Natl.  Intel Director Worried About Terror Sleeper Cells in U.S.  —  Believes Small Numbers of al Qaeda Operatives Are in This Country Raising Funds  —  The nation's top intelligence official today went further than ever before in outlining what he described as a heightened threat of an al Qaeda attack on American soil.

KILLITARY: Lefties Dropping the Fiction of 'Supporting the Troops'  —  The leftist blogosphere went out of their way to cover this one up as quickly as possible.  —  It was posted at Daily Kos, as Ace relates.  But the Kidz are on edge about their credibility, so it was deleted within hours, without a word of explanation.

Al-Qaeda faces rebellion from the ranks  —  Sickened by the group's barbarity, Iraqi insurgents are giving information to coalition forces  —  Fed up with being part of a group that cuts off a person's face with piano wire to teach others a lesson, dozens of low-level members of al-Qaeda …

Unlikely Adversary Arises to Criticize Detainee Hearings  —  NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — Stephen E. Abraham's assignment to the Pentagon unit that runs the hearings at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, seemed a perfect fit.  —  A lawyer in civilian life, he had been decorated for counterespionage …

Deceased Farmers Got USDA Payments  —  The U.S. Department of Agriculture distributed $1.1 billion over seven years to the estates or companies of deceased farmers and routinely failed to conduct reviews required to ensure that the payments were properly made, according to a government report.

WANING INFLUENCE  —  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice finds that her star is fading  —  I remember the heady days for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.  —  About 2 1/2 years ago, when she was new in office, I accompanied her on her first trip around the world, with stops in India …

All the rage - victim of US bloggers' cartoon hits back  —  Riazat Butt  —  With his clenched fists, wild eyes and gnashing teeth he has become the face of Muslim fury, protesting against the enemies of Islam.  —  Shakeel Ahmad Bhat has been on the frontline of political activism in Srinagar, India, for more than a decade.

[TS] Op-Ed Columnist: The French Connections  —  What happened to America's Internet lead?  Bad policy.

U.N. suspends peacekeepers amid sex abuse charges  —  ABIDJAN, Cote d'Ivoire (Reuters) — The United Nations said on Saturday it had suspended a Moroccan military contingent from its peacekeeping mission in Cote d'Ivoire while it investigated allegations of widespread sexual abuse.

Just What the Founders Feared: An Imperial President Goes to War  —  The nation is heading toward a constitutional showdown over the Iraq war.  Congress is moving closer to passing a bill to limit or end the war, but President Bush insists Congress doesn't have the power to do it.

Subpoena Standoff  —  AND SO THE jousting continues.  For months the White House has resisted Congress's attempts to compel administration officials to testify about the controversial U.S. attorney firings in 2006.  Congress's propensity to let subpoenas fly has been matched …

Focus Groups Anyone?  —  (We were joined in comments tonight by Dr. Maryam, an Iraqi Pediatric Oncologist.  The discussion allowed us to hear a very clear voice from Iraq, a voice missing in the news we normally read - the conversation begins below the fold.)

Envoy Urges Visas For Iraqis Aiding U.S.  —  The American ambassador in Baghdad, Ryan C. Crocker, has asked the Bush administration to take the unusual step of granting immigrant visas to all Iraqis employed by the U.S. government in Iraq because of growing concern that they will quit and flee …

Alarm at US right to highly personal data  —  Religion and sex life among passenger details to be passed on to officials  —  Highly sensitive information about the religious beliefs, political opinions and even the sex life of Britons travelling to the United States is to be made available …

The Nights and Days Of Elizabeth Edwards  —  At home and on campaign, she juggles her difficult choices.  'How are you feeling?'  —  At a cabin on a recent weekend, Elizabeth Edwards and her 7-year-old son Jack are working on a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, while 9-year-old daughter Emma Claire is drawing animals on a piece of paper.

Md. Judge Dismisses Sex-Abuse Charges  —  Clerk Is Unable To Find Suitable Translator In Time  —  A 7-year-old girl said she had been raped and repeatedly molested over the course of a year.  Police in Montgomery County, acting on information from a relative, soon arrested a Liberian immigrant living in Gaithersburg.