A STATEMENT ON SCOTT THOMAS BEAUCHAMP:  —  We've talked to military personnel directly involved in the events that Scott Thomas Beauchamp described, and they corroborated his account as detailed in our statement.  When we called Army spokesman Major Steven F. Lamb and asked …

The Web 2.008 Campaign  —  Web video and social networks are two of the hottest technologies for Campaign '08.  Video is ready for prime time, social networking is a relative unknown.  —  Video arrived in 2006, when George Allen, then a Republican Virginia senator, called a rival staffer the crypto-racist slur "macaca."

TIMESSELECT CONTENT FREED  —  The New York Times is poised to stop charging readers for online access to its Op-Ed columnists and other content, The Post has learned.  —  After much internal debate, Times executives - including publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. - made the decision to end …

Finally... Proof of John F. Kerry's Useful Idiocy  —  Former KGB spy indicts Kerry on his 1971 Senate Committee speech.  —  Video by Mudville Gazette  —  Today in the Opinion Journal, former KGB intelligence officer Ion Mihai Pacepa explained the propaganda tactics of the communists during the Cold War.

It's a Female Dog, or Worse.  Or Endearing.  And Illegal?  —  The New York City Council, which drew national headlines when it passed a symbolic citywide ban earlier this year on the use of the so-called n-word, has turned its linguistic (and legislative) lance toward a different slur: bitch.

Taliban stages brazen attack on U.S. base  —  GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AP) — A group of 75 Taliban militants tried to overrun a U.S.-led coalition base in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, a rare frontal attack that left more than 20 militants dead, the coalition said in a statement.

Our Chance to Capture the Center  —  With President Bush and the Republican Party on the rocks, many Democrats think the 2008 election will be, to borrow a favorite GOP phrase, a cakewalk.  Some liberals are so confident about Democratic prospects that they contend the centrism that vaulted Democrats …

Kernel of Evil  —  Selling weapons to the Saudis is logical.  But is it wise?  —  It's hard to fault the logic of the sale, announced last week, of $20 billion in U.S. arms to Saudi Arabia, with trinkets going to the smaller Gulf states.  The wisdom of the deal is another matter.

Fred Phelps Is Coming  —  The Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., plans to stage protests at funerals of victims of the 35W bridge collapse to state that God made the bridge fall because he hates America, and especially Minnesota, because of its tolerance of homosexuality.

How Credit Got So Easy And Why It's Tightening  —  An extraordinary credit boom that created many first-time homeowners and financed a wave of corporate takeovers seems to be waning.  Home buyers with poor credit are having trouble borrowing.  Institutional investors from Milwaukee to Düsseldorf to Sydney are reporting losses.

Abandoned - the 91 Iraqis who risked all  —  Deborah Haynes in Basra, Richard Beeston and Greg Hurst  —  Britain was accused yesterday of abandoning 91 Iraqi interpreters and their families to face persecution and possible death when British forces withdraw.

AFL-CIO forum candidate opening statements  —  Democratic candidates deliver speeches in advance of AFL-CIO forum

China threatens 'nuclear option' of dollar sales  —  The Chinese government has begun a concerted campaign of economic threats against the United States, hinting that it may liquidate its vast holding of US treasuries if Washington imposes trade sanctions to force a yuan revaluation.

Cormac Ignatieff's "The Road"  —  Hello everyone!  Personal message to all the New Yorkers out there: Did you read Michael Ignatieff's essay in the the NY Times Magazine?  If so, contact me ASAP to let me know you're OK.  I put your flyer up at Grand Central Station, but have heard no response.