Digital Lynch Mob  —  Two weeks ago I wrote about Al Gore's new movie on global warming.  I liked the film.  In response, I instantly got more than 1,000 e-mails, most of them praising Gore, some calling him the usual names and some concluding there was no such thing as global warming, if only because Gore said there was.

We're the Decider  —  Drum provides the regular lament that there ain't enough wonk talk in the blogosphere.  There's more than he gives credit for - there's certainly a lot of reacting to the atrocity-in-Congress-of-the- day - and as Stoller points out it is to a great degree a waste of time.

WHO'S WINNING?  THEY SAY WE ARE  —  I missed this when it was released by Centcom, but our friend Ed Morrissey is on top of it: … This quote from a captured document, for example, supports Ed's characterization: … So the terrorists say we're winning in Iraq.  Why is this fact so little recognized in America?

HUD secretary's blunt warning  —  Alphonso Jackson says deal was scuttled after contractor admits not liking Bush  —  Once the color barrier has been broken, minority contractors seeking government work may need to overcome the Bush barrier.  —  That's the message U.S. Housing …

Optimistic, Democrats Debate the Party's Vision  —  WASHINGTON, May 8 — With Democrats increasingly optimistic about this year's midterm elections and the landscape for 2008, intellectuals in the center and on the left are debating how to sharpen the party's identity and present a clear alternative …

Flying robot attack "unstoppable": experts  —  It may sound like science fiction, but the prospect that suicide bombers and hijackers could be made redundant by flying robots is a real one, according to experts.  —  The technology for remote-controlled light aircraft is now highly advanced …

New U.K. attempt to boycott Israeli universities, professors  —  The largest university and college lecturers union in Britain is likely to decide shortly to recommend that its 67,000 members boycott Israeli lecturers and academic institutions that do not publicly declare their opposition to Israeli policy in the territories.

Senators to Renew Debate on Court Nominee  —  Senate Democrats today will try to make the case that Brett M. Kavanaugh is too much a conservative activist to deserve a federal appellate judgeship.  In the process, they may experience some unsettling flashbacks to the Supreme Court confirmation …

Iranian's Letter to Bush Emerges  —  In his letter to President Bush, Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, declared that Western-style democracy had failed and that the use of secret prisons in Europe and aspects of the war in Iraq could not be reconciled with Mr. Bush's Christian values.

Another Possible Bump to the Debt Ceiling  —  A $2.7 trillion budget plan pending before the House would raise the federal debt ceiling to nearly $10 trillion, less than two months after Congress last raised the federal government's borrowing limit.  —  The provision — buried on page 121 …

One Thing They Aren't: Maternal  —  Oh, mothers!  Dear noble, selfless, tender and ferocious defenders of progeny all across nature's phylogeny: How well you deserve our admiration as Mother's Day draws near, and how photogenically you grace the greeting cards that we thrifty offspring will send in lieu of a proper gift.

CIA Official Quits; FBI Probes Role in Defense Contracts  —  The FBI is investigating whether a top-ranking CIA official who announced his resignation yesterday steered contracts to a boyhood friend at the center of a congressional bribery scandal, law enforcement officials said.

Politics blamed for China's trillion-dollar bad debts  —  The real source of the banks' frailty is political patronage, writes Minxin Pei  —  ESTIMATES of the growing pile of non-performing loans (NPLs) in China appear to have caught many by surprise, especially because Beijing's efforts …

Out and About  —  The Vice President's Daughter Tells The Inside Story in Her New Book.  But the Subject Is Politics.  —  NEW YORK  —  "Are the eyes too much?"  —  Mary Cheney is peering into the makeup artist's mirror in the early hours of the morning, getting "done" for her appearance on …

Duke's Response to Allegations Explained  —  Duke's Response to Rape Allegations Slowed by Questions About Accuser's Credibility, Report Says  —  DURHAM, N.C. - Duke underestimated the rape allegations against members of the lacrosse team in part because Durham police initially said the accuser …

Angry Darfur Refugees Riot in Demand for U.N. Troops  —  KALMA CAMP, Sudan, May 8 — An African Union interpreter was hacked to death on Monday in this vast, squalid camp by a mob of angry demonstrators within hours of a visit from the top United Nations aid official.