Pulp Fiction  —  I am going to write a completely speculative piece on the fighting in Lebanon.  It's born of a need to make sense of events which on the face of it are incomprehensible, though by so doing the post detaches itself from verifiable fact.  The reader is warned.

For Some Jews, Israel and Iraq Cloud View on Lieberman  —  HARTFORD, July 26 — Lesley Korzennik walked into a diner in Norwalk recently hoping to vent her frustrations with Senator Joseph I. Lieberman — over his continued support for the war, among a litany of other things.  "I'm furious at him," she said.

Security cabinet decides against expanding Lebanon operation  —  The security cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, decided Thursday morning against expanding the Israel Defense Forces operation in southern Lebanon, Israel Radio reported.  —  The discussion came a day after nine IDF troops …

Hezbollah was using UN post as 'shield'  —  Canadian wrote of militia's presence, 'necessity' of bombing  —  Joel Kom, with files from Steven Edwards, CanWest News Service, The Ottawa Citizen  —  The words of a Canadian United Nations observer written just days before he was killed …

Chicago Council Passes 'Living Wage' Act  —  CHICAGO — The City Council brushed aside warnings from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to approve an ordinance that makes Chicago the biggest city in the nation to require big-box retailers to pay a "living wage."  —  The ordinance, which passed 35-14 Wednesday …

Even neoconservatives now accepting defeat in Iraq  —  David Frum was one of the leading neoconservative advocates of the invasion of Iraq.  The former Bush speechwriter is a true believer, having co-authored a radical neoconservative book with Richard Perle entitled An End to Evil …

A Few Questions  —  Why does the president call the secretary of state "Condi"?  And what exactly is his philosophy?  —  Why does President Bush refer in public to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as "Condi"?  Did Dwight Eisenhower call his Secretary of State "Johnny"?

Reynolds airs his ads early  —  Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.), who is in charge of keeping Congress in GOP hands this fall, surprised the political establishment yesterday by airing an early television advertisement that made no mention of his party affiliation.

A message for Democrats  —  WASHINGTONNANCY PELOSI bared fangs to show that the Democratic Party no longer has toothless gums.  On national security, she said, ``When you think of women and defense and security, think of a lioness.  You come anywhere near our cubs, you're dead.

Conrad Burns chastises Hotshots over Billings fire  —  HELENA - Republican Sen. Conrad Burns chastised a group of firefighters over the weekend for doing a "poor job" of squelching a 92,000-acre blaze near Billings, a state report shows.  —  Burns and the firefighters …

Administration and Critics, in Senate Testimony, Clash Over Eavesdropping Compromise  —  WASHINGTON, July 26 — Senior Bush administration officials said Wednesday that it would be impractical for them to obtain individual warrants every time they needed to eavesdrop on a conversation suspected of involving Al Qaeda.

Al-Qaida calls for holy war against Israel  —  CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader issued a worldwide call Thursday for Muslims to rise up in a holy war against Israel and join the fighting in Lebanon and Gaza until Islam reigns from "Spain to Iraq."  —  In the message broadcast …

Iran: The Next War  —  Even before the bombs fell on Baghdad, a group of senior Pentagon officials were plotting to invade another country.  Their covert campaign once again relied on false intelligence and shady allies.  But this time, the target was Iran.  BY JAMES BAMFORD

Rice has Mideast on her mind at Asian summit  —  KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice took a day off from her bid to untangle the Middle East crisis, but fallout from the fighting trailed her to an East Asia security summit.  —  Rice flew all night from Europe to Malaysia …

IAF knocks out Hezbollah missile command in Tyre  —  The Israel Air Force on Thursday scored a successful direct hit against Hezbollah's missile command center deployed in Tyre, which has been primarily responsible for targeting Haifa and its surroundings.  The regional command center …