OBAMA IS WAY AHEAD, in this poll.

GRAND ROUNDS IS UP!

AN APOLOGY: “Former state Rep. Fred Hobbs has apologized to fellow members of the Tennessee Democratic Party Executive Committee for declaring that Barack Obama ‘may be terrorist connected.'”

UPDATE: Reader Sean Fitzpatrick emails: “Within a week, the MSM will have ‘accidentally’ referred to Hobbs as a Republican or as a right-wing blogger.” That does seem to fit the pattern.

GOOD NEWS: Foreign firms investing in Iraq:

European and Asian companies are beating their American rivals into Iraq now that security has improved the investment climate, Iraq and U.S. officials say.

“It’s starting to turn … and the people who are getting in on the ground floor are not American,” said Paul Brinkley, the Pentagon official who is leading U.S. efforts to help Iraq rebuild its economy. “It’s ironic.”

Indeed.

MORE Haditha charges dismissed.

UPDATE: More here.

TURNING THE CLOCK BACK to 1993. An auspicious year for antiterrorism!

UPDATE: Gaffe-o-Matic!

WELL, THIS IS ENCOURAGING: Blueprint for Nuclear Warhead Found on Smugglers’ Computers.

FIGHTING HUNGER, with a new way of growing rice.

Harvests typically double, he says, if farmers plant early, give seedlings more room to grow and stop flooding fields. That cuts water and seed costs while promoting root and leaf growth.

The method, called the System of Rice Intensification, or S.R.I., emphasizes the quality of individual plants over the quantity. It applies a less-is-more ethic to rice cultivation.

In a decade, it has gone from obscure theory to global trend — and encountered fierce resistance from established rice scientists. Yet a million rice farmers have adopted the system, Dr. Uphoff says. The rural army, he predicts, will swell to 10 million farmers in the next few years, increasing rice harvests, filling empty bellies and saving untold lives.

If fields aren’t flooded, that will drastically cut back the production of greenhouse methane. Of course, that might just hasten the new ice age . . . .

MICKEY KAUS: “Is Obama Setting the Stage for a Social Security Means-Test?”

Plus this: “If Obama really will hike the top rate into the 60% pre-Reagan range, as Krugman and the Center on Tax Policy suggest, that’s a big deal.” Yes, it is.

HEH: Remember Those Iraqi Benchmarks? Well, Guess What… “Democrats no longer talk of the 18 benchmarks for measuring progress in Iraq because so much progress has now taken place.”

A BEAR OF LITTLE BRAIN: Winnie the Pooh foreign policy?

Plus, an Obama/McCain comparison on terrorism.

UPDATE: Love the illustration. “What was that word from 2000 again? Oh yes…gravitas.”

DOG-WHISTLE AGEISM: Are Dems talking about McCain’s age in ‘code’? Of course, for the old people it doesn’t have to be pitched all that high . . . .

WISH I COULD HAVE SEEN IT: A plug-in Prius prototype in Nashville.

IN THE MAIL: From Mark Krikorian, The New Case Against Immigration: Both Legal and Illegal.

Unless, you know, they’re supermodels or something.

JIM GERAGHTY:

If the media is going to write about the debunked “whitey” tape, particularly as a trigger for Obama’s anti-smear site, there’s really no excuse for not mentioning the two sources more responsible than anyone else for hyping the story: pro-Hillary blogger Larry Johnson and Democratic strategist Bob Beckel, who appeared on Fox News claiming a “mighty big shoe” was about to drop regarding Michelle Obama. . . .

The behavior of the mainstream media is sending a clear message to those of us on the right: do not ever help out the Obama campaign, even if you think the world would be well-served by debunking a ridiculous accusation, because no one will ever remember your efforts to get to the truth. Instead, you’ll get blamed for spreading the malicious rumors.

They’re just trying to facilitate healing on the left.

THEY TOLD ME THAT IF GEORGE W. BUSH WERE RE-ELECTED, government agencies would be hanging on to data in defiance of court orders. And they were right!

KATIE GRANJU’S FRONT PORCH is nicer than mine.

MICHAEL SILENCE ON GORE’S OBAMA ENDORSEMENT: “What’s he gonna do, not endorse him? If that were the case, then this would be a story.”

ANGLING FOR THE MALE VOTE? “The bill aims to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to create a separate category for fashion models.”