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.

House GOP Leaders Fight Wiretapping Limits  —  House leaders moved yesterday to temper many of the controls that a bill headed toward rapid passage would have imposed on the Bush administration's program for wiretapping terrorism suspects without court approval.

Rival admits leaking Schwarzenegger tape  —  SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The campaign of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Democratic rival acknowledged Tuesday that it downloaded — and leaked to the media — a recording of a private meeting in which the governor described a Hispanic legislator as having a "very hot" personality.

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 …

Bill Clinton Meets Bloggers  —  Why would I fly to New York for a day?  Because former President Bill Clinton invited a group of progressive, Democrat bloggers in for a 2 hour roundtable meeting at his Harlem office.  It was awesome.  More later, including a list of all the bloggers there …

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.

In Fifth District DFL race, Ellison outran opponents  —  The party's endorsed candidate captured 41 percent of the votes in the DFL primany.  Sabo's choice, Mike Erlandson, finished second.  —  State Rep. Keith Ellison overcame setbacks and questions about his past to win the DFL nomination …

'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.

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."

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.

Guardian of the Truth Lie  —  The Guardian has responded to Zombie's excellent expose of the Red Cross Ambulance incident in predictable fashion: by categorically dismissing the points raised.  Their conclusion? … Based on what?  I hear you ask.  —  Based on "expert" opinion.....the …

You must do a lot more to pull your weight, Nato chief chides refuseniks  —  THE political head of Nato appealed yesterday for alliance members to provide hundreds more troops for the mission in southern Afghanistan.  —  With most of the fighting burden falling on the shoulders of the British …

Theory that U.S. orchestrated Sept. 11 attacks 'not absurd': Venezuela  —  Theory that U.S. orchestrated Sept. 11 attacks 'not absurd': Venezuela  —  CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday that it's at least plausible that the U.S. government was involved in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Democrats Call NSA's Input To Senate Panel Inappropriate  —  Democrats on the Senate intelligence committee are complaining that the National Security Agency has played politics in support of the secret program to intercept phone calls between alleged terrorists in the United States and abroad.

Bush assassination movie gets U.S. deal  —  TORONTO, Ontario (Reuters) — After you kill off President George W. Bush in a fictional film, what do you do?  How about make a deal.  —  Gabriel Range, the British producer/director/creator of "Death of a President," the fictional documentary …

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.

Testing the site waters with Joe and Ned  —  Well, I've been spending the last little while having a stroll through the Lamont and Lieberman web sites.  I can't tell yet whether this new focus is going to be a load of fun or the source of the worst brain-freeze headache in the history of 7-11.

Cha-Cha Conservative Carlson Survives His Dance With the Stars [With Video]  —  As the Dancing With the Stars host said, Tucker Carlson - host of the MSNBC show of the same name - "has braved some of the most perilous situations in the world, but now [for] his most intimidating assignment …