The Glenn and Helen Show: Conn Iggulden on Boys and Danger Are we turning into a nation of wimps? Do boys need to be boys? Is there something parents and schools should be doing differently? Glenn Reynolds and Helen Smith talk with British author Conn Iggulden, whose new book, The Dangerous Book for Boys, takes an old-fashioned positive look at boyhood, bravery, and the nature of risk, about those subjects and others — including the effect of modern parenting and education on military recruitment and the future of Western civilization. Is being optimistic old-fashioned? Plus, revelations about Helen’s misspent youth! Podcast sponsored by Volvo Motors USA.

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Today's Fighting in Iraq: Bill Roggio describes the battle between al-Qaeda and Coalition forces in Mosul and Diyala with the enemy sustaining heavy casualties, though more civilians have died in Diyala as the al-Qaeda attacked again with chlorine gas.

Professor Smith Goes to Hanover: Power Line describes how outsider Stephen Smith was elected to the Dartmouth board of trustees by alumni who, according to Bill Buckley, are concerned about “trends inimical” to their alma maters.

Is Sarkozy Going to Pull out of Aghanistan? Polipundit looks at Sarkozy’s public promises on the subject. He said he would “contemplate” it.

Diyala Tribes React Partial Agreement: At the meeting, five Sunni and five Shia volunteered to form a committee to recruit residents for the Iraqi police force. Further meetings are also planned between the Amugiya and Ubadie tribes to reconcile differences and sign an official peace agreement. (Defend America News)

Doctor Pavlov: Dr. Sanity is horrified that “K-12 education has evolved into K-12 indoctrination”. Maybe the right word is K-9 indoctrination.

Wolfowitz Resigns: His departure on June 30 was announced by the Board, but without the full exoneration that Wolfowitz had requested. The board conceded the advice he was given “was not a model of clarity.” (Times Online)

Immigration "Bill of Goods": Fred Thompson comments on the immigration compromise at Red State: “With this bill, the American people are going to think they are being sold the same bill of goods as before on border security. We should scrap this bill and the whole debate until we can convince the American people that we have secured the borders or at least have made great headway.”

Denial Is River in Egypt: Tarek Heggy writes about what he’d do if he were a Copt in Egypt.

Who Are You? Michael Cutler describes his concerns that a proposed amnesty for illegals will corrupt the proof of identity system in the United States.

Revolt in the Desert: Eli Lake files a final report from Baghdad and closes on the note of the tribal revolt against al-Qaeda in Anbar.

Is Free Speech Finnished? The Gates of Vienna covers efforts by Finnish authorities to make all bloggers liable for statements on their sites, even those made by commenters, which may contain “racist” speech.

The White Man Cometh: Michelle Malkin unmasks hypocrisy over multiculturalism at the Associated Press.

Foxman, Wiesel Upbraid Israel For Pace of Peace Effort: “‘If your friends and allies begin to question how serious this endeavor is, how serious you are in your quest for peace and security, it will undermine that natural asset which has through very difficult times been so important,’ Foxman said, according to The Jerusalem Post.” (The Forward)

The Road to Cubazuela: “The feedback I get from people who are living in Venezuela, or have travelled recently to Venezuela, is uniformly glum. Things are bad with no end in sight. The prospect of another 50-year-long regime like Cuba’s is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a good prospect. Make no mistake, the road to perdition is well marked.” (Fausta)

All the News That's Fitting Our Point: “The news outlets of the world apparently have little interest in the attack on an Israeli school, but instead bend over backwards to write more than 2,500 3,000 stories about the results of the Israeli air force targeting Hamas leaders who are blamed for ordering the attacks.” (Confederate Yankee)

Star Tribune Community News: IowaHawk “has” James Lileks’ first article on local politics (background here).

How to End Darfur's Genocide (Austin Bay @ StrategyPage)

What Kind of Horse Are We? Neo-Neocon comments Bernard Lewis’ article yesterday.

Immigration Deal: Key senators and the White House reached agreement on an immigration overhaul that would grant quick legal status to millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S. and fortify the border.

