Questions About Carroll's Captivity  —  I spoke to David Bloom days before he died and then covered his memorial service.  I wrote about the death of Michael Kelly.  I said goodbye to Bob Woodruff before he went to Iraq and got badly injured by a roadside bomb.

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.

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.

Iran Defiantly Rejects New U.N. Demands  —  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran on Thursday the "international community is united" in the dispute over its nuclear program, but a Tehran envoy defiantly rejected a U.N. call to reimpose a freeze on uranium enrichment.

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 …

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 …

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.

Church fires photog over Scalia picture: Freelancer pays for 'right thing'  —  A freelance photographer has been fired by the Archdiocese of Boston's newspaper for releasing a picture of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia making a controversial gesture in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Sunday.

Defeating Jihad  —  Frontpage Interview's guest today is Serge Trifkovic, a former BBC commentator and US NEWS and World Report reporter.  His last book was The Sword of the Prophet.  The sequel, Defeating Jihad, will be published by Regina Orthodox Press in April.  Read his commentaries on ChroniclesMagazine.org.

TUCSON REGION  —  Mexican flag burned at Apache Junction HS  —  EAST VALLEY TRIBUNE  —  Tensions over immigration reform heightened in the Phoenix area's East Valley Thursday when students raised a Mexican flag over Apache Junction High School — and then other students yanked it down and burned it.

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 …