1998 no longer the hottest year on record in USA  —  Here's a story of scientific investigation and discovery I'm proud to have had a small part in.  —  Regular readers may remember that I posted about a climate station in Detroit Lakes MN last week, surveyed by volunteer Don Kostuch …

President Bush Discusses American Competitiveness Initiative During Press Conference  —  THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, thank you.  When I came into office in 2001, our nation was headed into a recession.  So we cut the taxes across the board.  And hardworking Americans have used this tax relief …

Romney's Cash Beckons Iowans To Straw Poll  —  As thousands of Republican activists prepare to descend on Ames, Iowa, tomorrow for the straw poll meant to gauge support for the GOP's presidential contenders, the event has all the markings of a historic mismatch.

Charges dropped against 2 Marines in Haditha case  —  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A U.S. Marine general dropped all charges on Thursday against two Marines in the shooting deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha, scene of what Iraqi witnesses said was a massacre by American troops.

US public sees news media as biased, inaccurate, uncaring: poll  —  More than half of Americans say US news organizations are politically biased, inaccurate, and don't care about the people they report on, a poll published Thursday showed.  —  And poll respondents who use the Internet …

Okay, this is getting serious.  The media carnival about alleged war critics Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack "suddenly" expressing optimism about the surge is now threatening to balloon into something much larger than those two, a meme much more grotesque and Frankenstein-like.  Call it a Franken-meme.

The Gay Debate  —  Stay tuned here for some liveblogging of the first-ever gay-issues debate, being held by the Democrats in Los Angeles and carried on the LOGO network...  [You can watch live on the Logo Web site here.]  —  9:01: Margaret Carlson is moderating.

Progressive For Racist Smears?  (Update: Progressive Wises Up A Little Late)  —  Note: the site in question is now Not Safe for Work or family viewing.  See Update III. 5:15 — Now safe; see update IV.  —  It doesn't take long for provocateurs to crawl out of the woodwork to attack candidates, especially in stealth attacks.

The 2007 Club for Growth RePORK Card … These scores reflect the percentage of YES votes on 50 anti-pork amendments, which are itemized at the bottom of the page.  Four House members were not included on this scorecard:  —  1. Jo Ann Davis (R-VA-01) - recovering from surgery and thus did not vote

Present at the Creation  —  The only person the speechwriter Michael Gerson made look better than President Bush was Michael Gerson.  The shaping of a Washington reputation, as witnessed by a White House colleague  —  M ichael J. Gerson, my former speechwriting colleague in the Bush White House …