A Dictator's Double Standard  —  Augusto Pinochet tortured and murdered.  His legacy is Latin America's most successful country.  —  AUGUSTO PINOCHET, who died Sunday at the age of 91, has been vilified for three decades in and outside of Chile, the South American country he ruled for 17 years.

Saudi Ambassador Abruptly Resigns, Leaves Washington  —  Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, flew out of Washington yesterday after informing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and his staff that he would be leaving the post after only 15 months on the job …

Car Bombing Kills at Least 59 in Baghdad  —  A powerful car bomb exploded in central Baghdad early Tuesday morning near a crowd of mostly Shiite day laborers, killing 59 people and wounding 149, Lt. Col. Mahmoud Abdul Aziz of the Iraqi Interior Ministry said.

THE SITUATION ROOM  —  President Bush Stops At State Department To Show He's Listening To New Ideas About Iraq; Rumors Say There May Be Some Effort To Get Rid Of Nouri Al-Maliki; Space Shuttle Discovery Docking With International Space Station In Series Of Dangerous Maneuvers …

A devil food is turning our kids into homosexuals  —  There's a slow poison out there that's severely damaging our children and threatening to tear apart our culture.  The ironic part is, it's a "health food," one of our most popular.  —  Now, I'm a health-food guy, a fanatic …

Trees Being Returned to SeaTac Airport  —  SEATAC, Wash. (AP) - Christmas trees are going back up at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.  —  Pat Davis, president of the Port of Seattle commission, which directs airport operations, said late Monday that maintenance staff would restore …

A Battle Hillary Clinton Should Relish  —  Hillary Rodham Clinton faces a maddening challenge.  Many of the people who like and admire her, who believe she has good values and would make an excellent president, are not sure they are for her because they don't think she can win.

Kofi Annan's Farewell Speech  —  (Please put on your headphones if you wish to hear this speech translated from the original Bulls**t)  —  In Missouri today, departing UN Secretary General Kofi Annan delivered these thoughtful reflections on 10 years of learning:

Gore chases Oscar nod, possible 2008 bid  —  NEW YORK - Al Gore is waging a fierce campaign for recognition and an Oscar statuette for his global warming documentary, while reviving talk that he's pursuing a bigger prize: the presidency.  —  His recent itinerary has been the ultimate in high profile.

USA more pessimistic on Iraq war  —  WASHINGTON — As President Bush weighs changing course in Iraq, Americans are increasingly pessimistic about the war and want most U.S. troops withdrawn within a year, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday says.

Poll: 7 Out of 10 Americans Disapprove of Handling of Iraq War  —  Negative assessments of the war in Iraq — the central issue in last month's midterm election — continue to hold down President Bush's job approval ratings and could cast a pall on the final two years of his presidency.

To Stem Iraqi Violence, U.S. Aims to Create Jobs  —  As Iraq descends further into violence and disarray, the Pentagon is turning to a weapon some believe should have been used years ago: jobs.  —  Members of a small Pentagon task force have gone to the most dangerous areas of Iraq …

Why Is It So Important That American Students Learn a Foreign Language?  —  I ask this after reading the summary of the new Time magazine cover story, "How to Build a Student for the 21st Century."  In quoting the chairman of UPS it says that country needs:

It's Not Apartheid  —  JIMMY CARTER'S MORONIC NEW BOOK ABOUT ISRAEL.  —  In the six decades since the founding of Israel, there have been about one and a half new ideas for solving the most intractable problem on the map of the world.  In fact, ever since Britain's Balfour Declaration …

Unhappy With Democrats Over Iraq, Kucinich Plans Another Bid for White House  —  Citing dissatisfaction with his party's strategy on Iraq, Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio) announced yesterday that he would run for the Democratic presidential nomination.  —  Again.

Just Ask: Kucinich Answers, 'Yes, I Am'  —  In the midst of a brief chat in his office last week, Representative Dennis J. Kucinich mentioned that, oh, by the way, he planned to run for president again in 2008.  —  "Yes, I am," Mr. Kucinich, Democrat of Ohio, said in response to a reporter's question …

Iraqis Consider Ways to Reduce Power of Cleric  —  After discussions with the Bush administration, several of Iraq's major political parties are in talks to form a coalition whose aim is to break the powerful influence of the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr within the government, senior Iraqi officials say.

The value of a pro-war blogger's reports from Iraq  —  Bill Roggio's accounts bring home a feel for what US troops are facing in Iraq.  —  WASHINGTON - In recent months, the gruesome images and stories emanating from Iraq have hardened the public's perception about the conflict there.