Operation Baghdad Has Started!  —  Minutes after nighttime curfew began in Baghdad at 9 pm we saw breaking news on al-Hurra and al-Jazeera saying that Baghdad's security operation has just started.  —  The news says the first operation is currently underway in Azamiyah in the northeastern part of the city.

RUDY'S RIGHT STUFF  —  IT'S semi-pseudo-almost-nearly kind-of official: Rudy's running for president.  Basically.  In essence.  He could change his mind.  But he probably won't.  Almost certainly.  —  Which makes sense.  Rudy Giuliani is leading the Republican field by five points …

GOP Views Clinton As Virtually Unbeatable  —  What many conservatives regard as the nightmare scenario — President Hillary Rodham Clinton — is increasingly seen by veteran Republican politicians and strategists as virtual inevitability.  —  In GOP circles, the Democratic front-runner is seen as so strong …

Military Wants More Civilians to Help in Iraq  —  Senior military officers, including members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have told President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates that the new Iraq strategy could fail unless more civilian agencies step forward quickly to carry out plans …

Exclusive: Duke Lacrosse Grand Jurors Speak Out  —  Grand Juror Says "Would Have Made a Different Decision" If he Knew What he Knows Now  —  In the spring, a grand jury in Durham, N.C., indicted three Duke University lacrosse players on charges of rape, sexual offense and kidnapping of an exotic dancer.

My Six-Point Reaction to Joe Klein's Seven-Point Response  —  I agree with Joe Klein's assessment that there are "far more important things going on in the world" than a clarification of his position on the war in Iraq.  But I can't resist reacting to his seven-point response to my post on him:

JOHN EDWARDS' HEALTHCARE PLAN....John Edwards' new healthcare proposal is, basically, an individual mandate (everyone is required to get health insurance coverage somehow) combined with community rating (private insurers have to take all comers, regardless of medical condition) and government subsidies …

Lawmaker: U.S. sent giant pallets of cash into Iraq … WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The Federal Reserve sent record payouts of more than $4 billion in cash to Baghdad on giant pallets aboard military planes shortly before the United States gave control back to Iraqis, lawmakers said Tuesday.

Astronaut Charged With Attempted Kidnapping  —  A NASA astronaut who drove hundreds of miles to confront a romantic rival, wearing diapers on the journey so that she would not have to stop to use the restroom, appeared in court today after being arrested on attempted kidnapping and other charges.

Haggard says he's not gay  —  The Rev. Ted Haggard emerged from three weeks of intensive counseling convinced he is "completely heterosexual" and told an oversight board that his sexual contact with men was limited to his accuser.  —  That is according to one of the disgraced pastor's overseers …

McCain Campaign Staff and Bloggers: The Lovers' Quarrel Conference Call  —  All right, so some would argue that McCain and the bloggers have never had enough of a relationship to qualify the current disagreements as "lovers' quarrels," but the call and the conversation the campaign staff is starting to have is a bit, "baby, come back.

Employee Free Choice Act is in the House — Take Action!  —  First, I want to thank everyone who welcomed me in the Firedoglake family last week as I assume the spot so ably and passionately filled by Jordan Barab.  It will be tough to match Jordan's wit or his knowledge of the union movement …

Exasperated House bypasses Senate on Iraq  —  Representatives schedule their own vote to oppose Bush's troop 'surge'  —  WASHINGTON - House leaders got fed up with waiting around for the Senate to act and decided Tuesday to go ahead with their own vote on a resolution opposing President Bush's plan to add 21,500 U.S. troops in Iraq.

Demonization and Responsibility  —  I've been making my way through the mail and online comments I've received in response to my columns last week.  —  The many e-mails I've gotten privately from people serving in the military are, not surprisingly, the most respectful and reflective.

Democrats Should Force the Republicans to Physically Filibuster  —  Remember Mr. Smith Goes to Washington?  When Jimmy Stewart had to stand and keep talking until he passed out.  Ah, the good old days of filibustering.  Well, I think the Democrats should bring that back.

Popular Teen TV Show To Claim Morning-After Pill Can Cause A Miscarriage  —  Tonight, the CW network will air an episode of Veronica Mars that is based on misleading right-wing claims about contraception.  The show is about a young woman named Veronica Mars, who is both a college student and a part-time private investigator.

Hackers Attack Key Net Traffic Computers  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Hackers briefly overwhelmed at least three of the 13 computers that help manage global computer traffic Tuesday in one of the most significant attacks against the Internet since 2002.  —  Experts said the unusually powerful attacks lasted …

A 9/11 conspiracy virus is sweeping the world, but it has no basis in fact  —  Loose Change is a sharp, slick film with an authoritative voiceover, but it drowns the truth in an ocean of nonsense  —  There is a virus sweeping the world.  It infects opponents of the Bush government …

Bush Approval Dips to 32%  —  Lowest approval rating since last May  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A new Gallup Poll finds George W. Bush with a 32% approval rating.  That is down slightly from his readings in January, and is within one point of the low rating of his entire administration.

Global warming debate spurs Ore. title tiff  —  In the face of evidence agreed upon by hundreds of climate scientists, George Taylor holds firm.  He does not believe human activities are the main cause of global climate change.  —  Taylor also holds a unique title: State Climatologist.