Senator Craig Announces Resignation  —  Embattled Idaho Republican Lawmaker to Step Down Sept 30  —  Sen. Larry E. Craig, the Idaho Republican caught in a police crackdown on sexual solicitation in an airport men's room, announced his resignation from the Senate today …

19 bicyclists arrested after rally turns into melee  —  Officers watching the event in downtown Minneapolis say they were attacked, escalating the confrontation.  —  Police arrested 19 bicyclists, including three juveniles, after a protest ride took an ugly turn in downtown Minneapolis Friday night.

Thompson Plans to Crash This Party  —  Fred D. Thompson, the soon-to-be-official presidential contender, has come under a good deal of criticism in New Hampshire this week for scheduling his formal announcement for next Thursday morning and thus skipping the Republican debate in Manchester on Wednesday night.

Iraqi civilian deaths climb again  —  War-related fatalities rose in August, the second month in a row, suggesting that the U.S. troop increase has had little effect.  —  BAGHDAD — Bombings, sectarian slayings and other violence related to the war killed at least 1,773 Iraqi civilians in August …

Don't frighten the horses: What Larry Craig tells conservatives about ourselves.  —  Don't frighten the horses; what Larry Craig tells conservatives about ourselves.  —  Seems to me that confusing politics and Law has led many posters into a welter of contradictions.

Compassionate conservatism - Katrina edition  —  Apparently, on the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina ravaging the Gulf Coast, conservatives have decided they've grown tired of the topic. … That would be the same federal government, of course, that neglected the victims before the storm hit …

Bush Fights Back on Iraq Debate  —  President Bush, appearing confident about sustaining support for his Iraq strategy, met at the Pentagon on Friday with the uniformed leaders of the nation's armed services and then pointedly accused the war's opponents of politicizing the debate over what to do next.

Why We Stood Up to Florida  —  Last Saturday, the Democratic National Committee's rules and bylaws committee voted to enforce its rules.  It was hardly an extraordinary act, although you wouldn't know it from the furious reaction that ensued in some quarters.  —  Why the uproar?  —  It's simple: state envy.

Gen Sir Mike Jackson attacks US over Iraq  —  General Sir Mike Jackson, the head of the British Army during the invasion of Iraq, has launched a scathing attack on the United States for the way it handled the post-war administration of the country.  —  The former chief of the general staff …

Hugo!  —  Patrick's won the Hugo! —for Best Editor (long form), that is.  He just phoned from Japan to tell me.  I'll give you more news as it happens—the ceremony is still going on.  —  Yay, Patrick!  —  Rocket rocket rocket rocket rocket!

Swiss deportation policy draws criticism  —  GENEVA - The campaign poster was blatant in its xenophobic symbolism: Three white sheep kicking out a black sheep over a caption that read "for more security."  The message was not from a fringe force in Switzerland's political scene but from its largest party.

The Koran and non-Muslims - myths versus facts  —  Religious militants go angry and violent not because they read their religious texts, but because they focus on the harsher parts of those texts since they are already angry and violent for a myriad of reasons.  —  Mustafa Akyol

UP IS DOWN AND VICE-VERSA....Juan Cole is pissed: … I'll leave that last question to Atrios, who, if memory serves, is pretty good at answering questions like that.  My part in this is simpler.  Prof. Cole wants someone to turn his troop fatality numbers into a graph to make it clear exactly …