Israeli ground troops enter Lebanon  —  JERUSALEM - Israel declared Tuesday it was ready to fight Hezbollah guerrillas for several more weeks, raising doubts about international efforts to broker an immediate cease-fire in the fighting that has killed more than 260 people and displaced 500,000.

Bush Blocked Justice Department Investigation  —  Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee today that President Bush personally halted an internal Justice Department investigation into whether Gonzales and other senior department officials acted within …

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.

Senate Passes Stem Cell Bill; Bush Vows Veto  —  The Senate voted to lift restrictions on federally funded human embryonic stem cell research yesterday, setting the table for President Bush's first veto and producing an emotional campaign issue that Democrats believe will help them this fall.

ROVING HANDS  —  Most of the commentary I've seen regarding President Bush's impromptu shoulder-rub/aborted massage of German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the G8 summit has treated the incident as a light, wacky divertissement, much like Bush's goofball attempt to make a dramatic exit …

Reed concedes  —  Former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed conceded defeat about 9:50 p.m. in Georgia's Republican primary for lieutenant governor.  —  "Tonight my candidacy for lieutenant governor comes to an end," he said.  —  He promoied to work for the GOP ticket, including Sen. Casey Cagle …

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 …

U.N.: 14,000 Iraqis killed in 2006  —  Holy city bomb kills 45; Armed robbers hit Baghdad bank  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — More than 14,000 civilians have been killed in Iraq in the first half of this year, an ominous figure reflecting the fact that "killings, kidnappings and torture remain widespread" …

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 …

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 …