U.S. Says Iran Ended Atomic Arms Work  —  A new assessment by American intelligence agencies concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains on hold, contradicting an assessment two years ago that Tehran was working inexorably toward building a bomb.

Why is HRC stooping So Low?  —  I'm becoming increasingly concerned about the stridency and inaccuracy of charges in Iowa — especially coming from my old friend.  While I'm as hard-boiled as they come about what's said in campaigns, I just don't think Dems should stoop to this.

USA TODAY/Gallup Poll: Significant drops in support for Clinton & Giuliani  —  "National support for Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Rudy Giuliani significantly eroded over the past month," USA TODAY Washington bureau chief Susan Page writes.  —  Meanwhile, Republican Mike …

Senate Aide In Kiddie Sex Bust  —  FBI: Staffer for Sen. Maria Cantwell sought tryst with boy  —  A U.S. Senate aide was arrested Friday after allegedly arranging a lunchtime sexual encounter with a teenage boy, according to federal court records.  James McHaney, 28, was nabbed by FBI agents …

Reid pushes back on Iraq optimism  —  Democrats are increasingly bailing on their previously held view that the troop surge in Iraq has been a "failure," but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid isn't ready to jump on the bandwagon with other Democrats who say the surge has worked.

Prominent Stem Cell Researcher Praised By Bush Rips White House's Stem Cell Policies  —  Last month, University of Wisconsin professor James Thomson — the first scientist to successfully isolate embryonic stem cells — and his colleagues published a paper in Science Magazine stating …

Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down Public Funding Of Evangelical Prison Program In Iowa  —  Americans United Praises Court Ruling That Upholds Separation Of Church And State  —  A federal appeals court today ruled that tax funding of an evangelical Christian rehabilitation program …

Beware The Mormon Captivity Cont'd  —  Well, waiting for specific examples of what, exactly, a Mormon president might do that warrants explicitly voting against a Mormon is a bit like waiting for Godot.  Most of the responses I've received flatly admit that there is no problem with Mitt's conservatism, it's the Mormonism.

THE HOLIDAY CELEBRATES THE TRIUMPH OF TRIBAL JEWISH BACKWARDNESS.  —  High on the list of idiotic commonplace expressions is the old maxim that "it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."  How do such fatuous pieces of folk wisdom ever get started on their careers of glib quotation?

Montana, Connecticut Hold Downgraded by Moody's  —  Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) — Montana and Connecticut state-run investment pools hold debt tainted by the subprime mortgage collapse whose ratings were cut or put under review by Moody's Investors Service, the latest examples of downgraded holdings …