Obama to POLITICO: Some in Congress hypocritical on spill  —  President Barack Obama said Friday that some members of Congress are being hypocritical when it comes to blaming the White House for its handling of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  —  In an interview with POLITICO …

Saudi Arabia gives Israel clear skies to attack Iranian nuclear sites  —  Saudi Arabia has conducted tests to stand down its air defences to enable Israeli jets to make a bombing raid on Iran's nuclear facilities, The Times can reveal.  —  In the week that the UN Security Council imposed …

Something Fishy in South Carolina?  —  Is there something suspicious about the results in the US Senate primary victory of unknown Democrat Alvin Greene, who defeated fellow Democrat Vic Rawl, 59 percent to 41 percent?  I'm not sure yet, but there is a whiff of something strange going on here.

Saint Sarah  —  To white evangelical women, Sarah Palin is a modern-day prophet, preaching God, flag, and family—while remaking the religious right in her own image.  —  Sarah Palin's pro-woman rallying cry is poised to transform the Christian right into a women's movement.

Schumer Says It ‘Makes Sense’ To ‘Strangle [Gaza] Economically’ Until It Votes The Way Israel Wants  —  This past Wednesday, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) delivered a wide-ranging speech at an Orthodox Union event in Washington, D.C. The senator's lecture touched on areas such as Iran's nuclear program …

Flash floods kill at least 16 at Ark. campground  —  CADDO GAP, Ark. - Floodwaters that rose as swiftly as 8 feet an hour tore through a campground packed with vacationing families early Friday, carrying away tents and overturning RVs as campers slept.  At least 16 people were killed, and dozens more missing and feared dead.

THE HEARTBREAKING TRUCE  —  I received an astonishing email today from a concerned friend who has been very influential in the fight to end the scourge of abortion.  —  Apparently, a 2012 Republican presidential prospect in an interview with a reporter has made the suggestion that the next President …

Boehner: Dems busy with ‘backroom deals’ so they don't have to pass budget  —  This week's Republican address was all about jobs, jobs, jobs - and how Democrats aren't creating any.  —  House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) focused on the largely jobless recovery and the rising deficit, which he said are linked.

Arizona's Next Immigration Target: Children of Illegals  —  “Anchor babies” isn't a very endearing term, but in Arizona those are the words being used to tag children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants.  While not new, the term is increasingly part of the local vernacular because the primary authors …

Republicans Jubilant About Gulf Coast Coverage  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  Republican communication strategists in Washington and Louisiana are thrilled at the press coverage of the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, according to e-mails from GOP officials accidentally sent to the Huffington Post.

Raft guide arrested after helping stranded rafter on Clear Creek  —  Clear Creek sheriff's deputies on Thursday arrested a rafting guide for swimming to a stranded young rafter who had tumbled from his boat on Clear Creek.  —  Ryan Daniel Snodgrass, a 28-year-old guide with Arkansas Valley …

The Left and the Afghan War.  —  Michael Cohen has a smart take on how the Left has been laying low on Afghanistan, noting that “The American Prospect, along with Salon, has devoted enormous and laudable energy to covering civil liberties issues related to the U.S. war on terror …

Health overhaul to force changes in employer plans  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - Over and over in the health care debate, President Barack Obama said people who like their current coverage would be able to keep it.  —  But an early draft of an administration regulation estimates that many employers …

President attended fundraiser during Gulf memorial service  —  (CNN) - According his official schedule, President Obama did not attend the May 25 memorial service in Jackson, Mississippi for the workers who died in the Deepwater Horizon explosion because he was en route to a fundraiser for Sen. Barbara Boxer …

Iceland passes gay marriage law in unanimous vote  —  (Reuters) - Iceland, the only country in the world to have an openly gay head of state, passed a law on Friday allowing same-sex partners to get married in a vote which met with no political resistance.  —  The Althingi parliament voted 49 …

A Brief, Possibly Drug-Induced Peruvian-Chasidic Interlude  —  Charles Mann forwarded me this video, along with a post by Alma Guillermoprieto that attempts to explain the video, nearly successfully.  I don't know what to make of much anymore, especially this, though I will say it is pleasing …

Gov. Charlie Crist vetoes abortion bill  —  TALLAHASSEE — As he positions himself to the center in the U.S. Senate race, Gov. Charlie Crist on Friday vetoed a measure requiring most women to pay for an ultrasound and hear a description of the fetus before they can have an abortion.

Mind Over Mass Media  —  NEW forms of media have always caused moral panics: the printing press, newspapers, paperbacks and television were all once denounced as threats to their consumers' brainpower and moral fiber.  —  So too with electronic technologies.  PowerPoint, we're told, is reducing discourse to bullet points.

Hispanic Voters' Preferences Unchanged Post-Arizona Law  —  Two-to-one preference for Democrat is nearly identical to intentions before passage  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Hispanic voters nationwide haven't shifted their congressional voting preferences since the signing of Arizona's new immigration law on April 23.

Iran and the ‘Freedom Recession’  —  Facebook had no answer to the pro-regime vigilantes who ruled the streets.  And the U.S. president, who might have helped, stood aside.  —  Three decades ago, before his final flight to exile, the Shah of Iran had drawn a line: He would not fire on his people.