Israeli troops board aid ship bound for Gaza  —  Israeli naval forces boarded an Irish-owned ship bound for Gaza today, just five days after killing nine passengers in a bloody raid on a previous aid convoy.  —  The commandos boarded the ship “with the full compliance” …

Obama Knew the Spill Was Hopeless  —  Blogs and Stories  —  As the president visits the Gulf anew, Richard Wolffe reports that he was first briefed in April on how bad the spill would be.  Plus: the real reason the White House is so mad at Carville—and why Obama would rather talk about the economy.

IDF Releases Apparently Doctored Flotilla Audio; Press Reports As Fact  —  The IDF's propaganda is increasingly incredulous, yet the media is enthusiastically playing along.  This audio, which purports to show flotilla passengers telling the IDF to “go back to Auschwitz,” …

Altered mural fuels racial debate in Prescott  —  A group of artists has been asked to lighten the faces of children depicted in a giant public mural at a Prescott school.  —  The project's leader says he was ordered to lighten the skin tone after complaints about the children's ethnicity.

Die In A Fire, You Vicious Racist Scumbag  —  I didn't address State Sen. Jake Knotts' “raghead” comments earlier, because I had little to say to the refuted man, save for some rather colorful words.  Today, he proved himself even more odious than even first thought.  Via Hot Air (emphasis theirs):

Glimpses of Kagan's Views in Clinton White House  —  WASHINGTON — A new cache of documents from Elena Kagan's days as an adviser to President Bill Clinton shows that she frequently scribbled notes in the margins of memorandums yet rarely expressed forceful views.

Dem strategists turning to Crist in Florida Senate race  —  WASHINGTON — Top Democratic strategists are abandoning their party's frontrunner in the Florida Senate race in favor of Independent Charlie Crist, who bolted the Republican party over the state party's rightward lurch toward the Tea Party.

Helen Thomas: Go home to Europe, Jews  —  Tony Snow once accused her of stating “the Hezbollah view” in her questions during the Israel/Lebanon war.  Little did he know how right he was.  Or maybe he did know: Watching this, it occurred to me that an 89-year-old reporter who's moved …

Queen's birthday gaffe leaves Hillary Clinton red faced  —  Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, has been left red faced after mistakenly sending a birthday message to the Queen a week early.  —  An official statement from the US foreign policy chief paid tribute to the …

BLASTS FROM THE PAST!  Old patterns could return, some liberals warn.  Other libs seem to embrace them:  —  The news is a novel/The Kiss was just a kiss: On Tuesday's Hardball, a marvelous moment occurred, involving a treasured press corps novel.  The most dishonest broadcaster of our age …

BP Funneling Some of Leak to the Surface  —  HOUSTON — BP and government officials said Friday that a cap installed over a gushing well in the Gulf of Mexico was funneling some oil and gas to the surface, but they cautioned that much was still leaking and that it would be days before they could declare …

John Wooden, Who Built Incomparable Dynasty at U.C.L.A., Dies at 99  —  Correction Appended  —  John Wooden, a staid Midwesterner who migrated to U.C.L.A. and became college basketball's most successful coach, earning the nickname the Wizard of Westwood and an enduring place in sports history …

State parole board votes to release 1973 cop killer  —  A state parole board has voted to release a cop-killing kidnapper involved in a 47-hour hostage standoff in Brooklyn in 1973, officials said today.  —  Shuaib Raheem was initially granted parole three years ago in a decision …

Palin Backs Branstad - Vander Plaats Supporters Howl  —  In a surprise move just days before Iowa Republicans go to the poll to nominate a gubernatorial candidate, Sarah Palin decided to weigh in and endorsed former Governor Terry Branstad yesterday.  —  Her endorsement caught many off guard, including Branstad himself.