Here’s some Hot International Gossip that’s just weird enough to be true, because it’s about Christopher Hitchens drinking while on assignment in some Foreign Land, so it’s already 100% credible: The beloved Washington journalist was supposedly out for a night of boozing in Beirut when he chanced upon a political propaganda poster from the not-so-beloved Syrian Social Nationalist Party, the right-wing turned left-wing turned pain-in-the-ass Syrians always fucking around with Lebanon. Obviously, Hitchens needed to deface this poster, while some SSNP thugs were watching from across the street. MORE »

• “Rolling Hurricane Revue” tour heads to Mississippi and Louisiana to mark today’s one year anniversary of Katrina. Blame game still on, reconstruction in MS faring better than LA. [WP, NYT]

• Tropical Storm Ernesto is weak, but FEMA Director David Paulison’s “No More Fuckups” doctrine has an army of personnel in Florida. [CNN]
• Kofi Annan wants in on the cool kids “disaster touring club,” heads to southern Lebanon. [BBC, NYT]
• Bill Clinton in Africa visiting AIDS patients, finds warm reception: “George Bush has actually delivered more resources, but Clinton is ten times more popular in Africa.” [NYT]
• President Nursultan “The Friendly Kleptocrat” Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan to visit White House in September. [WP]
• Indiana Republican congressman Mike Pence no longer the “perfect conservative” as he tries for compromise on immigration issue. [NYT]
• Fenty vs. Cropp televised debate yesterday — no steel cage, just a really small table. [WP]

• France recommits larger number of soldiers, takes leadership of the “United Nations Interim Force of Lebanon.” [WP, W$J]

• Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) has eyes opened during 14th trip to Iraq, says we need “to have a timeline for troop withdrawal.” [WP]
• Bush spends this week fishing with family in Kennebunkport, hiding from Cindy Sheehan, and covering up his New England roots. [WP]
• Emergency contraceptive “Plan B” approved by FDA, to be available in pharmacies without a prescription by the end of the year. [WP, NYT]
• All the big names are going to Iowa pretending to fundraise for mid-terms, but it’s really about 2008. [NYT]
• Kentucky Governor signs plea deal in hiring scandal; Kentucky Attorney General holds press conference, respects seersucker Thursday. [NYT]
• State Department secretive about investigation into Israel breaking secret agreements and secretly using restricted bombs. [NYT]

• Tehran is ready to negotiate with the UN on a range of issues not named “uranium enrichment.” [WP, NYT, BBC]

• Poll shows most Americans are still plenty scared of Bin Laden. [CNN]
• Marines to begin recalling reserves to active duty, as recruitment goals fall short. [LAT]
• Aid money flowing to Lebanon having a hard time finding relief agencies other than Hezbollah. [NYT]
• Israel halts withdraw from West Bank settlements as Lebanon becomes focus of government apparently incapable of multitasking. [WP]
• Senator Hillary Clinton is dithering on a AIDS funding bill — either to get more cash for New York or to make herself look good in the south. [WP]
• Americans tired of Iraq, want to go home. [NYT]
• Richard Armitage, number two at the State Department, met with Bob Woodward around the time Bob Woodward says he learned Valerie Plame’s identity and top secret job. [NYT]
• Anna Taylor Diggs, the federal judge who ruled against Bush and his NSA warrantless wiretapping, is a card-carrying member of the ACLU. [NYT]
• More states adding online “meth registries” to help connect redneck speed freaks. [USAT]

• Bush stresses need for US to remain in Iraq, he fears, “We will have lost our soul as a nation” if forces are removed. [WP]

• Scotland Yard charges 11 in “liquid bomb” plot, yesterday’s press conference more CSI than Sherlock Holmes. [NYT, WP]
• Italy to lead peacekeeping force in Lebanon, provided standing around in stylish blue helmets is the extent of the “leading.” [BBC]
• Obama now carrying hopes of Democratic party and all of African continent on shoulders. [LAT]
• Uptight, “Washington Type-A” parents fear humiliation from what their kids write on these new “blogs.” [WP]

• Help support the GWOT by wearing a “Terrorists should die, ask me why” button. [IMAO]

• Bush’s approval rating: really, really, positively not related to congressional campaigns. Also, Gallup just makes that shit up. [Wizbang Politics]
• It’s official, Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. [Think Progress]
• Peacekeeping forces in Lebanon to have guns that shoot out little flags with “Bang!” on them, so as not to upset any terrorist militias. [The QandO Blog]
• Spanish and British mobs people are more racist than Americans. [La Shawn Barber's Corner]
• Study finds that newspapers are more trusted than blogs. Trusted, but not actually read. [ E&P]
• Don’t worry, even if the “Stevens ‘tube’ bill” kills the internet, a new way to distribute porn will take it’s place. [The Left Coaster]

• The administration moves to reclassify sensitive information on the US’s nuclear arsenal, like how many missiles we had in the 1960’s. [WP]

• European nations delay committing peacekeeping troops to Lebanon, play hot potato between giant international bureaucracies. [NYT]
• Only 20 are killed during annual Shiite pilgrimage in Baghdad, leading to praise for “draconian” security measures used to lower the death toll from last year’s 950. [LAT, NYT]
• JonBenet Ramsey suspect John Karr is flown to LA, no snakes aboard plane. [CNN]
• Next week is the anniversary of hurricane Katrina. New Orleans is still screwed, and Houston’s getting pissed. [USAT; LAT]
• As Saddam Hussein’s war crimes trial begins he still refuses to enter a plea or wear a tie. [WP, NYT]

• The violence level in Iraq is at its highest level ever, with over 2500 roadside bombs detected in July. [NYT]
• The Lebanese government sends troops to the nation’s south in a creative attempt to save the cease-fire. Hezbollah gets to keep some weapons. [WP, BBC]
• The U.S. government wants a piece of the rebuilding action in Lebanon. [LAT]
• A 42-year-old American teacher was arrested in Thailand and charged in JonBenet Ramsey’s 1996 murder. Thai authorities claim John Karr made a full confession. [AP via MSNBC]
• Airport screeners’ newest weapon: Behavioral psychology. [NYT]
• Moron country singer kills tame bear. [AP via CNN]

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President Bush asserted yesterday that Hezbollah was defeated in its month-long conflict with Israel, casting the fighting that killed hundreds of Lebanese and Israeli civilians as part of a wider struggle “between freedom and terrorism.”

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Regardless of your position on the current Middle East crisis, there’s one thing we can all agree on: video game violence is just the skill-building motivator our children need to get out there and make something of themselves. Take Daniel Taylor of Baltimore, who, despite never having been there and not speaking Hebrew, is heeding the call of his people and joining the IDF. Daniel comes well-trained, having studied marksmanship at the 4-H. Despite that seemingly marking him as a time-traveler from 1950, Daniel’s not lacking for modern know-how: MORE »

• Islamofascists and their apologists suck at Photoshop. [Michelle Malkin]
• “Lying b[itch] … shrew … Machiavellian … evil, power-mad witch … the ultimate self-serving politician”: Hillary-mania is in full swing in NH. [To the People]
• Condi Rice is a fashion plate. [Brains Over Bombs]
• For shame, Sen Allen, for zygote-killing shame. [The News-Virginian]
• Sexy teens listen to sexy music and have sexy sexy sexy sex sex. [CNN]