Gov. Sanford not heard from since Thursday  —  The whereabouts of Gov. Mark Sanford have been unknown to state officials since Thursday, and some state leaders are questioning who is in charge of the executive office.  —  Neither the governor's office nor the State Law Enforcement Division …

Health Care Showdown  —  America's political scene has changed immensely since the last time a Democratic president tried to reform health care.  So has the health care picture: with costs soaring and insurance dwindling, nobody can now say with a straight face that the U.S. health care system …

Under Misspelled Banner, Buchanan And White Nationalist Brimelow Argue For English-Only Initiatives  —  On Saturday, Pat Buchanan hosted a conference to discuss how Republicans can regain a majority in America.  During one discussion, panelists suggested supporting English-only initiatives …

Iranian protester pleads for U.S., world to intervene  —  An Iranian student protester in Tehran made a passionate plea for help from the world community this morning in a phone call to CNN's “American Morning.”  —  For safety reasons, CNN can only identify the student by his first name, Mohammad.

US says hot dog diplomacy still on with Iran  —  WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States said Monday its invitations were still standing for Iranian diplomats to attend July 4 celebrations at US embassies despite the crackdown on opposition supporters.  —  President Barack Obama's administration …

Family, friends mourn Iranian woman whose death was caught on video  —  Neda Agha-Soltan, 26, ‘was a beam of light’ and not an activist, friends say.  The video footage of her bleeding to death on the street has turned her into an international symbol of the protest movement.

INITIAL THOUGHTS ON NAMUDNO: CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS BLINKED  —  Despite Chief Justice Roberts' longstanding skepticism of the Voting Rights Act and his blistering set of questions to supporters of section 5's constitutionality during oral argument, the Chief has managed to put together a coalition …

Iranian Rally Is Dispersed as Voting Errors Are Admitted  —  TEHRAN — Hours after a warning from the powerful Revolutionary Guards not to return to the streets, about a thousand protesters defiantly gathered in central Tehran on Monday and were quickly dispersed in an overwhelming show of force by police who used clubs and tear gas.

Rights, Responsibilities and Love  —  On Sunday, The Meriden Record-Journal published the following op-ed by Senator Chris Dodd  —  Public officials aren't supposed to change their minds.  But I firmly believe that it's important to keep learning.  Last week, while I was in Connecticut meeting …

Poll: Americans Less Upbeat About Stimulus Bill's Impact  —  Expectations for President Obama's stimulus package have diminished, with barely half of Americans now confident the $787 billion measure will boost the economy, and the rapid rise in optimism that followed the 2008 election has abated …

Gawker Says ‘Hi’ to Fox News Stalker; He Drives Away Like a Coward  —  We finally met Bill O'Reilly's stalker-producer Jesse Watters on Saturday.  It was a fleeting and civil encounter—jovial, even—but ultimately unsatisfying.  We asked him some questions about his stalking, and then he drove away, because he's a coward.

Understanding Obama on Iran  —  Call me thick, but I continue to be baffled by a lot of the commentary, cited by Rich and others, which gives as the rationale for President Obama's diffidence his purported determination to preserve the opportunity to negotiate with the mullahs on their nuclear program.

Sarkozy says burqas are ‘not welcome’ in France … PARIS (AP) - President Nicolas Sarkozy lashed out Monday at the practice of wearing the Muslim burqa, insisting the full-body religious gown is a sign of the “debasement” of women and that it won't be welcome in France.

No Country for Burly Men  —  How feminist groups skewed the Obama stimulus plan towards women's jobs.  —  A “man-cession.”  That's what some economists are starting to call it.  Of the 5.7 million jobs Americans lost between December 2007 and May 2009, nearly 80 percent had been held by men.

Scientology: The Truth Rundown, Part 1 of 3 in a special report on the Church of Scientology  —  After L. Ron Hubbard died, David Miscavige became Scientology's leader.  Former church executives say Miscavige beat his staff.  Church officials say the defectors are lying.  —  Reuters/Corbis (2006)]

Republicans are trying to shoot their own feet  —  What in name of Pierre S. duPont IV do the Republicans in the State Legislature think they are doing?  It's got to be the most ludicrous political strategy ever conceived, certainly in this state.  —  Republicans want to spare every teacher …

Corker Impatiently Blows Off Meeting With Sotomayor Because She Was Slowed By Temporary Disability  —  Last Thursday, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) was scheduled to meet with Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.  Yet when Sotomayor was delayed because of her recent injury, Corker decided …

Obama's Persian Tutorial  —  The president has to choose between the regime and the people in the streets.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  President Barack Obama did not “lose” Iran.  This is not a Jimmy Carter moment.  But the foreign-policy education of America's 44th president has just begun.

White House Changes the Terms of a Campaign Pledge About Posting Bills Online  —  During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised that once a bill was passed by Congress, the White House would post it online for five days before he signed it.  —  “When there's a bill that ends …

Muslim Mob Attacks Church and Loots Christian Homes in Egypt  —  (AINA) — An Egyptian Muslim mob attacked a church on Sunday, 6/21/2009 in the village of Ezbet Boshra-East, El-Fashn, smashing its windows and assaulting Copts with clubs and white weapons, wounding 25 Copts, in the presence and with the instigation of the State Security.

Two D.C. Metro trains collide, 4 confirmed dead  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — A rush-hour collision Monday between two Metro trains north of downtown Washington, D.C., killed at least four people and injured scores, Mayor Adrian Fenty said.  —  He called it the deadliest crash in the history …

Fictions on the Ground  —  I am old enough to remember when Israeli kibbutzim looked like settlements ("a small village or collection of houses" or “the act of peopling or colonizing a new country,” Oxford English Dictionary).  —  In the early 1960s, I spent time on Kibbutz Hakuk …

RANGEL COP ‘NIECE’ EYED IN PERP BOOST  —  SECOND PROBE HITS PA POLICE LIEUTENANT  —  A Port Authority police lieutenant who officials believe is the niece of Rep. Charles Rangel helped spring a trio of suspected pot smugglers from jail — just a month after trying to get a mentally ill …