Kerry's website defends Kerry's "joke" Update: with video  —  Why does johnkerry.com sport a link to the following Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorial? … That's posted right now on John Kerry's website.  It goes on to slam Bush and defend Kerry's crass remark.

Papers sold to military: 'Rumsfeld must go'  —  Editorial comes days after Bush affirms defense secretary's job security  —  Just days after President Bush publicly affirmed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's job security through the end of his term, a family of publications catering …

Falwell: "Does Not Know" Haggard; Kuo Has "Contempt for Evangelicals"  —  (UPDATE JAMIE: Falwell says he doen't not know Haggard, but has met him.  He was real hesitant in saying that he has met him.  H/T to all the commenters on that one)  —  Reverend Jerry Falwell appeared on the Situation Room …

G.O.P. Turns to the Economy as Campaign Issue  —  Republicans seized on a drop in the unemployment rate to assert on Friday that tax cuts were invigorating the economy, highlighting just four days before the election an issue that party strategists are counting on to offset bad news about the war.

Six Arab states join rush to go nuclear  —  Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, UAE and Saudi Arabia seek atom technology  —  THE SPECTRE of a nuclear race in the Middle East was raised yesterday when six Arab states announced that they were embarking on programmes to master atomic technology.

Hatch remark fuels flap  —  The Duluth News Tribune reported today that DFL gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch called one of its reporters a "Republican whore" on Thursday.  —  Hatch said Friday morning his recollection was that he used the term "Republican hack," not whore.

U.S. Seeks Silence on CIA Prisons  —  Court Is Asked to Bar Detainees From Talking About Interrogations  —  The Bush administration has told a federal judge that terrorism suspects held in secret CIA prisons should not be allowed to reveal details of the "alternative interrogation methods" that their captors used to get them to talk.

Cheney: 'Full Speed Ahead' on Iraq  —  Vice President Tells ABC News Election, Public Sentiment Will Not Influence War Policy  —  Four days before the election, as Republican candidates are battling to save their seats in Congress amidst a backlash over the war in Iraq …

Where's Nancy Pelosi?  —  The list of GOP leaders who have been on the campaign trail working for the benefit of Republican candidates this fall has been long and distinguished.  —  It includes Speaker Dennis Hastert, Majority Leader John Boehner, Majority Whip Roy Blunt, President Bush …

The liberation of Lieberman  —  Spurned by party, senator celebrates his independence He could emerge as a pivotal figure  —  in Washington  —  Nov. 2, 2006.  —  SOUTHINGTON, Conn.—On a New England autumn morning that appeared to be painted by numbers, Joe Lieberman strode to the microphone and spoke of the wonders of liberation.

As Vote Nears, Parties Prepare for Legal Fights  —  A team of lawyers for the Democratic Party has been arguing with postal officials in Columbus, Ohio, trying to persuade them to process thousands of absentee ballots that have arrived with insufficient postage.

Why Israel will go to war again - soon  —  There will soon be another war in the Middle East, this time a renewal of the conflict between the Israel Defence Force (IDF) and Hizbollah.  The conflict is inevitable and unavoidable.  It will come about because Israel cannot tolerate the rebuilding …

New Jersey man finds letters to God at sea  —  PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A U.S. man who found 300 letters to God floating in the Atlantic Ocean said on Friday he will donate them to a church instead of selling them on eBay following protests from religious people.