Records Show Ex-Senator's Work for Family Planning Unit  —  Billing records show that former Senator Fred Thompson spent nearly 20 hours working as a lobbyist on behalf of a group seeking to ease restrictive federal rules on abortion counseling in the 1990s, even though he recently …

Mysterious insurgent a sham, U.S. says  —  BAGHDAD — Over the past year, Iraqis heard several audio recordings by a mysterious terrorist leader named Omar al-Baghdadi singing the praises of al-Qaida and urging his followers to attack U.S. troops.  —  The whole thing was a sham, the U.S. military said Wednesday.

Bush: No Deal On Children's Health Plan  —  President Says He Objects On Philosophical Grounds  —  President Bush yesterday rejected entreaties by his Republican allies that he compromise with Democrats on legislation to renew a popular program that provides health coverage to poor children …

Steam Pipe Explosion Jolts Midtown; One Person Is Confirmed Dead  —  A view of the hole created by the explosion at Lexington Avenue near Grand Central Station.  (Photo: Peter Foley/European Pressphoto Agency) More Photographs  —  A steam pipe installed in 1924 ruptured in a thunderous explosion shortly …

Sex Ed for Kindergarteners 'Right Thing to Do,' Says Obama  —  ABC News' Teddy Davis and Lindsey Ellerson Report: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., told Planned Parenthood Tuesday that sex education for kindergarteners, as long as it is "age-appropriate," is "the right thing to do."

Whose Conspiracy?  —  The government has concluded its case against Jose Padilla and yesterday, to no one's surprise U.S. District Court Judge Marcia Cooke refused a defense request for directed verdict of not guilty.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Frazier claimed "I think it is a very tightly knit conspiracy."

The Courage to Conjoin  —  Ramesh Ponnuru writes: … This is a stupefyingly widespread view that flows from an elementary error in thinking.  —  Suppose you know that there is free will or that moral reasoning is not futile.  Next, suppose you find that the universe is made out of only whatever the universe is made out of.

How Murdoch had a hotline to the PM in the run-up to Iraq war  —  Tony Blair had three conversations with the media magnate Rupert Murdoch in the nine days before the start of the Iraq war, the Government has disclosed.  —  Details of the former prime minister's contacts with Mr Murdoch …

Bush's Agencies Of Mass Politicization  —  This week's report that officials in the Office of National Drug Control Policy made politically motivated appearances in the months leading up to the 2006 elections are only the latest example of the Bush administration's misuse of federal employees.

UPDATE: Cache Of Weapons Found In Dallas Apartment  —  FIRST REPORTED ON CBS11TV.COM  —  (CBS 11 News) DALLAS Federal sources tell CBS 11 News that law enforcement officers have confiscated a large cache of weapons found in an apartment near the federal building in downtown Dallas.

General David Petraeus on the conditions on the ground in Iraq  —  The Hugh Hewitt Show  —  HH: Welcome, General.  You took over command of the multinational forces in February of this year, February 10.  In the past five months, how have conditions in Iraq changed?

Zogby: Bush Job Approval 34%  —  President's rating mostly stable since start of year; Just 14% give the new Dem Congress a positive rating—nine points below GOP Congress last October  —  President Bush's job approval rating now stands at 34% among likely voters nationwide …