Syndicated columnist Molly Ivins dies at 62  —  Best-selling author, sharp-witted Texas liberal succumbs to breast cancer  —  Syndicated columnist Molly Ivins poses for a portrait at her home Sept. 22 in Austin, Texas.  She died Wednesday at 62 after a long battle with breast cancer.

Biden Unbound: Lays Into Clinton, Obama, Edwards  —  Loquacious Senator, Democratic Candidate on Hillary: 'Four of 10 Is the Max You Can Get?'  Edwards 'Doesn't Know What He's Talking About'  —  Senator Joseph Biden doesn't think highly of the Iraq policies of some of the other Democrats who are running for President.

Terror Plot: Ninth Arrest  —  A ninth suspect has been arrested by police investigating an alleged Iraq-style kidnapping and beheading plot in the UK.  —  It follows the detention of eight people at addresses in Birmingham earlier.  —  Assistant Chief Constable David Shaw, of West Midlands Police …

A hearty F*** You to William Arkin  —  Update: Marc Danziger, the Armed Liberal over at Winds of change is much less hyperbolic about Arkin than I am and check on Fuzzy Bear's stuff too.  —  Apologies for the F bombs bursting in air, but...well just read on.

TV Network Takes Responsibility For 'Hoax Devices'  —  BOSTON — Turner Broadcasting plans to take responsibility for the "hoax devices" that were found at several locations in and around Boston Wednesday that forced police bomb units to scramble throughout the area.

Franken tells DFLers he's running for Senate  —  WASHINGTON - Comedian and radio talk show host Al Franken has begun calling Democratic members of Congress and prominent DFLers to tell them he will definitely challenge Republican Sen. Norm Coleman in 2008, the Star Tribune has learned.

New Blogmaster  —  This is both my first post to the Edwards blog and my announcement that I'm joining the presidential campaign for John Edwards for 2008.  I'll be taking over the job of Blogmaster (mistress?) over the course of the month of February.  —  The main two questions this brings up are: Why me?

California may ban conventional lightbulbs by 2012  —  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California lawmaker wants to make his state the first to ban incandescent lightbulbs as part of California's groundbreaking initiatives to reduce energy use and greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law, murdered in Madagascar  —  Mohammed Jamal Khalifa.  (CBS Photo).  Click photo to view.  —  Khalifa had an extensive history in funding, plotting al-Qaeda terrorist activities; Task Force 145 likely scored the kill

U.S. may have botched training of Iraqis  —  WASHINGTON - Training the police is as important to stabilizing Iraq as building an effective army there, but the United States has botched the job by assigning the wrong agencies to the task, two members of the Iraq Study Group said Wednesday.

Obama's Grudge Factor  —  These are chilly days on Capitol Hill ... and on the campaign trail for Fox News journalists — at least when they're anywhere near Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).  —  Sources tell The Sleuth that the Obama camp has "frozen out" Fox News reporters and producers in the wake …

Rep. Gary Miller, in senior perch, is part of FBI probe  —  After months of GOP ethics scandals, House Republicans chose Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) as the ranking member of a panel charged with investigating financial institutions — even as the FBI was looking into his land deals.

How the media does and doesn't 'ID' Independent Lieberman  —  In the cliffhanger world of news copy and style manuals, perhaps nothing matters more than consistency.  Even extreme grammatical eccentricities are fine, as long as they occur regularly.  The New Yorker magazine will spell a word like …

Gonzales to Release Spy Program Details  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Wednesday he will turn over secret documents detailing the government's domestic spying program, ending a two-week standoff with the Senate Judiciary Committee over surveillance targeting terror suspects.

Dodd's Showing In Polls Laughable  —  At Least Comedians Have Noticed It  —  WASHINGTON — When pollster John Zogby asked a group of 339 likely Democratic voters earlier this month whom they wanted for president in 2008, one or two mentioned Connecticut's senior senator.

The Saga Of the Lost Space Tapes  —  NASA Is Stumped in Search For Videos of 1969 Moonwalk  —  As Neil Armstrong prepared to take his "one small step" onto the moon in July 1969, a specially hardened video camera tucked into the lander's door clicked on to capture that first human contact with the lunar surface.

Libby Live: Matt Cooper One  —  This is NOT Cooper on the stand.  It's him speaking at Georgetown.  In any case, here are some groundrules.  I timestamp my posts-that will let you know when you should update (please err on the side of saving the servers).  Also, treat this as a liveblog, not a transcript; I'm no court reporter!

Cult had dug in for massive battle  —  The group, well armed and well organized, was decimated by Iraqi forces aided by U.S. air power, authorities say.  —  ZERGHA, IRAQ — The dead wore the same footwear, imitation leather dress shoes with Velcro flaps.  Their mangled bodies filled the trenches.

Honesty in Elections  —  On Election Day last fall in Maryland, fliers were handed out in black neighborhoods with the heading "Democratic Sample Ballot" and photos of black Democratic leaders — and boxes checked off beside the names of the Republican candidates for senator and governor.