IS THIS JUST SOME SORT OF RECRUITMENT PLOY?
Canadian troops fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan have stumbled across an unexpected and potent enemy - almost impenetrable forests of 10-feet-high marijuana plants.
(HERALD SUN, unearthed by Free Republic)

"ENEMY COMBATANT" GOAT HERDER RELEASED
Taj Mohammad is a shepherd -- a member of the Gudjer Tribe, nomads who herd goats in the border mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Taj, who was arrested at his home in Afghanistan as a result of an argument and fight he had with his cousin, was released yesterday thanks to the effort of his Federal Defenders in Miami.
(Suggested by Paul Whitehurst)

LIBERTARIAN DEMOCRATS?
In 1970, according to the Harris Poll, fully 49 percent of U.S. adults considered themselves Democrats. By 1989, that number had shrunk to 40 percent, and, as of 2004 (the last year for which data are available), it stood at a measly 34 percent. By contrast, affiliation with the GOP has never topped 33 percent (a high point reached in '89 and '90); as of 2004, the figure was 31 percent. The Democrats plainly need new blood — and new ideas. Not at the state level, really, where politics and governance tend to be less ideological and more pragmatic (and where Democrats are doing pretty well), but at the national level, where they haven't had an overarching, coherent ideological narrative to offer since at least before the Reagan years.
(CATO)

BIG BROTHER BLUES
More than a year has passed since the Real ID Act of 2005 became law. And in a little over 18 months, the first new driver's licenses mandated by the legislation are supposed to debut. It might have to wait. Why? Government is having a problem getting it together. Go figure.
(WASHINGTON POST)

SUPREME COURT VOTER'S GUIDE
Who are the candidates running for election to your Alabama Supreme Court? What are their judicial philosophies, and what do they think is the greatest area of need in the Alabama judicial system? The candidates were recently asked to provide their background information, campaign contact information, and answers to seven nonpartisan questions. Read their responses.
(LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF ALABAMA)

SUGGESTED READING: FIVE GERMANYS I HAVE KNOWN
Emeritus professor of European history at Columbia University Fritz Stern has compared the similarities between the path taken by Germany in the years leading up to Hitler and the path being taken by the United States today. While not suggesting an equivalence between President Bush and Hitler, Stern's more subtle critique is that contemporary American politics exhibit something like the strident militancy and political ineptitude of the Kaiser’s pre-1914 imperial Germany.
(NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW)

DEM DEMS DEM DEMS DEM DAM DEMS
Faster than a Swift boat, the race is on to make getting caught with their pants down a nefarious Democratic plot. While The Hill report states that the source who revealed Foley's suspect e-mails to the former House page "says the documents came to him from a House GOP aide" and that the "aide has been a registered Republican since becoming eligible to vote," conservative media figures and outlets are perpetuating the notion that Democrats are behind the scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL).
(MEDIA MATTERS)