Milking it?  —  For an update on this post, see here.  —  Certainly, the photographs are distressing, and indeed they are meant to be.  As this piece tells us: … But the photographers, it seems, are not too fussy about how they go about "adding to the shock value".

Child Victims Incite Anger in Lebanon and Beyond  —  The images of the dead children in southern Lebanon played across the television screens on Sunday over and over again — small and caked in dirt and as lifeless as rag dolls as rescuers hauled them from the wreckage of several residential …

'They found them huddled together'  —  More than 60 people, including 34 children, killed by Israeli attack on home where families were sheltering  —  Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, Jonathan Steele and Clancy Chassay in Qana; Rory McCarthy at the Israel-Lebanon border; Wendell Steavenson in Beirut and Julian Borger in Washington

'The Putting of First Things First'  —  The revival of the romance of the antiwar left is a potential disaster for the Democrats.  It's what gave the world Richard Nixon in 1968.  —  To the consternation of my children, I once spent an afternoon with Monica Lewinsky.

Fooling the Voters  —  The two bills passed by the House last Friday and Saturday reflect a single Republican electoral strategy.  Representatives want to appear to have accomplished something when they face voters during their five-week summer break, which starts today …

France says Iran is respected, stabilizing force in Middle East  —  Iran is a significant, respected player in the Middle East which is playing a stabilizing role, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Monday, during a visit to Lebanon.  —  "It was clear that we could never accept …

Lieberman-Lamont and the blogs  —  Mark Schmitt has the best blog-overview of the Lieberman-Lamont race that I've seen so far. … There's just one thing that I'd add to this.  As Mark said in a previous post, the netroots aren't a critically important force on the ground in Connecticut …

Men Not Working, and Not Wanting Just Any Job  —  ROCK FALLS, Ill. — Alan Beggerow has stopped looking for work.  Laid off as a steelworker at 48, he taught math for a while at a community college.  But when that ended, he could not find a job that, in his view, was neither demeaning nor underpaid.

Romney apologizes for use of expression  —  To some, `tar baby' is racial pejorative  —  Governor Mitt Romney yesterday apologized for using the expression ``tar baby" — a phrase some consider a racial epithet — among comments he made at a political gathering in Iowa over the weekend.

Ned Lamont's First Video Blog: Let's Talk About Iraq  —  Over the weekend Ned filmed his first video blog.  Since Joe Lieberman doesn't want to talk about his war in Iraq, I guess it's up to the rest of us.  —  If you think there is more to be said on the topic and things aren't going quite …

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 …

STRINGS IN COCKPIT  —  KATIE Couric had fellow passengers aboard a New York-bound jet on the warpath this week when, as their plane was about to taxi to the runway, she got out of her seat and begged the pilot to allow one of her late-arriving producers to board.  —  "It was like, 'Who the hell does she think she is?' "

Terror's playbook  —  Al Qaeda manual is a blueprint for hate that reveals a sinister plot to invade & conquer  —  Most Americans know that Al Qaeda and its franchises are willing to sink to any depth to destroy the United States.  But few people realize just how deep those depths are.