Worried Banks Sharply Reduce Business Loans  —  Banks struggling to recover from multibillion-dollar losses on real estate are curtailing loans to American businesses, depriving even healthy companies of money for expansion and hiring.  —  Two vital forms of credit used by companies …

Petraeus won't join bandwagon for Iraq withdrawal timetable  —  BAGHDAD — The top U.S. military commander in Iraq isn't buying the increasingly popular idea of a publicly stated timetable for American troop withdrawal.  —  Gen. David Petraeus, the Iraq commander, said in an interview …

McCain Supports Ariz. Proposal to Ban Affirmative Action  —  Sen. John McCain said today that he supports a proposed initiative on the November ballot in Arizona that would ban preferential treatment on the basis of race or sex in public education, jobs and contracting, an apparent change …

Rights Issue Looms as Bush Heads to China  —  Diplomacy During Games Is Subject Of Intense Debate  —  With President Bush set to leave next week for the Olympics in Beijing, the White House is coming under increased pressure from lawmakers and advocacy groups to make a public statement …

Be Afraid.  Please.  —  Life is full of disappointments.  —  Early Friday, I went to the Real Clear Politics Web site, as I do every morning, for my fix of political news and commentary.  I perked up when I saw the third entry on the list of that day's notable articles — “No. 44 Has Spoken.”

New battles erupt over gun laws  —  From airports to Disney World, the fight to limit firearms continues in the courts  —  ATLANTA—Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down a ban on handguns, gun opponents are fighting to preserve or expand gun-free zones …

Democracy Group Gives Donors Access to McCain  —  As Senator John McCain waited to speak at the annual awards dinner of the International Republican Institute, a democracy-building group he has led for 15 years, lobbyists and business executives dominated the stage at a Washington hotel ballroom.

Speaking In Code  —  I haven't finished Jane Mayer's book The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals yet, but so far it's the probably the creepiest book I've read yet about the Torture Regime.  (Philippe Sands' book Torture Team …

TOP TEN THINGS THAT CREEP ME OUT ABOUT OBAMA  —  I know it is not politically correct to say that Obama “creeps me out.”  That's because immediately after uttering such blasphemy, our friends on the left would put me on the couch and matter of factly inform me that I am suffering from …

Second church shooting victim dead  —  This is a developing story.  Click “refresh” on your Web browser for the latest updates.  —  10:30 pmA neighbor told 10News Adkisson described himself as a “Confederate” and a “believer in the old South.”  She says Adkisson self-identified …

Listening to the Dalai Lama in Aspen  —  ASPEN — My late husband, Hunter S. Thompson, said that he was a teenage girl trapped in the body of an elderly dope fiend.  I realized something as I watched the highest ranking monk of Tibetan Buddhism: His Holiness is a teenage girl trapped in the body of a Dalai Lama!

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)  —  MR. TOM BROKAW: And we are here with Senator Obama late Saturday afternoon in London, the last stop of his nine-day overseas trip.  —  You head back to the United States in a few hours.  For purposes of this program, we'll say good morning.