Chafee wins in closely watched R.I race  —  Moderate Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee (news, bio, voting record) of Rhode Island, who bucked President Bush on tax cuts and the war in Iraq, defeated a conservative challenger Tuesday in a contest crucial to the larger fight for control of Congress.

BBC did not know of 9/11 film's link to religious right  —  The BBC broadcast a controversial docu-drama, The Path to 9/11, this week without realising that it had been made by a member of the US religious right.  —  The three-hour programme, shown over two nights on BBC2 to commemorate …

We just had lunch in NYC with a real president  —  We just finished a two hour blogger lunch with President Clinton at his NY office in Harlem.  He had reached out to a group of us a few weeks ago, before the Disney/ABC blow up, simply because he wanted to meet some bloggers.

White House Responds to Charge of Politicizing 9/11  —  The White House today dismissed charges by prominent Democrats that President Bush sought to capitalize politically on the Sept. 11 attacks when he addressed the nation on Monday night.  —  "The president was not making partisan remarks …

'Blogosphere' spurs government oversight  —  WASHINGTON — When watchdog groups that monitor federal spending wanted more information on 1,800 "pork barrel" projects buried in a House appropriations bill, they listed them on the Internet and asked readers to dig deeper.  Within days, details began pouring in.

Will Wikipedia Mean the End Of Traditional Encyclopedias?  —  Wikipedia, the community-edited online encyclopedia, has blossomed.  It has thousands of volunteers that have created more than five million entries in dozens of languages on everything from the Elfin-woods warbler to Paris Hilton.

Noe gets 27 months in federal prison for illegal Bush contributions  —  Tom Noe, the GOP fund-raiser at the heart of Ohio's biggest political scandal in a generation, was sentenced today to 27 months in a federal prison for illegally funneling money into President Bush's re-election campaign.

Poll problems reported in Maryland  —  MMontgomery County election officials are seeking to keep polls open an extra hour, until 9 p.m., after they forgot to deliver electronic voting cards to election judges and were forced to turn away voters this morning.

Fear Factor  —  HOW DID WE SURVIVE ARI FLEISCHER'S REIGN OF TERROR?  —  And there it was again, in Frank Rich's column (TimesSelect subscription required) in the New York Times of Sunday, Sept. 10, recalling the alleged pall of fear that fell over Americans five years ago this month:

Fenty Wins D.C. Mayoral Primary  —  Adrian M. Fenty won the Democratic nomination for mayor of the District of Columbia tonight, decisively defeating his closest competitor, Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp, in a primary that sets the stage for him to become the youngest chief executive of the nation's capital.

Pimping the Greatest Generation  —  The president seemed a little confused last night.  For the last two weeks he's been evoking images of WWII, talking about islamic fascists and the like.  Last night he seemed to be adding the Cold War into the mix.  Apparently, he wants people to believe …

Yes, senator, McCain-Feingold does censor political speech  —  WASHINGTON - Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., takes issue with The Examiner's editorial criticism of the McCain-Feingold bill and its "ban" on certain broadcast ads.  The indignant senator responds that the law "doesn't ban or censor any speech."

Reborn  —  We have always been told there is no recovery from persistent vegetative state - doctors can only make a sufferer's last days as painless as possible.  But is that really the truth?  Across three continents, severely brain-damaged patients are awake and talking after taking ... a sleeping pill.

Top Aide to Sadr Outlines Vision of a U.S.-Free Iraq  —  NAJAF, Iraq — In a shabby but spotless living room in the holy city of Najaf, a top deputy of Shiite Muslim leader Moqtada al-Sadr quietly sketched out his vision of the Iraq to come, after the Americans withdraw.