Free Republic

Secret U.S. government report: Insurgency in Iraq now self-sustaining financially, raising tens of millions of dollars a year from oil smuggling, kidnapping, counterfeiting, fake charities and other crimes... NYTIMES reporting Sunday... Developing...

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) President Bush has failed to win South Korea's support for a program to intercept ships suspected of carrying supplies for the North's Korea's nuclear and missile weapons.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) President Bush has arrived in Vietnam.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -- Iowa shoppers hoping to save a buck at a Super Target store on Tuesday got more than they bargained for. A real eight-point buck was caught on tape by the store's surveillance cameras as it walked into the West Des Moines store. When it went slip-sliding down an aisle, it was the customers and store employees who looked like deer in headlights. The deer caused no damage and escaped through an open door about 20 minutes later. It appeared to be unharmed.

NORFOLK - Nearly 1,300 sailors aboard the amphibious assault ship Wasp will return to Norfolk on Saturday after an unexpected 10-week overseas deployment. Initially, the helicopter and troop carrier was sent to the waters off Beirut to aid U.S. Embassy evacuation efforts. It was then sent to Reykjavik, Iceland, where it was used as an ambassador to shore up relations. Lately, the Wasp has served as a hospital ship. While en route to Norfolk, the Wasp was redirected twice for rescue-at-sea operations, according to a release from the 2nd Fleet. On Nov. 2, it was directed to aid an injured...

WASHINGTON (AP) GOP officials say Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman will step down from his post in January.

Donald Rumsfeld's abrupt resignation from the Pentagon the day after Republicans lost both chambers of Congress has infuriated some GOP officials on and off Capitol Hill. Members and staff still reeling from Tuesday's rout are furious about the administration's decision to dump the controversial defense secretary one day after their historic loss, they said in a series of interviews about the election results. President Bush announced Rumsfeld's resignation on Wednesday and named Bob Gates, a former CIA chief and president of Texas A&M University, as his replacement. "The White House said keeping the majority was a priority, but they failed...

Breaking

WASHINGTON (AP) The government says the benefit checks for nearly 49 million Social Security recipients will go up by 3.3 percent next year compared to a 4.1 percent increase in 2006.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Miami coach Larry Coker said Sunday that at least eight Hurricane players will be suspended for their role in a sideline-clearing brawl against Florida International. "I don't have many bad days. This is a bad day." -- Larry Coker The fight Saturday night came during Miami's 35-0 win against Florida International, which plays across town. It was the first meeting between the teams. Coker said the five players ejected in the fight -- offensive linemen Derrick Morse and Chris Barney, running back Charlie Jones, and cornerbacks Carlos Armour and Bruce Johnson -- would be suspended. Coker...

CNN reporting "an agreement is in place".

UNITED NATIONS (AP) New U.S. draft Security Council resolution would authorize only non-military measures against North Korea over its claimed nuclear test.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) A North Korean official tells Yonhap news agency that imposing sanctions for Pyongyang's claimed nuclear test would be tantamount to a declaration of war.

MOSCOW, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Russian military experts said Tuesday that North Korea has carried out a test of a nuclear weapon. "Defense Ministry technical means registered the nuclear explosion and a mistake here is impossible," Maj. Gen. Vladimir Dvorkin, who formerly headed a Russian military researcher center, told Interfax News Agency. "A nuclear explosion can be accurately distinguished from a conventional explosion, say the explosion of 100 tons of conventional explosives." While Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov also said that North Korea has become a nuclear power and called it "a serious blow" to non-proliferation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said...

Columbus Day will be cooler than this past weekend, but nothing like the cold expected later this week. Today's slightly below-normal highs will probably be the warmest readings Chicagoans will experience until perhaps the middle of next week. The upper-air pattern is forecast to change drastically in the next 36 hours. Presently, winds at 30,000 feet over Chicago are southwest around 40 m.p.h. with the 100 m.p.h.-plus core of the jet stream situated along the U.S./Canada border. By Wednesday, the jet stream flow will shift north-south with a core of 150 m.p.h.-plus winds just to the west through the Dakotas...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) U.N. diplomats say the U.S. ambassador told the Security Council that Washington would view a North Korean attack on South Korea or Japan as an attack on the United States.

Just reported on CNN via South Korea television news.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) Yonhap news agency reports that a government official says there are "signs" of a North Korean nuclear test.

Let's kick it off. Here is the cover of Terrell Owens new children's book (no it's not Scrappleface, it's real).

According to NY Daily News and ESPN.