A Judicial Misfire  —  THE NATION would benefit from a serious, scholarly and hard-hitting judicial examination of the National Security Agency's program of warrantless surveillance.  The program exists on ever-more uncertain legal ground; it is at least in considerable tension with federal law and the Bill of Rights.

Officials: U.S. blocked missiles to Hezbollah  —  WASHINGTON — The United States blocked an Iranian cargo plane's flight to Syria last month after intelligence analysts concluded it was carrying sophisticated missiles and launchers to resupply Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, two U.S. intelligence officials say.

Republicans Losing The 'Security Moms'  —  Married women with children, the "security moms" whose concerns about terrorism made them an essential part of Republican victories in 2002 and 2004, are taking flight from GOP politicians this year in ways that appear likely to provide a major boost …

Video provokes questions of Lebanese army  —  Lebanese forces move southward; Beirut airport reopens  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) — A video showing Lebanese soldiers cordially offering Israeli troops glasses of tea during the military offensive earlier this month has hit Israeli and Hezbollah airwaves.

Breaking the law has consequences  —  My overall analysis of today's extraordinary federal court decision on the NSA warrantless eavesdropping program is in the post below, here.  I also have an article up at Salon summarizing the importance of this ruling, here.

Inquiry Suggests Marines Excised Files on Killings  —  A high-level military investigation into the killings of 24 Iraqis in Haditha last November has uncovered instances in which American marines involved in the episode appear to have destroyed or withheld evidence, according to two Defense Department officials briefed on the case.

Wal-Mart Image-Builder Resigns  —  The civil rights leader Andrew Young, who was hired by Wal-Mart to improve its public image, resigned from that post last night after telling an African-American newspaper that Jewish, Arab and Korean shop owners had "ripped off" urban communities for years …

The FBI's Upgrade That Wasn't  —  $170 Million Bought an Unusable Computer System  —  As far as Zalmai Azmi was concerned, the FBI's technological revolution was only weeks away.  —  It was late 2003, and a contractor, Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) …

It sounded so good to start with.  But where did it all go wrong, George?  —  "HOW'M I DOIN'?" was the question the quixotic Ed Koch used to ask New York's voters during Hizzoner's eleven turbulent years as the city's mayor.  For a man who governed the globe's most neurotic metropolis …

Whatever's best for Holy Joe  —  Ever since Joe Lieberman lost the Connecticut Democratic primary, he has been telling voters that he stands for "a new politics of unity and purpose."  Yet he and his supporters have simultaneously pursued an old politics of division and distraction …

Kurds flee homes as Iran shells Iraq's northern frontier  —  Michael Howard in Qandil Mountain  —  Turkey and Iran have dispatched tanks, artillery and thousands of troops to their frontiers with Iraq during the past few weeks in what appears to be a coordinated effort to disrupt the activities of Kurdish rebel bases.

No JonBenet Apologies Necessary  —  THE PRESS NEEDN'T REGRET ITS COVERAGE OF THE CASE.  —  This morning finds at least four press-hounds baying their apologies to the Ramseys on behalf of their colleagues or society at large.  They beg the family's forgiveness for having ever suspected them of killing JonBenet.

Terror War  —  KIRYAT SHMONA, ISRAEL - The Israel/Lebanon war created hundreds of thousands of refugees on each side of the border, but that's where proportion ends.  Israel has a real army and a real air force and can inflict real damage on its enemies.  Hezbollah, on the other hand, is only strong enough to terrorize people.

Fill the cup  —  One more hour of Headline News and I'll be done  —  Apparently Ace is whining that there are Americans who don't act like seven year-old girls at their first Kiwanis Halloween Haunted House who screech and go,"Omigawdomigawdomigawd" and do the pee-pee dance every time that CNN …