Carroll Reunites With Family  —  After 82 Days as a Hostage in Iraq, Freed Journalist Is Home  —  BOSTON, April 2 — Journalist Jill Carroll was back on U.S. soil Sunday, tearfully embracing her parents and twin sister after 82 days as a hostage in Iraq that she said gave her a deep appreciation for the myriad simple joys of freedom.

Let Cooler Heads Prevail  —  So, "the debate is over."  Time magazine says so.  Last week's cover story exhorted readers to "Be Worried.  Be Very Worried," and ABC News concurred in several stories.  So did Montana's governor, speaking on ABC.  And there was polling about global warming, gathered by Time and ABC in collaboration.

Premature Articulation: The REAL Jill Carroll for Jimmy Carter Geraghty and Others w/Reading Comprehension Deficiencies  —  Here's a note to you bloggers—especially the suddenly blind conservative ones—who want Jill Carroll to be what she is not.  Please read it VERY CAREFULLY and S-L-O-W-L-Y …

Man dies in explosion at Toronto Tim Hortons  —  Toronto — The heart of Toronto's trendy Yorkville shopping district was shocked to a standstill Sunday after an explosion killed one man at a Tim Horton's outlet.  —  Police would not confirm early reports that a man had entered the washroom shortly …

U.S. Plan to Build Iraq Clinics Falters  —  Contractor Will Try to Finish 20 of 142 Sites  —  BAGHDAD — A reconstruction contract for the building of 142 primary health centers across Iraq is running out of money, after two years and roughly $200 million, with no more than 20 clinics …

Ivory Tower Stonewall  —  A 9/11 survivor asks Yale to explain why it admitted the Taliban Man.  —  Katherine Bailey and her sister, Margaret Pothier, have a bone to pick with Yale President Richard Levin over his university's admission of a former Taliban official as a student.

MARK STEYN: … Read the whole thing, especially the last paragraph.  Bush's problem on the war is that he's losing the Jacksonian base, which is no longer confident that he's willing to do whatever it takes to win, regardless of foreign or public opinion.  —  UPDATE: Reader Barry Dauphin emails:

Schools punishing wavers of U.S. flag  —  Boy suspended after flap at Ranchero Middle School; incidents reported in Jurupa and Colorado  —  HESPERIA — While thousands of Hispanic students spent the week facing suspension for walking out of class, now Caucasian students around the country …

Stop It  —  So Sorry.  I didn't mean to go dark this week-end —  technical problems.  —  First I'd like to call out a big f**k you to all the bloggers and wingut radio blowhards who assumed that since Jill Carroll isn't a screeching, GOP operative harpy like Laura Ingraham that she is sympathetic to terrorists.

How the GOP Became God's Own Party  —  Now that the GOP has been transformed by the rise of the South, the trauma of terrorism and George W. Bush's conviction that God wanted him to be president, a deeper conclusion can be drawn: The Republican Party has become the first religious party in U.S. history.

Key Players Leave Rep. Harris's Campaign  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla., April 1 (AP) — Representative Katherine Harris's Senate campaign lost what was left of its core team when a top adviser, her campaign manager and her communications director resigned this weekend.

Couric a Blink Away From Landmark Gig  —  'Today' Host's Move to Eye Net Puts Rival NBC in Talent Bind  —  Katie Couric's deal to move to CBS News is completed in principle, and an announcement that she is leaving NBC might come as early as this week.  —  That's the quiet buzz among sources familiar …

Watch the Trends, Not the Headlines  —  April 2, 2006: What you see in the Iraq news, is not what you get.  The news business demands startling headlines, to attract eyeballs.  It's business, as the eyeballs are rented to advertisers to pay for it all.  But the reality of the news is less startling, and consists of trends.

LAURA BUSH SAYS HILLARY KEPT BAD HOUSE; WEST WING DECORATIONS WERE GAUDY, OUTDATED  —  First Lady Laura Bush believes Hillary Clinton did not keep good house during her time as first lady, a new book will charge.  —  Ron Kessler, a former investigative reporter for the WASHINGTON POST …