The price of shillyshallying  —  The failure of world powers to rein in North Korea means that we face a bleak and terrifying future  —  THE BIRTH announcement of each new arrival into the nuclear family in the past 50 years has been greeted by existing members with loud condemnations and dark prognostications.

SEAL falls on grenade to save comrades  —  CORONADO, Calif. - A Navy SEAL sacrificed his life to save his comrades by throwing himself on top of a grenade Iraqi insurgents tossed into their sniper hideout, fellow members of the elite force said.  —  Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor …

Democratic Faces That Could Launch Thousands of Votes  —  With a Parade of Attractive Candidates, the Party May Benefit From the Politics of Beauty  —  AUBURN, N.Y. — Maybe Democratic candidate Michael Arcuri is running strong in this Republican House district because he pledges to expand health coverage …

Gay Marriage Losing Punch as Ballot Issue  —  The debate over same-sex marriage was a black-or-white proposition two years ago when voters in 11 states barred gay couples from marrying.  —  But this year shades of gray are everywhere, as eight more states consider similar ballot measures.

FBI investigates Rep. Curt Weldon  —  WASHINGTON - The Justice Department is investigating whether Republican Rep. Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania traded his political influence for lucrative lobbying and consulting contracts for his daughter, according to sources with direct knowledge of the inquiry.

Dalai Lama sees Pope, says few Muslims "mischievous"  —  ROME (Reuters) - The Dalai Lama said after meeting Pope Benedict on Friday that "a few mischievous Muslims" should not be allowed to give the Islamic faith a bad name.  —  Muslims worldwide were offended by a speech by the Pope …

Iraqi federalism vote: Behind the contradictory numbers  —  The Iraqi parliament voted (Wednesday, October 11) 140 to nothing, in a more-or-less routine vote, to approve the federalism-procedures bill.  Or did they?  The New York Times said so.  But the Iraqi paper Azzaman said the vote was 138 to nothing …

RATFINK RAUNCHFEST  —  Josh Marshall cites this latest outburst from a politically besieged Chris Shays as a troubling sign of yet another reasonable moderate cracking under the strain and going nutsy crazy.  —  Perhaps.  But I would note that Shays is not a solitary warbler when it comes …

Holy Land group's co-founder sentenced  —  Ghassan Elashi, co-founder and former chairman of the now-defunct Richardson-based Holy Land Foundation, was sentenced Thursday to six years and eight months in prison on charges that he did business with a terrorist and violated export laws with his brothers and their company InfoCom Corp.

New Calls by Hamas Militants to Target the U.S.  —  Washington's efforts to isolate and topple the Islamist government is amplifying calls from its more extreme element to abandon its reluctance to directly attack U.S. interests  —  Commanders of the military wing of Hamas …

"Media Matters"; by Jamison Foser  —  Quote of the [Week] Year … The Note's faith-based defense of the Bush administration  —  In the latest in a series of scathing criticisms of the Bush White House from its former employees, David Kuo, the former deputy director of the administration's office …

Press Briefing by Tony Snow  —  White House Conference Center Briefing Room  —  MR. SNOW: One brief announcement and then questions.  The announcement, the President and Mrs. Bush will welcome Their Majesties King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden to the White House on October 23, 2006.

Iraqi Colonel Who Bridged Sectarian Divide Is Killed  —  Operating between the insurgent Sunni Arab suburbs of Baghdad and the Shiite militia-dominated south, Col. Salam al-Mamuri and his Scorpion commando team were a rarity among Iraqi security forces, American and Iraqi colleagues said …

U.S. Economy: Fuel-Price Drop Spurs Consumer Spending (Update2)  —  Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) — Lower gasoline prices encouraged Americans to spend more on clothing, furniture and building materials, and propelled consumer confidence to the highest level in more than a year.