United States to Israel: you have one more week to blast Hizbullah  —  Bush 'gave green light' for limited attack, say Israeli and UK sources  —  The US is giving Israel a window of a week to inflict maximum damage on Hizbullah before weighing in behind international calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon …

Bush blocked eavesdropping program probe  —  WASHINGTON - President Bush personally blocked a Justice Department investigation of the anti-terror eavesdropping program that intercepts Americans' international calls and e-mails, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday.

Keep it up  —  Glenn Greenwald - like David Neiwert - spends a lot of his time cataloging, recording, and referencing the extremist, often eliminationist rhetoric which has become the standard form of "debate" in the modern right-wing media.  This is exhausting, thankless work - I tried …

Times to Reduce Page Size and Close a Plant in 2008  —  The New York Times is planning to reduce the size of the newspaper, making it narrower by one and a half inches, and to close its printing operation in Edison, N.J., company officials said yesterday.  —  The changes, to go into effect …

Turkey signals it's prepared to enter Iraq  —  ANKARA, Turkey - Turkish officials signaled Tuesday they are prepared to send the army into northern Iraq if U.S. and Iraqi forces do not take steps to combat Turkish Kurdish guerrillas there — a move that could put Turkey on a collision course with the United States.

Reed Hopes Voters Keep Faith, Forget Abramoff  —  His foe in Georgia's GOP primary criticizes the PR work he did for his lobbyist friend.  —  ALPHARETTA, Ga. — For former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed to succeed in his first bid for public office, he's going to have to pray for the help of voters like Norma Saunders.

Most Americans in Lebanon Are Hezbollah Supporters; U.S. Taxes Shouldn't Fund Their Return  —  **** AS READ ON THE AIR TODAY BY RUSH LIMBAUGH—THANKS, RUSH!  **** ALSO, SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATE ****  —  One thing is lost in all the press coverage of the whining Americans who went to Lebanon …

Why the Left Is Furious at Lieberman  —  A blogger's blast at the embattled Connecticut senator.  Hint: It's not just Iraq.  —  SOME TIME AFTER having lunch in Iraq with the junior senator from Connecticut, Time magazine Baghdad bureau chief Michael Ware told an interviewer …

Bush Gropes Germany's Merkel  —  updated Letterman video below—  President Bush took time out from the G-8 Summit to grope German Chancellor Angela Merkel.  I'm not kidding.  It boggles the mind.  (Update: John at C&L has the video up.)  —  Via Mash (by the way, great get!), we get photos via a friend of his in Germany.

Chicago Weighs New Prohibition: Bad-for-You Fats  —  CHICAGO, July 14 — In Grant Park, this city's front yard along Lake Michigan, a dizzying pack of people filled the streets evening after evening, all holding their gazes firmly on the little plates in their hands, loaded with catfish beignets …

The Ugly Truth: Our President is an Imbecile  —  You know it, I know it and the American people know it.  But everyone is afraid to say it.  They say it privately, but people are afraid of saying it publicly because you will be branded as a liberal, elite, intellectual snob.

House Rejects Gay Marriage Ban Amendment  —  The House on Tuesday rejected a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, ending for another year a congressional debate that supporters of the ban hope will still reverberate in this fall's election.  —  The 236-187 vote for the proposal …

Brownback Holds Up Drawing Of Embryo, Asks 'Are You Going To Kill Me?'  —  Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) is leading the opposition to the H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act.  On Saturday, the Washington Post reported that Brownback has used a deceptive and false report …

Avast, Me Critics!  Ye Kill the Fun: Critics and the Masses Disagree About Film Choices  —  Johnny Depp in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."  Despite negative reviews, the film earned $136 million in its first weekend.  —  Let's start with a few numbers.

IDF: Hizbullah preventing civilians from leaving villages in southern Lebanon  —  The IDF has found that Hizbullah is preventing civilians from leaving villages in southern Lebanon.  Roadblocks have been set up outside some of the villages to prevent residents from leaving …