Clinton reaches out to Iowans about 2008  —  The senator is calling Democrats to gauge support for a possible White House run.  —  Sen. Hillary Clinton began making calls Monday to Iowa Democrats about the state's political landscape with an eye toward its 2008 presidential nominating caucuses, aides to Clinton said.

Gates Says U.S. Is Not Winning Iraq War  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - Robert Gates, the White House choice to be the next defense secretary, conceded Tuesday that the United States is losing the war in Iraq and warned that if that country is not stabilized in the next year or two it could lead to a "regional conflagration."

NASA Plans Lunar Outpost  —  Permanent Base at Moon's South Pole Envisioned by 2024  —  NASA unveiled plans yesterday to set up a small and ultimately self-sustaining settlement of astronauts at the south pole of the moon sometime around 2020 — the first step in an ambitious plan to resume manned exploration of the solar system.

How to end AP's "60 Minutes Moment" on Iraqi Sources  —  You've probably not read much about it because only a handful of mainstream media outlets have covered it, but the Associated Press - for decades America's largest and most trusted wire news service - is at the center of a credibility crisis largely of its own making.

Islamic Group Demands U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council Appointee Be Ousted  —  An Islamic group is demanding that a conservative talk show host and columnist, Dennis Prager, be ousted from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council because of his statement that a Muslim just elected to Congress …

The Military and The Media  —  FALLUJAH, IRAQ: I've completed the first leg of the journey to Iraq, after having moved through Dubai, Kuwait and Baghdad.  I am now at Camp Fallujah.  While in Fallujah, I'll embed with a Marine Police Transition Team (PTT) and also meet with the Civil Affairs Group.

Escape From Wall Street  —  How Congress put Hong Kong and London in a position to surpass New York as a financial capital.  —  HONG KONG—If you want to look for reasons why New York's status as the world's financial center is in serious jeopardy, you need only come here to gaze at this booming city and tour its markets.

Bridge to Nowhere  —  Political consensus isn't going to solve America's Iraq problem.  —  Reading major American newspapers is a bit like trying to decipher an archeological text written in a dead language.  Well-informed reporters bring you the facts you need to know …

Hardliners turn on Ahmadinejad for watching women dancers  —  President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, who flaunts his ideological fervour, has been accused of undermining Iran's Islamic revolution after television footage appeared to show him watching a female song and dance show.

No, the Cops Didn't Murder Sean Bell  —  And here's what decent black advocates would say.  —  New York's anti-cop forces have roared back to life, thanks to a fatal police shooting of an unarmed man a week ago.  The press is once again fawning over Al Sharpton, Herbert Daughtry …

Veiled woman to give C4's speech  —  A veiled Muslim woman will deliver this year's alternative Christmas speech on Channel 4, the broadcaster has said.  —  Khadija, a Zimbabwean-born British citizen who has been wearing the full veil - or niqab - for 10 years, has been given the slot.

Islam gets concessions; infidels get conquered  —  What they capture, they keep.  When they lose, they complain to the U.N.  —  IN THE DAYS before Pope Benedict XVI's visit last Thursday to the Hagia Sophia complex in Istanbul, Muslims and Turks expressed fear, apprehension and rage.

Soldiers Say Army Ignores, Punishes Mental Anguish  —  Medical records show that when Tyler Jennings returned from Iraq last year, he was severely depressed and used drugs to cope.  When the sergeants who ran his platoon found out, they started to haze him.

Court Reviews Race as Factor in School Plans  —  By the time the Supreme Court finished hearing arguments on Monday on the student-assignment plans that two urban school systems use to maintain racial integration, the only question was how far the court would go in ruling such plans unconstitutional.

Is the FBI doing its best to combat terrorism?  —  Highest-ranking Arab-American agent says no, sues for discrimination  —  WASHINGTON - Bassem Youssef is the FBI's highest-ranking Arab-American agent.  He's fluent in Arabic, ran the FBI's offices in Saudi Arabia and is a terrorism expert.

Former Tobacco Lobbyist Turned Governor Kills Statewide Anti-Smoking Program  —  Anna Schecter Reports:  —  Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a former tobacco industry lobbyist, won a long battle in court to withdraw all funding for Mississippi's highly successful anti-smoking program, and last week the last dollar ran out.

I: About That Cakewalk ...  I remember sitting with Richard Perle in his suite at London's Grosvenor House hotel and receiving a private lecture on the importance of securing victory in Iraq.  "Iraq is a very good candidate for democratic reform," he said.  "It won't be Westminster overnight …