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.

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.

SHIITES FINALLY SPLIT ON JAAFARI  —  Not that they already weren't, as Dawa party candidate and current Prime Minister Ibraham al-Jaafari only won by a single vote within the UIA due to backing by the Sadrists, but the barrier for removing him has been broken as several independent politicians …

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.

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.

RUSSIAN ROOTS FOR IRAN'S "UNDERWATER MISSILE"  —  In 1994, Russian military contractors were handing out brochures touting their "high-speed underwater missiles."  This weapon, called the Shkval, had a "high kill capability," the contractors promised.  Against it, "known anti-torpedo defense system[s]" were "not effective."

Probe gets closer to Tom DeLay  —  WASHINGTON - The latest plea deal in the GOP lobbying corruption scandal has moved the investigation to Rep. Tom DeLay's inner circle, congressional insiders said.  —  DeLay's ex-deputy chief of staff, Tony Rudy, 39, did not implicate him in any wrongdoing …

UT professor says death is imminent  —  AUSTIN — A University of Texas professor says the Earth would be better off with 90 percent of the human population dead.  —  Â"Every one of you who gets to survive has to bury nine,Â" Eric Pianka cautioned students and guests at St. EdwardÂ's University on Friday.

A Dark Day Revisited  —  Five years later, Hollywood is betting that America is ready for films about what happened on 9/11.  Are we?  —  April 10, 2006 issue - If movie trailers are supposed to cause a reaction, the preview for "United 93" more than succeeds.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

The News Media  —  Let's say you were part of a group designing the news media from scratch.  Someone says that it would be a good idea to have competing news media — daily newspapers and weekly magazines, radio and television news programs.  Sounds like a good start.

A Gadfly With Buzz  —  MSNBC's Olbermann, Exercising the Right  —  Night after night, President Bush is being kicked, punched, slapped, poked, stomped and otherwise disrespected in one small corner of the cable television world.  —  And Keith Olbermann doesn't deny it has been good for ratings.

Democrats' Narrow Vision  —  You can look at the Democrats' national security plan, released last week, as simply a political shield, akin to the upgraded body armor they promise for U.S. troops.  —  The party remains traumatized by the failure of biography to protect Vietnam veterans Max Cleland …

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.