Bush, Blair to announce 'phased withdrawal' from Iraq  —  Michael Smith, a reporter for the London Sunday Times, broke the Downing Street Minutes in 2004.  —  LONDON — Tony Blair and George Bush will announce that they are to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq at a summit in Washington as early as this week, RAW STORY has learned.

Anti-war video bogus?  —  I can't get this to load, but I'm putting the link out there anyway because someone sent me a long message this morning questioning its veracity.  Not just the claims that are made, either; I'm talking about mistakes in his uniform, etc.

HILLARY IPODHAM CLINTON  —  POLITICAL PLAYER OFFERS PEEK AT HER SONG LIST  —  May 22, 2006 — WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton doesn't need "Respect" - she's already got it at the top of her iPod playlist.  —  The surprisingly tech-savvy Clinton mixes Aretha Franklin's 1967 landmark smash hit …

Data about millions of U.S. veterans stolen  —  Burglar reportedly took Veterans Affairs disk containing personal info  —  WASHINGTON - A computer disk with personal data of about 26.5 million U.S. veterans was stolen from the home of a Veterans Affairs analyst, the federal department said Monday.

MSNBC: Rove's legal team expects decision 'at any time'  —  MSNBC's David Shuster declared Monday evening that Karl Rove's legal team expects Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald to announce a decision "at any time" in the ongoing CIA leak investigation and that new documents put Cheney's former chief of staff in the hot seat.

Whistle-Blower's Evidence, Uncut  —  Former AT&T technician Mark Klein is the key witness in the Electronic Frontier Foundation's class-action lawsuit against the telecommunications company, which alleges that AT&T cooperated in an illegal National Security Agency domestic surveillance program.

Netroots Lose, Again  —  The Moose observes that the McGovernites with Modems cannot do math.  —  By an overwhelming majority, Joe Lieberman is the officially endorsed candidate of the Connecticut Democratic Party.  No matter how you spin it, if you are on the short end of 67 to 33 - you lose.

Bush's faith worries Albright  —  LONDON, England (Reuters) — U.S. President George W. Bush has alienated Muslims around the world by using absolutist Christian rhetoric to discuss foreign policy issues, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says.  —  "I worked for two presidents …

Response to McCain's Aide Mark Salter  —  At the risk of turning this into a battle between Mark Salter, Senator John McCain's staff-member, and myself, I'd like to comment briefly on his comment on the Huffington Post.  I'm sad to see that Mr. Salter intentionally misinterpreted my writing …

Something frighteningly ominous has been happening on the Internet lately: Google, without any prior explanation or notice, has been terminating its News relationship with conservative e-zines and web journals.  —  At first blush, one can easily ignore such business decisions by the most powerful company …

Justice prays for a Prez in 'real trouble'  —  Just how bad are things for President Bush?  —  Pretty bad, I'd say, if even Clarence Thomas is worried about him.  —  The other night at a Washington book party for the President's sister, Doro Bush Koch, the Supreme Court justice arrived with his wife …

Protests, Applause Greet Rice at BC  —  A few students turned their backs but more stood to applaud as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice received an honorary degree and addressed graduates at Boston College on Monday.  —  After weeks of turmoil and anti-war protests over Rice's invitation …

MCGREEVEY'S GAY ROAD THRILL  —  MEMOIR BARES HIGHWAY HOOKUPS  —  May 22, 2006 — Jim McGreevey shockingly admits that before he became governor of New Jersey, he'd have anonymous gay sex at Garden State highway rest stops.  —  "All I knew was that my behavior was getting crazier and crazier …

Senate bill protects employers of illegal aliens from penalties  —  Among those who will be cleared of past crimes under the Senate's proposed immigration-reform bill would be the businesses that have employed the estimated 10 million illegal aliens eligible for citizenship and that provided the very …

Special report—Corps on Gore!  —  PART 1—STILL CRAZY: Al Gore was right about global warming—way back in the 1980s.  He was also right on internal combustion.  And oh yes, he was right on Iraq, in a prophetic speech in September 02—a speech Joe Klein praised at the time.

Rove Lawyer Has a Pet Peeve  —  Robert Luskin, Karl Rove's lawyer, says he spent most of the day on May 12 taking his cat to the veterinarian and having a technician fix his computer at home.  —  He was stunned, therefore, when journalists started calling to ask about an online report …

How $45m secretly bought freedom of foreign hostages  —  Documents seen by The Times show three countries paid ransoms in spite of denying it in public  —  FRANCE, Italy and Germany sanctioned the payment of $45 million in deals to free nine hostages abducted in Iraq, according to documents seen by The Times.