Right-wing Racism and the Moderate Voice  —  There's a discussion over at The Moderate Voice about whether the Jill Carroll affair damages the credibility of bloggers.  I find this discussion irritating, because it cuts to a basic problem with the nonpartisan new media blog pontificators …

Court refuses to hear Padilla appeal  —  The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear the appeal of Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen held in a military jail for more than three years as an "enemy combatant."  The Court, however, declined to dismiss the case as moot, as the Bush Administration had urged.

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.

Frist Is Treading a Perilous Path Leading to 2008  —  WASHINGTON, April 2 — History does not bode well for Bill Frist, and he knows it.  —  "Coming into this job, everybody said if you, in your future, ever want to consider running for president of the United States, people said, 'Do not do it …

SAME OLD, SAME OLD (VIDEO ADDED)  —  ***update: watch video of McKinney's friends here .  Finished watching Rep. Cynthia McKinney and friends' grievance-fest in Atlanta.  It was streamed live at WXIA.  We were promised "something new."  But the assortment of local race card-wielders lauded …

White House shake-up to continue?  —  Sources: Press spokesman, treasury chief may be next  —  CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) — Presidential press secretary Scott McClellan and Treasury Secretary John Snow could be next in a shake-up in the Bush administration, according to White House and GOP sources.

2005 Koufax Awards —The Winners  —  I apologize for the delay in posting the winners.  We had a big turn out both in comments and in emails and a number of the categories had excruciatingly close races (one category had an exact tie, more on that below).  The voting was roughly evenly split between comments and email.

Growth in federal spending unchecked  —  WASHINGTON — Federal spending is outstripping economic growth at a rate unseen in more than half a century, provoking some conservatives to complain that government under Republican control has gotten too big.  —  The federal government …

Gore gets 'Green' and mean with W  —  George W. Bush as Neville Chamberlain?  —  That's the comparison Al Gore makes in Vanity Fair's environmentally correct "Green Issue."  —  The former veep — President Bush's 2000 election opponent — keeps insisting that he has no intention of running again for the White House.

Iraq's Premier Is Asked to Quit as Shiites Split  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 2 — Iraq's dominant Shiite political bloc fractured Sunday when its most powerful faction publicly demanded that the incumbent Shiite prime minister resign over his inability to form a unified government.

Sectarian Strife Fuels Gun Sales in Baghdad  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 29 — With chipped, painted fingernails, Nahrawan al-Janabi picked up a cartridge and slid it into the chamber.  —  "Like this," she said, loading her new Glock pistol with a loud, satisfying click.  "You see, like this."

Prosecution of Midwife Casts Light on Home Births  —  BLOOMINGTON, Ind., March 29 — Angela Hendrix-Petry gave birth to her daughter Chloe by candlelight in her bedroom here in the early morning of March 12, with a thunderstorm raging outside and her family and midwife huddled around her.

Iraq Violence Kills at Least 50; 6 U.S. Personnel Reported Dead  —  BAGHDAD, April 2 — At least 50 people were killed Sunday in Iraq in a catalogue of violence that included a mortar attack, military firefights, roadside bombings and other explosions.  —  In addition, the U.S. military reported …

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 …