Senate Committee Approves Wiretap Legislation  —  A Senate committee today approved a bill supported by President Bush that would enable the administration to continue a warrantless wiretapping program that the White House launched after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Ex-Texas Gov. Ann Richards dies  —  AUSTIN, Texas - Former Gov. Ann Richards, the witty and flamboyant Democrat who went from homemaker to national political celebrity, died Wednesday night after a battle with cancer, a family spokeswoman said.  She was 73.  —  She died at home surrounded by her family, the spokeswoman said.

Real story behind Armitage story  —  When Richard Armitage finally acknowledged last week he was my source three years ago in revealing Valerie Plame Wilson as a CIA employee, the former deputy secretary of state's interviews obscured what he really did.  I want to set the record straight based on firsthand knowledge.

Let's quit while we're behind  —  "The trouble with our times," Paul Valéry said, "is that the future is not what it used to be."  —  This glum aperçu has been much with me as we move into the home stretch of the 2006 mid-term elections and shimmy into the starting gates of the 2008 presidential campaign.

Air America Denies Bankruptcy Report  —  Air America Radio, the network that features such liberal mouthpieces as Al Franken and Randi Rhodes, is denying reports that it will declare bankruptcy.  —  The Web site ThinkProgress.org, citing "three independent sources," started a buzz on the Internet …

Air Force chief: Test weapons on testy U.S. mobs  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Nonlethal weapons such as high-power microwave devices should be used on American citizens in crowd-control situations before being used on the battlefield, the Air Force secretary said Tuesday.  —  The object is basically public relations.

The Pope Tackles Faith and Terrorism  —  In a provocative speech citing the concept of jihad and referencing the Muslim prophet by name, Benedict sends the world a signal that it's time for hard questions—not hugs and handshakes  —  This past Monday it was Sept. 11 in Bavaria too …

In R.I., a Model for Voter Turnout  —  Employing Senate Primary Strategy May Give GOP an Edge  —  The turnout campaign that Republican operatives used to help pull Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee to victory in the Rhode Island primary was a potent demonstration of how money and manpower can transform …

The ISM-Terror Connection  —  As a front group for Palestinian terrorists, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) sends young people from all over the world to the training fields of the West Bank and Gaza to learn from terrorists and to aid them logistically.

With No Ideas, The GOP Seeks to Scare  —  Wasn't it just a couple of years ago that Republicans were boasting that they were the party of ideas?  They would privatize the commonwealth and globalize democracy, while Democrats clung to the tattered banner of common security in both economics and national defense.

Grim Report Out of Anbar Is Disputed by General  —  The senior Marine commander in Iraq said Tuesday that he had sufficient forces to carry out his mission but that the mission did not include defeating the insurgency.  —  "For what we are trying to achieve out here I think our force levels are about right …

MORE TROOPS....The New Republic reports on the state of our military today: … There's nothing all that new in this article, but it's worth reading it to get the big picture.  Two-thirds of active Army units are unready for combat and the situation is even worse in the National Guard.

Treasury Department Cash Room  —  Washington, D.C.  —  One week from today, I will be in China to discuss the economic relationship between our two nations.  Today I will speak about China, and more broadly about the international economic system.  —  The prosperity of the United States …