Hezbollywood?  Evidence mounts that Qana collapse and deaths were staged  —  It was to be a perfect Hollywood ending for Hezbollah.  Just as the Israeli bombing of the village of Qana in 1996 brought a premature end to Israel's Operation "Grapes of Wrath," so too a sequel of Qana II could change …

The Next Steps With Iran  —  Negotiations Must Go Beyond the Nuclear Threat to Broader Issues  —  The world's attention is focused on the fighting in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, but the context leads inevitably back to Iran.  Unfortunately, the diplomacy dealing with that issue is constantly outstripped by events.

Democrats Unite on Iraq Withdrawal Demands  —  Twelve Democratic leaders of the House and Senate have urged President Bush in a strongly worded letter to begin withdrawing the 130,000 U.S. troops from Iraq by year's end, a sign that Democrats may be uniting on a key election-year issue that has divided the party.

Mel Gibson's Meltdown  —  HE IS SICK TO HIS EMPTY CORE WITH JEW-HATRED.  —  I was just in the middle of writing a long and tedious essay, about how to tell a real anti-Semite from a person who too-loudly rejects the charge of anti-Semitism, when a near-perfect real-life example came to hand.

Castro relinquishes power before surgery  —  HAVANA - Fidel Castro temporarily relinquished his presidential powers to his brother Raul on Monday night and told Cubans he underwent surgery.  —  The Cuban leader said he had suffered gastrointestinal bleeding, apparently due to stress …

Gitmo Guards Often Attacked by Detainees  —  The prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay during the war on terror have attacked their military guards hundreds of times, turning broken toilet parts, utensils, radios and even a bloody lizard tail into makeshift weapons, Pentagon reports say.

Appeals court hears from lawyers in DeLay ballot battle  —  NEW ORLEANS — A federal appeals panel indicated today that the ability of Republicans to replace former U.S. Rep. Tom Delay on the ballot rests on whether there was "conclusive" evidence that he had moved to Virginia.

Lieberman's shameless race baiting flyer (and a few words)  —  Here's the racist flyer from team Joementum that everyone is dying to see.  Read it and puke.  —  Front side:  —  Back side:  —  Now on the back side, notice the key race baiting phrase "He didn't pay as much attention to race...until he got into the sente race"

Fla. Republicans won't back Rep. Harris  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The state Republican Party bluntly told Rep. Katherine Harris (news, bio, voting record) that she couldn't win this fall's Senate election and that the party wouldn't support her campaign, a letter obtained Monday by The Associated Press shows.

Schumer Says Bolton Won't Face Filibuster  —  A Democratic filibuster of John Bolton's nomination as United Nations ambassador is "unlikely," Senator Schumer said yesterday.  —  Mr. Schumer supported an effort last year to block Mr. Bolton's nomination from gaining a full Senate vote …

AMATEUR HOUR  —  On the Internet, everybody is a millenarian.  Internet journalism, according to those who produce manifestos on its behalf, represents a world-historical development—not so much because of the expressive power of the new medium as because of its accessibility to producers and consumers.

Statewide poll: Without key exceptions, more South Dakotans oppose abortion ban  —  Amid the often hostile rhetoric that pierces South Dakota's closely watched abortion debate, a new survey shows that more residents of the largely conservative state oppose a ban on the pregnancy-ending procedure …

Passing Down the Legacy of Conservatism  —  SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Headed for what she called "conservative boot camp," Christina Pajak grabbed the essentials: dress sandals, her Bible and "The Politics of Prudence" by Russell Kirk, the celebrated writer who a half-century ago gave the conservative movement its name.