Rumsfeld Memo Proposed 'Major Adjustment' in Iraq  —  Two days before he resigned as defense secretary, Donald H. Rumsfeld submitted a classified memo to the White House that acknowledged that the Bush administration's strategy in Iraq was not working and called for a major course correction.

Re: This could kill New Orleans (Score: 1)  —  I have multiple ideas.  I'm thinking about official leverage, unofficial leverage.  Public PR and underground PR.  —  Also Counterintuitive across the crazysphere reaching  —  Official Public PR Leverage.  Someone who is a press darling needs to say something strong.

Poloniumania: British cops eye shadowy group of former Russian agents; Update: Killer ID'd?  —  Loose cannons or Putin puppets with just enough independence to give him plausible deniability? … That article's five days old but the Telegraph has new info on Dignity and Honor in today's issue …

Gaza women warned of immodesty  —  A hitherto unknown group calling itself the Just Swords of Islam issued a warning to Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip over the weekend that they must wear the hijab or face being targeted by the group's members.  —  In pamphlets distributed in various parts …

Saudis lead Israel peace bid  —  THE Saudi Arabian government is emerging as a key player in talks to broker a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace agreement.  —  According to senior Israeli sources, Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, will soon meet high-ranking Saudi officials to explore …

Lame-Duck Congress May Run Out the Clock  —  Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) wants legislation on President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program.  Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.) is sure the time has come for Congress to declare that aborted fetuses feel pain.

Sears, Valentino, and "Symbolic Racism"  —  Dave Noon writes more about race and southern politics following up on the discussion launched by Rick Perlstein's article on the subject: … I read the Valentino and Sears paper yesterday, and I think it's plausibly true that the authors are biased against Republicans.

Living Memories of Bound Feet, War and Chaos in China  —  WANG ZAIBAN, CENTER, WITH WU XIUZHEN, LEFT  —  AT ages 84 and 83, Wang Zaiban and Wu Xiuzhen are old women, and their feet are historical artifacts.  They are among the dwindling number of women in China from the era when bound feet …

AIDS fight needs churches, Obama says  —  Senator disagrees on condom issue, but tells evangelicals that moral guidance is needed.  —  U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois told more than 2,000 evangelical leaders in Orange County on Friday that he "respectfully but unequivocally" …

Move Over, Hoover  —  Shortly after Thanksgiving I had dinner in California with Ronald Reagan's best biographer, Lou Cannon.  Like many historians these days, we discussed whether George W. Bush is, conceivably, the worst U.S. president ever.  Cannon bristled at the idea.

The House of Death  —  When 12 bodies were found buried in the garden of a Mexican house, it seemed like a case of drug-linked killings.  But the trail led to Washington and a cover-up that went right to the top.  David Rose reports from El Paso  —  Janet Padilla's first inkling …

Jowell hints at tax rises as Olympics bill soars  —  Tessa Jowell raised the prospect of tax rises to fund the Olympics yesterday as a senior insider gave a warning that the final bill would be £12 billion, more than four times the original estimate.  —  The Culture Secretary …

Workers a thorny issue for Romney  —  The Massachusetts governor's lawn crew included illegal immigrants, a newspaper reports.  —  BOSTON — Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a 2008 GOP presidential aspirant and an outspoken critic of illegal immigration, apparently employed undocumented landscape workers at his home near Boston.