Hagel is calling it quits  —  WORLD-HERALD BUREAU, COPYRIGHT 2007 OMAHA WORLD-HERALD  —  WASHINGTON - Chuck Hagel will announce Monday that he is retiring from the U.S. Senate and will not run for president next year, people close to the Nebraska Republican said Friday.

Olbermann Likens bin Laden's 'Rant Without a Point' to Hannity, Crankiness to Bozell  —  In what he no doubt considered cutting edge humor, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann on Friday night contended that Sean Hannity, just like Osama bin Laden, "rants without making a specific threat or point," …

Why We Should Exit Iraq Now  —  Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards have suggested that there is little difference among us on Iraq.  This is not true: I am the only leading Democratic candidate committed to getting all our troops out and doing so quickly.

Sunnis Return To Iraqi Assembly  —  With the focus on political progress heightening in advance of the testimony of General David Petraeus, the Iraqi National Assembly has come under pressure to start approving legislation from the agreement two weeks ago between the leaders of the various factions on reform.

German suspects had deadline for attacks-report  —  BERLIN (Reuters) - Three suspected Islamist militants who were planning to attack American targets in Germany had orders to act by Sept. 15 and knew police were hot on their trail before their arrest, a magazine said on Saturday.

Jew-Hatred and Jihad  —  The Nazi roots of the 9/11 attack.  —  The idea of using suicide pilots to obliterate the skyscrapers of Manhattan originated in 1940s Berlin.  "In the latter stages of the war, I never saw Hitler so beside himself as when, as if in a delirium …

F.B.I. Data Mining Went Beyond Targets  —  The F.B.I. cast a much wider net in its terrorism investigations than it has previously acknowledged by relying on telecommunications companies to analyze phone-call and e-mail patterns of the associates of Americans who had come under suspicion, according to newly obtained bureau records.

Melting ice cap triggering earthquakes  —  The Greenland ice cap is melting so quickly that it is triggering earthquakes as pieces of ice several cubic kilometres in size break off.  —  Scientists monitoring events this summer say the acceleration could be catastrophic in terms of sea-level rise …

'Dutch left must be more articulate in Islam debate'  —  Interview with Malaysian Muslim thinker Farish Noor  —  The Dutch Labour party (PvdA) has often been criticized in the past for not speaking out about Islam.  But now the party seems to have rediscovered its voice in the Dutch Islam debate.

Bar-exam flunker quits suit over gay-wed question  —  A Boston man has asked a federal court to dismiss his lawsuit in which he claimed that his refusal to answer a Massachusetts bar exam question related to gay marriage caused him to fail the test.  —  Stephen Dunne, 30 …

What Made Norman Hsu Run?  —  He charmed friends, investors and politicians.  But behind lurked failures, a kidnapping and lawsuits  —  At a New York restaurant overlooking Central Park in April 2006, the governor of Pennsylvania sat down to dinner with about a dozen Democratic supporters.

Don't Suffer the Little Children  —  A father of four explains the realist approach to parenting.  —  Another school year has sprung itself upon us, which is always an occasion for my wife, a former Detroit public-school teacher, and me to remind ourselves why we home-school.

Warming Is Seen as Wiping Out Most Polar Bears  —  Two-thirds of the world's polar bears will disappear by 2050, even under moderate projections for shrinking summer sea ice caused by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, government scientists reported on Friday.

Feinstein Should Be Thrown Out Of The Senate Right Now  —  How could anyone take Feinstein at her word ever again?  Does she care about the troops?  She wants to bring them home, care for them, and make life pretty.  On her website, she states her goals on Iraq:  —  Iraq: U.S. forces were sent to Iraq as liberators.

Again, the magic of markets  —  This FT piece on GWB's magical market pony plan for preventing mortgage foreclosures by handing the problem over to "an opaque part of the financial system normally associated with moves to evict families from their homes" is tough and on-target.