The FBI is expanding its investigation in a Chicago terrorism case to determine whether a key suspect may have helped scout targets for last year’s massive coordinated attack in Mumbai, India that killed 166 people, according to U.S. law enforcement officials.

The Justice Department announced late last month that it had charged two Chicago-area men—David Coleman Headley, the son of a former Pakistani diplomat, and a childhood friend, Tahawwur Hussain Rana-- for plotting to attack a Danish newspaper for publishing cartoons deemed offensive to the Prophet Mohammed.

But since then, the case has taken some dramatic turns that have attracted the interest of Indian Government investigators and transformed it into one of the most significant international terrorism cases that the FBI has brought since 9/11, the officials say.

After his arrest at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport on Oct. 3, Headley waived his rights to a lawyer and admitted to FBI agents that he had worked directly with Ilyas Kashmiri—a notorious Al Qaeda linked terrorist – to plan the assassination of an editor of the Danish newspaper (who he mistakenly believed was Jewish) and the cartoonist who drew the cartoon of Mohammed, according to a detailed 47 page FBI affidavit filed in federal court on Nov. 6.

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I’ve never bought macrobiotic cupcakes, or hypoallergenic socks. Nor have I hired a tutor for pencil-holding deficiency, or put covers on the stove knobs, or used a leash on a toddler to be safe in a busy airport. At the grocery store, my kids are often in other aisles, but they’ve never felt lost. When they were babies, we weren’t scared to leave them with babysitters. Their preschool didn’t teach Mandarin, nor even worry about teaching them to read. Nor have I ever questioned a teacher about one of my children’s grades.

In fact, nobody I know has done these things. The only parents I know who are super-protective are parents who have to be – and it’s totally justified – because their child has Down’s or Asperger’s.

But like all of you, I still suspect these horror stories – while not representative of reality – shine a light on the unmistakeable reality that we are not giving our kids anything like the freedom or independence we enjoyed as children when we were growing up. If we turned out fine, then why do we think our kids have to be raised so differently? This is the grand theme of Nancy Gibbs’ story on the cover of Time, “Can These Parents Be Saved?”

The problem with these using these horror stories to make a point is that they’re not helpful in finding the right line between parenting and overparenting. Carl Honore’s book Under Pressure is also filled with bad-parent stories ripped from the newspapers. Obviously it’s wrong to sue a college because they did not admit your child. Obviously it’s wrong for a tennis dad to spike his son’s opponents’ water bottles with Temesta, a drowsiness drug. Obviously it’s wrong for Japanese two-year olds to enroll in cram schools.

As Gibbs admits, deep into her article, having parents involved in children’s lives is exceptionally good for children. They get better grades, drink less and use less drugs, et cetera. Backing away completely is not the answer.

So the real question is, for regular parents – normal involved parents who are not crazy, headline-worthy overprotective freaks – in what dimensions do we need to back off?

We think our book NurtureShock, and our column here, have already noted many areas where good parents are going too far. Here’s a summary of those points, in some cases with additional commentary:

• Praise them less, and help them develop accurate awareness of how well they’re doing – so don’t try to spin them into believing they’re better than they are.
  
  
• Protect their sleep hours fiercely.
  
  
• When young children hurt each other’s feelings, give them a chance to come back together on their own. You might not see apologies or overt repair, but scientists are learning that repair can be implicitly implied when kids end up side by side again.
  
  
• Choose schools where they don’t assign too much homework (more than an hour in middle-school is too much), and the schools will finally get the message.
  
  
• Protect play time, and as they mature, help make sure they still have outlets for fantasy.
  
  
• By the time a child is 11, don’t encourage or expect her to tell you everything. Some things need to be none of your business. Set a few rules and enforce them, but in other domains encourage independence and autonomy.
  
  
• Teens need opportunities to take good risks. They need more exposure to other adults, and even kids of other ages – and less exposure to teens exactly their age. They need part of their life to feel real, not just a dress rehearsal for college. They will mature more quickly if these elements are in their life.
  
  
• Colleges have gotten better. It’s harder today to get into the top 30 name-brand colleges, because so many kids apply, but the next 70 colleges are now just as good as the top 30 were when you went to college, and the next 100 are darn good too. Care about your child’s education, not the notoriety of the name printed on his college sweatshirt.

They are calling it the Manhattan Declaration, something of an odd choice in that it connotes something urban and modern rather than what it is—a 4,700 word manifesto reaching into scripture and signed by 148 Orthodox, Catholic and evangelical leaders. It was released this afternoon at a press conference in Washington DC and is designed to draw a line in the sand across three issues they say are non-negotiable despite the law: the sanctity of human life, the institution of marriage as being between a man and woman, and religious freedom.

