Rice, in Baghdad, Insists That Iraqis Are 'Making Progress'  —  Wearing a helmet and a flak jacket and flanked by machine-gun-toting bodyguards to defend against insurgents, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice came here Thursday, insisting that there were new signs of progress in Iraq …

Pelosi says she would drain GOP 'swamp'  —  WASHINGTON - Franklin Roosevelt had his first hundred days.  —  House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi is thinking 100 hours, time enough, she says, to begin to "drain the swamp" after more than a decade of Republican rule.

Hastert Vows to Overcome Scandal  —  J. Dennis Hastert, who was installed as House speaker eight years ago through backroom maneuvering in a moment of crisis for his party, has no distinct power base in Congress, not much of a national reputation and, in an age of television politics, little polish in front of the camera.

LITERALLY.  David Brooks says, oh yeah, you liberals think the Foley scandal is bad, well, there's an underage seduction in The Vagina Monologues but you liberals love that, don't you?  —  Stunned onlookers point out to Brooks that The Vagina Monologues is a play, whereas Mark Foley is a real person.

Kim's message: War is coming to US soil  —  Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say.  Please click here if you are interested in contributing.  —  The Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea announced on October 3 …

GOP's Hold on Evangelicals Weakening  —  Party's Showing in Midterm Elections May Be Hurt as Polls Indicate Support Dropping in Base  —  ANOKA, Minn. — Lynn Sunde, an evangelical Christian, is considering what for her is a radical step.  Come November, she may vote for a Democrat for Congress.

In Border Fence's Path, Congressional Roadblocks  —  No sooner did Congress authorize construction of a 700-mile fence on the U.S.-Mexico border last week than lawmakers rushed to approve separate legislation that ensures it will never be built, at least not as advertised, according to Republican lawmakers and immigration experts.

Investigation to Look at Facebook  —  University Says Social Networking Site 'Not Exempt'  —  Columbia will review information and images posted on students' Facebook profiles as part of its investigation into Wednesday night's Minutemen brawl, a University spokesman confirmed Thursday evening.

Race for Senate control tightens  —  WASHINGTON — Democrats are within striking distance of winning control of the Senate in the Nov. 7 elections, USA TODAY/Gallup Polls in six key states show as the campaigns head into their final month.  —  The number of Republican-held seats …

Bush cites authority to bypass FEMA law  —  Signing statement is employed again  —  WASHINGTON — President Bush this week asserted that he has the executive authority to disobey a new law in which Congress has set minimum qualifications for future heads of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Angels and Intelligence Estimates  —  Lost between the Foley tsunami and the Woodward hurricane is the storm that began the great Republican collapse of 2006.  It was only a few weeks ago that the Republicans were clawing their way back to contention for the November elections …

Evangelicals Fear the Loss of Their Teenagers  —  Despite their packed megachurches, their political clout and their increasing visibility on the national stage, evangelical Christian leaders are warning one another that their teenagers are abandoning the faith in droves.

Seizures of radioactive materials fuel 'dirty bomb' fears  —  SEIZURES of smuggled radioactive material capable of making a terrorist "dirty bomb" have doubled in the past four years, according to official figures seen by The Times.  —  Smugglers have been caught trying …

Extremists planned mass Prague murders: paper  —Text+PRAGUE (Reuters) - Islamic extremists planned to kidnap dozens of Jews in Prague and hold them hostage before murdering them, the daily Mlada Fronta Dnes reported on Friday.  —  The Czech Republic's leading newspaper quoted unidentified sources close …

A Calamity For Gay Republicans  —  Less than 24 hours after Rep. Mark Foley resigned in disgrace, some 50 gay Republicans gathered at a friend's house in Virginia.  They were in a brittle mood.  Foley — one of their own, in terms of sexual orientation and party ID — had, by his misconduct …

Anti-U.S. Attack Videos Spread on the Internet  —  Videos showing insurgent attacks against American troops in Iraq, long available in Baghdad shops and on Jihadist Web sites, have steadily migrated in recent months to popular Internet video-sharing sites, including YouTube and Google Video.

Patterico's Exclusive Interview with a Man Who Has Spoken to the Terrorists at Guantánamo (Part Five: Responding to Press Accounts of GTMO and Other Issues)  —  Filed under: General — Patterico @ 6:23 am … There have been a number of recent press accounts of life at GTMO — some favorable to the U.S., and some not.