Colbert's White House Correspondent Dinner Performance Underscores Irony's Power And Delicacy  —  The scene: The White House Correspondent Dinner.  The time: right after President George W. Bush put in a boffo performance next to a top-notch Bush impersonator.  It was a hard act to follow.

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."

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.

'At Some Point, Reality Has Its Day'  —  Al Gore on why America-and even George Bush-is close to a tipping point on global warming.  —  April 28, 2006 - Al Gore has launched his new campaign-this one to battle the effects of global warming.  At its center is a new film, "An Inconvenient Truth …