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 …

Britons find media hard to trust  —  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain may have a sophisticated media industry but it also has some of the most sceptical consumers, with nearly two-thirds (64 percent) believing the media does not report all sides of the story.  —  A 10-country opinion poll for Reuters …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Approach on Immigration  —  Poll is First to Offer the Public a Choice  —  Between House and Senate Plan  —  WASHINGTON (May 3, 2006) - A new Zogby poll of likely voters, using neutral language (see wording on following pages), finds that Americans prefer the House of Representatives' enforcement …