To Save a Revolution  —  You could sense the hurt and anger as Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora pleaded this week to the U.S. ambassador and other diplomats in Beirut for a halt to Israeli attacks on Lebanese targets.  "The country has been torn to shreds," he said.  "I hope you will not let us down."

Exiled Bakri in SOS plea  —  EXILED preacher of hate Omar Bakri has begged the Royal Navy to rescue him from war-torn Beirut.  —  The Muslim cleric who fled Britain last year, tried to board a ship full of women and children yesterday but was turned away.  —  He also wrote to the British …

President Bush Addresses NAACP Annual Convention  —  Washington, D.C.  —  African American History  —  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much.  (Applause.)  Thank you very much.  Bruce, thanks for your introduction.  Bruce is a polite guy — I thought what he was going to say, it's about time you showed up.

In Mideast Strife, Bush Sees a Step To Peace  —  President Bush's unwillingness to pressure Israel to halt its military campaign in Lebanon is rooted in a view of the Middle East conflict that is sharply different from that of his predecessors.  —  When hostilities have broken out in the past …

New Britain DTC Unanimously Endorses Lamont, DeStefano  —  ...and pledges to support whichever candidate wins the Senatorial and Gubernatorial primary respectively.  —  What this endorsement means is that DTC resources (headquarters, members, telephone lines, etc.) can be mobilized to help …

Despite Ties to Hamas, Militants Aren't Following Political Leaders  —  JABALIYA REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza, July 20 — Five men in black hoods emerged from a dimly lighted street of stark concrete houses and garbage-strewn lots.  With Israeli drones buzzing overhead, they kept the meeting short.

Pentagon OKs $6 bln in arms sales to Saudi Arabia  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration said on Thursday it approved the sale to Saudi Arabia of 24 UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters, radios, armoured vehicles and other military equipment worth more than $6 billion (3.25 billion pounds).

WHERE'S GEORGE?  AND WHERE'S DOUG?  —  My previous post about the much-quoted "George Harleigh" (said to be a SIU political science professor who worked for Nixon and Reagan administrations) has received enough attention that I thought it merited a new post.

Third time's not the charm: Sunday-morning talk shows still imbalanced … On February 14, Media Matters for America released a comprehensive study analyzing the guest appearances on ABC's This Week, CBS' Face the Nation, and NBC's Meet the Press from 1997 through 2005.

Iran leader asks Germany for help on Zionism  —  German government official says a letter written by Iranian President Ahmadinejad to German Chancellor Merkel asks her to help solve Palestinian problem, deal with Zionism.  Official says letter 'rather weird'

The Allure of the Tool Belt  —  THE evening he made the awkward toast, David Mager was not aware — not consciously, at least — that his longtime girlfriend was involved with the contractor.  As far as he was concerned, it was just a joke, a teasing reference to the amount …

In Connecticut, Bombshell Hits Schlesinger Campaign  —  The Hartford Courant sent a bunker bomb in to Connecticut Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Alan Schlesinger's flagging campaign today with revelations that the former legislator was successfully sued for thousands of dollars in casino debts he ran up in Atlantic City venues.