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 …

Bush: Calls for Troop Drawdowns Unrealistic  —  At Summit, President Stands by Iraqi Prime Minister, Discusses Speeding Up Security Handover  —  President Bush delivered a staunch endorsement of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Thursday morning and dismissed calls for U.S. troop withdrawals …

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 …

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.

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.

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.

Democrats Reject Key 9/11 Panel Suggestion  —  Neither Party Has an Appetite for Overhauling Congressional Oversight of Intelligence  —  It was a solemn pledge, repeated by Democratic leaders and candidates over and over: If elected to the majority in Congress, Democrats would implement …

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

Russian ex-PM has mystery illness  —  Former Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar is being treated in a Moscow hospital after falling violently ill on a trip to Ireland on 24 November.  —  Speculation is rife that he may have been poisoned.  He fell ill a day after former Russian spy Alexander …

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.

Vilsack kicks off long-shot campaign  —  The governor begins a five-state tour today to announce his candidacy for president.  —  Mount Pleasant, Ia.  — Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack today vowed to make small-town values and Midwestern ingenuity the key to returning the Democrats to the White House …

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 …