Laura Bush hails Burns' record  —  BELGRADE - First lady Laura Bush campaigned for U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns here Wednesday, calling the Republican a strong advocate for Montana farmers and families.  —  "In Washington, Senator Burns is a respected voice on the issues facing rural communities …

State on Verge of Greenhouse Gas Restrictions  —  The Senate votes to slash emissions 25%, the first such action in the nation.  Business groups are angry, but the governor is on board.  —  SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders agreed Wednesday on a plan to cut …

PRESIDENT BUSH 'ASSASSINATED' IN NEW TV DOCUDRAMA  —  This is the dramatic moment when President George Bush is gunned down by a sniper after a public address at a hotel, in a gripping new docudrama soon to be aired on TV.  —  Set around October 2007, President Bush is assassinated as he leaves the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago.

Helen Ubiñas  —  Liebermont Bickering Gets Old  —  A little advice for Joe Lieberman's new communications director, Dan Gerstein: Think about the "good stuff," buddy.  —  Gerstein was downright chafed when I called him about the New Age-y Lieberman ad that urges folks to step away …

Pinocchio and friends converted to Islam  —  Malcolm Moore in Antalya  —  Pinocchio, Tom Sawyer and other characters have been converted to Islam in new versions of 100 classic stories on the Turkish school curriculum.  —  "Give me some bread, for Allah's sake," Pinocchio says to Geppetto …

Keith Olbermann Delivers One Hell Of a Commentary on Rumsfeld  —  Keith had some very choice words about Rumsfeld's "fascism" comments tonight.  Watch it, save it and share it.  —  Olbermann delivered this commentary with fire and passion while highlighting how Rumsfeld's comments echoes …

No Day at the Beach  —  Bloggers Struggle With What to Do About Vacation  —  A banner stripped across the top of the Daily Dish declares that the popular Web log's host, Andrew Sullivan, has "gone fishing."  Mr. Sullivan declared a two-week vacation and opted to leave his political blog behind.

Iranian President Meets Press and Is Challenged  —  President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad meant to use Tuesday to focus attention on his challenge to the president of the United States: a face-off in a live televised debate.  —  But at a freewheeling two-hour news conference, Mr. Ahmadinejad …

Bush Team Casts Foes as Defeatist  —  President Bush and his surrogates are launching a new campaign intended to rebuild support for the war in Iraq by accusing the opposition of aiming to appease terrorists and cut off funding for troops on the battlefield, charges that many Democrats say distort their stated positions.

Blinded by a concept  —  THE FAILURE OF Israel to subdue Hezbollah demonstrates the many weaknesses of the war-on-terror concept.  One of those weaknesses is that even if the targets are terrorists, the victims are often innocent civilians, and their suffering reinforces the terrorist cause.

Sacrificing truth on the altar of diversity  —  YOU'RE A publisher of children's textbooks, and you have a problem.  Your diversity guidelines — quotas in all but name — require you to include pictures of disabled children in your elementary and high school texts, but it isn't easy …

Pentagon sees risk in troops' loan debt  —  'Payday' lenders prey on military, report says  —  As many as one in five members of the armed services are being preyed on by loan centers set up near military bases that can charge cash-strapped military families interest of 400% or more, a new Pentagon report has found.

Bush Shifting Public Focus to Terrorism and Iraq War  —  With the midterm elections approaching, President Bush is beginning an extended tour to draw attention to the threat of terrorism and the Iraq war, quickly pivoting to more comfortable territory after the focus on the Hurricane Katrina anniversary.

Positive Press on Iraq Is Aim of U.S. Contract  —  U.S. military leaders in Baghdad have put out for bid a two-year, $20 million public relations contract that calls for extensive monitoring of U.S. and Middle Eastern media in an effort to promote more positive coverage of news from Iraq.

National Guardsman Brutally Attacked In Pierce County  —  PARKLAND, Wash. — The Pierce County Sheriff's Department is searching for five people who allegedly attacked a uniformed National Guardsmen walking along 138th Street in Parkland Tuesday afternoon.  —  The soldier was walking …

Ohio to Delay Destruction of Presidential Ballots  —  With paper ballots from the 2004 presidential election in Ohio scheduled to be destroyed next week, the secretary of state in Columbus, under pressure from critics, said yesterday that he would move to delay the destruction at least for several months.

The Terrorists' Next Tool in the Skies - Approved by the FAA!  —  Haven't posted here in awhile (frankly I just don't have the time) but since PG clapped off and our entire nation's air security is at risk, better I post this once now than after our jets start falling from the skies again.

There Is Silence in the Streets; Where Have All the Protesters Gone?  —  It was almost painful the other night to hear Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young sing about a war whose purpose Americans never really understood, started by a president who didn't tell the truth and then waged the war ineptly.

Game over on the Plame leak?  Maybe not  —  NEW YORK (CNN) — There's a new twist to a controversy that has been roiling the political waters for more than three years.  —  This week numerous news organizations, including CNN, have identified former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage …

Lebanese PM: Aid won't go to Hezbollah  —  STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Lebanon's prime minister urged world donors Thursday to help his country recover after Israeli bombing wiped out "15 years of postwar development" in 34 days of fighting with Hezbollah guerrillas.