Backpedaling Blame

And now the most engaging two minutes in television, the latest from the wartime grapevine:

Backpedaling Blame

One day after Iraqi governing council member Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim (search) directly blamed the U.S. for the death of his brother, one of the most prominent religious leaders in Iraq, and scores of others in last Tuesday's bombing in Najaf, Al-Hakim has changed his mind.

He now says Saddam Hussein loyalists (search) are to blame, calling them, "enemies of Iraq." In addition, he has promised that…contrary to any former implications…Shiite Muslims (search) who want the, "occupation of Iraq" to end will not go so far as to take up arms against coalition forces.

Reality in Iraq

Meanwhile, remember Ken Joseph, the American pastor who went to Baghdad as a human shield, but was so disgusted by Saddam Hussein's regime that he left? Well, he's back in Baghdad, and says,

"I am at a loss to reconcile what we see on the ground with what is being reported. ... Security has improved with Iraqi police everywhere, telephones are starting to work, electricity, while off and on, is relatively stable, the stores are full of food, and, little by little, people are getting jobs back. ... People for the first time have hope and a future."

Arnold’s Past Interview For Adults-Only

That 1977 copy of Oui magazine featuring a 30-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger (search) describing some wild doings from his bodybuilding days…which had been bid up to more than $800 on eBay over the weekend…has now been banished to eBay's adults-only section.

The price has now dropped sharply, in part because a bunch of other eBay sellers discovered they, too, had a copy of the 26-year-old skin magazine. As one of them put it in his eBay ad, "I found this in the garage in a collection my father had from the '70s."

Gentle Lady from Texas?

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (search), D-Texas, who has made a practice of having staff members drive her one block to work at taxpayers' expense…has had a run-in with Continental Airlines for not treating her in the style to which she's accustomed.

Passengers on a flight with her from Washington to Houston say that when she could not be upgraded because first class was full, the gentle lady exploded and, "started shouting that she was in congress and worked hard." And, according to The Hill newspaper, she only quieted down once flight attendants found her a row in coach all to herself. Ms. Jackson Lee's office would neither confirm nor deny the report.

— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report