Signers of the Declaration pledge to "...not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act,” nor will signers “bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships” or “treat them as marriages.” The list of backers reads like a who’s who of the pro-life movement, and the document essentially argues that supporters of the movement deserve conscience rights.

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If it's not Mike Bloomberg, it's his predecessor. The New York Daily News reports that Rudy Giuliani is going to run for the Senate in 2010 and that he may use that as a stepping stone to a presidential run in 2012. Over at The Atlantic Chris Good claims that "Giuliani will make a formidable Senate candidate, should he run—in fact, if he enters the race, he will likely become the frontrunner," noting that he polls ahead of incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand.

Repeat after me, punditariat: the mayoralty of New York is a stepping stone to nothing.

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Earlier this week the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force shocked legions of women when it recommended waiting until 50 for a first mammogram, despite previous recommendations that women begin mammograms at 40. Then today, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released new guidelines for Pap smears. Previously, all sexually active women were encouraged to get the test—which examines cells in the cervix to determine whether there are any abnormalities that could lead to cancer—every year. Now, the recommendations state that women begin the Pap test at 21, retest every other year, and then, once women hit their 30s, schedule a test every three years.

Quite often, new technology hits the market before long-term studies have been completed, says Ted Epperly, a family physician and past president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Only after years of using the equipment can experts then gather statistics about their efficacy. And, Epperly suggests, there may be other tests once considered annual necessities that are now being reevaluated in light of new evidence. We asked Epperly to evaluate other preventative tests—once considered lifesavers—and relay what the evidence currently suggests. As always, be sure to check with your doctor about your individual risks and treatment plan More

The Obama administration didn't hesitate recently to pick a fight with Fox News, but its Department of Homeland Security now appears to have backpedaled on a report expressing concern about what its analysts earlier this year described as "right-wing extremists." Back in April, Homeland Security's intelligence analysis division produced a nine-page "assessment" describing how the nation's economic problems and the ascent of the first African-American president "could create a fertile recruiting environment for right-wing extremists" and might even lead to violence between such groups and the government. Although the paper was stamped "for official use only" and bits of it were labeled "law enforcement sensitive." the document quickly made its way onto the Internet. Its contents provoked howls of rage from conservative activists (some of which was reflected in reports from ... Fox News). The report's critics expressed particular outrage at a paragraph stating that returning veterans "possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to right-wing extremists." The report stated directly that Homeland Security's intelligence shop was "concerned that right-wing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to boost their violent capabilities." (Despite these concerns, the report also acknowledged up front that the Feds had "no specific information that domestic right-wing terrorists are currently planning acts of violence.")

After the report became public, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano backed away from it, telling members of Congress that it had been disseminated to state and local officials without proper authorization. She said the department's procedures for vetting such documents had not been followed. But Napolitano also indicated that the report would be "replaced or redone in a much more useful and much more precise fashion." After gunmen with extreme right-wing pedigrees separately killed a Kansas abortion doctor and a security guard at Washington's Holocaust Museum, some liberal activists raised questions as to when Homeland Security was going to produce an updated version of the April report. 

That is unlikely to happen. Instead, said a source familiar with Homeland Security Department thinking, the contents of the April report have already been sliced and diced and put into other reports about extremism that the department has no plans to make public.

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Exhibit A:

 

Consider, men and women of the jury

The evidence of displaced fury.

Rage flung like a prisoner’s feces

Against the walls.  The human species

Unique in all biology

Kills for ideology.

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Credit: Michael Loccisano - Getty Images... More

By Jeremy Herb

Between online gambling and the countless ESPN reruns of the World Series of Poker, poker has become a mainstream "sport." Gambling experts say 10 to 15 million Americans wager $100 billion on the internet each year, and more than 6,000 paid $10,000 to enter this year's World Series main event. The online gambling industry - made up of offshore companies - earns somewhere between $6 and $10 billion in the U.S. annually. But it's a poker game of politics, not cards, that will decide the fate of online gaming in the U.S.

The battle rests on a bill that was passed in the final hours of the 2006 Republican-controlled Congress, when Sen. Bill Frist tacked it onto a port security bill. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) forbids banks from accepting illegal Internet gambling transactions. In essence, it prevents would be players from using their debit or credit cards-a standard for online payments-for Internet gambling. Those who support Internet gambling, led by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, are making a final plea to the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve to push back the law for one year, giving them time to repeal it. In response, Sen. John Kyl and Rep. Spencer Bachus wrote a letter to Geithner and Bernanke urging them to enforce the Dec. 1 deadline. The Treasury and Fed have yet to make a decision, according to a Federal Reserve official.

