Iraqi minister defends Iranian nuclear program  —  'Every country has right' to nuclear technology, Zebari says  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Iran has a right to develop nuclear technology and the international community should drop its demands that Tehran prove it's not trying to build a nuclear weapon …

In Haditha, Memories of a Massacre  —  Iraqi Townspeople Describe Slaying of 24 Civilians by Marines in Nov. 19 Incident  —  BAGHDAD, May 26 — Witnesses to the slaying of 24 Iraqi civilians by U.S. Marines in the western town of Haditha say the Americans shot men, women and children …

Live-Blogging President Bush's Speech at West Point  —  I am listening to President Bush's speech at West Point and thinking "Why didn't he give this speech three years ago?"  —  "Long war" is the subject of this speech, and Bush is reviewing our last long war, The Cold War.

Kerry Pressing Swiftboat Case, Long After Loss  —  John Kerry starts by showing the entry in a log he kept from 1969: "Feb 12: 0800 run to Cambodia."  —  He moves on to the photographs: his boat leaving the base at Ha Tien, Vietnam; the harbor; the mountains fading frame by frame as the boat heads north …

First Amendment Applies to Internet, Appeals Court Rules  —  SAN FRANCISCO, May 26 — A California appeals court ruled Friday that online reporters are protected by the same confidentiality laws that protect traditional journalists, striking a blow to efforts by Apple Computer to identify people who leaked confidential company data.

"Media Matters"; by Jamison Foser  —  The defining issue of our time is not the Iraq war.  It is not the "global war on terror."  It is not our inability (or unwillingness) to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable health care.  Nor is it immigration, outsourcing, or growing income inequity.

Quake kills at least 2,900 in Indonesia  —  YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia - A powerful earthquake flattened homes and hotels in central Indonesia early Saturday as people slept, killing at least 2,900 and injuring thousands more in the nation's worst disaster since the 2004 tsunami.

Cultural ID  —  Chris Bowers writes about one of my favorite subjects today: American tribal identity. … I think the evidence is overwhelming that it is.  He reproduces one of those great maps that break down everybody by something or other and like most of them, it ends up showing …

A Defiant Stance In Jefferson Probe  —  Justice Dept. Talked of Big Resignations If White House Agreed to Return Papers  —  The Justice Department signaled to the White House this week that the nation's top three law enforcement officials would resign or face firing rather than return documents seized …

U.S. Senate Votes 78-15 to Confirm Hayden to Head CIA (Correct)  —  May 26 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Senate voted 78-15 today to confirm Michael Hayden as director of the Central Intelligence Agency.  —  Hayden, who is deputy director for national intelligence, will take over an agency …

Howie Klein's Blue America: Montana  —  Last week I mentioned how important June 6 is, with primaries in 8 states, and I talked about a couple of crucial ones in California (Francine Busby's Special Election run-off against Republican lobbyist Brian Bilbray and Jerry McNerney's grassroots campaign …

The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time  —  At PC World, we spend most of our time talking about products that make your life easier or your work more productive.  But it's the lousy ones that linger in our memory long after their shrinkwrap has shriveled, and that make tech editors cry out, "What have I done to deserve this?"

THANK YOU FORT BENNING DRILL SERGEANTS...  ...for if it wasn't for you, Jesse MacBeth would have been a soldier.  This Bud's for you!  —  Background on Jesse MacBeth here.  —  McQ at QandO has more - His DD214 shows a discharge before completing training and entering the Army.  He couldn't cut it.

AT&T leaks sensitive info in NSA suit  —  Lawyers for AT&T accidentally released sensitive information while defending a lawsuit that accuses the company of facilitating a government wiretapping program, CNET News.com has learned.  —  AT&T's attorneys this week filed a 25-page legal brief striped …

Dowd to RNC Members: Simmer Down Now  —  RNC senior adviser/BC04 senior strategist/Ron Fournier co-author Matthew Dowd urges Republican Nat'l Committee members to favor a "comprehensive" solution to immigration, which the public believes is is "unifying — not polarizing."

The Lamest Exercise in the World  —  Why Pat Robertson should stop bragging about the leg press.  —  In a New York Times Magazine interview last month, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright mentioned that she can leg press 400 pounds.  Now evangelical sparkplug Pat Robertson …

Panel Is Told Disclosures Pose Danger to Security  —  WASHINGTON, May 26 — Recent disclosures of classified information by the press have damaged national security, several Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee said Friday at a hearing on news organizations' legal responsibilities.

Left to die on Mount Everest  —  Report that dozens of climbers passed stricken British mountaineer on way to the summit shocks first man to reach top  —  WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Mount Everest pioneer Sir Edmund Hillary said Wednesday he was shocked that dozens of climbers left …