Report: Iran planning nuclear 'surprise'  —  A senior official in Teheran said Wednesday that in the next few days, a "surprise" was expected regarding Iran's nuclear program, Al-Jazeera reported.  —  Teheran's apparent refusal to suspend uranium enrichment set the stage for a showdown at the UN Security Council later this month.

12 arrested after Northwest Airlines turned back  —  Passengers 'looked into plastic bags, passed cell phones'  —  AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (CNN) — Dutch police said Wednesday that 12 passengers were in custody after a Northwest Airlines flight bound for Mumbai, India, returned to Amsterdam when several people on board aroused concern.

Bush: Katrina recovery will take time  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush on Wednesday cautioned against placing too much importance on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's Gulf Coast strike, saying it will take a long, sustained effort to rebuild the area.

E&P editor attacks bloggers over Reutersgate (Update: Zombie explodes the ambulance incident)  —  I was going to make the title, "E&P editor attacks bloggers over Reutersgate, misrepresents pretty much everything," but his article's only the first of two parts.

Don't Marry Career Women  —  Guys: A word of advice.  Marry pretty women or ugly ones.  Short ones or tall ones.  Blondes or brunettes.  Just, whatever you do, don't marry a woman with a career.  —  Why?  Because if many social scientists are to be believed, you run a higher risk of having a rocky marriage.

UAW Members Endorse Ned Lamont  —  Today, the UAW endorsed the Democratic Nominee for U.S. Senate, Ned Lamont, at a noon-hour press conference at their Region 9A headquarters in Farmington.  Before the August 8 Primary, members had met with both Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont and concluded …

Pope sacks astronomer over evolution debate  —  Pope Benedict XVI has sacked his chief astronomer after a series of public clashes over the theory of evolution.  —  He has removed Father George Coyne from his position as director of the Vatican Observatory after the American Jesuit priest …

L'Affaire GoldFrisch III: We All Knew This Was Coming  —  This post was co-written with Tim Dreier of The One-Handed Economist; both of us are graduates of the University of Oregon in Eugene, where Deb Frisch once taught and now lives.  As a matter of full disclosure, we've had a few scrapes …

The Uninformed Bloc  —  I know what you're thinking.  I've failed to keep the faith.  I've made a mockery of the "daily" in "Daily Strategist".  I've been out lollygagging, making the rounds of the D.C. cocktail circuit.  But lemme explain.  There was a much needed trip to Boston …

Democrats' Shameful Wal-Mart Demonization  —  Presidential hopefuls only hurt themselves when pandering to unions by bashing the country's largest employer.  —  WITH ONE EYE ON 2008 and one on their labor union base, Democratic luminaries are canvassing Iowa and other states this summer …

Net Vendors Turning Down Lieberman Party Work Offers [55]  —  Net Vendors Turning Down Lieberman Party Work Offers  —  Where's Joe2006.com?  Well, it's still only a shell of itself, once again pointing to incompetence as the cause of the "hack."  —  But there's even more interesting information on that front.

New 'Survivor' Divides Groups by Race  —  Get ready for a segregated "Survivor."  Race will matter on the upcoming season of the CBS show as contestants will be divided into four tribes by ethnicity.  That means blacks, whites, Latinos and Asians in separate groups.  —  The announcement was made on CBS' Early Show.

Exclusive: McCain's Web Team.  And Nicco Mele.  —  Over the past several months, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has quietly recruited for his presidential campaign some of the most influential online strategists in the country, including one of the main architects of Howard Dean's pioneering website.