NAMES & FACES  —  It all started with a simple video rental.  Who knows where it will end?  —  Potomac Video store clerk Charles Williamson, 28, posted a message on his blog, Freelance Genius, Dec. 23 that described how he set up a movie rental account for MSNBC host Tucker Carlson at the MacArthur Boulevard store the day before.

House GOP Shows Its Fractiousness In the Minority  —  House Republican leaders, who confidently predicted they would drive a wedge through the new Democratic majority, have found their own party splintering, with Republican lawmakers siding with Democrats in droves on the House's opening legislative blitz.

Mahdi Army lowers its profile, anticipating arrival of U.S. troops  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - Mahdi Army militia members have stopped wearing their black uniforms, hidden their weapons and abandoned their checkpoints in an apparent effort to lower their profile in Baghdad in advance of the arrival of U.S. reinforcements.

Video: Barney Frank throws a fit ... on the House floor  —  The Republican arguing with power-hungry Barney Frank is Patrick McHenry.  McHenry rose to offer an amendment that would exempt American Samoa from the stem-cell bill — a clear dig at the fact that Samoa, which is home to StarKist factories …

Deletions in Army Manual Raise Wiretapping Concerns  —  Deep into an updated Army manual, the deletion of 10 words has left some national security experts wondering whether government lawyers are again asserting the executive branch's right to wiretap Americans without a court warrant.

Bush set for climate change U-turn  —  Downing Street says that belated US recognition of global warming could lead to a post-Kyoto agreement on curbing emissions  —  Gaby Hinsliff, Juliette Jowit and Paul Harris  —  George Bush is preparing to make a historic shift in his position …

On Iraq, U.S. Turns to Onetime Dissenters  —  Timothy M. Carney went to Baghdad in April 2003 to run Iraq's Ministry of Industry and Minerals.  Unlike many of his compatriots in the Green Zone, the rangy, retired American ambassador wasn't fazed by chaos.  He'd been in Saigon during the Tet Offensive …

Sharkskin Suits  —  While the government is digging around in your bank accounts for god knows what reasons, they have also decided that it's better to let corporations off easy when it's determined that they owe taxes.  —  The country is going broke and they are doing this:

A Skeptic's Case For the Surge  —  President Bush's plan for a surge of American troops in Iraq has run into a brick wall of congressional opposition.  Critics rightly argue that it may well be too little, way too late.  But for a skeptical Congress and nation, it is still the right thing to try …

Woman is the N-word of the World  —  Apparently a woman's choice to pursue a career and forgo motherhood is only to be supported if she toes the correct political line.  San Francisco lesbians back Barbara Boxer when she "speaks truth to power" by bashing Condoleeza Rice's childlessness.

Criticism over golly exhibition  —  An exhibition of golly badges at a Hampshire museum has been criticised.  —  The private collection on display in Westbury Manor Museum in Fareham has been criticised for its perceived racist connotations.  —  Dr John Molyneux, from the University of Portsmouth …

Steve Kagen: My Favorite New Member  —  I saw this link on Drudge.  Yes, I actually look at that once a day.  Maybe twice.  —  http://www.valleyscene.com/coverstory.h tml  —  Before the midterm election, I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Steve Kagen at a fundraiser for his campaign.

Goldberg & Kristol On Democratic Cravenness  —Ace  —  I'm not calling them cowards because they won't support the war.  They're liberals — they don't believe in war.  They believe in "aggressive, take-no-prisoners diplomacy."  —  I'm calling them moral cowards …