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 …

Lapfull of Dick  —  Richard Cohen got 2,000 mean e-mails and this signals the end of the Democratic party.  I'll leave you to figure out why that should follow.  In case Cohen hasn't noticed nobody on the f**king planet likes squishy faux liberal courtiers.  There's no political downside to hating Richard Cohen.

STYLE POINTS:  —  Over at Tapped, Greg Sargent has an interesting take on my post from earlier today.  He writes, "it was Chait who threw down the gauntlet first and set an 'uncivil' tone in the initial column."  —  Ah, I see.  So before I wrote my column last Sunday …

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.

Bar Panel Downgrades Bush Nominee for Judiciary  —  WASHINGTON, May 8 — The American Bar Association said Monday that it had downgraded its rating of one of President Bush's judicial nominees.  —  The A.B.A. committee that evaluates judicial nominees said that the nominee, Brett M. Kavanaugh …

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.

U.S. has second worst newborn death rate in modern world, report says  —  Research: 2 million babies die in first 24 hours each year worldwide  —  (CNN) — An estimated 2 million babies die within their first 24 hours each year worldwide and the United States has the second worst newborn mortality rate …

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 …

Recruiting Abuses Mount as Army Struggles to Meet Goals  —  PORTLAND, Ore. — Jared Guinther is 18.  Tall and lanky, he will graduate from high school in June.  Girls think he's cute, until they try to talk to him and he stammers or just stands there — silent.

Senate Rejects Award Limits in Malpractice  —  WASHINGTON, May 8 — The Senate on Monday once again rebuffed a Republican effort to limit jury awards in medical malpractice cases, taking the issue — a high priority for both President Bush and the majority leader, Senator Bill Frist — off the agenda for this year.

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.

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 …

Killings in Iraq Spawn Search for Missing Funds  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 8 — The killing of Fern Holland, a human rights worker from Oklahoma, remains unsolved and as mysterious as it was when her body was found riddled with bullets on a desolate stretch of road near one of Iraq's southern holy cities in March 2004.

Under fire, U.S. says it will ban controversial interrogation practice  —  GENEVA - The U.S. Army will prohibit "water-boarding" - the controversial practice of submerging a prisoner's head in water in an effort to make him talk - when it issues its new interrogation manual …