The Principles of Rand Paul  —  No ideology survives the collision with real-world politics perfectly intact.  General principles have to bend to accommodate the complexities of history, and justice is sometimes better served by compromise than by zealous intellectual consistency.

The Great Shame: America's Pathetic Response to the Gulf Catastrophe  —  Shame on us.  —  A calamity is unfolding before our eyes - the greatest oil spill in history - and America's response is little more than a big yawn.  —  Bob Herbert writes: … Where is the outrage?

Palin: A Slip on Oil Industry Ties?  —  Former Alaska Republican Gov. Sarah Palin stirred up more controversy over the oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico Sunday when she suggested that the administration's response was linked to “the oil companies who have so supported President Obama in his campaign.”

After keeping us waiting for a century, Mark Twain will finally reveal all  —  The great American writer left instructions not to publish his autobiography until 100 years after his death, which is now  —  Exactly a century after rumours of his death turned out to be entirely accurate …

Sestak confirms WH job offer to get out of Senate race  —  Rep. Joe Sestak, winner of the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary, is refusing to provide more information on what job he was offered by a White House official to drop of that race, although he confirmed again that the incident occurred.

Out with the Old  —  Don't trust a congressman over the age of 50.  —  As far as I can tell, Sean Duffy is the only world-champion lumberjack and reality television star running for Congress this year.  Duffy is the Republican candidate in Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District.

Storm Clouds On the Economic Horizon?  —  Starting sometime last summer the economic numbers started to turnaround, indicating an economic trough was forming.  Since the end of last summer a variety of economic indicators have experienced improvement.  Included in these numbers …

Major Change Down Below... Live Blogging...  [Regular updates will be tacked on to the bottom of this post through the day.]  OK— I moved updates to top of page to make it easier for me.  —  Those just arriving, please scroll down to the double lines, and start there... then come back to the top, here.

Islamists torch summer camp in Gaza  —  Ultra-fundamentalist militia claims UNRWA-run camp immoral.  —  Talkbacks (16)  —  Make JPOST.COM your Home Page  —  Iranian Threat  —  Jewish World  —  Local Israel  —  Arts & Culture  —  Français  —  Classifieds  —  Israel  —  Middle East

The Night Beat: Admirals and Generals To Watch  —  Charlie Crist Loses A Round  —  Adm. Allen trusts BP, but Congress doesn't  —  The Anti-Obama in Alabama  —  The recent market volatility is scary, unsustainable and sure to further undermine confidence in consumer spending and the euro.

Earth will bite us back, warns Irons  —  There are too many humans and disease may restore the balance, the actor claims  —  The world is becoming so overpopulated that nature will one day wreak its revenge, claims Jeremy Irons, the actor.  —  Launching himself as a green campaigner …

Iran Demands U.S. Propose Prisoner Swap for Three U.S. Hikers Labeled ‘Spies’  —  Iran said on Sunday that the three American hikers arrested last July near the Iraq border were spies and demanded the U.S. propose a prisoner swap to secure their release.

Yemeni cleric advocates killing US civilians  —  CAIRO - An American-Yemeni cleric whose Internet sermons are believed to have helped inspire attacks on the U.S. has advocated the killing of American civilians in an al-Qaida video released Sunday.  —  Anwar al-Awlaki has been singled …