Update: Reuters reports a ceasefire has been agreed to.

Yesterday a truce between Israel and Hamas seemed very close. Hillary Clinton traveled from Israel to Egypt for further truce talks. Today, a truce seems less likely. As to what's changed?

Hamas has stepped up its rocket launches into Israel, firing 80 missles into southern Israel in the past 24 hours. 20 were intercepted, in Ashkelon, Beersheba, Be'er Tuviya, Hof Ashkelon and Ashdod.

A package bomb was placed on a bus in Tel Aviv today (no deaths, several injured, seems to be the work of amateur terrorists). On al Aqsa (Hamas) TV: "G-d willing, we will soon see black body bags."

In Gaza yesterday, a Hamas gunman executed 6 people believed to be Israeli collaborators. The bodies were then tied to a motorcyle and dragged through the streets. Photos here, video here. [More...]

Yesterday, Declan McCullagh of CNET wrote an article stating that Sen. Patrick Leahy, bowing to pressure from conservatives and law enforcement groups, was revising his proposed bill amending the Electronic Communication Privacy Act (ECPA) to strengthen privacy rights and now going in the opposite direction. He posted a draft of a leaked copy of the amended bill (available here.) McCullagh wrote:

Patrick Leahy, the influential Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has dramatically reshaped his legislation in response to law enforcement concerns, according to three individuals who have been negotiating with Leahy's staff over the changes. A vote on his bill, which now authorizes warrantless access to Americans' e-mail, is scheduled for next week.

Leahy's rewritten bill would allow more than 22 agencies -- including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission -- to access Americans' e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant.

Hours later, Sen. Leahy denied drafting or supporting the circulated revision of his proposed bill. [More...]

The Real Housewives of Tampa evolve into Desperate Housewives: If you thought Natalie Khawam and Gloria Allred were going to answer questions about Gen. Petraeus, Gen. Allen or her sister Jill Kelley's relationship with them, you'd be mistaken.

Today's news conference was a publicity fest about Khawam's custody battle which Allred wants to turn into a women's rights issue. Does anyone care that Natalie and Jill played softball and tennis and like cooking and playing chess and piano? [More...]

Getting busy now (no radio obviously). But here is an excellent post from Ed Kilgore on the The Phony War in the GOP over its future:

Yes, years from now conservatives will sit around campfires and sing songs about the legendary internecine battles of late 2012, when father fought son and brother fought brother across a chasm of controversy as to whether 98% or 99% of abortions should be banned; whether undocumented workers should be branded and utilized as “guest workers,” loaded onto cattle cars and shipped home, or simply immiserated; whether the New Deal/Great Society programs should be abolished in order to cut upper-income taxes or abolished in order to boost Pentagon spending. There’s also a vicious, take-no-prisons fight over how quickly to return the role of the federal government in the economy to its pre-1930s role as handmaiden to industry. Blood will flow in the streets as Republicans battle over how to deal with health care after Obamacare is repealed and 50 million or people lose health insurance. Tax credits and risk pools or just “personal responsibility?”

Heh, indeed. Open Thread.

I'm off to see Bruce Springsteen at the Pepsi Center -- tickets courtesy of Big Tent Democrat -- Thanks, BTD!

Update: Awesome seats, awesome concert. Reviews (with setlist) and pictures here and here.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

The fighting continues as do truce talks. According to Israel Defense Forces:

Today 67 rockets fired from #Gaza hit #Israel. Overall, more than 650 rockets hit Israel in the last six days.

Israel says Hamas is using Palestinians as human shields. (Video here and here.)They are prepared to move to ground attacks if the rocket attacks don't stop.

The Iron Dome has stopped about 90% of the rockets fired into Israel. Here's how the Iron Dome works. [More...]

