NEWS CORP. CANCELS O.J. SIMPSON BOOK AND TV SPECIAL  —  NEW YORK — News Corp., the parent company of book publisher HarperCollins and the FOX network, has canceled publication of the O.J. Simpson book and television special "If I Did It."  —  "I and senior management agree with the American public …

Gingrich '08: The stealth candidate  —  The controversial former House Speaker seems to throw his hat in the ring as a GOP presidential candidate, and promises that health care reform will be the big issue.  An exclusive Fortune interview.  —  WASHINGTON (Fortune) — Even a crisp Guinness stout …

Clinton is '08 frontrunner, Kerry's support slips  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-New York, remains the frontrunner for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2008, with more than twice the support of any of her potential rivals, a new CNN poll shows.

No Decisions Yet on Iraq Troop Levels, Bush Says  —  President Bush said Monday that he has made no decisions about altering the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, and he refused to discuss the pros and cons that would accompany such a decision.  —  "I haven't made any decisions about troop increases …

House panel chair pushes for Iraqi army  —  WASHINGTON - The United States should push for available and trained Iraqi security forces to be sent to the front lines of the fight to stabilize the wartorn country, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter said Monday.

Schools Slow in Closing Gaps Between Races  —  When President Bush signed his sweeping education law a year into his presidency, it set 2014 as the deadline by which schools were to close the test-score gaps between minority and white students that have persisted since standardized testing began.

Fighting back: the city determined not to become al-Qaeda's capital  —  A power struggle is taking place in the Sunni triangle, with tribal leaders and coalition forces aligning against a common enemy  —  A convoy of five US military humvees, each with radios crackling and a machine-gunner poking through …

"Kramer's" Racist Tirade — Caught on Tape  —  WARNING: WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE IS PROFANE AND RACIAL  —  Michael Richards exploded in anger as he performed at a famous L.A. comedy club last Friday, hurling racial epithets that left the crowd gasping, and TMZ has obtained exclusive video of the ugly incident.

Jose Padilla also rules Iraq  —  (updated below)  —  The New York Sun has a really, really scary column this morning about The Terrorists and how much stronger they are now because the Democrats won: … Democrats are soul mates not just with The Terrorists generally …

A New Strategy to Discourage Driving Drunk  —  The threat of arrest and punishment, for decades the primary tactic against drunken drivers, is no longer working in the struggle to reduce the death toll, officials say, and they are proposing turning to technology — alcohol detection devices in every vehicle — to address the problem.

McCain literally sticks to the script on Iraq  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) stuck to the script yesterday during an appearance on ABC's This Week, repeating his desire to see more troops sent to Iraq.  What's interesting, however, is that McCain seemed to need his notes quite a bit to get through the discussion.

Fox News Channel preps right-leaning satire  —  Fox News Channel might air two episodes of a "Daily Show"-like program with a decidedly nonliberal bent on Saturday nights in late January, with the possibility that it could become a weekly show for the channel.

IS YOUR NEWSPAPER AMERICA'S WORST?  —  Scott recently suggested that the Minneapolis Star Tribune may be America's worst newspaper.  That produced lots of emails from readers who nominated their own newspapers, or others with which they are familiar, for the honor.

Democrat urges gradual Iraq withdrawal  —  CHICAGO - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, who is contemplating a run for the presidency, on Monday called for a "gradual and substantial" reduction of U.S. forces from Iraq that would begin in four to six months.  —  Speaking to the Chicago Council …

Sweet Neocons  —  Watching all these neocon rats racing to fling themselves off the sinking Republican ship is an amazing sight to see.  On Blitzer's show yesterday they were all over the place, blaming everyone but themselves for the disaster in Iraq.  —  Ken Adelman is heartbroken to find …

Iran Urges Summit With Iraq and Syria  —  Iran has invited the Iraqi and Syrian presidents to Tehran for a weekend summit with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to hash out ways to cooperate in curbing the runaway violence that has taken Iraq to the verge of civil war and threatens to spread through the region …

N.Y. Is Ordered to Pay $1.93 Billion for City Schools  —  New York State's highest court ended a landmark 13-year court battle over education financing today by releasing its ruling that an additional $1.93 billion must be spent each year on New York City's public schools.