Sadr Tidings  —  The good news is, Iraqi forces are heavily engaged with the Mahdi Army with U.S. troops in a supporting role, all over the place.  The weird part is, al-Maliki has supposedly taken a lead role in directing operations against his erstwhile bedfellow al-Sadr.

Obama: Beware 'you're on your own' society  —  GREENSBORO, N.C. — Presidential candidate Barack Obama, largely ignoring his Democratic rival for now, ridiculed likely Republican nominee John McCain on Wednesday for offering “not one single idea” to help hard-pressed homeowners facing foreclosure.

Obama: Bloomberg Is “Extraordinary”  —  Here's the first paragraph from Barack Obama's speech this a.m. in New York: … The First Read gang is all a-buzz at the Obama-Needs-A-Jew-On-The-Ticket- Angle, but I think the best way to look at an Obama-Bloomberg ticket is by noticing their complimentary traits.

AND THERE HE HO'S AGAIN  —  ‘WICKED’ SPITZER LINKED TO BUSTY BUSTED MADAM'S BIZ  —  Disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been identified as a long-standing client of a second high-priced call-girl ring, The Post has learned.  —  The ex-governor regularly patronized Wicked Models …

No death for Mumia Abu-Jamal — at least for now  —  A federal appeals court today refused to reinstate the death sentence of world-famous death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, but left intact his murder conviction in the 1981 shooting death of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner.

Silly Season  —  Unlike Barack Obama, Bill Clinton does not believe in “the fierce urgency of now.”  The former President has an exquisitely languid sense of how political time unfurls.  He understands that those moments the political community, especially the media, considers urgent usually aren't.

Supplier Under Scrutiny on Aging Arms for Afghans  —  Since 2006, when the insurgency in Afghanistan sharply intensified, the Afghan government has been dependent on American logistics and military support in the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.  —  But to arm the Afghan forces …

Obama on ‘Renewing the American Economy’  —  Following is the transcript of Barack Obama's economic speech at Cooper Union in New York, as provided by CQ Transcriptions Inc.  —  Thank you so much for being here.  —  Let me begin by thanking Dr. Drucker and Cooper Union for hosting us here today.

PR governor, four Philadelphians charged  —  Puerto Rico's governor and four Philadelphians, including prominent fund-raiser Robert M. Feldman, were charged this morning in San Juan with federal campaign-finance related crimes.  —  The investigation of Gov. Anibal Acevedo-Vila …

The Education of a 9/11 Reporter  —  THE INSIDE DRAMA BEHIND THE TIMES' WARRANTLESS WIRETAPPING STORY. … For 13 long months, we'd held off on publicizing one of the Bush administration's biggest secrets.  Finally, one afternoon in December 2005, as my editors and I waited anxiously …

Equity Loans as Next Round in Credit Crisis  —  Little by little, millions of Americans surrendered equity in their homes in recent years.  Lulled by good times, they borrowed — sometimes heavily — against the roofs over their heads.  —  Now the bill is coming due.

Bob Barr thinking ‘very serious’ thoughts about a presidential race, Iraq, and torture  —  On an Internet site called Anti-War Radio, former Georgia congressman Bob Barr confirmed on Wednesday that he's “very seriously” looking at joining the race for the White House as a Libertarian …

Krauthammer: McCain Has ‘Hidden Agenda’ To ‘Kill The United Nations’  —  Yesterday in an foreign policy address in Los Angeles, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) called for the United States to create and lead a “League of Democracies” in order to “harness the vast influence of the more than one hundred …