No Drop in Iraq Violence Seen Since Troop Buildup  —  Three months into the new U.S. military strategy that has sent tens of thousands of additional troops into Iraq, overall levels of violence in the country have not decreased, as attacks have shifted away from Baghdad and Anbar …

Reid labels military leader 'incompetent'  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "incompetent" during an interview Tuesday with a group of liberal bloggers, a comment that was never reported.

Key security HQ in Gaza City, last Fatah stronghold, falls  —  Hamas fighters overran Fatah-allied Preventive Security headquarters in Gaza City on Thursday, a key target in their battle to control the entire Gaza Strip, witnesses and a security agency official said.

Angelina Jolie's Freedom of Press, on Her Terms  —  Odds 'n' Ends  —  Angelina Jolie's Freedom of Press, on Her Terms  —  Angelina Jolie's true colors came out Wednesday as she promoted a film about freedom of the press and then tried to censor all her interviews.

Local Lettuce=Liberty Cabbage  —  Tucked behind the New York Times paid subscription wall is a tidy little blog post dissecting the "buy local" movement.  It's on the Basic Instincts blog, by Richard Conniff, the author of The Natural History of the Rich: A Field Guide and The Ape in the Corner Office …

Gonzo  —  Well, the civil rights division has been busy worrying about non-existent-to-trivial religious discrimination  —  cases such as this one: … I think these types of things are probably best fought with a little gonzo action.  Just overload the system with Wiccans, Pastafarians …

FBI Finds It Frequently Overstepped in Collecting Data  —  An internal FBI audit has found that the bureau potentially violated the law or agency rules more than 1,000 times while collecting data about domestic phone calls, e-mails and financial transactions in recent years …

McCain buys anti-Romney URL  —  In another sign of John McCain's plan to assault former Mitt Romney over his alleged flip-flops, the Arizona senator's campaign has purchased the website "www.mittvsfact.com" and will launch it in the coming weeks as a compendium of what they say are the former governor's differing stances.

Judge to Rule on Libby's Request to Remain Free Pending Appeal  —  The federal judge presiding over the trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby is scheduled to decide today whether Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff must report to prison within weeks to begin serving a 30-month sentence …

Former Chairman of G.O.P. Will Join Bush's Inner Circle  —  Ed Gillespie, a prominent Washington lobbyist, former chairman of the Republican National Committee and longtime adviser to President Bush, will join the White House inner circle as the next counselor to the president, Mr. Bush said Wednesday.

US town bans low-slung trousers  —  A town council in Louisiana has made it a crime to wear baggy trousers that expose the underwear.  —  Residents of Delcambre in the southern US state face six months in jail or a fine of $500 (£254) if they are caught wearing trousers which show their undergarments.

Obama aide wants Libby pardoned  —  Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) top lawyer publicly made the case yesterday for a presidential pardon for convicted White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.  —  Obama general counsel Robert Bauer did not ask his boss, a presidential candidate …

All Hillary, all positive, all the time  —  Not long ago, a campaign had a couple of options for getting out word of a big endorsement: a press release to political reporters, or maybe a calculated leak to a big local paper.  —  But Wednesday morning, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign broke …

Let's Get Serious  —  What do liberal hawks actually want to do regarding Iran?  —  "Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so," said John Kenneth Galbraith, "almost everyone gets busy on the proof."  —  Today's liberal hawks are engaged in a slightly subtler game.