Iraq Panel to Recommend Pullback of Combat Troops  —  The bipartisan Iraq Study Group reached a consensus on Wednesday on a final report that will call for a gradual pullback of the 15 American combat brigades now in Iraq but stop short of setting a firm timetable for their withdrawal …

Already Too Busy for Civility  —  That was certainly swift.  Washington has a way of quickly acculturating people, especially those who are most susceptible to derangement by the derivative dignity of office.  But Jim Webb, Democratic senator-elect from Virginia, has become a pompous poseur …

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 …

'Spy' radiation alert for 33,000 BA passengers  —  More than 33,000 British Airways passengers faced a radiation scare last night as three planes were grounded over fears that they have been contaminated by the toxin that killed Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko.

IRAQ'S UNCIVIL WAR  —  TIME TO DEFINE THE MISSION  —  YOU can call her a blond, but she's still a redhead.  The endless spitting match over whether Iraq is in a state of civil war is a media-driven grudge fight that ignores the complex reality.  It's name-calling, not analysis.

More Demonization Of Illegals At WND  —  I'm in favor of tough border enforcement stopping illegal entry into the US.  That comes from a solid concern about national security and support for legal immigrants who take the time to follow the law when they move to our nation.

Iraq's War of Perception: "Who is Jamil Hussein?"  —  In 1980 Washington Post reporter Janet Cooke wrote a story entitled "Jimmy's World," the startling tale of an eight-year old "third-generation heroin addict" living in Washington, DC.  —  Cooke's expose' captured several volatile issues in one tear-drenched package.

UN troops face child abuse claims  —  Children have been subjected to rape and prostitution by United Nations peacekeepers in Haiti and Liberia, a BBC investigation has found.  —  Girls have told of regular encounters with soldiers where sex is demanded in return for food or money.

50 Shots  —  Around 4 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 25, several New York City police officers in plain clothes fired an estimated 50 shots at a car, wounding two black men and killing a third, 23-year-old Sean Bell.  Some police bullets penetrated nearby homes.  Although an undercover officer …

A BEAUTIFULLY DARK PLACE  —  This piece in American Thinker by Selwyn Duke is a must read for anyone who cares about free speech (hat tip: Larwyn).  In "How We Will Lose Freedom of Speech" Selwyn says: … Read the entire piece.  —  Meanwhile, the crooks and liars at the blog of the same name …

Spare Us, Hillary  —  She really shouldn't run.  It would divide and polarize the country; she's dreadful on the stump; she has very high negatives; most Democrats only like her; almost no-one loves her; and do we really want 20 years of two families in the White House?  Besides: what do you do with Bill?

Rumors and reporting in Iraq  —  ***scroll for updates...NYTimes blogger Tom Zeller Jr weighs in...***  —  I've been following up with CENTCOM on the Associated Press/sketchy sources brouhaha.  Just heard this morning from Michael B. Dean, Lieutenant, U.S. Navy MNC-I Joint Operations Center, Public Affairs Officer:

Huffington Post Will Add Original Reporting to Its Blog  —  The Huffington Post, which started about 18 months ago as a political Web site for celebrity bloggers, is preparing to venture into original reporting, with plans to cover Congress and, already, the 2008 presidential campaign.

U.S. Currency Discriminates Against Blind, Judge Rules  —  A federal judge here ruled on Tuesday that the government illegally discriminated against blind people by printing its paper currency on bills of the same size that could not be distinguished by touch.

The Office on Violence Against Women gets a new (scary) director  —  The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is a tremendous feminist success story.  The legislation, which was passed in 1994 and reauthorized in 2000 and 2006, allows for $3.9 billion in funding to help survivors of intimate partner violence …

Justices' First Brush With Global Warming  —  A Supreme Court argument Wednesday on the Bush administration's refusal to regulate carbon dioxide in automobile emissions offered three intertwined plot lines to the audience that had come to watch the court's first encounter with the issue of global climate change.

Iran issues fatwa on Azeri writer  —  One of Iran's most senior clergymen has issued a fatwa on an Azeri writer said to have insulted the Prophet Muhammad.  —  The call on Muslims to murder Rafiq Tagi, who writes for Azerbaijan's Senet newspaper, echoes the Iranian fatwa against Indian writer Salman Rushdie.