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.

Plan for $100 Gas Rebate Appears to Be Dead  —  WASHINGTON, May 2 — A Republican proposal to provide taxpayers with $100 rebates to compensate for higher fuel prices appeared all but dead on Tuesday, with leading Congressional Republicans saying that it had quickly fallen flat.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

MSNBC update: Cheney's office knew Plame's work was sensitive  —  On Chris Matthews' Hardball Tuesday evening, MSNBC correspondent David Shuster provided updates on what RAW STORY first reported in February: that outed CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson was working on Iran at the time she was outed …

Keeping perspective on draft week  —  Readers e-mails on draft, the truth about New Orleans … I sense that we in this country have Katrina fatigue.  The New York Times reported as much recently, saying that people in some of the areas that welcomed Katrina evacuees last September are sick …

After Protests, Backlash Grows  —  Opponents of Illegal Immigration Are Increasingly Vocal  —  While a series of marches focused much of the nation's attention on the plight of illegal immigrants, scores of other Americans quietly seethed.  Now, with the same full-throated cry expressed …