Al Qaeda Claim: We Have Captured US Troops  —  UPDATE: And We Will Coordinate With The Democratic Party For Maximum Political Impact  —  Above the Fold Update: Al Qaeda knows who its allies are. … Notice Al Qaeda is not pressuring us to stay, which is odd, because I keep being told …

Voter-Fraud Complaints by GOP Drove Dismissals  —  Nearly half the U.S. attorneys slated for removal by the administration last year were targets of Republican complaints that they were lax on voter fraud, including efforts by presidential adviser Karl Rove to encourage more prosecutions …

Mayor Denies Political Bid but Fuels Talk With Actions  —  Last week, Michael R. Bloomberg, the New York City mayor, stood on a sunny public school terrace in Queens and told reporters that he was not running for president.  —  "I'm just going to be giving an energy speech in Houston on Friday …

Endgame at the World Bank  —  If the World Bank were a company, its share price would have fallen 25 percent amid the current leadership scandal.  The board of directors wouldn't care about the scandal's details; it would have replaced the beleaguered CEO with someone who could lead effectively.

Gingrich Says There Is a 'Great Possibility' He Will Run for President  —  The Former Speaker of the House Warns GOP Hillary Clinton Has a Good Chance of Becoming President  —  Newt Gingrich for president?  It could happen.  —  In an interview with Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America …

Ground Zero Illnesses Clouding Giuliani's Legacy  —  Anyone who watched Rudolph W. Giuliani preside over ground zero in the days after 9/11 glimpsed elements of his strength: decisiveness, determination, self-confidence.  —  Those qualities were also on display over the months he directed …

Sunshine for the Virtual Town Hall  —  These days we want "transparency" in all institutions, even private ones.  There's one massive exception — the Internet.  It is, we are told, a giant town hall.  Indeed, it has millions of people speaking out in millions of online forums.

Teachers fake gunman attack on sixth graders … MURFREESBORO, Tennessee (AP) — Staff members of an elementary school staged a fictitious gun attack on students during a class trip, telling them it was not a drill as the children cried and hid under tables.

Norm Coleman Live Blog  —  Just preparing for the live blog of Norm Coleman's speech at the University of Minnesota.  Stay tuned!  —  10:05 CT - Larry Jacobs introduces the series of speakers, talking about the U's open-government projects.  This is one of a series of events, and I'm going to try to make a few of these.

Defense Skirts State in Reviving Iraqi Industry  —  Paul Brinkley, a deputy undersecretary of defense, has been called a Stalinist by U.S. diplomats in Iraq.  One has accused him of helping insurgents build better bombs.  The State Department has even taken the unusual step of enlisting …

Is It the Woman Thing, or Is It Katie Couric?  —  The numbers are stark.  Eight months into Katie Couric's job as the first woman to anchor a network newscast on her own, her "CBS Evening News" has not only settled back into its long-held position of last among the evening news broadcasts …

Gas Prices Set New Record at the Pump  —  Gas Prices at the Pump Exceed Post-Katrina Record, While Futures Prices Slide  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Gasoline prices hit a new record at the pump on Monday, but gas futures prices fell on concerns that $3 gas will crimp demand.

Follow-up from Last Week and A Few Related Tidbits  —  Good morning, all.  It's a gorgeous day in the nation's capital, I'm already hyper-caffeinated, so let's talk economics!  —  Specifically, there were a number of interesting pieces out today amplifying and challenging our discussion about where the economy might be headed.

Introducing ... Lew Koch!  —  A few months ago, FDL friend Rick Perlstein (now blogging at The Big Con ) asked me to join him and a friend for lunch.  The friend turned out to be Lew Koch, an award winning investigative reporter.  As we chatted, I learned that Lew has been following …

Blog's campaign against Calvert to intensify  —  A popular conservative blog will step up its efforts this week to force Republican leaders to pull Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) from the powerful Appropriations Committee.  In addition, the website will begin a coordinated effort to target members …

Novak: 'Poor Gonzales' Is Terrible, 'But There Are A Lot Of Bad People In This Administration'  —  This weekend on Bloomberg Television, columnist Robert Novak offered the following "defense" of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales: … Novak twice referred to the Attorney General as …

Values Message  —  One of the reasons I trust General Petraeus is he just comes right out and says what needs to be said.  The letter which he sent to our forces serving in Iraq (posted below) is a case in point.  The letter is more important than it might appear on first glance.

Take Chrysler.  Please  —  LONDON -  —  In the end, DaimlerChrysler had to pay to have somebody take Chrysler off of its hands.  —  After spending $37 billion to buy the U.S. automaker in 1998, and billions more keeping it afloat, DaimlerChrysler (nyse: DCX - news - people ) …