Seven Indonesian Bird Flu Cases Linked to Patients (Update1)  —  May 23 (Bloomberg) — All seven people infected with bird flu in a cluster of Indonesian cases can be linked to other patients, according to disease trackers investigating possible human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus.

Bush-hatred a threat to national security  —  ENOUGH already!  It's harmful enough that ideological conflict and partisan politics are preventing this country from solving its long-term challenges on health care, fiscal policy and energy.  Now it's threatening our national survival.

IDF arrests most-wanted Hamas bomb mastermind in West Bank  —  After an eight-year manhunt, Israeli security forces early Tuesday seized the Ramallah-area commander of Hamas' military wing, Israel's most wanted man in the West Bank.  —  Sheikh Ibrahim Hamed, 41, has been wanted since 1998 …

McCain calls for more nukes  —  'We've got to get over it,' senator says  —  May 23.  —  he United States needs to overcome its fear of nuclear power and embrace the technology as a way to wean itself from fossil fuels, Sen. John McCain told an audience in Manchester yesterday.  —  Nuclear power "is safe.

FBI's Raid on Jefferson's Office: The Shot Heard 'Round the Hill  —  So in the wake of the FBI's Saturday night raid on the offices of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA), Democrat and Republican members have united in a spirit of bipartisanship to defend the Constitution.

Exxon-Backed Pundit Compares Gore To Nazi Propagandist  —  Sterling Burnett is a senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, an organization that has received over $390,000 from ExxonMobil since 1998.  This afternoon on Fox, Burnett compared watching Al Gore's movie …

2 in CIA to testify Libby lied on leak  —  WASHINGTON - Two top CIA officials will bolster prosecutors' charge that Vice President Cheney's chief aide lied to them, court papers show.  —  Prosecutors say disgraced Cheney chief of staff Lewis (Scooter) Libby learned CIA spy Valerie Plame's identity from …

Madonna concert review: 'Even the bouncers looked scared'  —  Video: Madonna rehearsing  —  Gallery: Pictures of Madonna in concert More: Madonna's mock crucifixion  —  Riding crop in hand, leather boots gripping her legs, equestrian-cum-bondage gear strapped across her body and, of course …

Jesse Macbeth video goes viral (bumped)  —  Clarice Feldman marveled yesterday at how quickly nonsense gets debunked these days online.  Ah, Clarice: you haven't looked at the top of the Google Video charts lately, have you?  Despite the best efforts of some, nonsense thrives on the Internet.

Lieberman withdraws from MoveOn.org 'primary'  —  Lieberman Declines Invitation—Stand-in Sought / MoveOn.org Statement on Connecticut Online Primary for U.S. Senate  —  From a MoveOn.org press release to RAW STORY.  —  After initially agreeing, Senator Lieberman has declined our invitation …

Divisive In Any Language  —  Yes, let's talk about the English language and how important it is that immigrants and their children learn it.  —  And please permit me to be personal about an issue that is equally personal to the tens of millions of Americans who remember their immigrant roots.

Former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen dies  —  Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr., a Texas patrician who made a sizable fortune in private business and an even bigger name in national government as a U.S. senator and Treasury secretary, has died, family members said today.  He was 85.

The Politics of Scandal  —  Writes Mark Kleiman regarding the Rep. Jefferson situation: … The problem is, as I noted before in passing, the relative depth of a given scandal is not the most salient issue for determining its political impact.  —  The thing that the Jefferson scandal …

Foes Clash Over Cash  —  Lieberman Plays Up Lamont's Fortune  —  Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman left no doubt Monday he will make anti-war challenger Ned Lamont's personal fortune an issue with voters, now that Lamont has upped his personal investment in the campaign to $1 million.

Exclusive: A Rising Star Offers His Own Immigration Plan  —  Leading House Conservative Mike Pence offers a "no amnesty" solution in an effort to get House Republicans on board  —  With the Senate headed toward a final vote on an immigration bill this week, a leader of House conservatives …

In Attack Mode, a Rightist Surges in Mexico  —  TUXTLA GUTIÉRREZ, Mexico, May 19 — Felipe Calderón loves to make allusions to Mexican folk songs.  These days, the conservative candidate for president is particularly fond of recalling a song about a nag named Relámpago …

John Kerry's encore  —  JOHN KERRY may just be charting his path back to the future.  —  The man who cast a vote he now acknowledges was a mistake on the Iraq war resolution, and then spent two years awkwardly confronting the fallout as he ran for president, has finally come to a position where he seems comfortable.

Revisionist History  —  Antiwar myths about Iraq, debunked.  —  Iraqis can participate in three historic elections, pass the most liberal constitution in the Arab world, and form a unity government despite terrorist attacks and provocations.  Yet for some critics of the president, these are minor matters.

Charles Gibson Named Sole Anchor of 'World News Tonight'  —  Elizabeth Vargas to Step Down to Take Maternity Leave and Return to Co-Anchor '20/20' and Anchor ABC News Specials in the Fall  —  May 23, 2006 — ABC News has named Charles Gibson to be sole anchor of "World News Tonight."