My reply to Respectable Liberal Blogger Ezra Klein and his fellow travelers; Plus: Hillary threatens S-CHIP critics  —  Update: Hillary Clinton, She Whose Hand Rocks The Cradle, warns S-CHIP critics to "lay off."  Or else what, Mrs. Clinton? … Hillary should lay off the kiddie shields.

Carter says U.S. tortures prisoners  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — The United States tortures prisoners in violation of international law, former President Carter said Wednesday.  —  "I don't think it.  I know it," Carter told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.  —  "Our country for the first time in my life …

On CNBC's The Big Idea, Coulter said that "we" Christians "just want Jews to be perfected"  —  During the October 8 edition of CNBC's The Big Idea, host Donny Deutsch asked right-wing pundit Ann Coulter: "If you had your way ... and your dreams, which are genuine, came true ... what would this country look like?"

Attorney General Nominee Made His Name With Terror Cases  —  Early in the Bush administration, Michael B. Mukasey's position at the intersection of terrorism and the justice system may have cost him a promotion.  —  Mukasey, then chief judge of the main federal court in New York City …

Empire State Building to go green for Muslim holiday  —  New York's iconic Empire State Building is to be lit up green from Friday in honor of the Muslim holiday of Eid, the biggest festival in the Muslim calendar marking the end of Ramadan, officials said.  —  "This is the first time that …

Islamists damage giant rock Buddha  —  Islamist radicals in Pakistan have attempted to destroy an ancient carving of Buddha by drilling holes in the rock and filling them with dynamite.  —  The 23ft high image was damaged during the attack, which brought back memories of the Taliban's …

Marines Press to Remove Their Forces From Iraq  —  The Marine Corps is pressing to remove its forces from Iraq and to send marines instead to Afghanistan, to take over the leading role in combat there, according to senior military and Pentagon officials.  —  The idea by the Marine Corps commandant …

Judge Suspends Key Bush Effort in Immigration  —  A federal judge in San Francisco ordered an indefinite delay yesterday of a central measure of the Bush administration's new strategy to curb illegal immigration.  —  The judge, Charles R. Breyer of the Northern District of California …

An open letter to Steven Knapp, president of The George Washington University  —  2121 I Street, N.W.  —  Washington, D.C. 20052  —  Dear President Knapp,  —  Seven students at your institution falsely attributed the "Hate Muslims?  So Do We!!" fliers to The George Washington University chapter of Young America's Foundation.

Giuliani 'doesn't deserve to live'  —  Terrorists threaten presidential candidate, cite Rudy's war stance, Arafat treatment  —  Saying Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani "doesn't deserve to live," Palestinian terror leaders are threatening to harm the former New York mayor …

Members: House is not a home  —  Rank-and-file members of Congress are grumbling about the five-day workweek instituted this year by House Democratic leaders, complaining that it leaves little time for campaigning and allows few weekdays to deal with business back home.

Al Gore's inconvenient judgment  —  Al Gore's award-winning climate change documentary was littered with nine inconvenient untruths, a judge ruled yesterday.  —  An Inconvenient Truth won plaudits from the environmental lobby and an Oscar from the film industry but was found wanting when it was scrutinised in the High Court in London.

Ron Paul endorsed by Stormfront Radio  —  Thanks to MJS and Darryl for filling in.  Please check out their blogs, at Corrente and Hominid Views.  (Oh, and MJS and Darryl, I just got in and wasn't intending to post, so if you had something ready, please go ahead and publish it.  Thanks again.)

Boom Times for Dentists, but Not for Teeth  —  For American dentists, times have never been better.  —  The same cannot be said for Americans' teeth.  —  With dentists' fees rising far faster than inflation and more than 100 million people lacking dental insurance, the percentage of Americans …

ANDY AND ANN?!  —  ODDEST couple of the decade: lifelong Democrat Andrew Stein and arch-conservative cutie Ann Coulter.  The former city council president (when there was such a title) first took Coulter - author of "If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans" - to the black-tie …

PRESIDENTIAL CHEATING SCANDAL!  ALLEGED AFFAIR COULD WRECK JOHN EDWARDS' CAMPAIGN BID  —  Presidential candidate John Edwards is caught in a shocking mistress scandal that could wreck his campaign, The NATIONAL ENQUIRER has learned exclusively.  —  Sources have come forward to charge that the …