No attack on Iran �-?this year.�-?
�-�A well-informed source tells United Press International that according to senior U.S. intelligence officials, President Bush has definitely decided not to strike any of Iran�-?s alleged nuclear weapons production facilities this year. The sources say the officials stressed the words �-?this year,�-? meaning in 2007. That, however, does not rule out the possibility of military intervention in 2008, right until January 2009, when Bush�-?s term in the White House comes to an end.�-?�=

A New Escapade
At a high level, U.S. officials are working with their Turkish counterparts on a joint military operation to suppress Kurdish guerrillas and capture their leaders. Through covert activity, their goal is to forestall Turkey from invading Iraq�-� The Turkish initiative reflects the temperament and personality of George W. Bush. Even faithful congressional supporters of his Iraq policy have been stunned by the president’s upbeat mood, oblivious to the loss of his political base.
Our president is only happy when he�-?s planning to kill a bunch of people.

President Bush Participates in Joint Press Availability with Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom
PRESIDENT BUSH: Look, people who kill innocent men, women and children to achieve political objectives are evil, that’s what I think.

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Steve Bradenton

93 slain across Iraq in last two days
A minibus exploded Monday in a Baghdad market, killing at least six people a brutal reminder of the dangers facing Iraqis, who only hours ago were joyously united after their underdog national soccer team won the prestigious Asian Cup.

Relief groups: 8 million Iraqis need aid
About 8 million Iraqis — nearly a third of the population — need immediate emergency aid because of the humanitarian crisis caused by the war, relief agencies said Monday.

Iraqi parliament adjourns for August
BAGHDAD - Iraq’s parliament on Monday shrugged off U.S. criticism and adjourned for a month, as key lawmakers declared there was no point waiting any longer for the prime minister to deliver Washington-demanded benchmark legislation for their vote.

Forward Observer: Last Best Chance
Retired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner, who learned the complexities of Iraq first hand by fighting as a soldier in Kurdish territory during the first Gulf War and by serving as President Bush’s peacemaker during the second one, believes partitioning the country into Shia, Sunni and Kurdish states is the only way to avoid an all-out civil war.

Lebanese troops bombard militants
BEIRUT, Lebanon - The army unleashed tank and artillery fire Monday on the hideouts of al-Qaida-inspired militants holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, a senior military official said.

Hamas charges Palestinian Authority with spying for the United States
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Hamas leaders who seized control of the Gaza Strip last month say they’ve uncovered intelligence files that indicate that the Palestinian Authority was gathering information on Pakistan’s nuclear program, storing sexual photographs of Palestinian leaders and tracking Islamist forces in other parts of the Middle East.

Tunnels are conduit for weapons to Gaza
RAFAH, Egypt - Hidden inside a bedroom closet just feet from a crib and a bed, an Egyptian army officer lifted floor tiles to reveal a hole: the entrance to a tunnel for smuggling weapons extending hundreds of yards across the border into the Gaza Strip.

Egyptian police clash with Bedouins
RAFAH, Egypt - Police clashed with Bedouins Monday protesting a government order to demolish their houses along the Palestinian Gaza Strip’s border, leaving dozens injured.

U.S. diplomat plays down Saudi remarks
UNITED NATIONS - The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on Monday stressed the importance of Saudi Arabia’s help in bringing peace to the Middle East, a day after he accused the kingdom of undermining U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq.
Yes, I guess so.

Taliban claim to kill 2nd Korean hostage
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A purported Taliban spokesman claimed the hardline militia killed a second South Korean hostage Monday because the Afghan government failed to release imprisoned insurgents. Afghan officials said they hadn’t recovered a body and couldn’t confirm the claim.

Australia refuses to apologise to terror suspect doctor
Australian Prime Minister John Howard dismissed calls for an inquiry into the bungled case of an Indian doctor suspected of terrorism, and said the Muslim medic should not expect an apology.

U.S. patients choosing Mexican hospitals for price, quality
Like vacations in sparkling Cancún or Cabo San Lucas, health care in Mexico is becoming high-quality, cheap and convenient, advocates say. As more Americans go without heath insurance or feel the pinch of managed care, some are making a run for the border for treatment ranging from routine care to live-saving procedures.

Revealed: MI5’s role in torture flight hell
An Iraqi who was a key source of intelligence for MI5 has given the first ever full insider’s account of being seized by the CIA and bundled on to an illegal ‘torture flight’ under the programme known as extraordinary rendition.

