Top four stories on the Yahoo title screen as I type this:

•  Marines in fierce firefight at mosque

•  Bodies litter streets of Baghdad suburb

•  Iraqi Shiite leader, aide murdered in Najaf

•  ICRC: Baghdad hospital looted, others shut

(A previous story reported that a pro-Saddam cleric was killed in addition to the pro-U.S. cleric and his aide.)

Things are not looking good in the 51st state today....

(Subtle-as-a-flying-mallet irony department: In a more innocent time -- i.e., a few hours ago -- MSNBC.com headline writers put up this headline: Reveling in new freedoms: With coming of U.S. troops, Iraqis feel free to disagree.)