The 11 Show, starring me, today at 11. More on the Emerging Democratic Majority, including Is Rush Limbaugh's country gone?, The good old economics days of the 1950s, Democrats are losers sez Douthat and Krugman's response. How to Listen Your options to listen LIVE:

• Click on the embedded Flash player below
• Go to netrootsradio.com and click on the embedded player or direct link there
Click on this direct link if you need a non-Flash player, say, for iPad or iPhone
• iPad and iPhone users can download the SHOUTCast Radio app for your mobile device and search for "Netroots Radio"
• For Android: Try either the "StreamFurious" or "TuneIn" apps
• BlackBerry users, see this guide by idbecrazyif

Listen to Daily Kos Radio right here:The Daily Kos Radio Player

Non-Flash

Best bet for listening is the non-flash link with winamp or a similar listening software.

Open Thread.

Open Thread.

Political scientist John Sides argues:

The term “realignment” gets thrown around casually, sometimes suggesting nothing more than “something big is happening.” But the term has a more precise meaning—indeed, it must have a precise meaning in order for it to mean anything. A realignment is predicated on three things. First, there has to be a dramatic and permanent shift in the party coalitions. Second, the shift in coalitions needs to usher in an extended period of party control. Third, the shift in control needs to bring about a notable shift in policy. One can see how the “New Deal coalition” approximates this definition, since it ushered in decades of one-party dominance in Congress, particularly in the House, and brought about not only the New Deal but arguably the Great Society. No such thing has happened since Obama was elected in 2008. It is true that the demography of the country is changing slowly, and groups that have tended to vote Democratic are becoming more numerous. So the Democratic party coalition has the potential for continuing growth. Will that growth translate into enduring power and policy change? It certainly didn’t in 2010. Yes, the 2010 electorate was not the 2012 electorate. But that’s the point: a realignment doesn’t take midterm elections off.

Under Sides' rubric, Ronald Reagan was not a transformative President. After all, in 1982, Reagan's Republican Party lost 27 House seats and control of the Senate. Indeed, Sides' argument sounds eerily similar to David Broder's assessment of Reagan after the 1982 midterms (via Ezra Klein):

Israel has called up 75,000 reservists and struck Hamas Government buildings. Hamas has claimed credit for firing rockets at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

The Israeli military said some 150 rockets fired from Gaza had hit Israel since Friday and at least 83 more were intercepted by its Iron Dome anti-missile system.

Gaza is a small place with a lot of people, and there have been at least 38 civilian casualties, some of them children. Israel says it is acting in self-defense, and the rockets Hamas is firing at them come from Gaza.

This morning, Hamas fired 20 rockets at Israel. Israel says Operation Pilar Defense will continue. [more...]

The picks ( all 2 units unless otherwise indicated):

Oregon -20 over Stanford (3 units), Iowa State -5 over Kansas, Vanderbilt -3 over Tennessee, Mississippi +18½ over LSU, Oklahoma -11 over West Virginia, San Jose State +3 1/2 over BYU, Missouri -5 over Syracuse, Kansas State -13 over Baylor (4 units), UCLA +4 over USC (5 units), Army -3 over Temple, Mississippi State -6 over Arkansas, Oklahoma State -10 over Texas Tech, South Florida +7 over Miami (Florida), Clemson -17 over North Carolina State, Boise State -28 over Colorado State, Northwestern +7 over Michigan State, Maryland +31 over Florida State, Cincinnati -6 over Rutgers, Washington -21 over Colorado, Wisconsin -2 over Ohio State, Georgia Tech -14 over Duke, Tulsa -1 over Central Florida, Iowa +18 over Michigan, Notre Dame -24 over Wake Forest.

Open Thread.

It's official. Hostess will stop making Twinkies. We were warned. Predictably, grocery stores today are reporting a run on Twinkies. I bought a box when the first alert came out in January, and ate them all within two days. Not this time.

Adis Medunjanin was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the thwarted New York Subway attacks. Najibullah Zazi, who testified against him as part of a plea deal, will be sentenced in December.

Gen. David Petraeus testified before a closed session of Congress today. Reports vary on what he said about terrorism. The Washington Post makes no reference to him saying al Qaida was directly involved, only that at some point the CIA came to believe "associates of al-Qaeda" were involved. Reuters reports the same. CNN, on the other hand, goes with a different version by Rep. Peter King, burying that it is only King's version until the second paragraph. [More...]