UN: Ethiopia, Eritrea still a concern
UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Security Council said Monday the lack of progress on resolving the divisive border issue between Ethiopia and Eritrea remained a cause of “deep concern” and called on both countries to immediately withdraw their troops from the frontier.

Security Council gearing up for imminent Darfur vote: sponsors
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The UN Security Council is gearing up for an imminent vote on a draft resolution authorizing joint African Union-UN peacekeeping in Darfur, Britain’s outgoing UN envoy said Monday.

BREAKING: House Democrats Introducing Bill To Investigate Impeachment Of Alberto Gonzales
MSNBC just reported that Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) announced he will be introducing a bill tomorrow that would require the House Judiciary Committee to begin an impeachment investigation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
Click through to watch the video.

Chief Justice Roberts suffers seizure
WASHINGTON - Chief Justice John Roberts suffered a seizure at his summer home in Maine on Monday, causing a fall that resulted in minor scrapes, Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said… Roberts had a similar episode in 1993, she said.

FBI raids Sen. Stevens’s Alaska home
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) raided the home of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) on Monday, advancing the corruption probe that has ensnared the once-untouchable GOP dean.

It’s “too soon” to know how the surge is going, but Petraeus “knows” we have to stay in Iraq at least another two years
You are watching a career-obsessed political puppet in action, with General Petraeus. I thought if the surge was a success, we could leave soon? Now it doesn’t even matter, we’re staying no matter what. Sure it will kill hundreds of US troops a month for the next two years, but at least George Bush can blame it all on the next president, and General Betray-us can blame it all on the next general.

Muslim Lawmaker Hears From Iraq Sheiks
WASHINGTON (AP) - Rep. Keith Ellison, Congress’ only Muslim, made a weekend trip to Iraq, where a pair of sheiks urged him to help counter al-Qaida’s vision of Islam… “They were very upset and concerned that al-Qaida is misrepresenting Islam,” Ellison told reporters Monday during a conference call from Germany on his way back to the U.S. “And they were talking to me about what I can possibly do to work with them to give a clearer, more accurate picture of what Islam is all about.”

Waxman and Obama Introduce Bill to Improve Emergency Medical Care and Response
On Wednesday, July 25, 2007, Rep. Waxman and Sen. Obama introduced legislation to help struggling emergency departments across the United States… The legislation introduced, H.R. 3173,  Improving Emergency Medical Care and Response Act of 2007, will provide support for research into emergency medicine and create a 5 year independently evaluated pilot program.

“I think I’d be dead if I’d stayed with the first provider.”
[In Sunday]’s NY Times … Karen Pasqualetto, describes her fight for treatment… “I think I’d be dead if I’d stayed with the first provider,” she said… Get that? She’d be dead if she stuck with her insurance company. In the United States of America, our health care system fails us. And, our leaders still haven’t come up with solutions. That’s what this health care debate is about. Real people really suffering and really dying.

Paul Krugman: An Immoral Philosophy
“President Bush says that access to care is no problem — ‘After all, you just go to an emergency room’ — and, with the support of the Republican Congressional leadership, he’s declared that he’ll veto any Schip expansion on ‘philosophical’ grounds. It must be about philosophy, because it surely isn’t about cost. One of the plans … would cost less over the next five years than we’ll spend in Iraq in the next four months. And it would be fully paid for by an increase in tobacco taxes.“

House OKs boost to veteran mental care
WASHINGTON - The House took steps Monday to improve counseling and care for the tens of thousands of military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with brain injuries and post traumatic stress disorder.

Pelosi looks for unity on energy bill
WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried to solidify Democratic support Monday behind her energy package and head off a rebellion among some oil-patch Democrats who argue the legislation would hurt U.S. energy production.

Dems unveil ethics plan
House and Senate Democrats on Monday unveiled an ethics package they touted as the strongest reform in decades, attracting bitter criticism from Republicans who vowed to fight the bill’s altered earmark-transparency rules.

Congress eyes pay raise for itself
WASHINGTON — After raising the minimum wage by 70 cents an hour this week, many members of Congress are ready to give themselves a pay increase of roughly $4,400 per year. That would take their annual salaries to nearly $170,000.
Don’t do it, Democrats.  Do not do it.

