Website: Soon, The Blessed Invasion of Manhattan— "Special Gift" for 9/11  —  UPDATE 5:00: New bin Laden video coming soon!  Perhaps this is the "special gift"?  —  I promised myself that I wouldn't give my 'friend' Inshallahshaheed from the Wordpress hosted al Qaeda support website …

Dems already dismissing Iraq war report  —  Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, talked with reporters yesterday in Washington.  "We know what is going to be in it," he said of the Iraq war report next week.  "I expect the Bush report to say, 'The surge is working.

O'Hanlon Rips GAO Report: It Is 'Flat-Out Sloppy'  —  Last week, Gen. David Petraeus alleged a 75 percent reduction in "sectarian violence" in Iraq and is expected to say the same before Congress.  In contrast, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office recently reported that daily attacks in Iraq have …

FBI arrests 11 NJ officials for bribery … FBI agents this morning rounded up 11 New Jersey public officials on bribery charges related to roofing and insurance contracts following an 18-month operation that swept the state from south to north, authorities said.

Judge Strikes Down Part of Patriot Act  —  NEW YORK -  —  A federal judge struck down parts of the revised USA Patriot Act on Thursday, saying investigators must have a court's approval before they can order Internet providers to turn over records without telling customers.

"Muslim Student Association Harasses Women and Jews at University of Texas-San Antonio"  —  Happily, they shot their own video to document the occasion.  —  I'm interested to hear what the diversity czars and the risk-averse university bureaucrats have to say about this kind …

US Democratic hopeful Kucinich meets Assad, blasts Bush  —  US Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich, on a Mideast visit that included a stop in Syria, said the country lambasted by the Bush administration deserves credit for taking in more than a million Iraqi refugees.

Transcript of the Fox News Republican Presidential Candidates Debate  —  The Fox News Republican Presidential Candidates Debate in Durham, N.H. with candidates: Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas); the former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani; the former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee …

Bush knew Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction  —  Salon exclusive: Two former CIA officers say the president squelched top-secret intelligence, and a briefing by George Tenet, months before invading Iraq.  —  (Clockwise from top left) Naji Sabri, George W. Bush, Colin Powell and George Tenet.

USF students' box of bullets adds intrigue … TAMPA — Bullets were among the items investigators found in the car of two University of South Florida students.  —  The deputy who pulled over Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed and Youssef Samir Megahed, 21, found a box of bullets near the seat …

GOP senators hold 'spirited' discussion on Craig  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Republican senators held what one participant called a "passionate" and "spirited" closed-door discussion Wednesday afternoon about how their leaders responded to the sex scandal involving their colleague Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho, CNN has learned.

The Making of the Front-Runner  —  As the serious stage of the presidential campaign begins this fall, Hillary Rodham Clinton has clearly established herself in the lead of the race for the Democratic nomination.  That makes her the most worthy subject for examination among all the White House prospects.