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."

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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:

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 …

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 …

17 People Slain in Baghdad Clashes  —  Gunmen Attack 2 Shiite Homes in Western Baghdad, Killing 10 People; 7 Die in Other Clashes  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq Dec 10, 2006 (AP)— Gunmen attacked two Shiite homes in western Baghdad, killing 10 people, police said Sunday, while seven others died in clashes elsewhere in the capital.

GOP Laments Mixed Results As Control of Congress Ends  —  Demoralized Republicans adjourned the 109th Congress at 5 a.m. yesterday with a near-empty Capitol, closing the door on a dozen years of nearly unbroken GOP control by spending more time in the final days lamenting their failures …

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.