Democracy Corps Focus Group Analysis: Frustration, Demand for Change Continue to Grow (pdf)
Political environment remains largely unchanged, with intense pessimism driven by Iraq, health care, and a general sense that government is failing across the board. Democrats in Congress are given credit for trying to deliver change, particularly on Iraq, but frustration with the failure to actually accomplish meaningful change is growing more acute.

Rove Says Corruption Toppled Republican Majority
Karl Rove “told a closed-door meeting of 2008 Republican House candidates and their aides Tuesday that it was less the war in Iraq than corruption in Congress that caused their party’s defeat in the 2006 elections,” Robert Novak reports. “… In effect, Rove was rebutting the complaint inside the party that Bush is responsible for Republican miseries by invading Iraq.”
Keep believing that, Republicans, and the rout next year will be worse than the one last year.

N.C. near to shelving winner-take-all for electoral votes
RALEIGH, N.C. - North Carolina appears headed to becoming the third state in the nation to abandon the winner-take-all method for awarding its electoral votes as the House tentatively agreed Thursday to shelve the method. In its place, according to the measure approved on a largely party-line vote, would be a more proportional method that would reward the presidential candidate who receives the most votes in each of the state’s congressional districts.
It’s easier to negate the Electoral College this way than to amend the Constitution.

In Violation of Federal Law, Ohio’s 2004 Presidential Election Records Are Destroyed or Missing
In 56 of Ohio’s 88 counties, ballots and election records from 2004 have been “accidentally” destroyed, despite a federal order to preserve them — it was crucial evidence which would have revealed whether the election was stolen.

Profit optimism, financials fuel Wall St.’s rebound
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rebounded on Monday after a global equity sell-off last week, as optimism about earnings resurfaced and concern about credit conditions eased.

Study: Many boomers lack retirement fund
NEW YORK - Nearly one-third of baby boomers ages 51 to 61 are at risk of not having enough in savings to finance a comfortable retirement, according to a study being released Tuesday by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

Richie Rich 101
Last year, I went to an unusual summer camp. It was a three-day affair, held in a small classroom at UC Irvine, with about 20 attendees. They began arriving early in a stream of Range Rovers, BMWs and Mercedes. All were in their early to mid-20s. And all were about to inherit millions of dollars from their parents… The aim of the camp, officially called the Financial Skills Retreat, was to teach the children of today’s richest families how to manage the money they were about to inherit.

Workers are told to shape up or pay up
To hold down medical costs, some firms are penalizing workers who are overweight or don’t meet health guidelines.

Permanent link to MTA daily media news

In Games, an Insight Into the Rules of Evolution
In recent papers, Dr. [Martin] Nowak has argued that cooperation is one of the three basic principles of evolution. The other two are mutation and selection. On their own, mutation and selection can transform a species, giving rise to new traits like limbs and eyes. But cooperation is essential for life to evolve to a new level of organization. Single-celled protozoa had to cooperate to give rise to the first multicellular animals. Humans had to cooperate for complex societies to emerge.
I include this excerpt and the one below in the media section because they show why the 35-plus year campaign by a few right-wing rich families to convince Americans that greed is good has failed and will continue to fail.  I’d write a book about it if I could find a publisher.

Who’s Minding the Mind?
The subconscious brain is more active, independent and purposeful than once thought. Sometimes it takes charge… New studies have found that people tidy up more thoroughly when there’s a faint tang of cleaning liquid in the air; they become more competitive if there’s a briefcase in sight, or more cooperative if they glimpse words like “dependable” and “support” — all without being aware of the change, or what prompted it.

Refreshing Fare
[W]e suggest readers might find the following two articles a refreshing respite from the Am not-Are too deluge: In a piece for McClatchy Newspapers on Friday entitled “Clinton’s foreign record questioned,” Matt Stearns took the time to examine just what experience, exactly, Clinton keeps referring to… The other piece, in today’s Boston Herald, takes a historical look at speaking to dictators: “No harm in talking to tyrants: Presidents have long done just that.”… Actual reporting and historical reality trump stenography every time.

Soldier denies Tillman berated him in battle
[A] chaplain told investigators that [Sgt. Bryan] O’Neal said [Pat] Tillman was harsh in his last moments, snapping, ’Would you shut your (expletive) mouth? God’s not going to help you; you need to do something for yourself, you sniveling …” “He never would have called me ‘sniveling,”’ O’Neal said. “I don’t remember ever speaking to this chaplain, and I find this characterization of Pat really upsetting. He never once degraded me. He’s the only person I ever worked for who didn’t degrade anyone. He wasn’t that sort of person.”

