Cindy Sheehan Calls It Quits  —  Anti-War Activist And Mom Of Killed G.I. In Iraq Resigns Role As "Face" Of Movement  —  (CBS/AP) Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan announced Monday she is giving up her role as the "face" of the American anti-war movement.  —  "I've been wondering …

Obama offers universal health care plan  —  IOWA CITY, Iowa - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) on Tuesday offered a sweeping health care plan that would provide every citizen a means for coverage and calls on government, businesses and consumers to share the costs of the program.

Progress in Iraq likely to miss target  —  Military officers doubt any of the three top goals will be achieved before the September assessment.  —  BAGHDAD — U.S. military leaders in Iraq are increasingly convinced that most of the broad political goals President Bush laid out early this year …

Bush the Neoliberal  —  Years ago, someone coined the term "neoliberal."  I was never sure what it meant, and it has since fallen into disuse, but whatever the case, I'd like to revive (and mangle) the term and apply it — brace yourself — to George W. Bush.  He's more liberal than you might think.

Venezuela protests TV clampdown by Chavez  —  CARACAS (AFP) - President Hugo Chavez's clampdown on opposition television stations widened Monday as police used rubber bullets and tear gas on demonstrators protesting what they called an attack on free speech.

Social conservatives bite bullet, back Rudy  —  Rudy Giuliani, whose positions on abortion and homosexuality mark him as the most socially liberal Republican presidential candidate in more than a generation, is so far winning the contest for the support of social conservatives, according to a new analysis of recent polls.

Campaign Puts New Strain on Secret Service  —  Big Field and Early Start Force Cuts in Other Efforts  —  The U.S. Secret Service expects to borrow more than 2,000 immigration officers and federal airport screeners next year to help guard an ever-expanding field of presidential candidates …

Sooner Rather Than Later  —  COBURN OK  —  Sen. Tom Coburn is mulling an entry into the Republican presidential primary, according to sources inside and outside the Senate.  Coburn, a senator from Oklahoma, is believed to be receiving encouragement from a small group of wealthy businessmen …

TO TEMPER IMAGE, GIULIANI TRADES GROWL FOR SMILE  —  ATLANTA — Oh, baby, here it comes.  The gray-haired woman raises her hand and compliments His Honor for his Sept. 11 bravery.  Then she asks him:  —  Why does so much of the world hate us?  Haven't we failed to understand Arab grievances?

Black Helped Frum Stay in the Black  —  I recently obtained financial records that showed that in late 2000 David Frum, the former speechwriter for President Bush, received monthly payments of $16,667 from Conrad Black's Hollinger International.  Black, the media magnate, is currently on trial for fraud and racketeering in Chicago.

The Conservative Mind  —  The American right is a cauldron of debate; the left isn't.  —  The left prides itself on, and frequently boasts of, its superior appreciation of the complexity and depth of moral and political life.  But political debate in America today tells a different story.

Rules 'hiding' trillions in debt  —  Liability $516,348 per U.S. household  —  The federal government recorded a $1.3 trillion loss last year — far more than the official $248 billion deficit — when corporate-style accounting standards are used, a USA TODAY analysis shows.

Lawmakers Push for Big Subsidies for Coal Process  —  Even as Congressional leaders draft legislation to reduce greenhouse gases linked to global warming, a powerful roster of Democrats and Republicans is pushing to subsidize coal as the king of alternative fuels.

"Verschärfte Vernehmung"  —  The phrase "Verschärfte Vernehmung" is German for "enhanced interrogation".  Other translations include "intensified interrogation" or "sharpened interrogation".  It's a phrase that appears to have been concocted in 1937, to describe a form of torture …

Outcry over TV kidney prize  —  A Dutch TV station says it will go ahead with a programme in which a terminally ill woman selects one of three patients to receive her kidneys.  —  Political parties have called for The Big Donor Show to be scrapped, but broadcaster BNN says it will highlight the country's shortage of organ donors.

Is Iraq in a Civil War?  —  Many politicians have determined Iraq to be in a civil war.  "We're not fighting terrorism in Iraq," Rep. John Murtha (Democrat-Penn.) said on January 27, 2006, "We're fighting a civil war in Iraq."  [1] He is not alone.  On November 27, 2006 …

China Sentences Former Drug Regulator to Death  —  The former head of China's top food and drug safety agency was sentenced to death today after pleading guilty to corruption and accepting bribes, according to the state-controlled news media.  —  Zheng Xiaoyu, who served as director …