Rumors and reporting in Iraq  —  ***scroll for updates...NYTimes blogger Tom Zeller Jr weighs in...plus: bloggers note the significance of the capture of Mazer Al-Jubouri, aka the Baghdad Sniper, and his group...***  —  I've been following up with CENTCOM on the Associated Press/sketchy sources brouhaha.

EXCLUSIVE: Iranian Weapons Arm Iraqi Militia  —  Hezbollah Training Also Linked to Iraq Violence  —  U.S. officials say they have found smoking-gun evidence of Iranian support for terrorists in Iraq: brand-new weapons fresh from Iranian factories.  According to a senior defense official …

George Will Distorts WaPo's Own Reporting To Smear Jim Webb  —  This has to be one of the rankest displays of journalistic dishonesty I've seen in some time on the part of any columnist, large or small.  —  In today's Washington Post column, George Will assails Dem Senator-elect Jim Webb …

On Calling Bulls**t  —  Mainstream-media political journalism is in danger of becoming increasingly irrelevant, but not because of the Internet, or even Comedy Central.  The threat comes from inside.  It comes from journalists being afraid to do what journalists were put on this green earth to do.

IRAQI PM AL-MALIKI TELLS BUSH, RICE IT'S NO 'BIG DEAL' TO CONTROL MAHDI ARMY  —  AMMAN, Jordan — President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed the Iraqi prime minister on Thursday to disband a heavily armed Shiite militia blamed for much of the country's sectarian violence …

Japan Says It Could Build a Nuclear Bomb  —  TOKYO (AP) — Japan has the technological know-how to produce a nuclear weapon but has no immediate plans to do so, the foreign minister said Thursday, several weeks after communist North Korea carried out a nuclear test.

Benchwarming  —  THE SUPREME COURT MELTS DOWN OVER GREENHOUSE GASSES.  —  If there is anything stranger than writing up your story on global warming in a T-shirt ... in late November ... in the District of Columbia, I can't quite think what it is.  In fact nothing about this morning's oral argument …

Conservative Students to Display "ACLU Nativity Scene"  —  Contact: Kevin Potter, Director of Communications - 469.231.4327  —  Conservative Students to Display "ACLU Nativity Scene"  —  Young Conservatives of Texas at UT Austin  —  Contact: Tony McDonald, Chairman 512.923.6893

FEMA Told to Resume Storm Aid  —  Judge's Ruling May Affect Thousands On the Gulf Coast  —  The Bush administration unconstitutionally denied aid to tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and must resume payments immediately, a federal judge ordered yesterday.

COVER UP  —  How New York's buildings are disappearing beneath a blanket of never-ending scaffolds and backroom deals  —  For many residents of the oft-termed New New York, the post-9/11 building boom represents prosperity, regeneration and renewed vitality.

Do Not Pry Open Until Christmas  —  The Hard Truth About Hated 'Clamshell' Packaging  —  There's a part of Christmas morning that Tiffany Seay dreads: getting everything out of its packaging.  The twisties.  The tape.  The hard plastic ties, like handcuffs for dolls.  The itty-bitty screwdrivers.

Promises made, promises broken - a retrospective on Pelosi's 9-11 Commission promises (PM UPDATE: 12:32 PM)  —  Well, they promised the most "honest, ethical, and open Congress in history", which proved to be complete BS post-election after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi not only let it be known …

Majority of Americans Believe Iraq Is in 'Civil War', Poll Finds  —  A majority of Americans think Iraq is in the midst of a civil war, a new Harris Interactive poll finds, and few are confident that Robert Gates's nomination as Secretary of Defense will improve the situation there.

Right-Wing Radio Host Fabricates Controversy To Attack First Muslim Congressman  —  Right-wing radio host Dennis Prager wrote a column earlier this week claiming that Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim elected to Congress, had "announced that he will not take his oath of office on the Bible …