subject them, as well as other church and humanitarian workers, to criminal penalties.  The proposed Border Protection …

Lies, Damn Lies, and (MSM) Statistics  —  On the third anniversay of the Iraq war, the MSM keeps bombarding us with stories and statistics trying to compare this war to the carnage in Vietnam, trying to make us think that US soldiers are dying at an alarming number due to Bush's failures.

IRS plans to allow preparers to sell data  —  Critics said the proposed regulation could lead to a loss of privacy for clients.  —  The IRS is quietly moving to loosen the once-inviolable privacy of federal income-tax returns.  If it succeeds, accountants and other tax-return preparers …

CNN Refutes Gallup Memo; Says Memo Was Unprofessional & Untrue  —  CNN has issued the following response to TVNewser's report that Gallup is ending its partnership with the network:  —  "Jim Clifton's statements are not only unprofessional but in every respect untrue.

RNC Mischaracterizes Feingold's Censure Resolution  —  A GOP radio ad falsely characterizes Sen. Feingold's censure resolution as reprimanding the President for pursuing Al Qaeda  —  Summary  —  A GOP radio ad accuses Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin of proposing to censure President Bush …

Will Your Job Survive?  —  In case you've been worrying about how the war in Iraq will end, or the coming of avian flu, or the extinction of the universe as we drift into the cosmic void, well, relax.  Here's something you should really fret about: the future of the U.S. economy in the age of globalization.

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.

Iraqi Cameraman for CBS Faces Trial  —  An Iraqi cameraman working for CBS News when he was wounded and detained by the U.S. military will be tried next month, CBS officials said Wednesday.  —  Abdul Ameer Younis Hussein's trial was scheduled to begin Wednesday, but an Iraqi judge postponed …