The Blog Mob  —  "Written by fools to be read by imbeciles."  —  Blogs are very important these days.  Even Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has one.  The invention of the Web log, we are told, is as transformative as Gutenberg's press, and has shoved journalism into a reformation, perhaps a revolution.

U.S. Not Winning War in Iraq, Bush Says for 1st Time  —  President Plans to Expand Army, Marine Corps to Cope With Strain of Multiple Deployments  —  President Bush acknowledged for the first time yesterday that the United States is not winning the war in Iraq and said he plans to expand …

2006: The year of perpetual outrage  —  ***update and bumped to the top: Zawahiri rings in the new year with a call to jihad for the Religion of Perpetual Outrage***  —  It began with the Danish cartoons.  It ended with the flying imams.  2006 was a banner year for the Religion of Perpetual Outrage.

Top Iraqi Shiite Cleric Is Inching Toward a Coalition  —  Iraq's most venerated Shiite cleric has tentatively approved an American-backed coalition of Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish parties that aims to isolate extremists, particularly the powerful Shiite militia leader Moktada al-Sadr, Iraqi and Western officials say.

Hypersonic Cruise Missile: America's New Global Strike Weapon  —  The mission: Attack anywhere in the world in less than an hour.  But is the Pentagon's bold program a critical new weapon for hitting elusive targets, or a good way to set off a nuclear war?  —  Diagrams by Kakofonia

Ahmadinejad: Britain, Israel, US to 'vanish like the pharaohs'  —  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has predicted that Britian, Israel and the United States would eventually disappear from the world like the Egyptian pharaonic kings.  —  "The oppressive powers will disappear while the Iranian people will stay.

UK report says robots will have rights  —  The next time you beat your keyboard in frustration, think of a day where it may be able to sue you for assault.  Within 50 years we might even find ourselves standing next to the next generation of vacuum cleaners in the voting booth.

Bush appointees signal court's new direction  —  Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito appear ready to steer bench to the right; affirmative action, abortion  —  WASHINGTON — They are President Bush's appointees to the Supreme Court, the products of the administration's efforts to make the court more conservative.

Police killer suspect fled Britain in a veil  —  A man who was being hunted for the murder of a policewoman is understood to have escaped from Britain by disguising himself as a veiled Muslim woman.  —  Mustaf Jama, a prime suspect in the fatal shooting of PC Sharon Beshenivsky …

Abramoff's Holiday Cheer  —  His 2001 Shopping List Included Lavish Gifts for Congressmen  —  These days he makes no more than 40 cents an hour for his labors at the federal prison camp at Cumberland, Md. But Christmas 2001 was a far more high-flying holiday for Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff …

OFF CENTER?....Last year, Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson wrote an influential and widely-read book called Off Center.  It argued that the Republican Party had moved dramatically to the right of the American public, something that would normally spell electoral doom, but was getting away …

Syria in Bush's Crosshairs  —  Exclusive: A classified document suggests the Administration is considering a plan to fund political opposition to the Damascus government.  Some critics say it would be an unwarranted covert action  —  The Bush Administration has been quietly nurturing individuals …