Passports probe focuses on worker  —  The State Department investigation of improper computer access to passport records of three presidential candidates is focusing on one remaining employee — a contract worker with a company headed by an adviser to the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama

Gallup Daily: Obama Edges Ahead of Clinton  —  Democratic nomination preference: Obama 48%, Clinton 45%  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama has quickly made up the deficit he faced with Hillary Clinton earlier this week, with the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update on Democratic presidential …

Newsrooms Revolt!  —  Profound sadness was my dominant emotion as I watched one of the cable news shows this morning.  Two attractive young ‘political analysts’, a handsome African American and a winsome blonde, (guess their politics), ‘illuminated’ the presidential race.

Classy  —  NYT: … (ht reader r)

Book Details U.S. Pressure On Allies Before War  —  UNITED NATIONS — In the months leading up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration threatened trade reprisals against friendly countries who withheld their support, spied on its allies, and pressed for the recall of U.N. envoys …

Incompetence  —  The past week saw a lot of “what did I get wrong"-type articles about Iraq and they frequently put me in the mind of the incompetence dodge.  I note that one frequent way in which people argue for the proposition that poor execution, rather than an underlying flawed concept …

Climate facts to warm to  —  CATASTROPHIC predictions of global warming usually conjure with the notion of a tipping point, a point of no return.  —  Last Monday - on ABC Radio National, of all places - there was a tipping point of a different kind in the debate on climate change.

So much for the ‘post-racial’ candidate  —  “I'm sure,” said Barack Obama in that sonorous baritone that makes his drive-thru order for a Big Mac, fries and strawberry shake sound profound, “many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.”

Washington Post's curious Iran reporting  —  William Branigin and Robin Wright have a rather factually flawed Washington Post article on President Bush's speech on Iran that suggests either extreme sloppiness or that integrity has gone out the window in the news section.

White House: Computer hard drives tossed  —  WASHINGTON - Older White House computer hard drives have been destroyed, the White House disclosed to a federal court Friday in a controversy over millions of possibly missing e-mails from 2003 to 2005.  —  The White House revealed new information …

No Admission for Evolutionary Biologist at Creationist Film  —  Two evolutionary biologists — P. Z. Myers of the University of Minnesota, Morris, and Richard Dawkins of Oxford — tried to go to the movies at the Mall of America in Minneapolis Thursday evening.  Dr. Dawkins got in.  Dr. Myers did not.

Broad Concerns about Internet Voting  —  The verdict is in on Internet voting, and if Caucus readers are any guide, it's a non-starter, at least for now.  We asked our readers a few days ago whether Internet voting might be a plausible way to stage re-votes in Michigan and Florida.

China offers its own version of protests  —  CHENGDU, China - With restive Tibetan areas swarming with troops and closed to scrutiny from the outside world, China's government turned up efforts Saturday to put its own version of the unrest before the international public.