More on Mike.  —  Below (via Atrios) I flagged this Huffington Post Mike McCurry post about the Net Neutrality debate.  But I wanted to focus in on this one paragraph where Mike is discussing not so much the NN debate as the culture of the blogosphere and the relationship between blogs and the mainstream media ...

Time to stop feeling guilty and start really bombing  —  (updated below)  —  The Wall St. Journal's Opinion Journal today published an Op-Ed by Shelby Steele that advances one of the most truly incoherent and just plain inane arguments I have read in a long time.

NYT Editor Bill Keller: Slayer of Straw Men; Inventor of Privileges  —  Like most Americans, the Wall Street Journal's editors have a low opinion of leakers passing top secret material to "reporters" who in fact act as fax machines to the front page.  —  New York Times' editor Bill Keller responds …

The Cole Report  —  When it comes to Iran, he distorts, you decide.  —  In some ways, the continuing row over his call for the complete destruction of Israel must baffle Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  All he did, after all, was to turn up at a routine anti-Zionist event and repeat …

MARY CHENEY SAYS HER FATHER SAID EXACTLY WHAT SHE WANTED TO HEAR WHEN SHE TOLD HIM SHE WAS GAY  —  Vice president tells VANITY FAIR his image might be better if he spent more time trying to improve it, "but that's not why I'm here"  —  New York, N.Y. - In her new memoir, NOW IT'S MY TURN …

Iran will hit Israel if US does "evil": agency  —Text+TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will target Israel first if the United States does anything "evil", a senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday.  —  The United States says it wants Iran's nuclear standoff …

Bush, Hill Republicans Agree To Extend Expiring Tax Cuts  —  Democrats Point to Deficit and Benefits for the Rich  —  President Bush and congressional Republicans agreed yesterday on a $70 billion package of tax-cut extensions that they hope will help halt the deterioration of their political fortunes.

Bolivian President Seizes Gas Industry  —  Troops Deployed In Move to Block Foreign Influence  —  CARACAS, Venezuela, May 1 — Bolivian President Evo Morales seized control of the country's natural gas industry Monday, sending soldiers to occupy fields that he contends private companies have plundered for years.

U.S. and Europe Draft U.N. Resolution on Iran  —  PARIS, May 2 — The United States, Britain and France have drafted a binding Security Council resolution requiring Iran to stop key nuclear activities, but Russia and China are already resisting, officials involved in the negotiations said today.

Why Zarqawi Is All Alone  —  May 2, 2006: Without much fanfare or publicity, American and British commandoes have taken apart al Qaeda's operation in Iraq.  About the only non-Iraqi al Qaeda leader left in Iraq is military leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi, a Jordanian.

Evan Bayh: Making a stand on stewardship  —  Editor's note: Even though the presidential election is not until 2008, potential candidates to succeed President Bush are already making their way around the country.  When they visit the Triangle, The News & Observer will try to ask them a few questions.

Voters Oust Backers of Immigrants In Herndon  —  Three Incumbents Lose Who Supported Center  —  Herndon voters yesterday unseated the mayor and two Town Council members who supported a bitterly debated day-labor center for immigrant workers in a contest that emerged as a mini-referendum …

Taliban Threat Is Said to Grow in Afghan South  —  TIRIN KOT, Afghanistan, April 27 — Building on a winter campaign of suicide bombings and assassinations and the knowledge that American troops are leaving, the Taliban appear to be moving their insurgency into a new phase …

UPDATE: The National Anthem At Bush's First Inaugural  —  UPDATE: Contemporaneous media accounts (see here for example) report that Secada was singing "America the Beautiful," not the national anthem.  The story from Cox News below, reporting that Secada sang the national anthem in Spanish, appears to be in error.

McClellan Says White House Records Won't Show Everything  —  Those White House visitor logs that were supposed to show all of Jack Abramoff's comings and goings?  —  The infuriating exchange from this morning's press gaggle:  —  QUESTION: Scott, the Secret Service has agreed to turn …

In the Roberts Court, More Room for Argument  —  WASHINGTON, May 2 — This is the week that the Supreme Court, done with its regular argument sessions, enters the stretch run.  —  While it is too soon for substantive appraisals of the first year of the Roberts court, it is not too soon …

After reports, New Jersey senator calls on CIA director to conduct Plame damage assessment  —  In light of reports that CIA Agent Valerie Plame was working to track Iran's effort to obtain nuclear weapons when her identity was leaked, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) today called …

New Army documents reveal US knew of and approved torture before Abu Ghraib scandal  —  New Army documents released by the American Civil Liberties Union today reveal that Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez ordered interrogators to "go to the outer limits" to get information from detainees.

Pakistan Detains al-Qaida Fugitive Nasar  —  KABUL, Afghanistan - A top al-Qaida leader whose links stretch from Osama bin Laden's training camps to extremist networks in Europe has been captured in Pakistan, a U.S. law enforcement official confirms for the first time.