Karl Rove's New Gig  —  Less than three months after leaving the Bush White House, Karl Rove is becoming a member of a community not all that popular with administration officials: the media.  —  Newsweek has signed the president's former deputy chief of staff as a commentator who will turn …

Saudi punishes gang rape victim with 200 lashes  —  A court in the ultra-conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia is punishing a female victim of gang rape with 200 lashes and six months in jail, a newspaper reported on Thursday.  —  The 19-year-old woman — whose six armed attackers …

Sources: Latest Senate FISA Bill Does Not Contain Telecom Immunity  —  This is pretty big.  As some people have been speculating today, aides to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have confirmed to me that the version of the FISA bill that was just reported out of the Judiciary Committee does not …

Pardon Me?  —  Hillary Clinton Takes Cash From Recipients of Husband's Controversial Pardons  —  Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., speaks about her health care policy on Sept. 18, 2007.  An examination of Clinton's fundraising donors reveals three donors …

Who ISN'T Planting Questions These Days?  —  If planting questions is part of the Clinton ouevre, it's still surprising that a flood of questioners haven't outed themselves (although they might be embarassed).  —  The Nation's Ari Melber thinks he may have found the Clinton plant disease in Salem, New Hampshire.

Sedition in Olympia: Anti-war mom drops baby human shield as anarchist kiddie shields watch  —  On Monday, I blogged about the human kiddie shields being used by anti-war thugs in Olympia to block military shipments.  This afternoon, an Olympia reader e-mailed some new …

Santas warned 'ho ho ho' offensive to women  —  SYDNEY (AFP) - Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday.  —  Sydney's Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say …

Coal Industry Sponsoring Tonight's CNN Democratic Presidential Debate  —  Tonight at 8 pm EST, CNN will air a Democratic presidential debate, live from Las Vegas, Nevada.  A full-page advertisement in today's New York Times states that the debate is being sponsored by the "clean coal" industry:

Ex-Speaker Hastert's farewell: 'I tried my best'  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert bid his colleagues farewell in a final speech Thursday, expressing worry about the "breakdown of civility" in politics.  —  Hastert, 65, became the longest-serving Republican speaker …

"Chances I Had"  —  Script  —  My parents weren't rich.  My father left me when I was very young.  —  The one thing I was able to get was a great education.  —  We should give every child the same chances that I had.  —  By investing in early childhood education and recruiting a whole new generation of teachers.

Bonds Indicted By BALCO Federal Grand Jury  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Major League Baseball's all-time home run king Barry Bonds was indicted Thursday on perjury and obstruction justice charges, according to KTVU reporter Rita Williams.  —  The five-count indictment — four counts of perjury …

Americans Widely Disappointed With Democrats in Congress  —  Majority more displeased than content with handling of seven issues  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Amidst a swirl of public dissatisfaction about the Iraq war, the economy, government corruption, and with President Bush more generally …

Iraqis Wasting An Opportunity, U.S. Officers Say  —  With Attacks Ebbing, Government Is Urged to Reach Out to Opponents  —  CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq — Senior military commanders here now portray the intransigence of Iraq's Shiite-dominated government as the key threat facing the U.S. effort in Iraq …