Old girlfriends cast their vote for Thompson  —  IN the battle for the women's vote, Fred Thompson has a secret weapon against Hillary Clinton - the legions of former girlfriends who still adore him and who want him to be president.  —  The Hollywood actor and former Tennessee senator racked …

'A Different Understanding With the President' … Just past the Oval Office, in the private dining room overlooking the South Lawn, Vice President Cheney joined President Bush at a round parquet table they shared once a week.  Cheney brought a four-page text, written in strict secrecy by his lawyer.

We've replaced Rushdie in hiding  —  A year or so after the Ayatollah Khomeini took out an Islamist mob contract on Salman Rushdie in 1989, the novelist appeared, after elaborate security arrangements, on a television arts show in London.  His host was Melvyn Bragg, a longtime British telly grandee …

Kerrey not hushing talk on possible Senate bid  —  Bob Kerrey is once again playing the political flirt.  —  The former Nebraska governor and senator is showing just enough skin, and making all the right moves, to give supporters hope that he will return to the state and run for U.S. Senate.

'We Will Try to Form an Islamic Society'  —  Mahmoud Zahar — a founder of Hamas, and one of its most militant hardliners — has called for an Islamic state in the Gaza Strip.  After the Hamas takeover of the territory last week, he's also threatened Fatah with more violence in the West Bank.

General's Iraq Progress Report Has Competition  —  Last month, Congress set a deadline for the American commander in Iraq, declaring that by Sept. 15 he would have to assess progress there before billions more dollars are approved to finance the military effort to stabilize the country.

Microsoft pays star writers to recite slogan  —  The stodgy old media industry has a rule that newspaper reporters, and TV news hosts, shouldn't trade on their public trust to endorse products.  It's become redundant: the reading public typically wants journalists to drop the pretense of objectivity …

U.S., NATO See Surge in Afghan Deaths  —  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - U.S.-led coalition and NATO forces fighting insurgents in Afghanistan have killed at least 203 civilians so far this year—surpassing the 178 civilians killed in militant attacks, according to an Associated Press tally.

More on the Anti-Abortion Concern Troll  —  Yesterday's Wanker of the Day, Melinda Henneberger, has already been well and suitably chastised by other bloggers for being hopelessly wrong about Democrats and abortion.  I won't repeat what they said.  Instead, I'll focus on a passage that raised a red flag for me:

Lawmaker urges condoms for border control  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A congressman is pushing a not-so-quick fix in the debate over illegal immigrants from Mexico: free contraceptives.  —  "A slower rate of growth of Mexico's population would improve the economy of Mexico.

Rule Of Law?  —  I haven't followed the kerfuffle over Dick Cheney's handling of classified material very closely, mostly because it looked like one of the mountains that Cheney's critics like to make out of molehills.  However, this issue does hold a political if not legal vulnerability …

The myth of "The Myth of the Paperless Office"  —  The "paperless office" is one of those catchphrases that gets bandied about for a while, only to disappoint and eventually be used in a purely derisive way.  As Wikipedia says, it has become 'a metaphor for the touting of new technology …

How conservative is Fred Thompson?  —  After John East, a stalwart conservative from North Carolina, entered the U.S. Senate in 1981, wags began referring to Jesse Helms as "the liberal senator from the Tar Heel state."  We are reminded of this tale as Republican activists rush to encourage …

Matt Taibbi Answers Your Questions  —  We asked for emails, and you responded: Rolling Stone political writer Matt Taibbi responds to two dozen reader questions below.  Note: Questions have been edited for length and/or clarity. … As a child I wanted to be a zoologist.

My Time as a Hostage, and I'm a Business Reporter  —  AS an American journalist based in China, I knew there was a good chance that at some point I'd be detained for pursuing a story.  I just never thought I'd be held hostage by a toy factory.  —  That's what happened last Monday …