Book Says Bush Ignored Urgent Warning on Iraq  —  The White House ignored an urgent warning in September 2003 from a top Iraq adviser who said that thousands of additional American troops were desperately needed to quell the insurgency there, according to a new book by Bob Woodward, the Washington Post reporter and author.

Senate passes bill on terror detainee trials  —  Bush backs legislation, had gone to Congress to lobby for it  —  WASHINGTON - The Senate on Thursday endorsed President Bush's plans to prosecute and interrogate terror suspects, all but sealing congressional approval for legislation …

Ugly Words  —  Past and present in the Virginia Senate race  —  DID REPUBLICAN Sen. George Allen use racial slurs years ago?  Did his Democratic challenger, James Webb?  Does it matter, in a race between two candidates with long public records and substantial differences on Iraq, health care, the economy and other critical issues?

Remarks by the President at Bob Riley for Governor Luncheon  —  Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex  —  THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for coming.  It is a joy to be back in Alabama.  And I appreciate your warm welcome.  I am proud to stand with one of the nation's finest governors …

Oberstar Fails The Pork Test  —  The House has considered a new Coast Guard appropriation (HR 5681), but they did so under a suspension of the rules.  This parliamentary manuever allows Representatives to undermine the new rule just created that forces them to identify their earmarks in the Congressional Record.

UNIFIL confronts Israeli troops  —  U.N. peacekeeping forces in south Lebanon intervened for the first time Thursday with Israeli forces who arrested journalists in violation of Resolution 1701.  —  Israel has not completed its total withdrawal behind the Blue Line dividing the two countries …

Beltway Democrats are seriously flawed, but the election is still critically important  —  (updated below)  —  Now that the torture and detention bill will become law, it is necessary to focus on the political implications of what happened yesterday and, more broadly, what has been done …

Wildlife Waste Is Major Water Polluter, Studies Say  —  Does a bear leave its waste in the woods?  —  Of course.  So do geese, deer, muskrats, raccoons and other wild animals.  And now, such states as Virginia and Maryland have determined that this plays a significant role in water pollution.

Students Start Petition To Remove UNH Professor For 9/11 Views  —  Professor Says Government May Have Had Knowledge Of Attacks  —  DURHAM, N.H. — A small group of students has started a petition to remove a University of New Hampshire professor who believes that Bush administration officials planned …

Squirrels Go On Attack At South Bay Park  —  MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — An aggressive squirrel pounced on a 4-year-old boy in an attack last week in Cuesta Park in Mountain View, Calif.  —  The attack happened as the boy's mother unwrapped a muffin during a picnic.  —  SLIDESHOW: Squirrel Attacks Child

Iraq Contractor's Work Is Further Criticized  —  13 of 14 Projects Found Wanting by Audit  —  The contractor that botched construction of a $75 million police academy in Baghdad so badly that human waste dripped from the ceilings has produced shoddy work on 13 out of 14 projects reviewed …

The White House Warden  —  Congress may give the president the power to lock up almost anyone he thinks is a terror threat.  —  BURIED IN THE complex Senate compromise on detainee treatment is a real shocker, reaching far beyond the legal struggles about foreign terrorist suspects in the Guantanamo Bay fortress.

Media Anarchy Has Its Downside  —  We got freedom but lost standards.  —  We are talking past each other, the left and right in America.  I suppose we always did, but I'm noticing it more.  We have different intellectual styles (rather too emotive, arguably too linear), start with different assumptions, and recognize different data.