Report Finds Little Progress On Iraq Goals  —  Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress, according to a draft of a Government Accountability Office report.  The document questions whether some aspects of a more positive assessment …

Survey: Less Than Half of all Published Scientists Endorse Global Warming Theory  —  Comprehensive survey of published climate research reveals changing viewpoints  —  In 2004, history professor Naomi Oreskes performed a survey of research papers on climate change.

Edwards On Track in Iowa  —  John Edwards is betting that a strong showing in the Iowa caucuses will catapult him into national contention, and so far his strategy in the state is on track.  A new TIME poll of likely Iowa caucus goers, taken a week after Edwards' seven-day …

Clinton Donor Under a Cloud in Fraud Case  —  Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign said yesterday that it would give to charity $23,000 it had received from a prominent Democratic donor, and review thousands of dollars more that he had raised, after learning that the authorities in California …

Terrorism Policies Split Democrats  —  Anger Mounts Within Party Over Inaction on Bush Tactics  —  A growing clamor among rank-and-file Democrats to halt President Bush's most controversial tactics in the fight against terrorism has exposed deep divisions within the party …

When Exactly Did Art Die?  —  At least the latest travesty in the art world comes Down Under rather than the US, but that only shows how global the collapse of art from a meaningful form to an anti-Christian realm of bigots has become.  The latest examples are entrants in the Blake Prize competition …

Pentagon won't make surge recommendation to Bush  —  WASHINGTON — In a sign that top commanders are divided over what course to pursue in Iraq, the Pentagon said Wednesday that it won't make a single, unified recommendation to President Bush during next month's strategy assessment …

Sadr Suspends His Militia's Military Operations  —  The radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr said Wednesday that he was suspending for six months his Mahdi Army militia's operations, including attacks on American troops, only hours after his fighters waged running street battles …

Tapping Into The Secrets Of the Stall  —  Experts Say Anonymous Sex In Public Places Is A Compulsive Behavior  —  Consider the bathroom stall, that utilitarian public enclosure of cold steel and drab hue.  —  It can be a world of untold secrets, codes and signals as invitations to partake.

Bush's Lost Iraqi Election  —  Ayad Allawi, the former interim prime minister of Iraq, hinted in a television interview last weekend at one of the war's least understood turning points: America's decision not to challenge Iranian intervention in Iraq's January 2005 elections.

Jury Wants DNA, Hair Samples In USF Case  —  TAMPA - A federal grand jury in Tampa is asking for DNA and hair samples from a University of South Florida student jailed four weeks ago in South Carolina on explosives charges, his attorney said.  —  Andrew Savage said in a phone interview Wednesday night …

A Study in Cowardice  —  EDITOR's NOTE: This post has been pulled up.  For newer posts, scroll down.  —  The Center for America Progress' (CAP) recent study entitled "How to Redeploy: Implementing a Responsible Drawdown of U.S. Forces from Iraq" (PDF alert) features a quote from Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War:

Ghosts of Anbar, Part III of IV  —  A Model for Success  —  While some Iraqi Army and Police officers searched for the suspected bomber, we searched for the bomb supposedly planted along this stretch.  A culvert under a 4-lane road is a likely place.  —  SSG Rakene Lee set out to clear the tunnel.

Idaho Senator Loses Committee Leadership Posts  —  The political career of Senator Larry Craig of Idaho appeared to be collapsing today as fellow Republicans called for his resignation and party leaders ousted him from his committee leadership posts amid the fallout over his arrest and guilty plea …

Flower Bauer  —  "24"'s upcoming seventh season appears to mark a different direction for the conservative-leaning action drama.  First, producers cast a female president.  Then they struck a plan to make the show's production more environmentally friendly, leading to a "carbon-neutral" season finale.

Judge: eTreppid papers won't be disclosed  —  In a ruling that could make it difficult for former eTreppid software designer Dennis Montgomery to argue his lawsuit against the company, a federal judge Wednesday granted a Department of Defense request for a protective order to ensure no material involving national security is released.