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If President Obama was looking for another way to differentiate himself from President Bush, he just found it. When it comes to sports, you might recall Bush as an avid mountain biker. He also showed off some lightening-quick reflexes that one time that would give him an edge in dodgeball, and certainly fencing. Obama’s forté so far has been shooting hoops. Now add to the list, football. Check out this PSA that will run during several football games on Thanksgiving Day that encourages kids to get more exercise. Between spliced footage of kids running and doing jumping jacks, Obama makes a cameo on the White House lawn, tossing around the old pigskin. An ordinary game of catch, right? Not quite. The whole spot comes off as rather moving, almost epic, but not because of Obama or his receiving skills. Producers slowed down the footage so much that a short-range pass from New Orleans’s Saints quarterback Drew Brees to Obama ends up looking like a Sports Center highlight. Then, add in some dramatic background music and the receiver-in-chief almost looks qualified for a Heisman. Of course that would be premature. First we would need to see his end-zone dance.

By Takashi Yokota Japan, the globe's second-largest economy, has long prided itself on its reputation as one of the world's most generous ­nations. But the Center for Global Development (CGD) thinks the country is punching below its weight. A recent... More

By Mark Hosenball and Michael Isikoff

The Fort Hood shooting may soon become more politically explosive. Two U.S. intelligence officials Thursday night confirmed to Declassified key details of a just-breaking ABC News report--that in emails sent to a radical Yemeni cleric, accused shooter Nidal Hasan asked when jihad is appropriate, and said “I can’t wait to join you” in the afterlife.

One U.S. official, who did not want to be named discussing sensitive information, said the emails could be “a problem,” but cautioned that they still needed to be viewed in context.

In background briefings for reporters and members of Congress, U.S. officials have insisted that Hasan’s communications with radical imam Anwar al Awlaki were consistent with a paper he was researching as an Army psychiatrist at the Walter Reed Medical Center. After a Joint Terrorism Task Force reviewed the emails last spring and concluded that Hasan was “not involved in terrorist activities or terrorist planning,” FBI and U.S. Army officials chose not to open an investigation. But members of Congress now are demanding answers about what the FBI and Army knew—and the ABC report is likely to fuel those demands. (The ABC story also reports that, while earning a salary of $92,000 a year including his housing and food allowances, Hasan contributed $20,000 to $30,000 a year to Islamic charities.)

To respond to Congress--and to prepare for Hasan’s trial--U.S. intelligence officials have been wrestling with how much of the email chain (intercepted by U.S. intelligence) can be declassified without compromising sources and methods. Given the leaks, that question may soon be academic.

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Wonder why President Obama’s trip this week to China didn’t go more smoothly? Meetings between Obama and top Chinese leaders were reportedly stiff; the Chinese also limited domestic press coverage of Obama’s appearances. The explanation is disarmingly obvious: huge disagreements separate the two countries that can’t easily be papered over.

Anyone doubting that ought to take a quick read of the latest annual report from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a group established by Congress in 2000 to examine the connections between the countries’ economic relations and broader issues of national security. The Commission has typically been more suspicious of Chinese policies and motives than many American analysts. This year’s report is no exception.

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Wonder why President Obama’s trip this week to China didn’t go more smoothly? Meetings between Obama and top Chinese leaders were reportedly stiff; the Chinese also limited domestic press coverage of Obama’s appearances. The explanation is disarmingly obvious: huge disagreements separate the two countries that can’t easily be papered over.

Anyone doubting that ought to take a quick read of the latest annual report from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a group established by Congress in 2000 to examine the connections between the countries’ economic relations and broader issues of national security. The Commission has typically been more suspicious of Chinese policies and motives than many American analysts. This year’s report is no exception.

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By this time next month, Pakistan is likely to have a monster of a reconstruction project on its hands. That’s not necessarily because latest anti-Taliban offensive has laid such waste to its tribal areas; it hasn’t. As those who went on the press junket through South Waziristan earlier this week pointed out, the army hasn’t had to wage much of a fight, and images of rubble are less common than evidence of sudden flight. The militants—Mehsuds, Uzbeks, and maybe some Arabs—have scattered, potentially to Afghanistan, mainstream Pakistan, or North Waziristan, where the Afghan Taliban is likely holed up. That raises a worrisome question about the next phase, once displaced civilians start heading back to their homes: what’s to keep the militants from simply coming back with them?

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As Barrett points out , the world wasn't exactly riveted was by the selection of the next president of the European Union (whom you've never heard of). Good. Except for the fact that Gordon Brown failed to install his predecessor Tony Blair in the post,...

Next week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will make the rounds of South America. Hardly surprising that he will be dropping in to see Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales in Venezuela -- in recent years the 21st century socialists of Latin America have largely aligned themselves with the Iranian strongman. But Ahmadinejad is also making a more unexpected stop: Brazil. More

As his hopes of winning the congressional election in New York's 23rd district fade, conservative candidate Doug Hoffman is clearly getting desperate. Today he's blaming his loss on "ACORN, the unions, and the Democratic party" who he alleges, without a shred of evidence, tampered with votes to rig the election against him. Never mind that ACORN told David Weigel that they didn't have volunteers in the area, or that it largely operates in poor urban communities, which NY-23 is not. For conservatives, ACORN is shorthand for the evils of the left.