Shedding Pen Name, Private Says He’s ‘Baghdad Diarist’
The decision of an Army private who has been writing anonymously for The New Republic to reveal his identity has not quieted critics at the rival Weekly Standard who continue to question the accuracy of the soldier’s deeply critical accounts from Iraq.

O’Hanlon Contradicts His Own Research To Portray Surge As Successful
In today’s New York Times, Brookings analysts Michael O’Hanlon and Ken Pollack argue that “the administration’s critics seem unaware of the significant changes taking place” as a result of the President’s surge strategy in Iraq. Just last week — on July 26 — O’Hanlon published a starkly different assessment of the conditions in Iraq.

Should everyone vote?
Jonah Goldberg: We test immigrants before they can go to the polls; why not everyone else?

Novak On YouTube Debate: ‘It Was Really Disgusting’
Appearing on Bloomberg Television this weekend, Novak said of the YouTube debate, “I thought it was really disgusting. … The reporters were terrible but this was ludicrous.” Novak argued, “You know when we did away with the monarchy and went through democracy, there was a lot of fear that this sort of thing would happen. It took 200 years but we got there.”

Oh Dear God, Make Them Stop: The Hill Picks The Most Beautiful List
Just proving once again that politics really is a beauty pageant, the publication The Hill puts out their “Hottest on the Hill” list. The only consolation? Nancy Pelosi is on the list.

BTP 1, David Brooks Zero
Brooks claimed that earnings for the working poor had risen by 80 percent since 1991. In fact, this claim only applied to families with children, there were no gains in earnings for low-income families without children. Brooks acknowleged this error in his column this morning, although he did not also point out that earnings for these families have fallen by 20 percent since 2001, or that the vast majority of the gains in earnings were offset by a loss in benefits. Nor did he acknowledge any of the other misleading statements in that column, but it’s a start.

USA Today Wants You to Believe That the Baby Boomers Will Break Disability
In Monday’s paper, USA Today reports on a growing backlog of disability cases being processed by the Social Security administration. The article tells us that the aging of the baby boomers is a main cuplrit and the problem will get worse as the boomers continue to age. Actually, the problem won’t get worse, or at least the problem won’t get worse because the boomers are aging. Disabled people of working age get disability benefits. When workers hit age 62, they qualify for retirement benefits, whether or not a disability keeps them from working.

Wash. Post said Bush wiretapping program covered calls where “one party had been tied to al-Qaeda”
[A]s Media Matters has repeatedly noted…, several news articles in 2006 reported that the warrantless eavesdropping program was not limited to calls in which one party was “tied to al-Qaeda,” but that it also ensnared thousands of Americans with no ties to any terrorist group. For instance, on November 25, 2006, The New York Times reported that “government officials involved” in the wiretapping program “have said that it has often led to dead ends and to people with no clear links to terrorism.”

Wash. Post reported Republican claim of “do-nothing” Congress, ignored GOP “obstructionist” strategy
[W]hile [Jonathan] Weisman noted that Democrats “have passed half” of their “6 for ‘06″ domestic legislative agenda, he left out the role of Senate Republicans in blocking Democratic initiatives, which they have done at an unprecedented rate — apparently as part of what Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-MS) has described as an “obstructionist” strategy.

Kurtz allowed political appointee Cullum to compare Bush U.S. attorney firings to Clinton’s without challenge*
Except for approximately five seconds of on-screen text, [Blanquita] Cullum was not identified as a Bush appointee, even while she defended the Bush administration’s controversial firings of nine U.S. attorneys by attacking former President Bill Clinton’s administration.* Further, while discussing the controversy surrounding apparent contradictions in Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales’ testimony relating to the ongoing U.S. attorney scandal, [Howard] Kurtz allowed Cullum to make a misleading comparison in defense of the U.S. attorneys scandal — comparing them to President Clinton’s removal of 93 U.S. attorneys when he took office.

Scientific oddities will always catch the reporter’s eye
For the Lancet Press release corresponding to the 21 July 2007 issue, we covered five topics: acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, blood pressure, man with a tiny brain, and overseas doctors. Which one was picked up most by press worldwide?  You guessed it, man with a tiny brain.

