Israel strikes come within 10 miles of Beirut  —  Prime minister says assaults over captured prisoners will be 'very painful'  —  Among the sites targeted by Israeli warplanes was the Qassmieh Bridge in southern Lebanon.  At least two civilians have died in the attacks.  —  FREE VIDEO

Justice Department Lawyer To Congress: 'The President Is Always Right'  —  The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday heard testimony from Steven Bradbury, head of the Justice Department's office of legal counsel.  When questioned by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on whether the President's interpretation …

Disgusting: DCCC Uses Dead Soldiers to Raise Money  —  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has a new fundraising pitch going out.  It uses September 11th and our troops to raise money.  But, instead of using those images to show Democrats would be tougher on terrorists …

Nation's Capital Declares Crime Emergency  —  Two groups of tourists were robbed at gunpoint on the National Mall, just hours after the police chief declared a crime emergency in the city in response to a string of violence that included the killing of a British activist.

Novak: Rove was a source in outing Plame  —  WASHINGTON - Columnist Robert Novak said publicly for the first time Tuesday that White House political adviser Karl Rove was a source for his story outing the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame.  —  In a column, Novak also says his recollection …

Gorbachev: 'Americans Have a Severe Disease'  —  15 Years After Being Deposed From Power, Former Leader Discusses Russia, U.S.  —  July 12, 2006 — Mikhail Gorbachev is generally regarded as the man who broke down the "iron curtain" that separated the communist world from the West and thawed …

Is the Daily Kos About to Implode?  —  It appears that the post-Yearly Kos month from hell is continuing for Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, the proprietor of the Internet's premier liberal blog Daily Kos.  After receiving some extremely negative press from major publications such as the New York Times …

IAF planes level PA foreign ministry building in Gaza City  —  A bomb dropped by an Israel Air Force plane destroyed the Palestinian Foreign Ministry building in Gaza City early Thursday, witnesses said.  —  The bomb collapsed the building and caused widespread destruction in the area.

Online Venture Seeks To Elevate the Debate  —  Civility Is In, Rancor Out on Web Site Begun by Democratic, GOP Strategists  —  A group of political strategists who have spent years firing heavy artillery at each other came together at the Hay-Adams Hotel yesterday, put aside their weapons …

Nations sending Iran to Security Council  —  PARIS - World powers agreed Wednesday to send Iran back to the United Nations Security Council for possible punishment, saying the clerical regime has given no sign it means to negotiate seriously over its disputed nuclear program.

Airwaves Again Safe for "South Park" Scientology Spoof  —  Comedy Central is finally respecting Cartman's authoritay.  —  One week after South Park's controversial "Trapped in the Closet" episode garnered an Emmy nomination, and nearly four months after it was abruptly pulled from rotation on the cable net …

The hidden balls trick  —  Which one is the quarterback?  —  As Mr Mark B. from Austin Texas will tell you, I am prone to the occasional misspelling or typo when putting up posts.  Hey, it happens to the best of us.  But I found this comment over at Ann Althouse particularly humorous in light of the subject matter.

Dawn Over Tokyo  —  Sixty-one years after the end of World War II, Japan is on the verge of becoming a mature, responsible democracy.  —  Once Japan's troops raped and murdered their way across China, enslaved women as prostitutes for their soldiers, and starved, beat and worked Allied POWs to death.

Confluence of Hurdles Hampers Panel's Iraq Probe  —  A Senate panel investigation into the use of intelligence leading up the the Iraq war remains in limbo after almost three years of politically charged clashes over the content and conclusions of the inquiry.

Wall Street Rift: Journal Reporters Reject Gigot Line  —  The Wall Street Journal news staff can live with occasional opposition from the paper's editorial page.  What it can't live with is the editorial page's support.  —  "People feel like we're walking around with knives in our backs," one news staffer said.

Chances of Voting Rights Act renewal dim  —  WASHINGTON - A conservative backlash to the massive street demonstrations over immigration is aggravating Republican leaders' carefully orchestrated plans to renew the landmark Voting Rights Act before the fall elections.

The extinction of mass culture  —  The advent of 300 channels and the Internet has fragmented audiences - and the explosion of choice has left us poorer  —  NEW YORK (Fortune) — Quick: Name the biggest star in prime-time television.  —  Now: Name a star created by the Internet.