Cables Obtained by WikiLeaks Shine Light Into Secret Diplomatic Channels  —  WASHINGTON — A cache of a quarter-million confidential American diplomatic cables, most of them from the past three years, provides an unprecedented look at backroom bargaining by embassies around the world …

The FBI successfully thwarts its own Terrorist plot  —  (updated below)  —  The FBI is obviously quite pleased with itself over its arrest of a 19-year-old Somali-American, Mohamed Osman Mohamud, who — with months of encouragement, support and money from the FBI's own undercover agents …

Leslie Nielsen, Actor, Dies at 84  —  Leslie Nielsen, the Canadian-born actor who in middle age tossed aside three decades of credibility in dramatic and romantic roles to make a new, far more successful career as a comic actor in films like “Airplane!” and the “Naked Gun” series, died on Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 84.

Media Matters Lies About Media Coverage of Sarah Palin North Korea Slip  —  Democratic Party front group Media Matters for America has published yet another attack on Republican Sarah Palin.  This one a dishonest portrayal of media coverage of her recent slip of the tongue regarding the crisis on the Korean peninsula.

US Diplomats Told to Spy on Other Countries at United Nations  —  The US State Department gave its diplomats instructions to spy on other countries' representatives at the United Nations, according to a directive signed by Hillary Clinton.  Diplomats were told to collect information about e-mail accounts …

Presidential historian curses, calls Americans ‘lazy and obese’  —  Presidential biographer Edmund Morris delivered one of the more, well, colorful lines on this week's Sunday morning shows.  —  On CBS's “Face the Nation,” host Bob Schieffer, anchoring an authors roundtable discussion …

A Media False Alarm Over the T.S.A.  —  If a squadron of mad scientists surrounded by supercomputers gathered in a laboratory to try to conjure a single news topic that would blow up large, they could not touch the T.S.A. pat-down story.  —  It began with a Drudge Report link to a video …

Diplomatic Cables Reveal US Doubts about Turkey's Government  —  The leaked diplomatic cables reveal that US diplomats are skeptical about Turkey's dependability as a partner.  The leadership in Ankara is depicted as divided and permeated by Islamists.  —  US diplomats have grave doubts about Turkey's dependability.