Senate guest worker plan survives attack  —  Boxer, Alabama Republican fail to kill provision, but number of visas is reduced  —  Washington — Seldom do California's liberal Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer and Alabama's conservative Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions agree on anything.

Bush Is Now A Lame Duck  —  CBS' Meyer: Forget November, Forget '08; President Is Done  —  (CBS) This commentary was written by CBSNews.com's Dick Meyer.  —  The great impulse of the punditocracy right now is to look at President Bush's swelling problems with the public and his party …

Conservative Battle Fatique?  The "What If" Issue  —  More bad news for the GOP in today's edition of The Washington Post as 56 percent of the respondents to the latest Post/ABC News survey say they prefer Democrats in control of Congress.  —  There is a distinct, though not quite as deep …

'Earthquake in Pennsylvania'  —  TRIBUNE-REVIEW  —  Angry taxpayers on Tuesday tossed out the two Republican Senate leaders who helped engineer last year's legislative pay raise, an issue that apparently cost 15 House members their jobs, too.  —  Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Jubelirer of Altoona …

Divide Remains as Bush Pushes Immigration Plan  —  WASHINGTON, May 16 — President Bush pushed ahead on Tuesday with his effort to bring Republicans in the House and the Senate together on a plan to reduce illegal immigration.  But he ran into renewed resistance from conservatives …

Open Letter on Immigration  —  I have written an open letter on immigration reflecting the consensus opinion of economists on the major issues.  In cooperation with the Independent Institute I am looking for as many signatures as possible from economists and other social scientists.

Sherwood Survives  —  Rep. Don Sherwood (R-PA), his popularity weighed down by a messy extramartial affair, narrowly survived a primary challenge from a virtual unknown with a Democratic voting history.  —  With more than half of the vote counted, Sherwood led challenger Kathy Scott 56 percent to 44 percent.

Still Dodging Immigration's Truths  —  President Bush's immigration speech mostly missed the true nature of the problem.  We face two interconnected population issues.  One is aging; the other is immigration.  We aren't dealing sensibly with either, and as a result we face a future …

Paris suburb names street for cop-killer Abu-Jamal  —  As Philadelphians cope with another police slaying, news comes that a suburb of Paris has named a street for Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of the 1981 murder of Police Officer Daniel Faulkner.  —  Hundreds of supporters of Abu-Jamal attended …

G.O.P. Voters to Be Target of Radio Ads by Democrats  —  WASHINGTON, May 16 — House Democrats, trying to capitalize on conservative dissatisfaction with Republicans, are reaching out to Christian voters with radio advertisements critical of Republican proposals to overhaul Social Security.

The Parent Trap  —  Not long ago we worried about baby booms and overpopulation.  Now some people are worrying about a "Global Baby Bust."  Writing in Foreign Affairs, Phillip Longman says it's mostly because of economics: … He's clearly right about the economics.

Verizon Denies Turning Over Local Phone Data  —  Verizon, the country's second-largest phone company, said yesterday that it had not provided local phone records to the National Security Agency as part of efforts to compile a database of calling records to track terrorist activities.

Albinos Condemn 'Da Vinci' Assassin  —  The notion of Christ as a family man is not the only raw nerve "The Da Vinci Code" has touched.  Albinos are bothered that one of their own has yet again been depicted as a villain.  —  Dan Brown's best seller begins its worldwide debut Wednesday …

U.S. Secretly Backing Warlords in Somalia  —  More than a decade after U.S. troops withdrew from Somalia following a disastrous military intervention, officials of Somalia's interim government and some U.S. analysts of Africa policy say the United States has returned to the African country …

Foster Quotes Eminem at Penn Graduation  —  PHILADELPHIA - You can add rapping to the list of Jodie Foster's talents.  The Oscar-winning actress spoke Monday at the University of Pennsylvania's commencement ceremonies, ending her address with the chorus of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" from …

A Travesty of an "Investigation"  —  I have received the report of the Investigative Committee of the University of Colorado and consider it a travesty.  This "investigation" has all along been a pretext to punish me for engaging constitutionally-protected speech and, more generally …

Gadhafi's Leap of Faith  —  Libya's strongman feared appearing weak.  —  On Dec. 16, 2003, three days after Saddam Hussein was pulled from his hole near Tikrit, Robert G. Joseph, who headed counterproliferation on the White House National Security Council, flew to London for a secret meeting …

Venezuela may sell U.S. jets to Iran, others  —  CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's military is considering the possibility of selling its fleet of U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets to another country, perhaps Iran, a Venezuelan military official said Tuesday.

We Will All Win, Eventually  —  Today, in just three divisions (precincts) available to me, Kevin and I pulled over 100 votes.  With only 27-01, 27-02, and 27-23 reporting, we have reached roughly 110 votes.  And that is only three divisions (precincts).  We won, and we won huge.

Ferry passengers stranded after wartime bomb is found in Mersey  —  Two ferries carrying 250 passengers and crew were stranded for almost eight hours yesterday after a 1,000lb German wartime bomb was discovered floating in the Mersey.  —  It was detected by the sonar of a Royal Navy warship …

New Presidential Memorandum Permits Intelligence Director To Authorize Telcos To Lie Without Violating Securities Law  —  In recent days, AT&T, Bell South and Verizon have all issued statements denying that they've handed over phone records to the NSA, as reported by USA today.  —  There are three possibilities: