Bloomberg Insists He Is Not Running for President  —  Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg used his 15 minutes of fame as a Potential Presidential Candidate to showcase one of his pet local projects, the city's 311 Call Center.  —  A day after he announced he was quitting the Republican Party …

President Bush Bucking the Stem Cell Trend?  —  Bush's Veto of a Stem Cell Bill Comes as More People Say They Support Research  —  President Bush's pending veto of stem cell research legislation comes at a time when public support for such research is at an all-time high.

New Gallup data show confidence in Congress at all time low  —  Just 14% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in Congress.  —  This 14% Congressional confidence rating is the all-time low for this measure, which Gallup initiated in 1973.

Read the sunspots  —  The mud at the bottom of B.C. fjords reveals that solar output drives climate change - and that we should prepare now for dangerous global cooling  —  Politicians and environmentalists these days convey the impression that climate-change research is an exceptionally dull field with little left to discover.

Engage With Hamas  —  GAZA CITY, Palestine — The Palestinian National Authority apparently joins the list of elected governments targeted or toppled over the past century by interventionism: nations that had the courage to take American rhetoric at face value and elect whomever they would.

Barack Obama wins Politico.com Straw Poll  —  Senator Barack Obama scored a victory among progressive activists Wednesday, winning the Politico.com Straw Poll of attendees at the Take Back America Conference in Washington.  —  Obama received 29% of the 720 votes cast in the straw poll …

Judicial Watch Releases New FBI Documents: Osama bin Laden May Have Chartered Saudi Flight Out of U.S. after 9/11  —  (Washington, DC) — Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released new documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation …

The fights on the right  —  WHAT DO liberal Democrats think about the war in Iraq?  That's easy: It was a blunder that has become a debacle, and it should be brought to an end as soon as possible.  —  What do conservative Republicans think about the war?  That's not so easy.

...Fred Thompson's politics:  —  That about says it all!  —  This music makes my day!  Go Fred!  —  Sorry honey, Fred? already has a trophy wife — and her boobs are bigger than yours!  —  by Jefferson's Child 2007-06-20 12:57:24  —  How about a Fred Thompson/Newt Gingrich ticket?!

Good News about CAIR  —  I've talked before about the Council on American-Islamic Relations — most recently because it filed that lawsuit against Americans who reported suspicious behavior by Muslims on a U.S. Airways flight.  Better known just as CAIR, the lobbying group has come under …

Digby speaks  —  The remarkable wisdom of Digby now has a public face.  —  Here are her remarks last night at the Take Back America 2007 conference in Washington.  —  In case you can't view the video, or if you just want it, here's a transcript:  —  Thank you very much, Ned.  That is overwhelming.

Happy for the Work  —  It is vacation season once again, giving occasion for the usual homilies about how Europeans are having a much better and healthier time of it than we are when it comes to work.  You've heard it a thousand times: Americans "live to work," while Europeans "work to live."

Blair May Become Special Mideast Envoy  —  Bush Administration Envisions Role With Focus on Palestinians  —  The Bush administration is laying the groundwork for an announcement of Tony Blair's appointment as a special Middle East envoy for Palestinian governance and economic issues …

BBC 'risked safety of troops'  —  The BBC was accused last night of risking the safety of British forces in Iraq after trawling for information on troop movements in the war-torn country.  —  Politicians reacted in disbelief to the revelation that for over two hours yesterday …

UPI/Zogby Poll: Government Mishandling Immigration  —  Almost all Americans take dim view of Bush and Congressional actions on immigration reform  —  Americans give both President Bush and the Congress failing marks on their handling of immigration, according to a new UPI/Zogby poll on the topic.