Greenspan: other groups interested in Dow Jones investment
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Internet entrepreneur Brad Greenspan said Monday that over five separate groups are now interested in investing in Dow Jones & Co., alongside his own Journal Investment Group. Greenspan, one of the founders of MySpace.com, has previously offered to acquire a stake in Dow Jones through a leveraged recapitalization, while investing in its online properties.

Wary of Dow Jones, The Financial Times Is Looking for a Media Partner
LONDON, July 30 — Pearson, the owner of The Financial Times, said Monday that it was talking to a number of potential partners about new ways to display the newspaper’s journalism as it weighed the effects of Rupert Murdoch’s bid for Dow Jones & Company, owner of The Wall Street Journal.

Newspaper Stocks Follow Dow Jones Off The Cliff
Investors sold off Dow Jones & Co. stock Monday as reports surfaced that too few Bancroft family shares would vote for Rupert Murdoch’s rich $60-a-share bid — and for good measure, they hammered down prices in the rest of the newspaper sector, too.

Flashes of the Obvious and How Great Movie Trailer Mashups Are
[A]fter [reading] a story in the NYTimes about the popularity of Jane Austen, I spent a couple hours on Saturday night emersed in the Jane Austen video mashups on Youtube. They are beautiful and creative and fascinating. Kids are taking either the trailer voiceover from the most recent moving, Becoming Jane, and mashing it with other videos… Massive copyright violation, but if I were the movie studios, I would be ecstatic.

Blogosphere At Age 10 Is Improving Journalism
Although hard to believe, this month marks the 10th anniversary of blogging. And what a milestone it is.

Blogging the Backstory
Reporters who are wondering what to blog about, take note of a post published today in Watchdog Earth, by Louisville Courier-Journal environment reporter James Bruggers: Covering the Army Corps of Engineers. It’s a great example of how a reporter’s blog can tie together past and ongoing stories, to give readers insight into the process of reporting.

Salon’s Walsh Shrugs Off HuffPo Threat
Salon.com Editor in Chief Joan Walsh: “Our traffic has doubled since Huffington Post came on the scene.”

Local lives
I care about local and so do most people I know, regardless of age. We care about our local taxes, restaurants, crimes, construction, economy, services, communities, neighborhoods, and gossip, too. I would take in more local reporting — more broadly definied — if it existed. I say we need more local reporting, not less, and it needs to get more local.

New Life on the Web for a Killed Newspaper Column
A column killed at The Los Angeles Times finds new life on a Web site called L.A. Observed.

Music From Independent Labels to Be Sold via Cellphones
EMusic plans to announce a deal with AT&T that will allow people to buy songs from independent labels through their cellphones, without going through a personal computer.

Environmentalists Push, but Home Depot Refuses to Drop Ads on Fox News
Activists are urging Home Depot to withdraw advertising from Fox News, whose hosts and commentators dismiss global warming as liberal hysteria.

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Supercomputer Makes Near-Instant Movies of California Quakes
Only in California will you soon be able to experience a life-threatening earthquake and watch a locally made, supercomputer-generated, 3-D movie of that shaking ground within 30 minutes of the first jolt.

“Magic” blackboard
New interactive electronic board engages students and teachers.

Caffeine, exercise may help ward off skin cancer
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Exercise and moderate caffeine consumption together could help ward off sun-induced skin cancer, researchers said on Monday, but cautioned against ditching the sun screen in favor of a jog and a cappuccino. 

Experimental Therapy Reverses Type 1 Diabetes in Mice
Preparatory work for human trials already under way, researchers say

New Test Helps Detect Spreading Breast Cancer
Assists doctors in deciding appropriate therapy

NASA Insiders Propose Stepping Stone Path to Deep Space
GOLDEN, Colo. – NASA’s Constellation Program – including the deployment of the Orion crew vehicle replacing the space shuttle – will first be assigned to International Space Station flights, then propel humans and cargo to the Moon. Expeditionary missions to Mars and beyond will follow.

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Environment

Global warming forces Forest Service to reconsider strategy
Among all the talk of carbon sequestration, biofuels and corporate average fuel economy, forests have been mostly overlooked on Capitol Hill. By some estimates, the forests could absorb 500 million tons of carbon dioxide a year — about a third of the carbon dioxide the United States produces annually… Later this year, the Forest Service is expected to unveil a global warming-related forest management plan.

