Hizbullah likely to retain weapons  —  Hizbullah will not hand over its weapons to the Lebanese government but rather refrain from exhibiting them publicly, according to a new compromise that is reportedly brewing between Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Seniora and Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

A Gap In Their Armor  —  The Democratic Party has a self-image problem.  —  Talk to Democrats at every level about the strong position the party is in for this fall's elections and the conversation inevitably ends with a variation of: "Yeah, if we don't blow it."

The New Pork Database  —  A while back, several groups including the Club for Growth, were able to get their hands on the 2007 Labor-HHS appropriations bill that was introduced in the House (but has not yet passed), along with the committee report.  What we found were 1,867 pork projects hidden in the bill.

Clinton Sounds Off on Terror, Republicans  —  Taking a break from his work at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto on Monday, former President Clinton warned Republicans not to politicize the London terror arrests, slammed Sen. Joe Lieberman, whom he campaigned for just a couple weeks ago …

Up Close And Too Personal  —  Katie Couric, Center of Attention, Says She Just Wants to Do Her Job  —  She is already the most heavily scrutinized, psychoanalyzed and gossiped-about anchor in network history, and she hasn't yet uttered a single "good evening" on a CBS newscast.

Latest Bush Approval Rating at 37%  —  Little fundamental change in rating since June  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The latest Gallup Poll finds George W. Bush's presidential job approval rating at 37%, consistent with recent polling.  His approval rating has bounced between 36% and 40% since early June …

George Allen's America  —  "MY FRIENDS, we're going to run this campaign on positive, constructive ideas," Sen. George F. Allen told a rally of Republican supporters in Southwest Virginia last week.  "And it's important that we motivate and inspire people for something."

The Triumph of Unrealism  —  Five weeks have passed since the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers provoked Israel to launch its most unsatisfactory military operation in 58 years.  What problem has been solved, or even ameliorated?  —  Hezbollah, often using World War II-vintage rockets …

Our World: The Olmert government must go  —  From all sides of the political spectrum calls are being raised for the establishment of an official commission of inquiry to investigate the Olmert government's incompetent management of the war in Lebanon.  These calls are misguided.

Stranger and Stranger  —  WHY IS GEORGE BUSH READING CAMUS?  —  On his summer vacation in Crawford, Texas, George Bush read Albert Camus' novel The Stranger.  I'm not sure what to make of this.  It's usually college freshmen who suddenly take up the French existentialist's slim volume …

Snow White's dwarfs more famous than US judges: poll  —Text+NEW YORK (Reuters) - Three quarters of Americans can correctly identify two of Snow White's seven dwarfs while only a quarter can name two Supreme Court Justices, according to a poll on pop culture released on Monday.

State briefs: 'Bryson Prayer Force' asks Christians to join  —  KNOX  —  KNOXVILLE — A Christian prayer group is hoping to provide Republican gubernatorial nominee Jim Bryson with some divine assistance during his campaign.  —  The "Bryson Prayer Force" is inviting Christians to join …

Israel humbled by arms from Iran  —  Abandoned Hizbollah positions in Lebanon yesterday revealed conclusive evidence that Syria - and almost certainly Iran - provided the anti-tank missiles that have blunted the power of Israel's once invincible armour.  —  After one of the fiercest confrontations …

The Weekly Standard's Bigot Eruption  —  Conservatives cannot help themselves.  They try, time and time again, to excuse themselves from their movement's racist past.  They try to deny that the foundation of the current Republican party came about as segregationist racists were turned …

To google or not to google?  It's a legal question  —  Search engine's sense of humour crashes as it fires off warning letters over use of name as a verb  —  Search engine giant Google, known for its mantra "don't be evil", has fired off a series of legal letters to media organisations, warning them against using its name as a verb.

Don't Trust If They Won't Verify  —  Once again, fake news is in the news, as it turns out that many moving stories of carnage in Lebanon were not only moving, but, well, fake.  This raises major questions about the future of the news business, and offers a significant threat to free expression.

Iran: Victory celebrations, threats to Israel  —  Thousands of citizens take to streets chanting, 'Lebanon won, Israel destroyed'; dozens of ambulances hold procession in show of empathy with casualties of war.  Senior religious figure in Iran warns: 'If Israel and US attack us, we will shoot missiles at Tel Aviv'

No Joke: Lieberman Backer Mark Pryor is Vice-Chair of The DSCC  —  Even though I cover the Senate, I'm the first to admit that I don't know it all about the body's customs and every procedural nuance of the legislative process.  But what I'm about to tell you seems pretty easy to figure out.

We Need Our Own MI5  —  What lessons can we draw from the recent foiled plot to bring down U.S.-bound airliners with liquid bombs?  —  The first concerns the shrewdness of al-Qaeda and its affiliates in continuing to focus their destructive efforts on civil aviation.

Link between British suspect and 9/11 conspirator explored  —  THE German authorities are investigating contacts between a Briton being questioned over the alleged plot to blow up transatlantic airlines and a key figure in the September 11, 2001, terrorist cell.