Bush Cites Progress in Gulf Coast Visit  —  On the eve of the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, President Bush returned to the devastated Gulf Coast today promising to continue federal assistance, and eagerly pointing out signs of progress.  —  "It's amazing, isn't?" he told a gathering under a sweltering sun.

A Tool We Need to Stop the Next Airliner Plot  —  Imagine that our troops in Afghanistan raided an al-Qaeda safe house and captured a computer containing the cellphone numbers of operatives in Europe.  Wouldn't it be important to know whether one of those cellphone numbers was used to book a transatlantic flight?

Karr Won't Be Charged In Death of JonBenet  —  Prosecutor Says DNA Samples Did Not Match  —  Prosecutors dropped their case against John Mark Karr in the decade-old killing of JonBenet Ramsey on Monday, abruptly ending a 12-day whirlwind that reached halfway around the globe …

Pronouncing Blame on the Israel Lobby  —  It was quite a boner.  —  University of Chicago political scientist John Mearsheimer was in town yesterday to elaborate on his view that American Jewish groups are responsible for the war in Iraq, the destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure and many other bad things.

Iraqi Troops Battle Shiite Militiamen In Southern City  —  With American combat aircraft providing cover, U.S.-backed Iraqi troops battled radical Shiite militiamen Monday in the southern city of Diwaniyah in one of the first major clashes between the two forces.

Is Stabenow the Secret Holder?  —  Someone's still got a secret hold on the Obama/Coburn legislation, which would create a searchable online database for government spending.  —  Is it Debbie Stabenow?  If so, I'm doubting that will play well in her fight against Bouchard.  —  Update: Hee.

Democrats See Victory in U.S. House Races, Senate Within Reach  —  Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) — Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Chairman Charles Rangel and Chairman — again — John Dingell.  Those titles will soon sound familiar.  —  Barring an unexpected and big event, Democrats will win control …

Trash the 'Compact'  —  An attempt to circumvent the Electoral College is really an urban power grab.  —  For more than 200 years America has chosen its presidents as the Constitution provides: through the Electoral College.  Traditionally, each state has cast its electoral votes …

Clinton Makes Up for Lost Time in Battling AIDS  —  Bill Clinton spoke with a girl at a treatment center in Lesotho in July.  The Africa trip was his fifth since 2001.  More Photos >  —  RWINKWAVU, Rwanda — Bill Clinton worked the crowd of AIDS survivors, clasping the outstretched hands …

Hezbollah's propaganda exposed during Annan's visit  —  Editor's Note: Karim is a special correspondent for the Counterterrorism Blog (he posted on July 24) and is currently in Lebanon.  —  Hezbollah's staged mini-demonstration in the southern suburb of Beirut has been exposed by unauthorized media footage.

Numbers show a second-rate US  —  The United States is the world's only military superpower and has the globe's largest economy.  Yet, by some measures, the US is a second-rate industrial nation - at best.  —  "Compared to other advanced economies, our market-driven model yields highly …

A GOP Terror Bump  —  There seems to have been a change in the political winds.  They've been blowing pretty strongly against George W. Bush and the Republicans this spring and early this summer.  Now, their velocity looks to be tapering off or perhaps shifting direction.

New Orleans District Attorney Bristles at Criticism, Walks Out of Interview  —  Vic Walter Reports:  —  New Orleans District Attorney Eddie Jordan bristled at criticism and walked out of an ABC News Nightline interview when told that law enforcement officials were critical of Jordan's handling of his office.

Voters Find Some Machines Harder to Use  —  With New York State facing a looming deadline to modernize its election technology, a new report offers evidence that one of the two major types of voting machines being considered has a higher rate of unrecorded votes, suggesting that it is too confusing for many people.

What-Ifs of a Media Eclipse  —  P. Anthony Ridder in June, at the time he sold off Knight Ridder.  He has called that day a sad occasion.  —  WHEN P. Anthony Ridder met with Wall Street analysts in June last year for a routine financial review, he was the chief executive of the nation's second-largest newspaper company.