BREAKING NEWS — Divided three-judge D.C. Circuit panel holds that the District of Columbia's gun control laws violate individuals' Second Amendment rights: You can access today's lengthy D.C. Circuit ruling at this link.  —  According to the majority opinion, "[T]he phrase 'the right of the people …

Insurgent leader nabbed in Iraq raid  —  BAGHDAD - The leader of the al-Qaida-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq was captured Friday in a raid west of Baghdad — his identity revealed by a fellow insurgent detained with him, an Iraqi military spokesman said.  —  Abu Omar al-Baghdadi was captured …

The FBI's lawbreaking is tied directly to President Bush  —  Multiple media outlets are focusing on the unsurprising story that the FBI seems to have been abusing its powers under the Patriot Act to issue so-called "national security letters" (NSLs), whereby the FBI is empowered to obtain …

RTNDF 1st Amendment Awards: Transcript Of Roger Ailes' Acceptance Speech  —  Fox News Channel chairman Roger Ailes accepted the RTNDF's 2007 First Amendment Leadership Award tonight.  In a wide-ranging speech, he thanked reporters like Steve Centanni who "faced death for a single reason — they're journalists."

Obey berates woman over war funding, later apologizes  —  House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) berated a woman who approached him in a Congressional corridor, claiming that "idiot liberals" don't understand the war supplemental spending bill process.

I.R.S. Letting Tax Lawyers Write Rules  —  The Internal Revenue Service is asking tax lawyers and accountants who create tax shelters and exploit loopholes to take the lead in writing some of its new tax rules.  —  The pilot project represents a further expansion of the increasingly common …

Polar bears 'thriving as the Arctic warms up'  —  Pictures of a polar bear floating precariously on a tiny iceberg have become the defining image of global warming but may be misleading, according to a new study.  —  A survey of the animals' numbers in Canada's eastern Arctic has revealed …

Another Hollywood star steps forward for GOP  —  Former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker (R-Tenn.) is contacting powerbrokers in the Republican Party to build support for a 2008 presidential campaign by his one-time protégé, former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.).

Rolling Back Pentagon Spies  —  Defense Secretary Robert Gates is considering a plan to curtail the Pentagon's clandestine spying activities, which were expanded by his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, after the 9/11 attacks.  The undercover work allowed military personnel to collect intelligence …

A Movie Only a Spartan Could Love  —  THE BATTLE EPIC 300.  —  If 300, the new battle epic based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, had been made in Germany in the mid-1930s, it would be studied today alongside The Eternal Jew as a textbook example of how race-baiting fantasy …

Violent Crime in Cities Shows Sharp Surge  —  Violent crime rose by double-digit percentages in cities across the country over the last two years, reversing the declines of the mid-to-late 1990s, according to a new report by a prominent national law enforcement association.

Best of the Web … James Taranto is traveling and will be back tomorrow.  In place of Best of the Web today we're offering the premier newsletter Political Diary.  To become a Political Diary subscriber click here.  —  In today's Political Diary:  — GOP Has Much to Lose, Little to Gain in 2008 Senate Races

'That's Not Nice'  —  Our political discourse needs less censorship and more self-discipline.  —  Here is what has been said the past week or so that sparked argument: Bill Maher, on HBO, said a lot of lives would be saved if Vice President Cheney had died, and Ann Coulter …