Going to the Well Once Too Often  —  Photographer Wissam al-Okaili has had quite an interesting summer in Iraq, and apparently made quite a few friends.  —  In July, he published a picture carried in media around the world, as an elderly Sadr City woman held up a object that she claimed …

Pryce won't run again  —  Veteran lawmaker will announce decision Thursday  —  WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce of Upper Arlington will announce Thursday that she will not seek re-election to the congressional seat she has held since 1993.  —  Pryce has scheduled a news conference for 11 a.m. in Columbus.

A newsroom reprimand at The Times  —  Seattle Times Executive Editor Dave Boardman wrote today in one of his morning notes to staff that there had been "an awkward moment at yesterday's news meeting."  That's the meeting where editors and other staff from throughout the newsroom talk about the stories planned for the next day's paper.

FDL Demands Apology - Calls on Collins to Fire Dutson  —  Firedoglake has issued the following press release today:  —  Collins Campaign In Sexist Attack on Leading Blog  —  Firedoglake Calls for Apology and Firing of Collins Campaign Blogger  —  Washington, DC August 15, 2007 …

What Said This?  —  In 1996? … That would be Rudy Giuliani, who sounded at the time a whole lot like a George Bush type on immigration.  —  And then there's this, via the Daily News: … Now you can blame this flashback game with Mitt Romney on some key issues, too, of course.

NSA Judge: 'I feel like I'm in Alice and Wonderland'  —  Ryan Singel and David Kravets are blogging the U.S. 9th Circuit hearing on the NSA's spying, and AT&T's alleged complicity, reporting live from the San Francisco courthouse.  Hit 'refresh' in your browser and scroll to the bottom for updates.

Gibson: "The war on Gibson is real" and "it's pursued every day" … On the August 14 broadcast of his Fox News Radio show, John Gibson said he and the show's executive producer, known on the air as "Angry Rich," are "being attacked on a liberal website," referring to Media Matters for America.

Army Suicides Highest in 26 Years  —  WASHINGTON — Army soldiers committed suicide last year at the highest rate in 26 years, and more than a quarter did so while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a new military report.  —  The report, obtained by The Associated Press ahead …

Rove: Bush's critics are 'snobs' who hate his 'common sense.'  —  In his interview with Rush Limbaugh this afternoon, Karl Rove claimed that the people criticizing Bush are "sort of elite, effete snobs who can't hold a candle to this guy.  What they don't like about him is that he is common sense, that he is Middle America."

Russians get day off to procreate, then win prizes  —  Moscow - A Russian region of Ulyanovsk has found a novel way to fight the nation's birth-rate crisis: It has declared Sept. 12 the Day of Conception and for the third year running is giving couples time off from work to procreate.

UPDATED: A prelude to war: What's really behind Bush's Iran move  —  Last night's carefully managed leak from the White House that Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is being designated as a global terrorist group is a story that — while in a sense you could see it coming for months …

Wikipedia 'shows CIA page edits'  —  An online tool that claims to reveal the identity of organisations that edit Wikipedia pages has revealed that the CIA was involved in editing entries.  —  Wikipedia Scanner allegedly shows that workers on the agency's computers made edits to the page of Iran's president.