Al Qaeda Car Bomb Capability?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}And now some fresh pickings from the wartime grapevine:
Car Bomb Capability?
The Department of Homeland Security (search) is warning federal and local law enforcement agencies that Al Qaeda may try to detonate its first car bombs ever in the United States sometime over the next couple of days -- as Ramadan (search) comes to an end and Thanksgiving arrives.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A confidential memo, quoted by World Net Daily, says Al Qaeda (search) has developed new tactics to carry out car bombings, including a new "ramming tactic" and the use of innocuous-looking vehicles, such as food catering trucks, to gain access to targets.
And the memo says recent information and recent attacks overseas reflect Al Qaeda's "desire to repeat a mass casualty attack" in the United States.
However, the memo insists it is only intended to raise awareness, and Homeland Security officials say they have no specific threat.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Economic Conditions in Iraq
A new Gallup poll of Baghdad residents shows 47 percent characterize economic conditions in their city as bad.
That's compared with 17 percent who say economic conditions are good.
However, 61 percent of Baghdad residents say they expect to be better off financially in a year. Only 11 percent say they expect to be worse off.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pushing for Prisoners of War
Teresa Heinz (search), the outspoken wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (search), is insisting that suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay be given prisoner of war status and afforded all the accompanying rights.
She says the detention of some 660 people caught during a war yet not given prisoner of war status is "insulting, ignorant and insensitive."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Bush administration calls them "detainees" -- which allows them to be milked for intelligence.
Kerry's campaign, meanwhile, is supporting his wife's position but won't go quite as far, instead saying prisoners should be held as "enemy combatants."
Mandatory Meeting
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Adolfo Camarillo High School in Camarillo, Calif., has held a mandatory meeting for about 80 chronically truant students and their parents...
Problem is, only half of the students and parents bothered to show up.
According to the L.A. Daily News, the parents may be prosecuted and could face up to $500 in fines or even jail time.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report