Mighty Lake Superior Mystifies Scientists
Something seems amiss with mighty Superior, the deepest and coldest of the Great Lakes, which together hold nearly 20 percent of the world’s fresh surface water… [O]ver the past year, its level has ebbed to the lowest point in eight decades and will set a record this fall if, as expected, it dips three more inches.

Electric Racers Speed Past Fuel Dragsters
Electric vehicles are making their presence felt at amateur drag races across the country, challenging gas-powered cars and motorcycles. The “amp heads,'’ computer geeks and tree-hugging environmentalists driving the electron-powered vehicles are starting to kick some major rear end.

U.S. vehicles rank bottom in fuel efficiency
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States ranks at the bottom of industrialized countries in vehicle fuel-economy standards, but would jump far up the list if legislation to boost mileage requirements clears Congress and is signed into law, according to a report released on Monday.

Leahy: Gonzales must clarify statements
WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales must quickly clarify apparent contradictions in his testimony about warrantless spying or risk a possible perjury investigation, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Sunday.

The Illustrated Daily Scribble

Iraqis bask in rare joy after soccer win
BAGHDAD - Tens of thousands of Iraqis from the Shiite south to the Kurdish-dominated north poured into the usually treacherous streets Sunday to celebrate a rare moment of joy and unity when the national team won Asia’s most prestigious soccer tournament.

As U.S. rebuilds, Iraqi minister won’t take over finished work
Iraq’s national government is refusing to take possession of thousands of American-financed reconstruction projects, forcing the United States either to hand them over to local Iraqis, who often lack the proper training and resources to keep the projects running, or commit new money to an effort that has already consumed billions of taxpayer dollars.

U.S.-tribal alliances draw Iraqi ire
[T]he U.S. military command to step up efforts to recruit residents to set up local protection forces, authorizing officers to use emergency cash and other funds to strike contracts with tribal leaders… “They solve one problem by creating another,” said Sami Askari, an aide to Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and member of his Islamic Dawa Party. “This is a seed for civil war.”

US envoy criticizes Saudi Arabia on Iraq
WASHINGTON - The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said Sunday that ally Saudi Arabia was undermining efforts to stabilize Iraq.
What on earth can THAT be about?  The administration just approved the sale of a bunch of weapons to the Saudis.

As Rice and Gates travel to Middle East, air of futility pervades
WASHINGTON — As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates head out Monday on a rare joint trip to the Middle East, it’s not clear what they can accomplish… America’s credibility in the region has plummeted. The U.S. has failed to stabilize Iraq, destroy al Qaida, pacify Lebanon, isolate Syria or bolster moderate Palestinians. Instead, its policies have fueled Sunni Muslim extremism and emboldened Shiite Iran, which America’s moderate Arab allies consider the two greatest threats to their rule.

Palestinians begin to return to Gaza
EREZ CROSSING, Gaza Strip - More than 100 Palestinians stranded for weeks in Egypt after the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip began returning home Sunday, entering Israel and riding buses to a crossing point into northern Gaza.

Israel backs U.S. arms sale to Saudis
JERUSALEM - In a break from historic Israeli opposition to U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday his country understands Washington’s plan to supply state-of-the-art weapons to Riyadh as a counterweight to Iranian influence.

Afghan leaders: Free female hostages
KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan’s top political and religious leaders invoked Afghan and Islamic traditions of chivalry and hospitality Sunday in attempts to shame the Taliban into releasing 18 female South Korean captives.

Bhutto won’t share power with a uniformed Musharraf
LONDON (AFP) - Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto insisted Sunday she would not strike a power-sharing deal with President Pervez Musharraf so long as he remained the army chief.

Japan PM suffers election drubbing
TOKYO (Reuters) - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s conservative ruling camp suffered a crushing defeat in a Japanese upper house election on Sunday but the 52-year-old leader insisted he would stay in his job.

More Venezuelans getting U.S. asylum
CARACAS, Venezuela - Gisela Parra started trembling behind the steering wheel and nearly hit another car when she heard the news over the radio: She had been charged with trying to overthrow President Hugo Chavez.
I’m worried about this guy, friends.

