Colbert Does the White House Correspondence dinner  —  Was he snubbed?  —  Stephen Colbert spoke tonight at the dinner and lampooned pretty much everything he could think of and Helen Thomas.  I used the second half of his performance because it included the Generals, Scalia, the Faux press briefing and as E&P reported:

Bush challenges hundreds of laws  —  President cites powers of his office  —  WASHINGTON — President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts …

John Kenneth Galbraith, 97, Dies; Economist Held a Mirror to Society  —  John Kenneth Galbraith, the iconoclastic economist, teacher and diplomat and an unapologetically liberal member of the political and academic establishment that he needled in prolific writings for more than half a century …

Al-Qaeda leader plans an Iraq army  —  THE leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is attempting to set up his own mini-army and move away from individual suicide attacks to a more organised resistance movement, according to US intelligence sources.

Where's the dissent about source of quote?  —  John Kerry announced this week's John Kerry Iraq Policy of the Week the other day: "Iraqi politicians should be told that they have until May 15 to deal with these intransigent issues and at last put together an effective unity government or we will immediately withdraw our military."

As Gas Prices Go Up, Impact Trickles Down  —  It is hard to watch the numbers flutter ever upward on the gas pump these days.  A look at the ripple effect of rising gas prices across the country:  —  The End of Fun and Games  —  Gas prices are not doing much for the love life of Fernanda Tapia.

U.S. Reacts Cautiously As Mexico Softens Its Drug Laws  —  Mexico's Congress has softened its laws to allow possession of small amounts of drugs including cocaine and heroine for personal use— raising questions about how U.S.-Mexico drug operations will proceed.

Gore Redux  —  The former veep is refusing to play overt campaign politics.  But could his focus on the environment be his ticket to the presidency?  —  April 28, 2006 - A movie about Al Gore giving a PowerPoint presentation about global warming doesn't sound all that exciting, but if you liked …