Christian activists disrupt Hindu prayer in US Senate  —  WASHINGTON: Christian activists briefly disrupted a Hindu invocation in the US Senate on Thursday, marring a historic first for the chamber and showing that fundamentalism is present and shouting in the US too.

House OKs plan to withdraw US troops  —  WASHINGTON - The Iraqi government is achieving only spotty military and political progress, the Bush administration conceded Thursday in an assessment that war critics quickly seized on as confirmation of their dire warnings.

Defending an Iraq Strategy in a Race Against Time  —  Once again, President Bush tried today to buy more time for his strategy in Iraq, refusing to say when conditions there might allow him to begin the troop drawdown that he insists is his ultimate goal.  —  For now, at least …

Arrested pol is McCain campaign Florida co-chairman  —  You can DIGG this story, by clicking on this link: Arrested pol is McCain campaign Florida co-chairman.  —  A member of the Florida House of Representatives arrested yesterday on charges of soliciting a male undercover police officer …

Correspondent Inference Theory  —  Two people are sitting in a room together: an experimenter and a subject.  The experimenter gets up and closes the door, and the room becomes quieter.  The subject is likely to believe that the experimenter's purpose in closing the door was to make the room quieter.

The New York Times Surrenders A monument to defeatism on the editorial page  —  On July 8, the New York Times ran an historic editorial entitled "The Road Home," demanding an immediate American withdrawal from Iraq.  It is rare that an editorial gets almost everything wrong, but "The Road Home" pulls it off.

The cry should go up in Europe: more babies, please  —  Of all the bogeys you might have thought well and truly nailed in the past decade or so, the population control movement seemed most obviously to have a stake through its heart.  At a time when we - I mean, anyone over 35 …

An Inconvenient Turbine: Conservation vs. Preservation  —  Homeowners Who Go Green  —  Face Neighbors' Objections;  —  How Gore Got His Solar Panels  —  In neighborhoods across the country, there's a battle brewing: the environmentalists vs. the aesthetes.

Democrats Lead in Raising Money Online  —  The Democrats have established a commanding and growing dominance over Republicans in securing contributions online, reshaping the fund-raising landscape heading into the 2008 elections.  —  Online donations are emerging as a cornerstone …

Bush Distorts Qaeda Links, Critics Assert  —  In rebuffing calls to bring troops home from Iraq, President Bush on Thursday employed a stark and ominous defense.  "The same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq," he said, "were the ones who attacked us in America on September the 11th …

Poison for Profit  —  In November 2006, America's dogs and cats started dying painful, mysterious and sometimes gruesome deaths—canaries in the coal mine of a food safety system on the verge of collapse.  Previously healthy pets would suddenly vomit blood and bile, produce bloody diarrhea and lose control of bladder and bowel.

Dingell calls our bluff  —  Last Sunday, Rep. John Dingell appeared on the C-SPAN show Newsmakers for a 30-min. interview (transcript here; video accessible via the website), and caused an enormous ruckus with this: … The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Associated Press …

Brown to US: let's build, not destroy  —  Minister signals foreign policy shift ahead of PM's Washington trip  —  The first clear signs that Gordon Brown will reorder Britain's foreign policy emerged last night when one of his closest cabinet allies urged the US to change its priorities …

Democrats Will Try to Counter Ruling on Discrimination Suits  —  A Supreme Court decision restricting workers' ability to sue for wage discrimination has prompted Democrats to introduce legislation to counteract the ruling.  —  In May, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 against a supervisor …

Iran's Jews reject cash offer to move to Israel  —  Iran's Jews have given the country a loyalty pledge in the face of cash offers aimed at encouraging them to move to Israel, the arch-enemy of its Islamic rulers.  —  The incentives — ranging from £5,000 a person to £30,000 for families …