Why abduct us?  We cede our values for free  —  Did you see that video of the two Fox journalists announcing they'd converted to Islam?  The larger problem, it seems to me, is that much of the rest of the Western media have also converted to Islam, and there seems to be no way to get them to convert back to journalism.

I Am a Reality-Based Center-Left Technocrat...  Eric Rauchway writes: … I am, as I said above, a reality-based center-left technocrat.  I am pragmatically interested in government policies that work: that are good for America and for the world.  My natural home is in the bipartisan center …

Al-Qaeda Leader Arrested in Iraq  —  Iraqi armed forces have arrested the No. 2 leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, the country's national security leader said Sunday.  —  The leader, Hamed Jumaa Faris Juri al-Saaydi, was captured within the past few days near Baqubah, along with 20 other senior members …

Annan gets little satisfaction in Iran  —  TEHRAN, Iran - The U.N. chief got little satisfaction Sunday at the close of his trip to Tehran, snubbed by Iran's leader over international demands to stop enriching uranium and ignored in warnings not to incite hatred by questioning the Holocaust.

Iraqi PM orders Kurds to hoist national flag  —  BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has set himself on a collision course with Kurdish separatists by ordering public buildings across Iraq to fly the national flag.  —  Earlier in the week, the president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region …

Transcript for Sept. 3  —  MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: Only 65 days until the midterm elections.  The Democrats must gain six seats to take control of the U.S. Senate.  This fall we will once again present debates between the candidates in some of the hottest Senate races across the country …

Why Poverty Doesn't Rate  —  The Census Bureau last week released its latest estimate of the U.S. poverty rate — the country's most important official statistic on domestic want and deprivation.  The figure was sobering, signaling short-run stagnation and deterioration over the past generation.

Klan holds rally at Gettysburg  —  GETTYSBURG, Pa. - About 30 Ku Klux Klan members proclaimed hatred for blacks, Jews, gays and Latinos as they stood behind barricades at the Civil War battlefield where Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address.  —  Gordon Young of the World Knights …

Armitage and Powell: Looking at PlameGate retrospectively  —  The indefatigable "Larwyn" sent around a link at some god-awful hour last night to an editorial in today's New York Post calling for "Justice for Scooter."  It is not one of that great newspaper's finer efforts.

New Jersey's GOP Senate Candidate Kean Calls For Rumsfeld's Resignation  —  Yes, there are Republicans who are not happy with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's administration of the war and "Rummy" suggesting that those who question his or the administration's management of the war …

Khatami: US policies trigger terrorism  —  In first public appearances during nearly two-week visit to US, former Iranian president says American Muslims can play key role in promoting peace, security  —  Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said Saturday that US foreign policy triggers terrorism …

Palestinian teachers' strike hurts boy  —  NABLUS, West Bank - Masked militants trying to keep students away from school during a politically charged Palestinian teachers' strike on Sunday shot and wounded a 12-year-old boy.  —  Palestinian teachers began striking Saturday …

Making 'em Feel Small...  Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal  —  A Fair, Balanced, and Reality-Based Look at Economics and Many Other Topics  —  September 03, 2006  —  Making 'em Feel Small...  I wrote that one reason that America's rich today live the expensive and ostentatious lifestyles they do …

The "Azzam" Threat: A prelude to Future Jihad in America  —  PS: This is a short version posting.  The longer version will be posted later.  —  The video tape issued by al Qaeda's "as-sahhab" production, in which Ayman Zawahiri introduces Jihadist Adam Gahdan to the world as a senior speaker …

FDL Book Salon — Conservatives Without Conscience, Week 2  —  John Dean's book is one of the most important books of the year.  It has obviously resonated across the country, as it has remained on The New York Times Best-Seller list since the first week it was released …

Her Majesty's Man in Tashkent  —  The courtroom provided a telling introduction.  I had recently arrived as British ambassador in Uzbekistan's old Silk Road capital of Tashkent, where I was watching the trial of a 22-year-old dissident named Iskander Khuderbegainov.

No Middle Ground  —  My friends Jenny and Greg were still digesting the news that Jenny was pregnant with triplets when, only moments later, their fertility doctor sat them down.  After recounting the many things that might go wrong in a triple pregnancy, he said, "You really should consider reducing."

Hardball Tactics in an Era of Threats  —  To the government, they were a terrorist risk in the Washington area.  To local Muslims, they were unfairly singled out for prosecution and severe sentences in a post-9/11 world.  —  The crowd was so big it spilled out of the Alexandria courtroom …