CONGRESS -- TOM LANTOS, ONLY HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR IN CONGRESS, PASSES AWAY: Yesterday, Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and "the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in Congress," died at the age of 80 from cancer of the esophagus. Lantos, who announced in January that he would retire next year at the end of his 14th term, was an ardent supporter of human rights who founded and co-chaired the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. During his brief time as chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Lantos used his position  to make "a number of bold steps," such as demanding "that the government of Japan apologize for wartime sex slavery by its military and declaring Turkey's mass killing of Armenians in World War I an act of genocide." Lantos was so devoted to human rights that "in 2006, he was among several members of Congress willingly arrested for protesting outside the Sudanese Embassy in Washington to denounce the government's role in the killings in Darfur." "Tom Lantos devoted his life to shining a bright light on dark corners of oppression," said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in a statement. When Lantos passed away yesterday, "he was surrounded by his wife, two daughters, and many of his 18 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren."

MILITARY -- BUSH'S 2009 BUDGET IS A WINDFALL FOR DEFENSE CONTRACTORS: Last week, President Bush submitted his $515.4 billion defense spending budget for FY '09. Contained within that budget is a windfall for defense contractors -- "$104.2 billion for weapons procurement and nearly $80 billion for research and development." This budget is 7.5 percent higher than the current year's. Even defense experts are surprised at how generous the Bush administration is willing to be with the taxpayers' money, in light of a faltering economy and deep cuts to domestic programs. One defense analyst said, "[I]t has surprised everyone to see how long this increase has continued. This budget was a great budget for all defense contractors." The military, however, is pushing for even more funding than what the administration has requested. It has dispatched "legions of lobbyists and defense contractors" to Capitol Hill to push for approval. Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and James Inhofe (R-OK), for example, have taken up the military's quest for more F-22 fighter planes, even though Defense Secretary Robert Gates has deemed more of these useless planes unnecessary. A 2007 report by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform found that between 2000 and 2005, procurement was the "fastest growing component of federal discretionary spending."

IRAQ -- TONY SNOW REVEALS THAT '80 PERCENT' OF BUSH'S ADVISERS OPPOSED IRAQ SURGE: In Jan. 2007, President Bush told the American people that he and his advisers led a "comprehensive" review of past mistakes in Iraq, concluding that Iraq needed 30,000 more U.S. troops. He stated that "our military commanders reviewed the new Iraqi plan to ensure that it addressed these mistakes. They report that it does. They also report that this plan can work." In a Desert Town Hall speakers series event in California on Monday, however, former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow reportedly said that 80 percent of Bush's advisers opposed last year's military surge, telling him, "You're crazy, don't do this," revealing that Bush ignored his advisers when deciding whether to implement the Iraq "surge." Last month, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle Eastern Affairs Mark Kimmitt predicted only a mild chance that "surge" security gains will last, saying, "[I]f I had to put a number to it, maybe it's three in 10, maybe it's 50-50, if we play our cards right."

A Department of Veterans Affairs analysis finds that "National Guard and Reserve troops who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan make up more than half of veterans who committed suicide after returning home from those wars." In 2006, the Army's suicide rate was 17.3 per 100,000 troops, "the highest level in 26 years of record-keeping."

According to a Rand Corp. report, the U.S. military is seriously deficient in meeting "the threat of Islamist insurgencies." The report states that "U.S. military intervention and occupation in the Muslim world" is "at best inadequate, at worst counter-productive, and, on the whole, infeasible."

"As home prices fall and banks tighten lending standards, people with good, or prime, credit histories are falling behind on their payments for home loans, auto loans and credit cards at a quickening pace, according to industry data and economists."

Six major U.S. banks -- Bank of America, Citigroup, Countrywide Financial, JP Morgan Chase, Washington Mutual, and Wells Fargo -- have announced that they will be taking part in "Project Lifeline," which will give homeowners an extra 30 days to renegotiate their mortgage payments.

Two CBS journalists have gone missing in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, the network said in statement yesterday. Iraqi police say "the abductees were a reporter and a translator, and that they were taken away in what appeared to be official police vehicles." "All efforts are under way to find them," said CBS in a statement. 

Former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), who went to jail in 2007 for corruption charges connected to Jack Abramoff, "may soon be moved from his federal prison in Morgantown, W.Va., to a 'halfway house,'" according to his attorney. "Ney's overall projected release date is Aug. 16, 2008."

Due to a backlog of immigration cases, "the Bush administration will grant permanent residency to tens of thousands of legal U.S. immigrants without first completing required background checks against the FBI's investigative files." Only immigrants "whose cases are otherwise complete but whose FBI checks have been pending for more than six months" will be affected.

The king penguin, which "rebounded from near-extinction over the last century, could be wiped out in coming decades due to global warming."

And finally: Don't get in the way of Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV). Last week, the 90-year old senator "made quite a scene" as he "made his way from the Senate Chamber to the elevators after a vote." Walking with "two canes and an entourage of staffers," Byrd yelled, "Make way for liberty!" Roll Call reports, "With that, the elevator doors opened, and 'liberty' disappeared."