Warrantless Surrender  —  THE DEMOCRATIC-led Congress, more concerned with protecting its political backside than with safeguarding the privacy of American citizens, left town early yesterday after caving in to administration demands that it allow warrantless surveillance of the phone calls …

RUDY GIULIANI'S DAUGHTER IS SUPPORTING BARACK OBAMA.  —  There's one vote that Rudy Giuliani definitely can't count on in his 2008 presidential bid: his own daughter's.  According to the 17-year-old Caroline Giuliani's Facebook profile, she's supporting Barack Obama.

A Diversity of Opinion, if Not Opinionators  —  At the Yearly Kos Bloggers' Convention, a Sea of Middle-Aged White Males  —  It's Sunday, day 4 of Yearly Kos, the major conference for progressive bloggers, and Gina Cooper, the confab's organizer-in-chief, surveys the ballroom of the massive McCormick Place Convention Center.

Al Qaeda Cell May Be Loose in U.S., British Plot Hints  —  WASHINGTON — As an American-born spokesman for Al Qaeda threatens to blow up American embassies abroad, intelligence gleaned from last month's British "doctors plot" of car bombers suggests that a Qaeda cell is on the loose in the American homeland.

Weapons Given to Iraq Are Missing  —  GAO Estimates 30% of Arms Are Unaccounted For  —  The Pentagon has lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, according to a new government report, raising fears that some of those weapons …

A hearing no one can hear  —  Judges, lawyers to discuss co-conspirator behind closed doors  —  Tomorrow morning, three judges of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will gather in a courtroom inside an elegant 104-year-old building in Pasadena for an extraordinary hearing involving …

Bloggers Consider Forming Labor Union  —  Left-Leaning Bloggers Debate Forming Labor Union  —  CHICAGO (AP) — Do bloggers need their own Norma Rae?  —  In a move that might make some people scratch their heads, a loosely formed coalition of left-leaning bloggers are trying to band together …

Further Confirmation: No Burned Woman Here  —  Adding to the debunking of The New Republic's new claim that "burned contractor" story took place in Kuwait before PV-2 Scott Thomas Beauchamp deployed into a combat zone, U.S. Army Public Affairs Chief PAO for US ARCENT Kuwait LTC Andy Sams replies to an emailed inquiry about the claim:

The Next Intervention  —  Is the United States out of the intervention business for a while?  With two difficult wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a divided public, the conventional answer is that it will be a long time before any American president, Democrat or Republican, again dispatches troops into conflict overseas.

[TS] Op-Ed Columnist: The Substance Thing  —  What are the presidential candidates saying about policy, and what does it tell us about them?

Unconfirmed After 11 Months, EEOC Nominee Says No Thanks  —  D avid Palmer, whose nomination to chair the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had languished for nearly a year, withdrew his name over the weekend, bitterly complaining that partisanship in the confirmation process has gotten out of control.

NSA Leak Case Moving Out  —  Update: This story gets more bizarre as I continue to hunt for info.  Our mystery mole, Thomas M Tamm, worked in the DoJ Office of Intelligence Policy and Review (OIPR), which also has some notoriety with regards to an internet data mining effort called "Carnivore" …

Mad House  —  Congress needs an intervention.  —  The House of Representatives almost turned into the Fight Club Thursday night, when Democrats ruled that a GOP motion had failed even though, when the gavel fell, the electronic score board showed it winning 215-213 along with the word FINAL.

Democrats Targeted In GOP Debate  —  The Republican candidates for president used a nationally televised morning debate to mock Democrats on foreign policy, taxes and health care while sparring with each other over abortion and the administration's anti-terrorism efforts.

Olmert, Abbas meet in Jericho on 'Agreement of Principles'  —  Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Jericho on Monday, for talks focused on on making substantive progress in preparation for the regional summit planned to take place in November in Washington.

Custody case stirs gay-marriage debate  —  Battle over visitation, care of disabled man flares between parents and longtime partner  —  Brett Conrad spent more than half his life as Patrick Atkins' partner.  For 25 years, the men shared bank accounts, apartments and eventually a home in Fishers.