Diplomacy, Not War, With Iran  —  The recent tentative agreement with North Korea over its nuclear program illustrates how diplomacy can work even with the most unsavory of regimes.  Unfortunately, it took the Bush administration more than six years to commit to diplomacy.

Christian Right Labors to Find '08 Candidate  —  A group of influential Christian conservatives and their allies emerged from a private meeting at a Florida resort this month dissatisfied with the Republican presidential field and uncertain where to turn.  —  The event was a meeting …

Americans unaware of Iraqi death toll  —  Poll shows knowledge of U.S. dead, but huge underestimation of Iraqis  —  WASHINGTON - One person can tell you precisely how many Americans have been killed in Iraq.  Another pays close attention to the names and hometowns of those who die each week.

Democrats Offer Up Chairmen For Donors  —  Party's Campaigns Had Faulted GOP For 'Selling Access'  —  Eager to shore up their fragile House and Senate majorities, congressional Democrats have enlisted their committee chairmen in an early blitz to bring millions of dollars into the party's coffers …

General Plays Down Value Of Capturing Bin Laden  —  The Army's highest-ranking officer said Friday that he was unsure whether the U.S. military would capture or kill Osama bin Laden, adding, "I don't know that it's all that important, frankly."  —  "So we get him, and then what?" …

A Brave New Wikiworld  —  In the past year, Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that "anyone can edit," has been cited four times as often as the Encyclopedia Britannica in judicial opinions, and the number is rapidly growing.  In just two years, YouTube has become a household word and one of the world's most successful Web sites.

Romney family tree has polygamy branch  —  SALT LAKE CITY - While Mitt Romney condemns polygamy and its prior practice by his Mormon church, the Republican presidential candidate's great-grandfather had five wives and at least one of his great-great grandfathers had 12.

Panel Cites Voter Error, Not Software, in Loss of Votes  —  Florida election officials announced yesterday that an examination of voting software did not find any malfunctions that could have caused up to 18,000 votes to be lost in a disputed Congressional race in Sarasota County …

Mob Rule at Digg  —  Somehow, I don't think the "social bookmarking" model is supposed to operate like this.  The idea behind an ostensibly non-partisan site like Digg.com is that people submit links to interesting things, and other people rate the links, so that interesting stuff gets more votes and rises to the top.

'Terrorist' Remark Puts Outdoorsman's Career in Jeopardy  —  Zumbo's Criticism of Hunters Who Use Assault Rifles Brings Unforgiving Response From U.S. Gun Culture  —  SEATTLE — Modern hunters rarely become more famous than Jim Zumbo.  A mustachioed, barrel-chested outdoors entrepreneur …

PATENT ABUSE....You may or may not be aware of this, but pretty much everything in the high-tech world is patented.  If you watch a movie on cable TV, for example, it's delivered in a format called MPEG-2, a standard that's composed of over 600 different patented technologies from 20 different companies.

McConnell Threatens to Block Bid to Repeal War Resolution  —  Republican Wants to Force Vote on Guaranteeing Funding for Troops  —  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned yesterday that a new Democratic effort to repeal the 2002 Iraq war resolution would meet the same fate …

Defense Trust Hails Libby As 'Loyal Soldier In The War On Terror'  —  National Journal's Hotline reports that a recent fundraising letter issued by Scooter Libby's Legal Defense Trust includes the following quote from former Cheney aide Mary Matalin: … Scooter Libby knowingly exposed the cover of a CIA operative.

Hannity: "CBS has a bias.  We don't."  —  On Sunday, 60 Minutes is running (in Hannity's words) a biased "hit piece" about a group of GI's who are using the Military Whistleblower act to speak out and petition Congress to end the Iraq War.  In an attempt to "present both sides," …

On Dr Andrew ("Thersites") Haggerty, Community College Professor  —  I would have objected over at firedoglake, but just after this comment by Broome Community College's Dr Andrew Haggerty, the site administrators closed the thread.  That way you see, I can't respond.

Freedom Is Forced Pregnancy  —  Finally the New York Times adds a strong (self-described) feminist voice to its op-ed pages: … Ah, yes, nothing would enhance our freedom like the ability of state legislatures to violate people's fundamental rights—just ask George Wallace!