Va. Lawmaker's Remarks on Muslims Criticized  —  Republican Had Decried the Use of the Koran for Congressman's Oath of Office  —  Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. (R-Va.) is coming under sharp criticism for lashing out against the decision by Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who will become the first Muslim member …

Top British Army aide accused of spying  —  A military aide to the commander of British forces in Afghanistan appeared in court yesterday accused of spying.  —  Cpl Daniel James, 44, is charged under the 1911 Official Secrets Act with "prejudicing the safety of the state" by passing information …

U.S. and Britain to Add Ships to Persian Gulf in Signal to Iran  —  The United States and Britain will begin moving additional warships and strike aircraft into the Persian Gulf region in a display of military resolve toward Iran that will come as the United Nations continues to debate possible sanctions …

'Scarborough Country' for Dec. 20  —  Guests: Michael Crowley, Josh Green, Joan Walsh, Steve Adubato, Rachel Sklar, Katrina Szish, Courtney Hazlett  —  JOE SCARBOROUGH, HOST: Tonight, the Democratic frontrunner for 2008 takes her pre-campaign campaign to "The View."  But first, stop the presses.

London Braces for Attack; 'Miracle' If There Isn't One  —  Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:  —  British intelligence and law enforcement officials have passed on a grim assessment to their U.S. counterparts, "It will be a miracle if there isn't a terror attack over the holidays in London …

Berger Hid Archives Papers Under a Trailer, Probe Shows  —  On the evening of Oct. 2, 2003, former White House national security adviser Samuel R.  "Sandy" Berger stashed highly classified documents he had taken from the National Archives beneath a construction trailer at the corner …

Muslims Mark Solidarity With Jews  —  Event Held Days After Iranian Meeting That Denied Genocide  —  Local Muslim leaders lit candles yesterday at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to commemorate Jewish suffering under the Nazis, in a ceremony held just days after Iran had a conference denying the genocide.

Why won't Carter debate his book?  —  YOU CAN ALWAYS tell when a public figure has written an indefensible book: when he refuses to debate it in the court of public opinion.  And you can always tell when he's a hypocrite to boot: when he says he wrote a book in order to stimulate a debate …

Haditha: Wuterich charged with 13 counts of murder  —  Time reported on September 17th that the charges could come "as early as next week."  They were a little off.  Then they reported yesterday that the suspects won't be held in pre-trial confinement, which they took as a sign that the charges wouldn't be that severe.

Oslo rape statistics shock  —  Two out of three charged with rape in Norway's capital are immigrants with a non-western background according to a police study.  The number of rape cases is also rising steadily.The study is the first where the crime statistics have been analyzed according to ethnic origin.

Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmen Leader, Dies at 66  —  ASHGABAT (Reuters) - Turkmenistan's President-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov died suddenly on Thursday after 21 years of iron rule, raising a risk of political instability in the energy-rich country that some feared could have an impact on Europe's gas supplies.

Take Action: Immigrants Imprisoned in American Concentration Camps, On Christmas  —  Latina Lista has been doing fantastic work on the story of the truly evil ICE roundup of immigrant children and families, which has in many cases left American citizen children effectively orphaned.

A MORMON PRESIDENT?  NO WAY.  —  Someone who refuses to consider voting for a woman as president is rightly deemed a sexist.  Someone who'd never vote for a black person is a racist.  But are you a religious bigot if you wouldn't cast a ballot for a believing Mormon?

Robots could demand legal rights  —  Robots could one day demand the same citizen's rights as humans, according to a study by the British government.  —  If granted, countries would be obliged to provide social benefits including housing and even "robo-healthcare", the report says.

The AP (non-)responds and another search comes up empty  —  Yesterday, I contacted the AP about the "Jamil Hussein"/Jamil Ghdaab Gulaim/Ghulaim findings and asked these simple questions: … Here is the response I received yesterday from AP media relations officer Linda Wagner:

DUBYA IN THE DUMPS  —  PRESS CONFERENCE A DISASTER  —  YESTERDAY, at a press conference that was unquestionably the most dispirited performance of his presidency, President Bush implicitly answered a question many close Bush watchers had asked after the thumpin' the Republican Party took in November.

Full Esteem Ahead  —  Time magazine asked a large number of people to name the Person of the Year.  They were in a populist mood and named the largest possible number of Persons of the Year: Everybody.  —  Of course.  The most capacious modern entitlement is not to Social Security but to self-esteem.