When Is a Car a Truck? If Uncle Sam Says So. Keith Bradsher’s book argues that the auto industry behaved cynically and aggressively in securing the exemptions that made the S.U.V. so fantastically profitable. By Jay Rosen. [New York Times: Business]

You Better Shop Around — Not!. As the annual holiday shopping orgy approaches, activists are taking to the malls to celebrate Buy Nothing Day, a growing ‘shopping fast’ protesting consumer excess. By Leander Kahney. [Wired News]

U.S. to Seek to Abolish Many Tariffs. The Bush administration, hoping to jump-start global trade negotiations, will propose a plan on Tuesday to eliminate all tariffs on industrial and consumer goods by 2015. By Edmund L. Andrews. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

Bush Set to Sign Terror Insurance Bill Today. President Bush plans to sign legislation today to shield the insurance industry from catastrophic costs of future terror attacks. By The Associated Press. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

U.S. Fails to Curb Its Saudi Oil Habit, Experts Say. Nearly a dozen years after the Persian Gulf war, America remains as dependent as ever on Saudi oil, officials say. By Jeff Gerth. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

Cyber-Rights Activists Log a Win. Spanish cyberpunks combine grassroots Internet activism with a door-to-door awareness campaign to successfully stop a regional law that would have treated cybercafes as gambling houses. By Michelle Delio. [Wired News]

Women victims of HIV rise. More women are now infected with HIV/Aids than men¸ and over 40 million people are now living with the disease¸ latest figures reveal. [BBC News | Front Page]

U.S. Allows Candidates to Pay Themselves. The Federal Election Commission today agreed to let candidates for federal office pay themselves salaries from the political donations they gather. By The Associated Press. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

U.S. liability looms over Kazaa. Has the file-swapping network’s parent company kept business contact with the United States minimal enough to avoid a U.S. lawsuit? A judge hears arguments on the case. [CNET News.com]

Windows app helps Bush run the country : Screen shot of Bush’s Window’s app.