Executive Order: Responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security with Respect to Faith-Based and Community Initiatives  —  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to help the Federal Government coordinate …

3 College Students Arrested in Alabama Church Fires  —  Three college students from the prosperous suburbs south of Birmingham, two of them 19 and one 20, were arrested today in the burning of nine Baptist churches in rural Alabama last month that federal officials say was a prank that spun out of control.

Post-mortem on the Intelligence Committee vote  —  (updated below)  —  The Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday rejected Sen. Rockefeller's motion to hold hearings to investigate the President's warrantless eavesdropping program by an 8-7, strict party line vote.

Iran Threatens 'Harm and Pain' to U.S. if Sanctions Imposed  —  Iran warned today that the United States could suffer "harm and pain" if the United Nations Security Council imposes sanctions over Iran's nuclear program.  —  Iran delivered the warning at a meeting in Vienna of the International Atomic Energy Agency's governing board.

GOP House Panel Votes to Block Ports Deal  —  WASHINGTON - In a congressional election-year repudiation of President Bush, a House panel dominated by Republicans voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to block a Dubai-owned firm from taking control of some U.S port operations.  Democrats clamored for a vote in the Senate, too.

TX 22: DeLay More Vulnerable Than Ever Following Primary  —  Tom DeLay and his partisans are hailing his primary victory Tuesday as a landslide and vindication from his constituents that the Texas Republican's legal and ethical problems are behind him.  —  But the primary result …

Enough of the D.C. Dems  —  Mah fellow progressives, now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of the party.  I don't know about you, but I have had it with the D.C. Democrats, had it with the DLC Democrats, had it with every calculating, equivocating, triangulating …

TX-28: Post mortem  —  The bottom line: we helped a campaign that was the walking dead and gave it new life, pumped in resources, and made it competitive.  We did much to even the playing field even if ultimately we came up tantalizingly short.  —  And yeah, I know "tantalizingly short" …

Hardball for the left, softball for the right: Conservatives dominate on Hardball … Since its CNBC debut as Politics with Chris Matthews in 1996*, MSNBC's long-running Hardball with Chris Matthews has consistently attracted criticism from the right wing.  For example, in January 2006 …

50 Abducted in Iraqi Raid; 24 Bodies Found in Baghdad  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 8 — Gunmen wearing the uniforms of Interior Ministry commandos and driving government vehicles raided a private Iraqi security company this afternoon, kidnapping about 50 employees and seizing weapons, computer equipment and documents, police officials said.

Libertarian Forum Steps Out From The Pack  —  Dana Milbank writes about the animosity within the Cato Institute's form on public policy that featured Bruce Bartlett and Andrew Sullivan.  Both speakers have long been critics of the Bush administration, with the latter eventually endorsing John Kerry in the last presidential election.

Trial By Fire: The Holocaust History Project Won't Be Silenced  —  Today's regularly scheduled post has been delayed due to an important and tragic development.  —  Something bad happened a couple of days ago, something that cuts rather close to home.  —  Arsonists targeted the offices used …

Retirement Fund Tapped to Avoid National Debt Limit  —  The Treasury Department has started drawing from the civil service pension fund to avoid hitting the $8.2 trillion national debt limit.  The move to tap the pension fund follows last month's decision to suspend investments in a retirement savings plan held by government employees.

Giving Yale the finger  —  Since the New York Times and Wall Street Journal broke the news about the admission of Taliban official Sayeed Rahmatullah Hashemi to a special student program at Yale, we've received numerous emails from outraged Yale Alumni.  One email stood out from the rest …

Jeers and Heckling Greet Annan At Staff Meeting at United Nations  —  UNITED NATIONS - U.N. staffers heckled and booed Secretary-General Annan yesterday in a raucous meeting after he presented a "management reform" plan that includes cutting jobs for New Yorkers employed at Turtle Bay.

Blog Wars  —  I knew a few days ago that the New York Times was planning a piece on big companies like Wal-Mart using friendly bloggers to get their message out.  —  The reason I knew this, of course, is that some of the bloggers posted preemptive pieces after the paper contacted them for comment.

Eyeing '08, Sen. McCain courts K St.  —  Good-government advocacy groups working on lobbying reform say their longtime ally Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has played a smaller leadership role on the issue than they had expected.  —  McCain's lower-than-hoped-for profile on the sensitive subject coincides …

'Hardball with Chris Matthews' for April 16  —  Read the complete transcript to Friday's show  —  Guests: William Cohen, Jon Meacham, Pat Toomey, Andrew Greeley  —  CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Al Jazeera TV plays video of a U.S. soldier held hostage in Iraq.