The media's sudden intense interest in the House Intelligence Committee  —  The New Republic's Michael Crowley last night noticed something about Jane Harman that has evaded most Beltway commentators, including those who have suddenly developed such a bizarre and uncharacteristic interest …

Does AP Iraqi writer Qais al-Bashir have super powers?  —  It's looking like AP Baghdad correspondent Qais al-Bashir is the only one who can see this mysterious, non-existent "Captain Jamil Hussein".  Well, it's not for certain yet, but al Bashir is the common element in four stories involving Captain Snuffleupagus.

U.S. Embassy Asks Bush Twins to Leave Country  —  Joe Goldman and Rhonda Schwartz Report:  —  Amid a growing barrage of front-page headlines, U.S. embassy officials "strongly suggested" President Bush's twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara Bush, cut short their trip to Buenos Aires because of security issues …

NBC decides to call the violence in Iraq a "civil war"  —  On the Today Show, NBC announced to the world that the violence in Iraq can now be labeled a civil war Monday morning.. NBC assured us that they didn't just come up with that label.  It asked many people and held careful deliberations.

Lure of Great Wealth Affects Career Choices  —  A decade into the practice of medicine, still striving to become "a well regarded physician-scientist," Robert H. Glassman concluded that he was not making enough money.  So he answered an ad in the New England Journal of Medicine from a business consulting firm hiring doctors.

Erekat: Despite violation, truce can and must hold  —  By Haaretz Service and News Agencies  —  Palestinian lawmaker Saeb Erekat on Monday condemned a Qassam rocket strike on Israel from Gaza earlier in the day, but said that the day-old cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians "can work, and I believe we have to make it work."

Is Putin Being Set Up?  —  PARIS—Whoever poisoned Alexander Litvinenko had two goals: a long and lingering death for the KGB defector and pointing a finger of accusation for his killing right in the face of Vladimir Putin.  —  Which leads me to believe Putin had nothing to do with it.

Straw Strongmen  —  When I read Jonathan Chait's piece in the LA Times from yesterday, I assumed he was making a Swiftian modest proposal.  I read his piece to be a satirical left hook to the notion that the Baker Commission was going to find some magical solution to the Iraq quagmire …

In Class Warfare, Guess Which Class Is Winning  —  NOT long ago, I had the pleasure of a lengthy meeting with one of the smartest men on the planet, Warren E. Buffett, the chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, in his unpretentious offices in Omaha.  We talked of many things that, I hope, will inspire me for years to come.

A Fix for Social Security?  —  How Personal Accounts Could Please Both Sides  —  The next six months could be a productive time for economic policy.  After a wasted 2005-06 cycle, in which the Bush administration approached entitlement reform too confidently and Democrats refused to talk, both sides may return to the table.

Informant in shooting says he never bought drugs at house  —  Says he was asked to lie  —  The confidential informant on whose word Atlanta police raided the house of an 88-year-old woman is now saying he never purchased drugs from her house and was told by police to lie and say he did.

The media fog of war  —  ***4:30pm Eastern update: when it rains, it pours...here's a third must-read from milblogger John Noonan raising questions about AP stringer Bassem Mroue...more from Lorie Byrd on media malpractice...***  —  ***8:58pm Eastern update: more questions for the AP …

Drugs are Bad...  Apparently, even nominal quantities of over-the-counter cold medications can cause you to see the most interesting things.  —  I know this, because this Reuters picture has all the earmarks of a crudely-edited PhotoShop, from the rather odd smudges and apparent artifacts around …

MAD AS HELL  —  Regular viewers of "Lou Dobbs Tonight," on CNN, might be surprised at the venue that Dobbs chose for lunch not long ago: the Grill Room of the Four Seasons, a midtown bastion of the very same political and business "élites" that he denounces daily on his television program.

Motorcycle officer dies of injuries  —  Steve Favela was badly hurt in a crash while escorting Bush's motorcade  —  Alexandre Da Silva and Rosemarie Bernardo adasilva@starbulletin.com  —  Honolulu motorcycle police officer Steve Favela died yesterday, five days after he was critically injured …

The gloves come off  —  Keith Olbermann's anti-Bush views have driven up the ratings of his MSNBC show.  —  THE Democrats may have wrested back control of power in Congress, but that hasn't quieted the ire of Keith Olbermann.  —  Last week, he delivered one of his trademark blistering critiques …

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT LAUNCHES INTERNAL PROBE OF ROLE IN NSA'S DOMESTIC WIRETAP PROGRAM  —  WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's internal watchdog said Monday it has opened an investigation into the agency's use of information gathered in the government's warrantless surveillance program.

Bolton: Future of Mideast 'may well be decided' in days  —  WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is facing a foreign policy crisis in Lebanon where the Iran-backed Hizbullah and Syria threaten to topple the weakened democratic government in Beirut.  —  "The future of the Middle East …