Al-Jazeera Attack?

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

A British government official has been charged with leaking a top secret memo, allegedly revealing that President Bush planned to bomb the headquarters of Arab satellite TV network Al-Jazeera.

Tony Blair, environmental groups have blasted the British prime minister for not doing enough to combat global warming. But now, some environmental advocates are criticizing a government proposal that would force oil companies to include bio-fuels made from corn, sugar cane, or vegetable oil in their gasoline by 2010 — since increased production of the fuels could destroy the rainforest.

"Friends of the Earth" says that the bio-fuels might come from "genetically modified crops or palm oil from freshly cleared rainforests." The group is calling for assurances that bio-fuel production doesn't damage the countryside, destroy the rainforests, or promote intensive farming of genetically modified crops.

‘Big Bang’?

MSNBC host Chris Matthews says President Bush invaded Iraq because "he wanted a big bang" in the War on Terror. What's more, the Toronto Sun reports that during the speech to political science students at the University of Toronto, Matthews said the administration shouldn't demonize terrorists, saying, "the person on the other side is not evil — they just have a different perspective."

Suicide Bombers & Harry Truman?

Meanwhile, "Slaughterhouse Five" author Kurt Vonnegut is now defending terrorists, equating the actions of suicide bombers with Harry Truman's decision to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Vonnegut tells The Australian that terrorists are "very brave people," who "are dying for their own self respect," and says the anticipation of dying for their cause "must be an amazing high."

— FOX News' Aaron Bruns contributed to this report