UNTHINK PROGRESS  —  I love this.  The intrepid folks at Think Progress write: … Is it really so crazy to think that someone who hasn't spent the last 82 days in captivity by Islamic kidnappers might be thinking more clearly than someone who has?  Is it so absurd to think that maybe someone …

Conservatives Stand Firm on Immigration  —  WASHINGTON, March 30 — Conservative House Republicans bluntly warned their leaders Thursday against any immigration compromise that would allow temporary foreign workers and assailed a Senate proposal that would open the way for illegal immigrants to earn citizenship.

The Iran Crisis: A "roundtable" discussion at Princeton University  —  Last night I attended "roundtable" discussion of the Iranian nuclear crisis at Princeton University.  I originally wrote my report up as a "live-blogging" session, but it was sometimes tough to hear through the accents …

Long-Awaited Medical Study Questions the Power of Prayer  —  Prayers offered by strangers had no effect on the recovery of people who were undergoing heart surgery, a large and long-awaited study has found.  —  And patients who knew they were being prayed for had a higher rate …

No Apology From McKinney for Hill Scuffle  —  Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the Georgia congresswoman who had a physical altercation with a police officer, is speaking out about the episode after saying she regretted the incident.  —  But she has refused to apologize in a statement and a brief on-camera interview.

Intelligence Redo Is Harshly Judged  —  A Judge Critiques 9/11 Overhaul, and Finds It Top-Heavy  —  U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Richard A. Posner sharply criticized the restructuring of U.S. intelligence agencies last week, telling CIA lawyers that the overhaul has done nothing …

The Left's Fear of Money, Part II  —  Nine months ago I wrote a post that got a good amount of attention, it was about the fear of money that some people have on the left.  I think it's time for the next installment.  —  Last night I attended the Radio and Television Correspondents Association annual dinner in Washington, DC.

Whose Backlash?  —  Hundreds of thousands of Mexican citizens, along with Mexican-Americans and Hispanics in general, hit the streets throughout the United States this past week in one of the largest displays of public outrage since the Vietnam-War era.  —  The conventional wisdom …

How the FBI Let 9/11 Happen  —  Never mind Moussaoui, the smoldering gun was right there all the time  —  Anyone paying attention to the Zacarias Moussaoui trial gets it now.  All the 9/11 blanks are filled in, and the picture is complete.  Sorry, conspiracy freaks and blind partisan hacks.

Pentagon to Test a Huge Conventional Bomb  —  A huge mushroom cloud of dust is expected to rise over Nevada's desert in June when the Pentagon plans to detonate a gigantic 700-ton explosive — the biggest open-air chemical blast ever at the Nevada Test Site — as part of the research …

The Twilight of Objectivity  —  How opinion journalism could change the face of the news.  —  CNN says it is just thrilled by the transformation of Lou Dobbs—formerly a mild-mannered news anchor noted for his palsy-walsy interviews with corporate CEOs—into a raving populist xenophobe.  Ratings are up.

Levee Repair Costs Triple  —  The Bush administration said yesterday that the cost of rebuilding New Orleans's levees to federal standards has nearly tripled to $10 billion and that there may not be enough money to fully protect the entire region.  —  Donald E. Powell, the administration's …

Mass. high court says nonresident gays cannot marry in state  —  BOSTON —Same-sex couples from states where gay marriage is banned cannot legally marry in Massachusetts, the state's highest court said Thursday in a ruling that left the status of many unions in legal limbo.

Bill Clinton's A Convert To Dean's 50-State Project  —  NOTE: This post is updated above.  —  Will Howard Dean's Democratic National Committee be ready for the November elections?  Party leaders and congressional campaign strategists are nervously pressuring Dean to stop spending money …

Illegal immigrants rally for tuition break  —  TRENTON — More than 100 people rallied yesterday in front of the Statehouse Annex, urging state and federal lawmakers to allow children of undocumented immigrants to attend college at in-state tuition rates.  —  The smaller-than-advertised …

Does the White House NSA defense come from John Mitchell?  —  (updated below - updated again)  —  Among the witnesses testifying at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today on Sen. Feingold's Censure Resolution is former Nixon White House Counsel John Dean.