The plan would create a temporary worker program to bring new arrivals to the U.S. A separate program would cover agricultural workers. New high-tech enforcement measures also would be instituted to verify that workers are here legally. (AP/Breitbart)

Is Giuliani Having His Own "Dukakis Moment" over abortion, same sex marriage, amnesty for illegals and gun control? (SoCalPundit)

The Future of US-EU Relations: Blogger Ray D. @ Davids Medienkritik scores an interview with Brent Scowcroft.

Bending Rules, Breaking Pledge: “Democrats are wielding a heavy hand on the House Rules Committee, committing many of the procedural sins for which they condemned Republicans during their 12 years in power.” (Patrick O’Connor @ Politico)

Blood For Diamonds? Zimbabwe’s foreign affairs has implicated the UNDP saying its vehicles are being used for diamong smuggling in the country. (Financial Gazzette/ZWNews)

Do Some Victims Deserve Less Justice? Jeff Jacoby writes on the broadening of the hate-crimes legislation passed in the House: “why should “hate crimes” motivated by racial, religious, or sexual bigotry be punished more severely than equally hateful crimes motivated by contempt for the homeless? If a bunch of hoodlums murder a man by setting him on fire in his wheelchair, what moral difference does it make whether they despised him for being disabled (covered by the new bill) or for being a street person (not covered)? Is it worse to douse a man with gasoline and strike a match while shouting, “We hate cripples!” than to do the exact same thing while shouting “We hate the homeless” — or “We hate skinheads” or “We hate Communists”?” (Boston Globe)

Censorship, or Just Cowardice? Roger Simon looks at what’s behind the Democrats’ decision to leave Fox News off the list of network moderators for the DNS-sanctioned debates.

Would Tighter Immigration Enforcement have prevented the Fort Dix plot before it was ever dreamt up? (Michael Isikoff & Mark Hoseball @ Newsweek)

Trouble Carved in Stone: The alleged cyberwar that Russia may be engaged in against Estonia over the removal of the Bronze Soldier Soviet war memorial in central Tallinn has Bob Krumm worried. More than he is about Iran getting nukes. “I’ve learned since then to pay close attention when dictators start going crazy over statues,” he writes after looking at the recent past.

No Negotiation With the US, even regarding Iraq,” Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei told a group of clerics in the holy city of Mashhad. (Kamangir)

"Faith-Based Foul Rantings:" Clearly not a believer in the concept of “Rest in Peace,” Christopher Hitchens @ Slate continues to pound at the memory of Jerry Falwell. He’s harder on the guy than he was on Mother Teresa. (He called them both ‘frauds.’)

Sean Hannity is not amused. (Hot Air)

Sing Along With Hillary:

Hillary’s getting getting all interactive and is asking for help choosing her new campaign theme song.

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo has some suggestions she probably wouldn’t appreciate.

Was Phil Spector's Confession Lost in Translation? His Brazilian chauffeur had rocked the courtroom testifying that after actress Lana Clarkson’s shooting, Spector staggered out bloody, clutching a gun and said “I think I killed somebody.” But Spector’s defense attorneys nailed the driver by getting him to admit that he didn’t always understand his boss said. (E! Online)

The Killer Humanitarian: A Palestinian from the Gaza Strip used his ability to enter Israel for humanitarian reasons to gather information to plan to assassinate Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Mazab Bashir, 25, who worked for Doctors Without Borders has been arrested and indicted. (Jerusalem Post)

Is Oprah The New Imus? After the Imus debacle, should Winfrey get in trouble for boasting to Howard University graduates that she has “some really good white folks working for me”? Joan Walsh @ Salon reports that some aggrieved white men think she should.

Sandy Loses His License: Michelle Malkin, who calls him Sandy Berg(l)er, reports that the Clinton National Security Adviser has relinquished his law license, thus avoiding being cross-examined by the Board on Bar Counsel. If he had, it would require further disclosure of details regarding how he filled his pants and socks with classified documents, which might not be so good for the Hillary effort.

Besides, he says, he doesn’t want to be a lawyer anyway. Such a dishonest profession.

Michael Moore Versus the Treasury Department: “Maverick filmmaker Michael Moore took the first step on Wednesday in launching his own probe into the U.S. government’s investigation of him for making an unauthorized trip to Cuba to film scenes for his latest movie SiCKO.” (Reuters)