Place Your Bets

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Euros for Terrorists

The insurgents in Iraq need money to keep attacking American and Iraqi forces and they're getting some of it from a surprising source —- anti-American Europeans, who have started a campaign dubbed 'Ten Euros for the Resistance" to provide aid and comfort to terrorist forces in Iraq.

Organizers for the multi-national movement say they hope to broaden support for the insurgency from just fringe leftists, to the more inclusive antiwar and anti-globalization movements. One observer at the group's rallies told U.S.News and World Report that the campaign plans to send "everything it takes" including weapons to help the insurgents on to victory. But one person told the magazine the leftists may not be all that much help, noting that many of the European militants looked so ragged, they're unlikely to have 10 euros to contribute.

Place your Bets

It may be more than three years until the next presidential election, but oddsmakers are already taking bets on the winner — and the smart money is on Senator Hillary Clinton (search). Online bookmakers at SportsInteraction.com give the New York Democrat 7-to-2 odds on winning in 2008.

Republican Rudy Giuliani (search) trails close behind at 5-to-1, while New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and former Vice Presidential Candidate John Edwards stand at 12-to-1. And if you're looking for a long shot, place your bets on last year's Democratic Nominee John Kerry — a 40-to-1 underdog to win the presidency.

PETA Problems

Two counties in North Carolina have severed all ties with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA (search) — after learning the group euthanized cats and dogs from animal shelters instead of finding them homes. County officials say they were led to believe that euthanasia would be a last resort for un-adoptable pets, but PETA documents show the group euthanized more than 6,000 animals nationwide between 2001 and 2003.

A PETA official says "our aim here was to stop them from dying an agonizing death," but adds, "Did we euthanize some animals who could have been adopted? Maybe."

Book from Behind Bars

Saddam Hussein (search) may be in prison, but that won't stop his latest literary masterpiece from reaching the Arab world. A novel written by the former dictator before he was deposed will hit bookstores in the region next week.

The novel, whose title roughly translated, is "Damned One, Get Out of Here," is Saddam's third — and has been on sale in bootleg form on the streets of Iraq since 2003. So what does a despotic leader under threat of invasion find to write about? Saddam's main characters are the ruler of a small town and an Arab warrior who saves him from a plot to overthrow his government — a plot line that at least in real life just didn't work out

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— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report