Ahmadinejad Is Declared Victor, but Rival Protests  —  TEHRAN —President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won Iran's presidential election in a landslide, officials of Iran's election commission said Saturday morning.  But his main rival, Mir Hussein Moussavi, had already announced defiantly just two hours …

US Guantanamo deal ‘kept from UK’  —  The US made a secret deal with Bermuda - a British overseas territory - to accept the Uighur detainees  —  A senior US official has told the BBC Washington decided not to tell London ahead of time about a deal to resettle four Guantanamo detainees in Bermuda.

Obama DOJ lies to Politico in defending hate brief against gays  —  Ben Smith at Politico just reported the following statement from the Department of Justice over their brief, filed last night, comparing gay marriage to incest: … Yeah, you see, that's an outright lie.

New York Lawmaker Calls on CBS to Fire Letterman for Palin Comments  —  New York State Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, a Republican, is calling on the CEO of CBS to fire David Letterman for crude comments he made about Sarah Palin and her daughter.  —  In the letter to CBS chief Les Moonves …

House Health-Care Bill to Include $600 Billion in Tax Increases  —  Health-care overhaul legislation being drafted by House Democrats will include $600 billion in tax increases and $400 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel said.

US cities may have to be bulldozed in order to survive  —  Dozens of US cities may have entire neighbourhoods bulldozed as part of drastic “shrink to survive” proposals being considered by the Obama administration to tackle economic decline.  —  The government looking at expanding …

Privacy May Be a Victim in Cyberdefense Plan  —  WASHINGTON — A plan to create a new Pentagon cybercommand is raising significant privacy and diplomatic concerns, as the Obama administration moves ahead on efforts to protect the nation from cyberattack and to prepare for possible offensive operations …

Dodd's Irish Cottage: Was $190,000.  Now $658,000  —  Christopher Dodd house in Ireland (HANDOUT / March 6, 2009)  —  A new appraisal of the Irish cottage owned by Sen. Christopher Dodd concludes that it is worth about three times as much as Dodd has been reporting on his financial disclosure forms.

Underground Drama  —  For some reason, the mainstream media don't seem to realize this is even happening: … It goes on to discuss the recalcitrance among anti-war members in the House along with those Democrats who are properly skeptical of the IMF in general and who recognize that these bailouts have become politically toxic.

Remember Iraq?  You will soon enough  —  Iraq is receding from our national consciousness (Stephen Colbert's efforts to remind us about the war notwithstanding).  The combined effects of the success of the surge, President Bush signing a restrictive Status of Forces Agreement …

Bush Lawyer Ordered to Testify  —  A federal judge has ruled that John Yoo, a former Bush administration lawyer who wrote crucial memorandums justifying harsh interrogation techniques, will have to answer in court to accusations that his work led to a prisoner's being tortured and deprived of his constitutional rights.

The Audacity of Bullying  —  Peter Beinart pens a column in which he, I think inadvertently, suggests just how ill-conceived Obama's overt hostility toward Israel is.  Beinart suggests the president is doing it to show he's a tough guy, and because he can get away with it.  He writes:

Blogger's baby was a hoax  —  Woman captivates thousands in anti-abortion movement with false story of difficult pregnancy  —  Beccah Beushausen photographed near her home, Wednesday, June 10, 2009.  (David Pierini / Chicago Tribune / June 10, 2009)  —  The unmarried mother's story …

Former President GHW Bush stands up for Sotomayor  —  (CNN)-Former President George H.W. Bush stood up for his former judicial nominee Sonia Sotomayor Friday, telling CNN Anchor Robin Meade that GOP critics who called President Obama's Supreme Court pick a racist were off-base, and unfair.

White House Browbeats Dem Freshmen On War Money: “You'll Never Hear From Us Again”  —  The White House is playing hardball with Democrats who intend to vote against the supplemental war spending bill, threatening freshmen who oppose it that they won't get help with reelection and will be cut off …

Climate pact in jeopardy as China refuses to cut carbon emissions  —  China will not make a binding commitment to reduce carbon emissions, putting in jeopardy the prospects for a global pact on climate change.  —  Officials from Beijing told a UN conference in Bonn yesterday that China …