The human race is living beyond its means. A report backed by 1,360 scientists from 95 countries--some of them world leaders in their fields--today warns that the almost two-thirds of the natural machinery that supports life on Earth is being degraded by human pressure.

The study contains what its authors call "a stark warning" for the entire world. The wetlands, forests, savannahs, estuaries, coastal fisheries and other habitats that recycle air, water and nutrients for all living creatures are being irretrievably damaged. In effect, one species is now a hazard to the other 10 million or so on the planet, and to itself.

"Human activity is putting such a strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet's ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted," it says.

They ticked off a number of treaties they said Bolton had opposed and said he had made "unsubstantiated claims" that Cuba and Syria were working on biological weapons.

Also, they said, Bolton once worked as a paid researcher for Taiwan and supported recognition of it as a sovereign state, and he was skeptical of U.N. peacekeeping operations.

"Given these past actions and statements, John R. Bolton cannot be an effective promoter of the U.S. national interest at the U.N.," the former diplomats concluded. "We urge you to oppose his nomination."

That price tag, larger than past estimates publicly disclosed by the Army, does not include a projected $25 billion for the communications network needed to connect the future forces. Nor does it fully account for Army plans to provide Future Combat weapons and technologies to forces beyond those first 15 brigades.

The Army is asking Congress to approve Future Combat while it is fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan whose costs, according to the Congressional Research Service, now exceed $275 billion. Future Combat is one of the biggest items in the Pentagon's plans to build more than 70 major weapons systems at a cost of more than $1.3 trillion.

"Abraham Lincoln once compared reorganizing the Union Army during the Civil War to bailing out the Potomac River with a teaspoon," he said. "I hope and trust that what we are proposing to accomplish will not be that difficult."

"Ken Mehlman is not gay," Steve Schmidt, a senior official of the Bush campaign and a friend of Mehlman?s told Jake Tapper, an ABC News correspondent who wrote the piece for the magazine.

"the majority should not expect to receive cooperation from the minority in the conduct of Senate business." He said Democrats would cooperate on legislation "supporting our troops" and keeping the government running, but otherwise would refuse to facilitate actions "even on routine matters."

If Social Security reform fails--and obviously I hope this obit becomes obsolete--it will be many years before any sort of big entitlement reform will come up again. The parties will keep playing chicken, and we will soon find ourselves catastrophically buried under our own debt.

Alan Greenspan doesn't turn to his wife, NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell, when he needs inspiration for a speech. Instead, GQ reports, the tight-lipped Fed chairman "heads straight to the bathroom, turns on a large fan to create a blast of white noise that blocks out sound, draws a hot bath, strips off his clothes and settles into the water for at least an hour and sometimes two."

Ex-Sgt. Nadim Abou Rabeh, of Lebanese descent, was quoted in the Saudi daily al-Medina Wednesday as saying Saddam was actually captured Friday, Dec. 12, 2003, and not the day after, as announced by the U.S. Army.

"I was among the 20-man unit, including eight of Arab descent, who searched for Saddam for three days in the area of Dour near Tikrit, and we found him in a modest home in a small village and not in a hole as announced," Abou Rabeh said.

"We captured him after fierce resistance during which a Marine of Sudanese origin was killed," he said. "Later on, a military production team fabricated the film of Saddam's capture in a hole, which was in fact a deserted well," Abou Rabeh said.

Sheik Nasrallah apologized to Syria for the anti-Syrian protests and announced: "We reject the Resolution 1559," a reference to the UN resolution that demands the complete withdrawal of Syria's 14,000 troops in Lebanon and calls for dismantling militias.

There were no independent estimates of the crowds, but at least 500,000 people crowded the square and nearby streets. Many more were still coming, answering his call to demonstrate against U.S.-led intervention and counter weeks of massive anti-Syrian rallies.... Countering the "Syria out!" cries shouted daily by the anti-Syrian protesters, Tuesday's crowd chanted, "Beirut is free! America get out!"

The government plane in which the presidents toured the disaster area had one large bedroom and another room with tables and seats, according to an interview with Bush in this week's Newsweek.

Bush, 80, said Clinton offered ahead of time to give the older former president the bedroom so he could lie flat and avoid paining his body. Clinton, 58, decided to play cards in the other room that night.

The next morning, Bush said he peeked in and saw Clinton sound asleep on the plane's floor.

"We could have switched places, each getting half a night on the bed, but he deferred to me. That was a very courteous thing, very thoughtful, and that meant a great deal to me," Bush said.

Bush said he and Clinton are not close, but have been compatible on the tour, partly because Clinton respects his age.

For all of its power, however, Hezbollah remains heavily funded by and deeply tied to Iran and Syria, which employ it as a key proxy force in their fight against Israel. (Syria is loath to give up this strategic military asset as long as its long-standing demand that Israel return the Golan Heights, seized in the 1967 war, has not been resolved.) Accordingly, Hezbollah immediately condemned last year's United Nations Resolution 1559, which demands Syrian withdrawal and the disarming of Hezbollah's very potent military force. France joined the United States in supporting 1559, but it has broken with Washington over U.S. demands that Europe place Hezbollah on the list of terrorist groups.

While Hezbollah's leader, Sayeed Sheik Nasrallah, ordered the group to remain neutral in the political struggle since Hariri's death and has refused to make public statements, the role of Hezbollah, its militia and the larger struggle against Israel pose a huge and complicated problem for the opposition, which has yet to display a coherent policy toward the group and the questions that will have to be answered.

"The jobs I'm being asked to do, the five hats that I wear, are too much for this mortal," Goss said. "I'm a little amazed at the workload."

Goss praised Bush's choice for the new job of national intelligence director, John Negroponte. The career diplomat, who is expected to be confirmed by the Senate, will take over several of the duties currently assigned to Goss, including the presidential briefing.

Goss, who has made few public comments beyond congressional testimony, also said the legislation creating the position of director of national intelligence left him unclear on his future role.

"It's got a huge amount of ambiguity in it," he said. "I don't know by law what my direct relationship is with John Negroponte," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld or other top officials involved with intelligence.

Despite the confusion, Goss praised Negroponte's selection.