Africa a new conduit for Europe’s drugs
BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau - This island-ringed nation of 1.5 million is a fairly straight 4,000-mile shot across the Atlantic from the coca fields of South America. But geography is only part of the appeal for traffickers trying to get the drug to Europe, where cocaine seizures have quadrupled over the past decade and prices for the drug are now double those in America. The smugglers also need a weak, easily corruptible government and a population ignorant of the narcotics trade.

NEW YORK POLS BLAST DEAL WITH SAUDI ARABIA
July 30, 2007 — A pair of New York congressmen vowed yesterday to block a possible deal to sell $20 billion of state-of-the-art weapons to Saudi Arabia because they claim it supports international terrorism. “Saudi Arabia is the No. 1 exporter of terrorism today. They even beat Iran for that dubious distinction,” Rep. Anthony Weiner said outside the Saudi Consulate in Manhattan… Weiner was joined by fellow Democrat Rep. Jerrold Nadler, who also laid into the Saudi government.

Bush wants terrorism law updated
WASHINGTON - President Bush wants Congress to modernize a law that governs how intelligence agencies monitor the communications of suspected terrorists.
Always (on the) offensive, is our president.

Democrats vs. President Bush: To the courts or not, and how?
With each passing day, the dispute over whether President Bush can claim executive privilege to shield his aides from a congressional investigation into last year’s firing of nine U.S. attorneys creeps closer to court. The two elected branches of government appear determined to push this dispute into a full-scale confrontation over the limits of their constitutional powers, and it may be that only the unelected branch can declare a winner.

Mining of Data Prompted Fight Over U.S. Spying
WASHINGTON, July 28 — A 2004 dispute over the National Security Agency’s secret surveillance program that led top Justice Department officials to threaten resignation involved computer searches through massive electronic databases, according to current and former officials briefed on the program. It is not known precisely why searching the databases, or data mining, raised such a furious legal debate. But such databases contain records of the phone calls and e-mail messages of millions of Americans, and their examination by the government would raise privacy issues.

More in GOP want Iraq military limits
WASHINGTON - Republicans increasingly are backing a new approach in the Iraq war that could become the party’s mantra come September. It would mean narrowly limited missions for U.S. troops in Iraq but let President Bush decide when troops should leave.

VA Secretary faces wrongful death suit
WASHINGTON - The family of an Iraq war veteran filed suit Thursday accusing Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson of negligence in the suicide death of their son.

Pelosi touts progress on 9/11 bill
WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi used the Democrats’ weekly radio address Saturday to tout her party’s passage of legislation to implement major recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.

A showdown looms over children’s health insurance
WASHINGTON — The Democratic-controlled Congress this week will move one step closer to a showdown with President Bush over the future of children’s health insurance. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate are expected to vote on bills to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP. The 10-year-old program covers children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford private health insurance.

Bush Aide Blocked Report
A surgeon general’s report in 2006 that called on Americans to help tackle global health problems has been kept from the public by a Bush political appointee without any background or expertise in medicine or public health, chiefly because the report did not promote the administration’s policy accomplishments, according to current and former public health officials.

Fewer See Balance in Court’s Decisions
About half of the public thinks the Supreme Court is generally balanced in its decisions, but a growing number of Americans say the court has become “too conservative” in the two years since President Bush began nominating justices, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Nearly a third of the public — 31 percent — thinks the court is too far to the right, a noticeable jump since the question was last asked in July 2005.

Democrat charges U.S. justices “duped” Senate
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito “duped” the U.S. Senate into confirming them, a top Democratic lawmaker charged on Friday, days after a key Republican questioned if they had lived up to their promises.

Most vote machines lose test to hackers
State-sanctioned teams of computer hackers were able to break through the security of virtually every model of California’s voting machines and change results or take control of some of the systems’ electronic functions, according to a University of California study released Friday.

Stocks drop more than 1 percent on credit concerns
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks plunged for a second day on Friday, in the worst week for the S&P 500 in nearly five years, as tightening credit conditions led to concerns that takeovers would slow.

Economic growth rebounds in second quarter
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. economic growth rebounded during the second quarter to its strongest pace since the beginning of last year on a surge in business investment, more government spending and a better trade performance, the Commerce Department reported on Friday.

Oil prices jump on news of strong US economic growth
NEW YORK (AFP) - World oil prices jumped Friday after stronger-than-expected US economic growth data renewed concerns about supply in the face of anticipated demand from the world’s biggest economy.
Prices jump