Hitchens the Hacker; And, Hitchens the Orientalist  —  And, "We don't Want Your Stinking War!  —  Christopher Hitchens owes me a big apology.  —  I belong to a private email discussion group called Gulf2000.  It has academics, journalists and policy makers on it.

A Man Who Won't Sell His Soul  —  BRUSSELS — Sen. John McCain likes the moral high ground, and he takes palpable pleasure in delivering zingers to errant Russians, Iranians and Europeans, as he did at a conference here last weekend.  But as the apparent front-runner in the 2008 presidential race …

Filling tanks, funding dictators  —  FREE-MARKET purists are getting a lot of mileage out of scoffing at all the hysteria about rising oil prices.  From a strictly economic point of view, they've got a point.  Even with crude selling at more than $71 a barrel and gasoline at about $3 a gallon, the U.S. economy continues to expand.

Democrats Push Fight for House in the Northeast  —  George Ruhe for The New York Times, left; Steven Lee Miller for The New York Times, right  —  Nancy L. Johnson, center, a 12-term Republican congresswoman in Connecticut, discussed issues recently with two constituents, Leo McIlrath and Alice Neville.

Federal Study Finds Accord on Warming  —  A scientific study commissioned by the Bush administration concluded yesterday that the lower atmosphere was indeed growing warmer and that there was "clear evidence of human influences on the climate system."  —  The finding eliminates a significant area …

Kenneth Pollack, Iran Expert Who's Never Been There  —  I just got a copy of Ken Pollack's latest book on Iran, The Persian Puzzle, and was shocked on flipping to page 429, the Author's Note at the end of the book, to read that Pollack has never been to Iran and doesn't speak Persian, has only dribs and drabs of Arabic.

Administration Is Singing More Than One Tune on Spanish Version of Anthem  —  President Bush declared last week that the national anthem should be sung in English not Spanish, but he evidently never told his own government or campaign organizations.  —  The State Department posts four Spanish versions of …

After Press Dinner, the Blogosphere Is Alive With the Sound of Colbert Chatter  —  Mark Smith, a reporter for The Associated Press who is president of the White House Correspondents' Association, acknowledges that he had not seen much of Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central before he booked …

Acrimony Over Bush Judicial Nominations Resurfaces  —  Senate Democrats Threaten To Filibuster Conservative Duo  —  After months of relative quiet, senators raised the prospect yesterday of a return to bitter battles and a possible filibuster over judicial nominations …

Hearing vowed on Bush's powers  —  Senator questions bypassing of laws  —  WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, accusing the White House of a ''very blatant encroachment" on congressional authority, said yesterday he will hold an oversight hearing into President Bush's assertion …

Limbaugh denies arrest, charge on radio show  —  WEST PALM BEACH — Conservative king Rush Limbaugh opened his talk show Monday with an account of the agreement he struck with prosecutors and his quick trip to the Palm Beach County Jail Friday.  —  "There was no arrest.  There were no handcuffs.

Sheriff to Start Posse Patrols to Curb Illegal Immigration Flow  —  (CBS 5 NEWS) - Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio announced that approximately 100 volunteer posse and Sheriff's Deputies will soon begin randomly patrolling the desert areas and main roadways in southwest Maricopa County …

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 …

Mexico to Allow Use of Drugs  —  Fox will sign the bill, one of the world's most permissive policies, in a bid to curb trafficking.  U.S. officials say it will lead to more addiction.  —  MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Vicente Fox will sign a bill that would legalize the use of nearly every drug …