Strike Two  —  For Barack Obama, it was strike two.  And this one was a right-down-the-middle question from a YouTuber in Monday night's South Carolina debate: "Would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else …

Court throws out city's illegal immigration law  —  HAZLETON, Pa (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday struck down as unconstitutional a local law designed to crack down on illegal immigration, dealing a blow to similar laws passed by dozens of towns and cities across the country.

Army Private Discloses He Is New Republic's Baghdad Diarist  —  The New Republic's anonymous "Baghdad Diarist" identified himself yesterday as Scott Thomas Beauchamp, an Army private in Iraq, and disputed as "maddening" accusations that he had invented his accounts of cruelty by American soldiers.

FBI Chief Disputes Gonzales On Spying  —  FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III yesterday contradicted the sworn testimony of his boss, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, by telling Congress that a prominent warrantless surveillance program was the subject of a dramatic legal debate within the Bush administration.

U.S. drops Baghdad electricity reports  —  The daily length of time that residents have power has dropped.  The figure is considered a key indicator of quality of life.  —  WASHINGTON — washington — As the Bush administration struggles to convince lawmakers that its Iraq war strategy is working …

Novak's heaven: A 'place where there are no blogs.'  —  "I'm 76 years old, and pretty soon I'm going to a place where there are no blogs," said conservative pundit Robert Novak at an American Spectator breakfast on Thursday morning.  Speaking of the land beyond, Novak added …

The Kind Of Village It Takes  —  Recent books and studies seem to indicate disturbing sexual trends among evangelical Christians.  And this time we're not talking about their pastors or political leaders.  The new attention is on evangelical teenagers, who reportedly start sex earlier than their mainline Protestant peers.

Today's Must Read  —  Was Pat Tillman murdered?  —  Stunning as it is to contemplate, the Associated Press obtained Pentagon documents through the Freedom of Information Act showing that investigators looked into whether the athlete-turned-soldier might have been deliberately killed in 2004 …

Violence won't work: how author of 'jihadists' bible' stirred up a storm  —  Revisionist message from prison cell shakes al-Qaida colleagues  —  Ian Black Cairo  —  The assassination of the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in 1981 by Islamic militants, a key moment in the development of jihadist groups.

Lawyers sap our will to combat terrorism  —  We lack the toughness of our European neighbours  —  Many jihadis seek to create a global caliphate, ruled by Sharia.  At best, Christians, Hindus, and Jews would live in a state of submission tantamount to second-class citizenship.

Freed man still in limbo … Mark O'Hara clutches his only belongings, his legal papers, as he uses a borrowed cell phone Wednesday in an attempt to get a ride home to Dunedin from the Orient Road Jail in Tampa.  —  Times]  —  TAMPA - Mark O'Hara left jail without handcuffs Wednesday …

FOX PRODUCER JOINS TEAM FRED  —  From NBC's Mike Viqueira  —  The word spreading all over Capitol Hill today is that longtime Fox senior congressional producer Jim Mills is leaving his booth on the House side to join the Fred Thompson quasi-campaign as spokesman.

The group blog of The American Prospect  —  GOP NOT SO HIP TO THE INTERTUBES.  Via Salon: It's fascinating/typical that only two GOP candidates, Ron Paul and John McCain, have agreed to participate in the GOP version of the YouTube/CNN debate we all enjoyed so much this week.

Felony charges filed against 7 in state's biggest case of voter-registration fraud  —  King and Pierce County prosecutors filed felony charges today against seven people who allegedly committed the biggest voter-registration fraud in state history.  —  The defendants, who were paid employees …