C.I.A. Destroyed Tapes of Interrogations  —  The Central Intelligence Agency in 2005 destroyed at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of two Al Qaeda operatives in the agency's custody, a step it took in the midst of Congressional and legal scrutiny about the C.I.A's secret detention program …

Review of Iran Intelligence to Be Sought  —  As Conservatives Reject New NIE, Republican Senators to Urge Congressional Panel  —  Senate Republicans are planning to call for a congressional commission to investigate the conclusions of the new National Intelligence Estimate on Iran …

Candidate Ron Paul's devotees a mixed bag  —  WASHINGTON — If Ron Paul's supporters got together for a family portrait, it would be one of those pictures in which no one seems to resemble anyone else.  —  "You have old-school Republicans, the conservatives who backed Barry Goldwater (in 1964).

Fact Sheet: Helping American Families Keep Their Homes  —  President Bush Announces Private-Sector Plan To Help Struggling Homeowners, Calls On Congress To Join Administration In Acting  —  Today, President Bush outlined steps the Administration is taking to help American homeowners and called …

Judith Nathan got security earlier  —  Judith Nathan got taxpayer-funded chauffeur services from the NYPD earlier than previously disclosed - even before her affair with then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani was revealed, witnesses and sources tell the Daily News.  —  "It went on for months before the affair …

House passes a sweeping energy bill  —  Fuel efficiency would increase and alternative sources would expand.  The measure faces a tough road in the Senate.  —  WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday approved the biggest increase in vehicle fuel-economy standards since gasoline cost less …

SF radio personality Bernie Ward indicted on child porn charges  —  (12-06) 15:29 PST San Francisco - —  Bernie Ward, a popular liberal San Francisco radio talk show host and former Catholic priest, has been indicted on federal child pornography charges, authorities said today.

Another Sexually Charged House Page Scandal  —  So much for reform of the House page program in the wake of the Mark Foley scandal.  House teenage pages are so wild and unsupervised that two GOP members of Congress have resigned from the House Page Board, protesting that they were not informed …

Hot Air Emitted by Climate Summit Equals 20,000 Cars  —  Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) — Government officials and activists flying to Bali, Indonesia, for the United Nations meeting on climate change will cause as much pollution as 20,000 cars in a year.  —  The delegates each will produce …

I HEARD NEAL BOORTZ holding forth on the Omaha mall shooting this morning on the way to work, and I realized I haven't posted on it.  I don't really have anything to say that I haven't said before.  But it's worth noting — since apparently most of the media reports haven't — that this was another mass shooting in a "gun-free" zone.

The Army's $200 Billion Makeover  —  March to Modernize Proves Ambitious and Controversial  —  EL PASO — A $200 billion plan to remake the largest war machine in history unfolds in one small way on a quiet country road in the Chihuahuan Desert.  —  Jack Hensley, one of a legion of contractors …

State Dept. retains manager of troubled embassy project  —  WASHINGTON — A State Department project manager banished from Iraq by the U.S. ambassador and under scrutiny by the Justice Department continues to oversee the construction of the much-delayed new American embassy in Baghdad from nearby Kuwait …