Helen Thomas retires after fallout from controversial Israel remarks  —  Helen Thomas announced Monday that “she is retiring, effective immediately,” according to a statement from Hearst newspapers.  —  Her decision comes after her controversial remarks about Israel hit the blogosphere.

Poll: BP Oil Spill Response Rated Worse than Katrina  —  Most Favor Criminal Charges Against BP and Others Involved in the Gulf of Mexico Spill  —  By more than a 2-to-1 margin, Americans support the pursuit of criminal charges in the nation's worst oil spill, with increasing numbers calling it a major environmental disaster.

Our hard-core, adversarial press corps  —  On Friday, CNN's Ed Henry posted a series of giggly, adolescent updates on his Twitter feed, describing the events that took place at a “beach” party thrown by Joe Biden, at the Vice President's mansion, for various “reporters” and White House officials.

Mysterious Billboard Puts Obama's Face on $100,000,000,000,000 Bill, Asks: ‘But Who Will Pay the Piper?’  —  (CNSNews.com) - Thanks to an advertiser who wishes to remain anonymous, cars and trucks on Arizona Highway 260 in East Central Arizona are driving by a billboard advertisement that recently went up …

WHITE HOUSE GONE WILD: Shirtless Favreau And Vietor's Sunday/Funday Beer Pong Match  —  Suns out, guns out...  It's going to take more than a little oil and a brittle economy to keep these White House staffers down...or their shirts on.  Check out White House spokesman Tommy Vietor …

GOP bad dream: Birther on ticket  —  California Republicans optimistic about their prospects in November could find themselves with a bit of a problem after the votes are counted in Tuesday's primaries - a statewide ticket with the so-called “Birther Queen” as one of their candidates.

The ties that bind.  Remember Rahm Emanuel's rent-free D.C. apartment?  The owner: A BP adviser  —  In case you were tempted to buy the faux Washington outrage at BP and its gulf oil spill in recent days, here's a story that reveals a little-known corporate political connection and the quiet …

The 40 Best Conservative Blogs For 2010 (Version 2.0)  —  It's time for me to rank my favorite blogs for the 2nd quarter of 2010.  Do keep in mind that as the quarter has progressed, some blogs have, of course, moved up and others have dropped, based on how often I visit them, how much I like what I see when I get there, how often...

Move On, MoveOn!  —  What's Your Reaction: … An Open Invitation to MoveOn.org from the Left (AKA anti-party) Wing of the Independent Movement  —  Co-authored by Harry Kresky and Jason Olson  —  On May 2, 2010 MoveOn.org launched its “most important campaign ever,” an effort to …

The Night Beat, 6/7: Obama Kicks Ass.  But Whose Ass?  —  1. “Whose ass to kick.”  The phrase that will resonate tomorrow.  President Obama said it during an interview with NBC's Matt Lauer in re, his consultations with smart people about the oil spill, and what he hop[ed to learn from them.

Bauer says polygraph results prove he's not behind Haley attacks … Bauer tells WCSC he'll “absolutely” take a lie detector test  —  Also on the Web  —  COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer has released the results of a lie detector test which he says proves he isn't behind a string …

How do they get to be that way?  —  How would I feel if I were a brown student at Miller Valley Elementary School in Prescott, Arizona?  A mural was created to depict some of the actual students in the school.  —  Let's say I was one of the lucky ones.  The mural took shape …

U.S. To “Look Back” And Prosecute Leaker  —  Kevin Poulsen and Kim Zetter report for Wired: … It's really no surprise that the Army is interesting in arresting leakers, but it's a reminder of what weak tea the notion that there can be no prosecutions of Bush administration officials because that would be …

White House Endorses Unlimited Liability Cap For Oil Spillers  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Democrats in Congress and officials in the White House are making yet another major push to pass legislation to make the liability for oil companies involved in damaging spills unlimited.

49% Say Pro-Palestinian Activists To Blame in Gaza Ship Incident  —  Forty-nine percent (49%) of U.S. voters believe pro-Palestinian activists on the Gaza-bound aid ships raided by Israeli forces are to blame for the deaths that resulted in the high-profile incident.

Human Experimentation at the Heart of Bush Administration's Torture Program  —  High-value detainees captured during the Bush administration's “war on terror,” who were subjected to brutal torture techniques, were used as “guinea pigs” to gauge the effectiveness of various torture techniques …

Tax Hikes and the 2011 Economic Collapse  —  Today's corporate profits reflect an income shift into 2010.  These profits will tumble next year, preceded most likely by the stock market.  —  People can change the volume, the location and the composition of their income, and they can do so in response to changes in government policies.

It's useful to have geniuses around  —  A neat anecdote from inside the administration's response to the oil spill: … Graphic credit: XKCD  —  Environment - Xkcd - Energy - Oil spill - United States