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.

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.

Chirac Unfazed by Nuclear Iran, Then Backtracks  —  President Jacques Chirac said this week that if Iran had one or two nuclear weapons, it would not pose a big danger, and that if Iran were to launch a nuclear weapon against a country like Israel, it would lead to the immediate destruction of Tehran.

Biden Unwraps His Bid for '08 With an Oops!  —  In an era of meticulous political choreography, the staging of the kickoff for this presidential candidacy could hardly have gone worse.  —  Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, who announced his candidacy on Wednesday with the hope …

Senate foes of troop buildup join forces  —  WASHINGTON - Two senators, a Republican and a Democrat, leading separate efforts to put Congress on record against President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq joined forces Wednesday, agreeing on a nonbinding resolution that would oppose the plan and potentially embarrass the White House.

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.

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.

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.

British Police Arrest 9 on Terror Charges  —  British police arrested nine people Wednesday in the central England city of Birmingham as part of a "major counterterrorism operation," police said.  —  Police released no immediate details, but British media, citing unnamed security sources …

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.

Is the Unemployment Rate About to Collapse?  —  Know what's really impressive about today's boffo 3.5 percent GDP growth number for the fourth quarter?  It wasn't so long ago that Wall Street economists were wondering if the number would be a "one-handle"-meaning growth between 1.0 and 1.9 percent.

Pariah Kerry  —  I've avoided this topic, but Jeff's post below put me in mind of it.  John Kerry at Davos:  —  "When we walk away from global warming, Kyoto, when we are irresponsibly slow in moving toward AIDS in Africa, when we don't advance and live up to our own rhetoric and standards …

Sunni Mosques Still Show Damage in Iraq  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq — Four Sunni mosques attacked in late November in the embattled Hurriyah neighborhood of Baghdad still bear scars from the attacks and all are now either under Shiite Muslim control or closed.  —  Immediately after the Nov. 24 incidents …

Who Will Deliver for Fitz?  —  Wigmore described cross-examination as the "greatest legal invention ever invented for the discovery of truth."  (5 J. Wigmore, Evidence  §1367 (J. Chadbourn rev. 1974.)  Put another way, it's a great tool for ferreting out untruths in the courtroom.

General says U.S. has proof Iran arming Iraqi militias  —  BAGHDAD — Iran is supplying Iraqi militias with a variety of powerful weapons including Katyusha rockets, the No. 2 U.S. general in Iraq said Tuesday.  —  "We have weapons that we know through serial numbers ... that trace back to Iran …

Talking With the President  —  Excerpts from George W. Bush's conversation with the Journal editorial board.  —  The following are excerpts from President Bush's meeting yesterday with the Journal's editorial board:  —  On the new Iraq strategy:  —  WSJ: Was there a moment in the war …