Suicide bomber kills 121 in Baghdad  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide truck bomber struck a market in a predominantly Shiite area of Baghdad on Saturday, killing at least 121 people and wounding scores among the crowd buying food for evening meals, the most devastating strike in the capital in more than two months.

A FAN OBAMA DOESN'T NEED  —  SEN. Barack Obama might want to tell George Soros to shut up, now that the Hungarian-born billionaire has equated the George W. Bush administration with the Third Reich.  Soros, who spent $26 million trying to beat Bush two years ago, is a key supporter …

Republicans Plan to Block Iraq Debate  —  Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said Friday that his party would unite to block Senate debate next week on a bipartisan resolution opposing President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq unless the Democrats allowed votes on at least two Republican alternatives.

Bush to Request Billions for Wars  —  President Bush will ask Congress for close to three-quarters of a trillion dollars in defense spending on Monday, including $245 billion to cover the cost of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and other elements of the "global war on terror," senior administration officials said yesterday.

Marketer says it acted quickly to halt scare  —  Denies trying to hide firm's involvement  —  The New York guerrilla marketing firm that spearheaded the advertising campaign that spawned the wave of bomb scares in Boston this week broke its silence yesterday, apologizing for any hardships …

VIETNAM SPITTING.— There is a flap about whether returning Vietnam veterans were really spat upon (via Instapundit).  One commenter at Countercolumn says that Bob Greene, a former Chicago columnist, wrote a column in the 1980s saying that it was a myth.  He received so many stories of spitting …

Candidates Pick Tunes at DNC Meeting  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - Everyone needs a soundtrack - even politicians.  —  The presidential candidates who addressed the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting Friday got to choose their tunes, and it was an eclectic mix that reflected personal favorites and not-so-subtle messages.

U.S. can't prove Iran link to Iraq strife  —  Despite pledges to show evidence, officials have repeatedly put off presenting their case.  —  WASHINGTON — Bush administration officials acknowledged Friday that they had yet to compile evidence strong enough to back up publicly their claims …

The war against the west (4)  —  According to the latest report from the Community Security Trust, the defence organisation of British Jews, attacks on Jews in Britain reached their highest level for more than two decades last year. … The poisonous climate of incendiary lies about Israel …

Happy Blogroll Amnesty Day  —  Hey, the blogroll is gone.  —  As I wrote earlier, one of the big complaints by new bloggers is that it's impossible to get onto blogrolls because established bloggers tend not to add them.  They're right.  A big reason for that is that everyone feels …

Blue America: Charlie Brown, CA-04  —  [Charlie Brown joins us today in the comments to discuss his candidacy for Congress.  As always in Blue America threads, please stay on topic — any off topic comments should be taken to the prior thread — and please be polite.

Conservatives continue to use Fox's 24 to support hawkish policies … In his January 30 syndicated column, Cal Thomas attacked "ideologically decrepit" Iraq war protesters and claimed: "Unlike Vietnam, the Islamofascists won't leave us alone if we leave Iraq before stability is established."

Rudy and the Republican Nomination  —  To:  —  Team Rudy  —  Brent Seaborn, Strategy Director  —  Re:  —  Rudy and the Republican Nomination  —  Over the last month or two there has been a good deal of public opinion polling on the 2008 Republican primary race.

Senator Clinton won't run out use of force to stop 'pro-terrorist' Iran  —  At a speech Friday to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) said "no option can be taken off the table" when dealing with Iran, RAW STORY has learned.

Global-Warming Report Gets U.S. Emphasis  —  WASHINGTON — U.S. government scientists Friday said the long-term outlook for global warming may be more dire than suggested by this week's United Nations' report, which they say doesn't fully address the impact of clouds and melting glaciers.

Number of People Stopped by Police Soars in New York  —  The New York Police Department released new information yesterday showing that police officers stopped 508,540 individuals on New York City streets last year — an average of 1,393 stops per day — often searching them for illegal weapons.

No sanctuary for Super Bowl flock  —  Churches scramble to cancel big-screen bashes after an NFL warning.  —  They were expecting a big crowd this Sunday at Farmland Friends Church in rural Indiana.  —  The sanctuary would be decked in blue and white streamers, the card tables groaning with sloppy-Joe fixings and bowls of chips.

Nasrallah admits 'intelligence failure'  —  In an admission which underscores previous statements made by Hizbullah, leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said that his organization suffered from an "intelligence failure" regarding the size and timing of an Israeli response in last summer's war.