Jefferson swarms back to win re-election  —  Confounding political pundits and a slew of rivals who had become confident of his defeat, U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, neatly sidestepped a roiling federal corruption probe to win re-election on Saturday to his ninth term in Congress.

Secret American talks with insurgents break down  —  SECRET talks in which senior American officials came face-to-face with some of their most bitter enemies in the Iraqi insurgency broke down after two months of meetings, rebel commanders have disclosed.  —  The meetings, hosted by Iyad Allawi …

Chile's Gen Pinochet dies at 91  —  Chile's former military leader Augusto Pinochet has died, the Santiago hospital treating him after an earlier heart attack has announced.  —  The hospital said the condition of the 91-year-old general had suddenly worsened, AP news agency said.

ISG must stand for, uh, Inane Strategy Guesswork  —  Well, the ISG — the Illustrious Seniors' Group — has released its 79-point plan.  How unprecedented is it?  Well, it seems Iraq is to come under something called the "Iraq International Support Group."

Did Rahm Emanuel lie about his knowledge of Mark Foley?  Yes.  —  At the height of the Mark Foley scandal in October — when Democrats were pounding Denny Hastert and company on a daily basis for having taken no action despite knowing about the emails sent by Foley to at least one page …

What Would Jimmy Do?  —  Simon & Schuster.  264 pp.  $27  —  Jimmy Carter tells a strange and revealing story near the beginning of his latest book, the sensationally titled Palestine Peace Not Apartheid.  It is a story that suggests that the former president's hostility to Israel is, to borrow a term, faith-based.

Dairy Industry Crushed Innovator Who Bested Price-Control System  —  In the summer of 2003, shoppers in Southern California began getting a break on the price of milk.  —  A maverick dairyman named Hein Hettinga started bottling his own milk and selling it for as much as 20 cents a gallon less …

US bugged Diana's phone on night of death crash  —  The American secret service was bugging Princess Diana's telephone conversations without the approval of the British security services on the night she died, according to the most comprehensive report on her death, to be published this week.

Sen. Smith on Iraq: "...that is dereliction, that is immoral"  —  Republican Gordon Smith ripped Bush over Iraq on the floor of the Senate Thursday: … On THIS WEEK, Smith dug a bit deeper to clarify his remarks:  —  Video-WMP Video-QT … Transcript via ABC below the fold:

UN downgrades man's impact on the climate  —  Richard Gray, Science Correspondent, Sunday Telegraph  —  Mankind has had less effect on global warming than previously supposed, a United Nations report on climate change will claim next year.  —  The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change …

Britain stops talk of 'war on terror'  —  Foreign Office has asked ministers to ditch the phrase invented by Bush to avoid stirring up tensions within the Islamic world  —  Cabinet ministers have been told by the Foreign Office to drop the phrase 'war on terror' and other terms seen as liable …

Top Air Force Lawyer Had Been Disbarred  —  A top Air Force lawyer who served at the White House and in a senior position in Iraq turns out to have been practicing law for 23 years without a license.  —  Col. Michael D. Murphy was most recently commander of the Air Force Legal Operations Agency …

My Answer To The AP, Again  —  As is typical I was at work when something big occurred in the blogging world.  It appears the AP has issued another silly rebuttal to this growing scandal of the Burning Six and I just checked it out.  (above graphic made by Are We Lumberjacks)