On the Ground with Lamont/Lieberman  —  E.J. Dionne repeats a piece of conventional wisdom that irks the hell out of me every time I hear it - if Lieberman loses the primary and runs as an independent it will distract everyone from the true villain, the GOP, and therefore we should just give him a pass.

Sox standout Lowell: Castro killed my kin  —  Charging Fidel Castro with the deaths of his relatives, Cuban-American Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell declared last night: "I hope he does die."  —  Castro's health:  —  "Castro killed members of my family," Lowell told the Herald …

Evolution Opponents Lose Kansas Board Majority  —  Kansas voters on Tuesday handed power back to moderates on the State Board of Education, setting the stage for a return of science teaching that broadly accepts the theory of evolution, according to preliminary election results.

An Image Popular in Films Raises Some Eyebrows in Ads  —  At 200 pounds plus — most of that pure attitude — she is hard to miss.  —  Her onscreen presence takes on many variations, but she is easily recognizable by a few defining traits.  Other than her size, she is almost always black.

Ex-aide says Harris hid subpoena  —  TAMPA, Fla. - U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris received a grand jury subpoena from federal investigators but kept it from her top campaign advisers, leading to the latest round of staff departures last month, a former aide said.  —  "Yes, there was a subpoena.

Iran frees bin Laden son: newspaper  —  Iran has freed a son of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden from house arrest, a German newspaper reported on Wednesday.  —  Die Welt said the Iranian Revolutionary Guard released Saad bin Laden on July 28 with the aim of sending him to the Syria-Lebanon border.

Washington Traffic Jam?  Senators-Only Elevator  —  In addition to lofty issues of war and peace, the Senate is grappling with another urgent matter: the senators-only elevators at the Capitol are being overrun by the unelected.  —  "I hesitate to say that it's a big problem," …

9/11 Panel Suspected Deception by Pentagon  —  Allegations Brought to Inspectors General  —  Some staff members and commissioners of the Sept. 11 panel concluded that the Pentagon's initial story of how it reacted to the 2001 terrorist attacks may have been part of a deliberate effort …

Much Undone In Rebuilding Iraq, Audit Says  —  A flailing Iraq reconstruction effort that has been dominated for more than three years by U.S. dollars and companies is being transferred to Iraqis, leaving them the challenge of completing a long list of projects left unfinished by the Americans.

Army Guard units said not combat ready  —  WASHINGTON - More than two-thirds of the Army National Guard's 34 brigades are not combat ready, mostly because of equipment shortages that will cost up to $21 billion to correct, the top National Guard general said Tuesday.

Hezbollah fires record number of rockets  —  BEIT HILLEL, Israel - Hezbollah launched its deepest strikes yet into Israel on Wednesday, firing a record number of more than 190 rockets.  An Israeli-American was killed as he fled for home by bicycle, and a stray rocket hit the West Bank for the first time.

Green Helmet Guy: Abdel Qader  —  Green Helmet Guy, the "rescue worker" who posed for photo ops with children's bodies in Qana, is interviewed by Al Jazeera in Arabic, in a video clip at YouTube: Eye witness.  —  From Allison Kaplan Sommer, who provides this summary via an Arabic-speaking friend:

Bush Grants Self Permission To Grant More Power To Self  —  WASHINGTON, DC—In a decisive 1-0 decision Monday, President Bush voted to grant the president the constitutional power to grant himself additional powers.  —  "As president, I strongly believe that my first duty as president …

White House Proposal Would Expand Authority of Military Courts  —  A draft Bush administration plan for special military courts seeks to expand the reach and authority of such "commissions" to include trials, for the first time, of people who are not members of al-Qaeda or the Taliban …

Court Hands New York Times a Setback in Miller Case  —  The New York Times suffered a legal setback yesterday in its battle to keep a federal prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, from obtaining the phone records of its former reporter, Judith Miller.  —  A federal appeals court yesterday granted …

Lieberman Plans for Loss Next Week  —  Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) will shake up his campaign staff if he loses Tuesday's Democratic primary to challenger Ned Lamont.  Lieberman supporters have watched with growing dismay since the spring as the three term senator's campaign has gone from oblivious to defensive.

GOP Donors Funded Entire PA Green Party Drive  —  OK, we've done it.  We've nailed it down: Every single contributor to the Pennsylvania Green Party Senate candidate is actually a conservative — except for the candidate himself.  —  The Luzerne County Green Party raised $66,000 in the month …

Fighting 'has sunk hope of a free Lebanon'  —  Walid Jumblatt, leader of the most powerful clan in Lebanon's Druze community, said on Tuesday the conflict between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas had dealt a fatal blow to Lebanese hopes of a strong independent state, free of Iranian and Syrian influence.

The Lieberman Question  —  If I were a Democrat, I'd support Joe Lieberman next week.  I don't believe the agenda of Ned Lamont will help either the U.S. or the Democrats.  But, then, I'm not a Democrat.  At this point, I'd best be described as a conservative independent.