At Least 145 Killed in Deadliest Attack Since Start of Iraq War  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — In the deadliest attack on a sectarian enclave since the beginning of the Iraq war, suspected Sunni-Arab militants used three suicide car bombs and two mortar rounds on the capital's Shiite Sadr City slum …

LEBANON UPDATE (PICTURES, LINK TO VIDEO BELOW)  —  Even though it's Thanksgiving, there is so much going on in Lebanon today that I thought I'd gather some news from around the web and from local Lebanese media to update you on what's happening on this dramatic day.  —  I will add to this post if necessary as the day goes on.

Oh, Come ON, People  —  There is a principled, intellectually honest case to be made for increasing the security of America's borders.  Part of it is pretty obvious to those of us aware of the simple need to keep terrorists, criminals, and drugs out.  And, um, the freakin' Mexican Army.

A THANKSGIVING PRAYER FOR DICK CHENEY'S HEART - AND A FEW OTHER FAVORITE THINGS  —  I give thanks O Lord for Dick Cheney's Heart, that brave organ which has done its darn-tootin' best on four separate occasions to do what we can only dream about.  —  O Lord, give Dick Cheney's Heart …

A Bad Omen in Rumsfeld's Firing  —  Donald Rumsfeld, one week after his sacking as secretary of defense, was treated as a conquering hero, accorded one standing ovation after another at the conservative American Spectator magazine's annual dinner in Washington.

Panel Calls for Big Changes in Medicaid  —  A federal advisory panel says that long-term care for aging baby boomers threatens to bankrupt Medicaid, and it recommends sweeping changes to rein in costs, including greater use of managed care for the sickest Medicaid recipients.

Hastert Scouts for House Role After 8 Years as Speaker  —  Speaker J. Dennis Hastert made history this year when he became the longest-serving Republican in that post.  Now he is about to go into the books again as one of the few House speakers, and the first in almost 50 years, to rejoin the rank and file.

HOW VIOLENT IS IRAQ?  —  I've written previously on the level of violence in Iraq, comparing it to murder rates in other times and places and to death rates that have been experienced in actual civil wars.  See here and here, for example.  My impression has been that violence in Iraq …

Thanksgiving: the White House "Pardoning" Scandal  —  Here's an extra serving of hypocrisy for your Thanksgiving dinner.  —  I think we're all familiar with the big, flashy show that the White House puts on every year when the president pardons his Thanksgiving turkey.

EPA to Regulate Nanoproducts Sold As Germ-Killing  —  The Environmental Protection Agency has decided to regulate a large class of consumer items made with microscopic "nanoparticles" of silver, part of a new but increasingly widespread technology that may pose unanticipated environmental risks, a government official said yesterday.

Saudis need a mirror to see injustice  —  Luckily, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers isn't Jewish.  —  Or a woman.  Or gay.  —  The clown princes and oligarchs of Saudi Arabia don't take kindly to those kinds of people in their midst.  Then again, Christians, Hindis, Buddhists, atheists, etc. ...