Gonzales's Truthfulness Long Disputed  —  Claims of Misstatements to Shield Bush Stretch Back a Decade  —  When Alberto R. Gonzales was asked during his January 2005 confirmation hearing whether the Bush administration would ever allow wiretapping of U.S. citizens without warrants …

Mesopotamia: The Champions of Asia  —  I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said hat today has been as exciting as one of those election days in Baghdad.  Our national soccer team is playing for the Asian cup for the first time in its history.  By comparison this is as if the American team …

A Proposal To CNN  —  The Republican reluctance to engage in the scheduled September YouTube debate has created a fierce debate in the blogosphere, including something of a civil war at Hugh Hewitt's Townhall blog.  Hugh himself has adamantly insisted that Republican candidates eschew …

Strike Up The Band  —  On the Stephanopoulos bobble head roundtable this morning, Cokie Roberts raised the baton and started the drumbeat: the Democrats risk moving waaaaay too far to the left and that is going to be a biiiiig problem for them "just like it was in Vietnam."  Yes, she said it out loud.

Sudan: Jews behind Darfur conflict  —  Sudanese defense minister says '24 Jewish organizations fueling conflict in Darfur'  —  Sudan's defense minister, Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein, has accused "24 Jewish organizations" of "fueling the conflict in Darfur" last week in an interview with a Saudi newspaper.

Same Old Question, Different Answer.  Hmmm.  —  THE war in Iraq is the single most important continuing news issue right now.  Public opinion about the war is a critical part of that story.  That's why when a finding about the war in a New York Times poll could not be easily explained …

Blogger fest a magnet for liberal politicos  —  The second annual gathering of the Daily Kos political blog starts this week in Chicago, and here's all you need to know about how influential the YearlyKos convention has become: Five top presidential candidates are going …

The Summer of Skepticism  —  When spectators jeered Michael Rasmussen, a world-class Danish cyclist, at the end of a long day's climb through the Pyrenees in the Tour de France last week, they turned the sporting world upside down.  —  The fans were not upset because Rasmussen had performed badly.

A Crude Awakening  —  C&L July Film of the Month: A CRUDE AWAKENING The Oil Crash  —  Documentary by Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack … If An Inconvenient Truth could be considered The Wizard of Oz of environmental documentaries, then A Crude Awakening would have be considered the Rosemary's Baby of that same genre.

Schumer Shows Support for Wall Street  —  June was a busy month for Senator Charles E. Schumer.  On the phone, at large parties and small gatherings around the nation, he raised more than $1 million from the booming private equity and hedge fund industries for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, of which he is chairman.

Official: U.N. troop standards too low  —  VIENNA, Austria — U.N. standards for selecting peacekeepers are too low, and soldiers from countries whose armies are suspected of abuse should not be considered for peacekeeping duty, the U.N.'s chief anti-torture investigator said.

Zimbabwe's Leader Says He'll Print More Cash  —  Pledge Comes Despite Inflation-Fueled Crisis  —  President Robert Mugabe has promised to print more money to fund municipal projects, a government newspaper reported Saturday.  The pledge came despite hyperinflation that has created severe shortages …

Shi Tao's case: Yahoo! knew more than they claimed  —  Yahoo! executives say one thing in public, an official Chinese document says something else.  Oops.  —  I just discovered today that the Dui Hua Foundation, which does excellent, low-key work on Chinese human rights issues, has a blog.

After the Next 9/11  —  Americans are stupid about risk, me included.  It's nuts to fear plane crashes more than car crashes; loopy to be more afraid of online sexual predators than of lightning; irrational to pay more attention to shark attacks than to climate change.

Pace U's Koran-flusher: Examining the (presumptive) charges; Update: Unconstitutional?  —  The word from LGF is that he's being charged with two felonies, criminal mischief and aggravated harassment.  Fair or not?  Let's look at the statutes.  —  Criminal mischief is section 145 of the NYS Penal Code.