Chemical Weapons Scare at U.N. Headquarters  —  Brian Ross Reports:  —  United Nations weapons inspectors discovered six to eight vials of a dangerous chemical warfare agent, phosgene, as they were cleaning out offices at a U.N. building in New York, federal authorities tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

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 …

FOOT TAPPING AND BATHROOM CRUISING....Yesterday one of my readers emailed to say he was annoyed by all the ignorant blog commentary emanating from straight young whippersnappers on the subject of Larry Craig's restroom shenanigans in Minnesota: … Today, non-whippersnapper blogger …

For Idaho Paper And Reporter, Craig Story Posed a Moral Dilemma  —  Dan Popkey, the Idaho Statesman reporter who spent eight months digging into allegations that Larry Craig had engaged in gay sexual encounters, recalls a recent stroll around the Republican senator's childhood ranch with a couple who have known him for decades.

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.

The Ignatius Cycle  —  David Ignatius says that in retrospect we should have done more to cheat on Iyad Allawi's behalf in the January 2005 elections.  Atrios seems to think he can debunk this talking point by simply noting that, in fact, the US intervened massively on his behalf …

Porter ties U.S. withdrawal from Iraq to $9 gasoline  —  Lawmaker reports on his trip to country  —  WASHINGTON — Gasoline prices could rise to about $9 per gallon if the United States withdraws troops from Iraq prematurely, Rep. Jon Porter said he was told on a trip to Iraq that ended this week.

Locked, Loaded and Looney  —  As the Army's suicide rate hits record levels in the Iraq war, there's small wonder practically everyone in Congress wants to deal with the parallel emerging crisis of depressed veterans tempted to take their own lives.  Everyone, that is, except Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma.

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 …

A Rigged Report on U.S. Voting?  —  After the 2000 Florida election debacle, Congress established a body called the Election Assistance Commission to improve voting and democracy in this country.  Two years ago, the commission approached me about doing a project that would take a preliminary look …

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 …

Perry commutes death row inmate's sentence  —  eramshaw@dallasnews.com  —  AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday commuted death row inmate Kenneth Foster's sentence to life, following a 6-1 recommendation by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.  —  "After carefully considering the facts …

GOP no-shows prompt cancellation of debate  —  Univisión's Republican presidential debate has been called off after only one contender agreed to participate.  The debate for Democrats is still on for Sept. 9.  —  AIM reprint  —  breinhard@MiamiHerald.com

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 …

Thompson announcement date likely today  —  Fred Thompson's campaign-in-waiting will hold a 4 p.m. conference call today with supporters to brief them on plans for the former Tennessee senator's presidential announcement next week, according to an e-mail obtained by Politico.com.