Neutral stance rejected  —  Opposition criticizes Harper's tough talk  —  Mike Blanchfield; with files from Mike De Souza and MauriceBridge, CanWest News Service  —  PARIS - Making his strongest statement yet on the Middle East crisis, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said yesterday …

Experts rip Rove stem cell remark  —  Researchers doubt value of adult cells  —  When White House political adviser Karl Rove signaled last week that President Bush planned to veto the stem cell bill being considered by the Senate, the reasons he gave went beyond the president's moral qualms with research on human embryos.

Ralph Reed's Comeuppance  —  Analysis: The former leader of the Christian right suffers a humiliating defeat in his Georgia primary race, thanks to his ties to a disgraced lobbyist  —  As a political operative Ralph Reed had a golden touch.  Four years ago in Georgia, as chair of the Republican Party …

Lieberman's Donors Include Many Who Favor Republicans  —  When it comes to supporting candidates for public office, the Associated General Contractors of America gives 90 percent of its campaign contributions to Republicans.  —  And then there is Senator Joseph I. Lieberman.

India bloggers angry at net ban  —  India's burgeoning blogging community is up in arms against a government directive that they say has led to the blocking of their web logs.  —  The country's 153 internet service providers (ISP) have blocked 17 websites since last week on federal government orders.

DeWine blunder adds fuel to controversial Sept. 11 ad  —  The controversial video of the burning World Trade Center towers in a television campaign ad for Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine is doctored, U.S. News has learned.  The television spot, which has been lambasted by critics as a political exploitation …

Judge Overturns Wal-Mart Health Care Law  —  BALTIMORE (AP) — A first-of-its-kind state law that would have required Wal-Mart to spend more on employee health care in Maryland is invalid under federal law, a judge ruled Wednesday.  —  The state law would have required non-governmental employers …

Corruption Issue Comes to Fore  —  Reed Is Seen as First Casualty, and Parties Brace for More  —  While political corruption has failed so far to take root as a national issue, the defeat of scandal-stained Ralph Reed in Georgia on Tuesday showed that federal investigators could tip …

Study Documents 'Ghetto Tax' Being Paid by the Urban Poor  —  WASHINGTON, July 18 — Drivers from low-income neighborhoods of New York, Hartford and Baltimore, insuring identical cars and with the same driving records as those from middle-class neighborhoods, paid $400 more on average for a year's insurance.

The Bush Administration's and RNC's Nonsensical PR Games: Lebanon and Iraq  —  NEW YORK—I've just seen two reports about absolutely looney Bush administration steps in Iraq and Lebanon that have more to do with public relations management than they do, in either case, with "on the ground realities."

CT-SEN: It's Official — Lieberman Rules Out Any Run On GOP Line  —  As I wrote below, Election Central posed a question this morning to the Lieberman campaign: Would he or would he not rule out a run on the GOP line if he lost the Dem primary and the line were offered to him?