The menticide of Jose Padilla  —  Democracy Now! has a fascinating interview with a psychiatrist who interviewed suspected terrorist Jose Padilla for over 22 hours in an attempt to determine whether he was fit to stand trial after more than 3 years of solitary confinement.

FBI Director's Notes Contradict Gonzales's Version Of Ashcroft Visit  —  Then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft was "feeble," "barely articulate" and "stressed" moments after a hospital room confrontation in March 2004 with Alberto R. Gonzales, who wanted Ashcroft to approve …

PICKERING TO RESIGN FROM CONGRESS  —  From NBC's Mark Murray  —  Rep. Chip Pickering, R-Miss., is announcing he's resigning from Congress to work on K Street, becoming the latest House Republican to either vacate his seat or decide not to seek re-election in 2008.

A Liberal Reconsiders Chavez  —  Jeb Koogler, a staunch liberal at The Moderate Voice, has defended Hugo Chavez for a long time.  He thought that Chavez intended to help the poor and downtrodden and made excuses for his tough tactics as a necessary interlude towards a better society.

A rush to pull out cash  —  Worried about the stability of mortgage giant Countrywide Financial, depositors crowd branches.  —  Anxious customers jammed the phone lines and website of Countrywide Bank and crowded its branch offices to pull out their savings because of concerns …

Max Roach, a Founder of Modern Jazz, Dies at 83  —  Max Roach, a founder of modern jazz who rewrote the rules of drumming in the 1940's and spent the rest of his career breaking musical barriers and defying listeners' expectations, died early today in Manhattan.  He was 83.

Poll: Majority mistrustful of upcoming Iraq report  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — A majority of Americans don't trust the upcoming report by the Army's top commander in Iraq on the progress of the war and even if they did, it wouldn't change their mind, according to a new poll.

Jenna Bush engaged  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — President and Laura Bush's daughter, Jenna, is engaged to be married, the White House announced Thursday.  —  Jenna Bush, 24, is marrying Henry Hager, 28, a former White House aide who used to work with Karl Rove.  His father, John Hager, is the chairman of the Virginia Republican Party.

Pentagon Paid $998,798 to Ship Two 19-Cent Washers  —  Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) — A small South Carolina parts supplier collected about $20.5 million over six years from the Pentagon for fraudulent shipping costs, including $998,798 for sending two 19-cent washers to an Army base in Texas, U.S. officials said.

Richardson Aide Quits After Brothel Link Discovery  —  You've been reading about all the Republican sex scandals — and now it's time for a Democratic one: … So he's accused of screwing the brothel.  MORE: … Managing a brothel...working for a political campaign?

An embarrassed Fox News hits Wikipedia  —  It's been a rough week for our ol' friends at Fox News.  Thanks to some IP-address based research, the political world learned that the FNC was responsible for "touching up" Wikipedia pages, editing content that didn't fit with the partisan network's political agenda.

Iraqi women: Prostituting ourselves to feed our children  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — The women are too afraid and ashamed to show their faces or have their real names used.  They have been driven to sell their bodies to put food on the table for their children — for as little as $8 a day.

Hotel mistakes Nobel laureate for bag lady  —  She was wearing a Mayan dress, the traditional attire of indigenous people in central America, and the hotel's response was also traditional: throw her out.  —  Staff at Cancun's five-star Hotel Coral Beach appear to have assumed …

Man kissed ailing wife, threw her off balcony, prosecutors say  —  KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) — A man threw his seriously ill wife four stories to her death because he could no longer afford to pay for her medical care, prosecutors said in charging him with second-degree murder.

Edwards, Foreclosure Critic, Has Investing Tie to Subprime Lenders  —  As a presidential candidate, Democrat John Edwards has regularly attacked subprime lenders, particularly those that have filed foreclosure suits against victims of Hurricane Katrina.  But as an investor …

Real ID: Anti-terror tool or Big Brother?  —  (CNN) — Americans may need passports to board domestic flights or to picnic in a national park next year if they live in one of the states defying the federal Real ID Act.  —  The act, signed in 2005 as part of an emergency military spending …

'We have broken speed of light'  —  A pair of German physicists claim to have broken the speed of light - an achievement that would undermine our entire understanding of space and time.  —  According to Einstein's special theory of relativity, it would require an infinite amount of energy …