7/7 'mastermind' is seized in Iraq  —  The al-Qaeda leader who is thought to have devised the plan for the July 7 suicide bombings in London and an array of terrorist plots against Britain has been captured by the Americans.  —  Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, a former major in Saddam Hussein's army …

Senior Official Linked to Escort Service Resigns  —  Brian Ross and Justin Rood Report:  —  Deputy Secretary of State Randall L. Tobias submitted his resignation Friday, one day after confirming to ABC News that he had been a customer of a Washington, D.C. escort service whose owner …

Justice Dept official resigns over investigation connected with Abramoff  —  WASHINGTON - A senior Justice Department official has resigned after coming under scrutiny in the Department's expanding investigation of convicted super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to a Justice Department official with knowledge of the case.

Oh, man.  You just have to listen to these caricatures of black pols that Rush Limbaugh is pushing right now.  They're quite — how should we put this — "racially charged."  —  You may already have heard the "Barack the Magic Negro" shtick that Rush sang on his show the other day (more on that in a bit).

The terrorism that dare not speak its name  —  Why is it that the media and the government never calls the "pro-life" groups who plant bombs at women's clinics what they are: terrorists?  —  From the AP article, entitled "Explosive found at Austin women's clinic": … Actually, I shouldn't say "from" the AP article.

Militia raid targets weapons  —  Explosives, ammo found; 6 men arrested  —  Simultaneous raids carried out in four Alabama counties Thursday turned up truckloads of explosives and weapons, including 130 grenades, an improvised rocket launcher and 2,500 rounds of ammunition belonging to the small …

The Real Jimmy Carter  —  I have known Jimmy Carter for years.  I first met him in the spring of 1976 when, as a relatively unknown candidate for president, he sent me a handwritten letter asking for my help in his campaign on issues of crime and justice.  I had just published an article …

Oversight Committee Invites Former CIA Director to Testify  —  A letter (pdf): … On Wednesday the Oversight Committee approved a subpoena for testimony from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice regarding the assertion that Iraq sought to import uranium from Niger.

Truth's Consequences  —  Since the Moyers show, I have been thinking of many things that happened during that intense period in 2002 and 2003 when the political and media establishment seemed to lose its collective mind (again) and took this country into an inexplicable and unnecessary war.

IS THAT A GUN IN YOUR POCKET?  —  [Found in a dumpster behind the Glass Bowl in Toledo, Ohio - the first draft of Dan Simpson's gun control public policy masterpiece]  —  LAST week's tragedy at Virginia Tech in which a mentally disturbed person gunned down 32 of America's finest …

Tag Clouds for the Democratic Debate  —  Janet Harris, a friend and Pollster reader, sends an interesting bit of analysis she did on last night's MSNBC Democratic debate.  Using the free site TagCrowd, she created a set of "tag clouds" that provides a visual depiction of the words used most often last night by each of the candidates.

Terror attacks up 29%, report says  —  WASHINGTON - A State Department report on terrorism due out next week will show a nearly 30 percent increase in terrorist attacks worldwide in 2006 to more than 14,000, almost all of the boost due to growing violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. officials said Friday.