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 …

Webb conveys the message of a boor  —  Wednesday's Washington Post reported that at a White House reception for newly elected members of Congress, Webb "tried to avoid President Bush," refusing to pass through the reception line or have his picture taken with the President.

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.

Bush Agrees to Speedy Turnover in Iraq  —  President Bush said Thursday the United States will speed a turnover of security responsibility to Iraqi forces but assured Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that Washington is not looking for a "graceful exit" from a war well into its fourth violent year.

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 …

THE LINEUP FOR 2008  —  Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist announced that he will not run for President in 2008.  You can read his statement here.  Frist's announcement didn't make a very big splash; many observers hadn't taken him seriously as a Presidential candidate in any event.

Iraq Panel to Urge Pullout Of Combat Troops by '08  —  The bipartisan Iraq Study Group plans to recommend withdrawing nearly all U.S. combat units from Iraq by early 2008 while leaving behind troops to train, advise and support the Iraqis, setting the first goal for a major drawdown of U.S. forces …

NBC Ignores Pelosi Flub, Relays Retort to Bush on Qaeda in Iraq  —  Asked by a reporter about how "President Bush today blamed the surge of violence in Iraq on al Qaeda," incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded with a disjointed answer about how "the 9/11 Commission dismissed that notion …

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.

Litvinenko was victim of 'Russian rogue agents'  —  British intelligence sources increasingly suspect that Alexander Litvinenko, the former spy killed with a radioactive poison, was the victim of a plot involving "rogue elements" within the Russian state, the Guardian has learned.

Focus of FBI Probe, Mollohan May Oversee FBI Budget  —  The leadership ambitions of two senior Democrats have already been deep-sixed for their murky ethics histories.  Here's a third Democrat heading for a powerful post whom folks may want to keep an eye on.  —  Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) is under investigation by the FBI.

Warren and Obama Updated to explain my "Protestant pope" comment Update: Warren apologizes for Syria remarks, then contradicts his apology  —  I think I've established my credibility, or at least indefatigability, as a critic of Rev. Rick Warren here in the past couple of weeks.

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

Change for the Better  —  The case for economic turbulence.  —  Is a volatile economy good for American workers?  To judge by the news accounts of layoffs and downsizing and families grimly adjusting to straitened circumstances, the answer would seem to be no. Three in five jobs for 22 …

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.