BREAKING: FIDEL CASTRO IS DEAD  —  My cellphone has not stopped ringing for the past ten minutes.  Various sources inform that an announcement will come within the next few minutes from the Cuban government on Cuban TV and media.  Stay tuned and we'll see if we've been manipulated once again …

Hoekstra says Iraq democracy strategy is doomed to fail  —  EAST LANSING - The U.S. effort to install a democracy in Iraq within three to five years was a flawed strategy with little chance of succeeding, U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra said Friday.  —  The Holland Republican said the Iraq government needs …

HILL: TERROR WOULD BE GOP BOOST  —  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday raised the prospect of a terror attack before next year's election, warning that it could boost the GOP's efforts to hold on to the White House.  —  Discussing the possibility of a new nightmare assault while campaigning …

Brzezinski Embraces Obama Over Clinton for President  —  Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) — Zbigniew Brzezinski, one of the most influential foreign-policy experts in the Democratic Party, threw his support behind Barack Obama's presidential candidacy, saying the Illinois senator has a better global grasp than his chief rival, Hillary Clinton.

Allawi's Muscle: The CIA-Controlled Iraqi National Intelligence Service  —  Alleged billion dollar thief Hazem Shaalan isn't Ayad Allawi's only infamous friend.  Allawi is also a close ally of the head of Iraq's largest intelligence service — a man who takes his billions from Washington, not Baghdad.

White House Moving The Goal Posts On Escalation, Drops Demands For Iraqi Political Reconciliation  —  When President Bush announced the escalation on January 10, 2007, he claimed the purpose of adding more troops into Iraq's civil war was to enable political reconciliation:

Robert Fisk: Even I question the 'truth' about 9/11  —  Each time I lecture abroad on the Middle East, there is always someone in the audience - just one - whom I call the "raver".  Apologies here to all the men and women who come to my talks with bright and pertinent questions …

Vick suspended indefinitely by NFL  —  NEW YORK —The NFL has suspended Falcons quarterback Michael Vick indefinitely without pay following his admission of guilt in a dogfighting scheme.  —  On Friday, Vick filed his plea agreement in federal court admitting to conspiracy in a dogfighting ring …

Congress: For Plane That Won't Fly, $63 Mil Is Enough  —  Justin Rood Reports:  —  Millions of dollars later, Congress has effectively killed a military plane program the Pentagon repeatedly rejected, and which never had a successful flight.  —  The $63 million Congress poured …

Blue America Has Another Jerry McNerney Moment  —  Jerry McNerney's election to Congress was an outstanding success for local grassroots activists and for the national and local netroots.  He was one of the top recipients of donations from Blue America in 2006.

Fed bends rules to help two big banks  —  If the Federal Reserve is waiving a fundamental principle in banking regulation, the credit crunch must still be sapping the strength of America's biggest banks.  Fortune's Peter Eavis documents an unusual Fed move.