Some news headlines

White House tackles AG's contradictions

WASHINGTON - The White House labored on Friday to explain how apparently dueling testimony from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller actually was not at odds.

• Swiss name Toyota's Prius the world's greenest car

• Marijuana may increase psychosis risk

Man admits trying to blow up Austin women's clinic

http://www.statesma n.com/news/ ...

A 27-year-old Austin man admitted in federal court today that he attempted to use a bomb to blow up an Interstate 35 women's clinic that performs abortions.

Isn't THIS terrorism?

Mouth of the Potomac: BUSHIES WANT TO HEAR FROM MOORE ON CUBA TRIP

http://www.nydailyn ews.com/blogs/ dc/2007/07/ bushie...

The Bush administration has subpoenaed Moore over his trip to Cuba with 9/11 rescue workers, which he included in his new documentary film, "Sicko." The press release is in the link below.

Chatty Senator on Air Force One Pushes the Rules, and Buttons - New York Times

http://www.nytimes. com/2007/ 07...

Arlen Specter is something of a serial breaker of the unspoken rules aboard Air Force One.

Iraqi lawmakers take their time - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes. com/news/ na...

BAGHDAD — Missing from Thursday's session of the Iraqi parliament were about half of the members, including the speaker, the former speaker and two former prime ministers.

Also missing: a sense of urgency.

American officials have been pressing Iraqi leaders to prove their commitment to ending sectarian strife by enacting landmark legislation before mid-September, when the Bush administration is to present its next report on Iraq to Congress.

But even as parliament's monthlong August break approaches, key issues aren't being discussed. Quorums are marginal, or fleeting.

Despite the high stakes here, the Iraqi parliament appears to be deliberating at a pace to rival plodding legislative bodies around the world.

Thursday's session, the 50th of the year, convened half an hour late.

A bell rang in the Convention Center in the fortified Green Zone reminding members to take their seats and raise their hands for roll call (the electronic system is broken). It showed 145 in attendance. That dropped to 137 as some members walked out after the first vote. The speaker on occasion has dismissed parliament for falling below the quorum of 100 legislators, but on Thursday, they proceeded. The opening Muslim prayer and 275-name roll call took half an hour, a quarter of the time, in what turned out to be a roughly two-hour session.