President Bush Addresses American Legion National Convention  —  Fact Sheet: Winning the Struggle Between Freedom and Terror in the Middle East  —  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much.  Please be seated.  Thanks for the warm welcome.  It's great to join you here in one of America's most beautiful cities.

IAEA Reports on Iran's Continued Defiance; UNSC Must Swiftly Enact Sanctions  —  We've just received a copy of the IAEA report being distributed to diplomats at the UN today on Iran's nuclear program.  Read the whole IAEA report exclusively here on Vital Perspective.

Laffey Takes Commanding Lead in Republican U. S. Senate Primary  —  U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee may lose his seat to challenger Steve Laffey, according to a new statewide Republican primary voter poll released today by the Bureau of Government Research and Services at Rhode Island College.

BYRD ADMITS HE PLACED A HOLD, NOW LIFTS IT  —  West Virginia Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd admits that he placed a "secret hold" on legislation that would make uncovering the Byzantine world of federal contracting as easy as typing a Google search.  —  Tom Gavin, spokesperson for Byrd …

Gingrich: Powerful Pelosi 'would be a disaster'  —  COLUMBIA, S.C. - Ex-U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday that the thought of California Rep. Nancy Pelosi becoming the next leader of the House and being third in line to the presidency is frightening.

Stereotyping is leading to terror, says first Muslim Miss England  —  The first Muslim to be crowned Miss England has warned that stereotyping members of her community is leading some towards extremism.  —  Hammasa Kohistani made history last year when she was chosen to represent England in the Miss World pageant.

Now is the Time to Act on S. 2590  —  I'm very encouraged to see that all one hundred Senators have now answered the blogosphere's inquiries on the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act.  Now is the time to act.  In September, I will bring S. 2590 to the floor of the Senate for the vote it deserves.

The Next Industrial Giant Is ... India?  —  PUNE, India — India's economic advancement no longer rests on telephone call centers and computer programmers.  —  Among villages with thatch-roofed huts and dirt roads on the outskirts of this city in central India, John Deere and LG Electronics …

Misguided Muslim groups  —  Focus should be on extremists' war against the West.  —  On Aug. 10, British police arrested 24 Muslim suspects in a plot to blow up 10 U.S.-bound jetliners over the Atlantic.  If successful, the attack would have killed thousands of people.

Wal-Mart's Speech  —  It turns out that organized labor's battle against Wal-Mart is more than a war on the lower-income Americans who depend on the big-box store's "always low prices."  The unions are also after the First Amendment.  Wal-Mart Watch, an opposition group supported by unions …

Notes on the San Fran rampage  —  Readers, you know of my strong views and work debunking the "myth of the lone Muslim avenger;" reporting on the rash of "lone" Muslim shooters who have murdered Americans; and combating P.C. whitewashing of jihad.  Most recently, I've extensively covered …

Nicotine Up Sharply In Many Cigarettes  —  The amount of nicotine in most cigarettes rose an average of almost 10 percent from 1998 to 2004, with brands most popular with young people and minorities registering the biggest increases and highest nicotine content, according to a new study.

U.S. force in Iraq at 140,000  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has expanded its force in Iraq to 140,000 troops, the most since January and 13,000 more than five weeks ago, the Pentagon said on Thursday, amid relentless violence in Baghdad and elsewhere.

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.

Viewers ask FCC to impose fines over president's swearing  —  WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Federal Communications Commission has been asked by about two dozen people to impose financial penalties in connection with television and radio broadcasts in which President Bush was heard swearing at the G-8 summit in July.