On the heels of that news, Public Policy Polling released this shocking nugget on its blog: "a 52% majority of GOP voters nationally think that ACORN stole the Presidential election for Barack Obama last year, with only 27% granting that he won it legitimately." Say what? More than half of Republican respondents believe the president was elected fraudulently! That's a stunningly high number. It's disturbing, not only as a demonstrable lack of faith in America's democracy but as an expression of wanton ignorance. Worse, it illustrates the effectiveness of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, et al., alongside a well-funded "Stop ACORN" campaign, in creating an atmosphere where unquestioned lies become received wisdom.

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In late October, Denis MacShane, a British Labour MP, chimed in on Tony Blair's quest to become the EU's first president."Almost everyone recognizes that [Blair] can put Europe on the world map in a way that no Brussels Eurocrat has ever managed," MacShane wrote. "If Europe chooses a bland, barely known former national leader for its first true president, the continent and the rest of the world will roll over in boredom and promptly ignore him or her." 

Well lie down and get ready to roll. More

Yesterday, political strategist Mark McKinnon made the case that Sarah Palin's popularity could create an opening for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run for president in 2012. Well, that's original. Too bad it's preposterous. Katie raises two of the correct counterpoints: Bloomberg is uninspiring, and his Wall Street background doesn't seem like such a strong suit these days. But, she says, "McKinnon's argument shouldn't be discounted, and my quibbles aren't insurmountable hurdles for someone like Bloomberg."

Actually, McKinnon's argument should be dismissed out of hand, as there is no rationale for a third-party candidacy on the political, or policy, merits.

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The new number is $849 billion. That is the cost the Congressional Budget Office has stamped on the health bill now in the Senate, which, spread out over 10 years, would provide medical coverage to some 31 million uninsured Americans. It's an awe-inspiring number, so how to make sense of such a whopping price tag? What about 849 thousand million? Or call it "just shy of a trillion"? It's stupendously difficult. That hasn't stopped Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid from trying: "It saves lives. It saves money," he said bluntly Wednesday night. Largely by way of increased taxes, Democrats argue that the legislation would in fact trim the federal budget by more than $100 billion. Undeniable though, is that any trillion-dollar program is a ridiculously huge undertaking.

That's not to say plans of such scale are unfamiliar. To compare, let's round the cost of the health-care bill to $85 billion a year and stand it up alongside some other massive spending projects currently underway: More

An Afghan balloon seller sells his wares at a street in Kabul. Balloons were illegal under the Taliban, but are now commonly sold on the streets as inexpensive gifts for children. They float in colorful contrast to the bleak mood in Kabul today, as President Hamid Karzai was inaugurated without any cheering, crowds, or parades.

Last, but not least. President Obama’s arrival in Seoul marks the end of his battered-policy tour of Asia. Several items marked the agenda. First, the military alliance between the U.S. and South Korea and the handing back of rights to some 50 U.S. military bases on the peninsula. Also at issue: the next step in a free trade agreement, which Obama is haltingly negotiating.

And then, of course, there is North Korea. More

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President Obama’s eight day tour of China is over now, and both sides are probably breathing a sigh of relief. The idea of this visit was to move the US-China conversation beyond the usual economic conflicts and towards a broader range of global issues like climate change and nuclear proliferation. But the giant white elephant in the room, as always, was money. Thanks to the financial crisis, the Chinese have been emboldened to say what they have long thought, which is that Americans are feckless spendthrifts and we’re driving the entire world into a financial black hole. Indeed, Yu Yongding, a leading Chinese economist and former central bank adviser said earlier this week that the world was “being held hostage” by U.S. economic policy. And Obama’s comments to Fox News yesterday that “people could lose confidence in the American economy” if we don’t get our act together was clearly a direct response to the concerns of the Chinese leadership (who have been grilling him about how all those new healthcare costs are going to affect the budget deficit). Let’s hope he at least had time for a couple of Tsingtaos in between the brow-beating.

There’s certainly no doubt that America has done its share to screw up the world economy, and that we’re not doing a very good job cleaning up the mess. A lot of smart folks in New York and Washington are actually worried that we’re headed towards a deregulation, rather than a reregulation, of the financial system in the wake of the Great Recession (the recent derivatives bill, for example, is a sieve). And there’s no doubt that Americans need to rein in our spending at both an individual and a government level. But the truth is that we are doing that. U.S. corporations are now largely in the black. American consumers have upped their savings exponentially in the last year. And while the public debt load is huge, Obama’s comments in Beijing could also have been designed to prepare us for a slimmer government budget in February. More