Announcement  —  I was hired by the Edwards campaign for the skills and talents I bring to the table, and my willingness to work hard for what's right.  Unfortunately, Bill Donohue and his calvacade of right wing shills don't respect that a mere woman like me could be hired for my skills …

Pace Demurs on Accusation of Iran  —  General Says He Knows Nothing Tying Leaders to Arms in Iraq  —  Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said yesterday that he has no information indicating Iran's government is directing the supply of lethal weapons to Shiite insurgent groups in Iraq.

In Shift, Accord on North Korea Seems to Be Set  —  The United States and four other nations reached a tentative agreement to provide North Korea with roughly $400 million in fuel oil and aid, in return for the North's starting to disable its nuclear facilities and allowing nuclear inspectors …

Purported al Qaeda message: Unite with Taliban … (CNN) — In a message released Monday, al Qaeda's No. 2 leader called on Muslims to unite under Taliban leader Mullah Omar, stop trying to form secular governments and instead follow strict Islamic Sharia law.

Iranian Smoking Guns Found ... Literally  —  The Telegraph reports this morning that rifles imported from Austria by Iran have surfaced among insurgents in Iraq.  Steyr-Mannlicher exported 800 of its high-powered HS50 models, capable of piercing body armor, to the National Iranian Police Association for their anti-narcotics efforts:

Year of the Rat  —  HILLARY CLINTON SCURRIES AWAY FROM HER OLD LINE ON IRAQ.  —  A hardened veteran of the British House of Commons once put it to me like this.  "You can rat," he said.  "Anybody can rat once.  But it's very hard to re-rat."  Ah, how slowly one learns to appreciate the fine art and science of repositioning.

McCain Fears 'Tet Offensive' in Iraq  —  RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican presidential hopeful John McCain said Monday he fears an offensive by Iraqi insurgents similar to the Tet offensive by the Viet Cong that sent U.S. casualties soaring in Vietnam nearly 40 years ago.

Breaking: Menendez Will Co-Sponsor Bill Banning Torture, Restoring Habeas Corpus  —  I rarely use "breaking" in titles but I think this deserves it.  After all the uproar over Senator Menendez's vote a few months ago for the unconstitutional Military Commissions Act which eliminated habeas corpus …

Too late to halt Iran's nuclear bomb, EU is told  —  Iran will be able to develop enough weapons-grade material for a nuclear bomb and there is little that can be done to prevent it, an internal European Union document has concluded.  —  In an admission of the international community's failure …

Obama: Soldier deaths = "Wasted" lives  —  Sen. Barack Obama's nutroots are showing.  RedStateLady has the video of Obama arguing that each and every member of the military who volunteered to serve and died in Iraq wasted his/her life:  —  Transcript: … The audience roared with cheers and applause.