Number of Republicans declines to 32-month low  —  The number of Americans calling themselves Republican has fallen to its lowest level in more than two-and-a-half years.  Just 31.9% of American adults now say they're affiliated with the GOP.  That's down from 37.2% in October 2004 and 34.5% at the beginning of 2006.

Pentagon Releases Grim Report on Iraq  —  Iraqi casualties soared by more than 50 percent during the roughly three-month period ending in early August, the product of spiraling sectarian clashes and a Sunni-based insurgency that remains "potent and viable," the Pentagon noted today in an comprehensive assessment of security in Iraq.

The Path to 9/11  —  Starring Harvey Keitel, Donnie Wahlberg, Michael Benyaer, Shirley Douglas, Patricia Heaton  —  The miniseries will take viewers behind closed doors at the CIA, the FBI and the White House and into the world of Richard Clarke, Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice …

Interceptor downs missile in test over Pacific  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military shot down a target ballistic missile over the Pacific on Friday in the widest test of its emerging antimissile shield in 18 months, the Defense Department announced.  —  The Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency …

Remembering the Beslan massacre  —  This is the two-year anniversary of the mass murder of 186 schoolchildren and 158 adults at Beslan's School No. 1 in North Ossetia, Russia.  Memorials for the victims are being held all day.  Blogger Sirius remembers in pictures.  There's a movie in the works.

Rudy Hits the Campaign Trail  —  IS GIULIANI VICIOUS ENOUGH TO WIN THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATION?  —  With the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaching, I thought it would be a good idea to check up on Rudy Giuliani.  He is the last remaining political action figure from that tragedy …

International Committee of the Red Cross is Covering Up Evidence  —  As reported here last Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross had formerly made available on their web site a high resolution photograph of the ambulance supposedly hit by an Israeli missile.

Saudi gets long sentence  —  Man was convicted of sexual assaults on housekeeper  —  CENTENNIAL - Sniffles and sobs resonated in a packed courtroom Thursday as a Saudi man convicted of sexually assaulting his Indonesian housekeeper was sentenced Thursday to 20 years to life in prison.

A Younger India Is Flexing Its Industrial Brawn  —  Rolls of steel weighing up to 30 metric tons are loaded onto ships at Hazira, India.  Steel shipped by the Essar Group to the United States is put to a variety of uses like construction projects and mountings for car engines.

Burns urges Schweitzer to take steps already taken  —  HELENA — U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns urged Gov. Brian Schweitzer to declare a fire state of emergency Thursday and activate the Montana Army National Guard for firefighting — more than a month after Schweitzer had already done so.

Catalog of Ted Stevens' Actions That Have Benefitted Clients of Ben Stevens  —  From the miracle of Nexis comes this list compiled by Chuck Neubauer, Judy Pasternak and Richard T. Cooper of the Los Angeles Times in June 2003 of Sen. Ted Stevens official actions in the U.S. Senate that have benefited …

Nightmare Mortgages  —  They promise the American Dream: A home of your own — with ultra-low rates and payments anyone can afford.  Now, the trap has sprung  —  For cash-strapped homeowners, it was a pitch they couldn't refuse: Refinance your mortgage at a bargain rate and cut your payments in half.

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi  —  Democratic Leader of the House  —  Washington, D.C. 20515  —  Dear Representative Pelosi,  —  I was concerned about comments attributed to you in the media about the remarks I recently made to the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Perfect Storm for the Poor  —  In Income Data, Something More Damaging Than Katrina  —  After a week of remembering the horrors of Hurricane Katrina, the most depressing realization is how easily our leaders forgot their fervent promises to lift up our nation's poorest citizens.

Where's Mao?  Chinese Revise History Books  —  When high school students in Shanghai crack their history textbooks this fall they may be in for a surprise.  The new standard world history text drops wars, dynasties and Communist revolutions in favor of colorful tutorials on economics, technology, social customs and globalization.

Ned Lamont Is No Clare Boothe Luce  —  The year was 1942.  —  After more than a decade of losing elections to Democrats, after three straight presidential losses to Franklin D. Roosevelt — the man conservative Republicans loved to hate — the scent of victory was at last in the air for the GOP.