The Politico Fails Journalism 100  —  When I was studying journalism way back in the early 1980s, they hammered on us pretty hard about fact checking, verifying sources and not accepting things as fact based on hearsay.  I don't think we covered conference calls specifically …

Hamas: We'll execute Fatah leaders  —  At least 10 dead as Hamas overruns Fatah's Preventive Security headquarters, intelligence services building in Gaza.  Official Hamas television broadcasts from inside building, displaying weapons 'sent by Israel.' Hamas gunmen: 'This is the first step in the establishment of an Islamic state'

Delay Denied, Libby Is Seen as Weeks From Prison  —  I. Lewis Libby Jr., once one of the most powerful men in government, was escorted by federal marshals out a side door in a federal courtroom here Thursday for processing after a judge issued a final ruling that he would have to begin serving …

Senate Leaders Agree to Revive Immigration Bill  —  Senate Democratic and Republican leaders announced on Thursday that they had agreed on a way to revive a comprehensive immigration bill that was pulled off the Senate floor seven days ago.  —  The majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada …

State GOP goes outside the U.S. to hire top aide  —  The California Republican Party has decided no American is qualified to take one of its most crucial positions — state deputy political director — and has hired a Canadian for the job through a coveted H-1B visa, a program favored …

Chris Matthews on Fred Thompson's sexiness and smells  —  I've written a fair amount recently about the media's obsession with the faux-masculinity of GOP candidates in general, and the tough-guy military persona of Fred Thompson in particular, and don't have all that much to add about that specific topic at the moment.

Bush administration attacks 'shield' for bloggers  —  WASHINGTON—The Bush administration on Thursday blasted a congressional proposal that would shield a broad swath of news gatherers, including some bloggers, from revealing their confidential sources.  —  The latest draft of the Free Flow …

SELF-RULE?  TRY MOB RULE  —  ISRAEL'S disengagement from Gaza, completed 22 months ago, has succeeded.  —  It was a demonstration project of a sort - an experiment in Palestinian self-rule.  If the management of Gaza had gone well, there would have been a Palestinian state within three years, tops.

You won't see Termination 2 at the movies  —  Liberal Hollywood shies away from abortion  —  In grim times Americans turn to Hollywood for escapist cheer, and this summer the fantasy factory has not disappointed.  The multiplexes are unusually full of feelgood movies to chase away the troubled superpower blues.

To Avoid Any Conflict, Clintons Liquidate Holdings  —  Concerned that their personal finances might become a political liability once again, Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton in April sold the millions of dollars of stocks held by their blind trust after learning that those investments included oil …

KATIE COURIC & THE CAVEMEN  —  SEXIST IDIOTS?  IT'S CBS, NOT VIEWERS  —  CBS News knows its ratings are plummeting - but rather than shoulder the blame, the network's execs prefer to finger America's innate sexism.  —  Last month, CBS VP Linda Mason told its Public Eye blog …