Beauchamp and the Rule of Second Chances  —  October 25, 2007  —  Beauchamp and the Rule of Second Chances: Pass it Along  —  I'd known that General Petraeus was once accidentally shot in the chest, but I first heard the full story this summer in Baqubah, from an eyewitness whose account I wrote about in Second Chances.

Glenn Greenwald  —  Anonymous Liberal for Glenn Greenwald: Giuliani on torture  —  In his book, former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin described his experience being tortured by sleep deprivation at the hands of the KGB: … Here's U.S. presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, speaking at a town hall event in Iowa yesterday:

America Could Have Killed Usama bin Laden — But Didn't  —  Because there is no shortage of things to yell about regarding the War on Terror, Iraq, Afghanistan, Homeland Security, and so on, deciding what to write about is always fun.  —  This week, I was going to yell about how the Bush …

Satellite Photos Show Cleansing of Syrian Site  —  New commercial satellite photos show that a Syrian site believed to have been attacked by Israel last month no longer bears any obvious traces of what some analysts said appeared to have been a partly built nuclear reactor.

House passed scaled-back kids' health bill  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — The House of Representatives passed a more modest expansion of a popular children's health insurance program Thursday, despite Republican complaints about a vote held while several members were visiting wildfire-ravaged California districts.

'55 'Origin of Life' Paper Is Retracted  —  In January 1955, Homer Jacobson, a chemistry professor at Brooklyn College, published a paper called "Information, Reproduction and the Origin of Life" in American Scientist, the journal of Sigma Xi, the scientific honor society.

The Ron Paul Wars  —  RedState defends its decision to bar future posters from supporting Ron Paul: … I don't think I qualify as a Neo-Nazi or a Code Pink activist.  Full Wired story here.  But here's a simple message to Ron Paul supporters.  You're welcome here.

Cheney falls asleep during Cabinet meeting on wildfires.  —  During a cabinet meeting yesterday, Vice President Cheney fell asleep on camera while President Bush was discussing wildfires in California.  A Cheney spokeswoman "laughed it off," telling CNN that the vice president was "practicing meditation."

Ted Rall: Only Idiots Die in Iraq, US IQ Soars  —  Here's a look into the squirmy, ugly mind of Ted Rall, whose latest cartoon about US troops in Iraq says: "Only idiots signed up; only idiots died.  Back home, the average I.Q. soared."  —  (Hat tip: LGF readers.)

Student hounds prof running for Congress  —  MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - A politically conservative student armed with a video camera and a Web site is trying to force a Democratic congressional candidate out of his teaching job at Central Michigan University.  —  Dennis Lennox, a 23-year-old junior …

Biden Stumbles in Interview  —  In an interview with The Washington Post's editorial board, Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) asserted that he is more prepared to be president than any other candidate, disputed the notion that governors are better suited for the White House than senators and warned …

DCCC launches campaign to build e-mail list  —  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will cast its net wide and far through the end of the year to build a bigger bank of online supporters - an increasingly essential element in political fundraising.

Larry Craig Scandal: EXCLUSIVE: "I Had Sex with Larry Craig!"  —  We've been having loads of fun with gay restroom goblin Larry Craig over the past couple of months, haven't we?  What we've been missing, though, is an on-the-record account from a source willing to come forward and tell …