Pelosi asks congressman snared in bribery probe to resign post  —  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has formally asked Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) to resign from the powerful Ways and Means Committee.  —  Jefferson wrote Pelosi quickly in reply, refusing to surrender his seat.

Bill Frist: A Doctor at Heart  —  The houses were dark on Bill Frist's street.  A morning bird chirped; the others were waiting for dawn.  But Frist was awake, and his bedroom light was on.  "I'm going to take a shower," the Senate majority leader said brightly.  Ten minutes later, the blow dryer roared.

House-Senate Battle On Immigration Likely  —  With the Senate marching toward completion of an immigration bill that is more generous to illegal immigrants than the House-passed version, House leaders said yesterday that it will be difficult to reach a compromise and enact a measure.

Inconvenient Truths Indeed  —  Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" opens around the country this week.  In the film Gore pulls together evidence from every corner of the globe to convince us that climate change is happening fast, we are to blame, and if we don't act immediately, our Earth will be all but ruined.

Congress considers pets' place in disaster plans  —  House approves legislation; similar measure in Senate  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — A television shot of a little boy losing his dog during Katrina rescue operations was the catalyst for the House to pass legislation Monday that would require pets …

In need of moral clarity  —  "I was aiming to follow in the footsteps of one of my role-models, Muhammad Atta." … Do you remember Taheri-azar?  The 25-year-old Iranian graduate of the University of North Carolina rented an SUV in March and drove it into The Pit, a campus gathering place for UNC students.

A.C.L.U. May Block Criticism by Its Board  —  The American Civil Liberties Union is weighing new standards that would discourage its board members from publicly criticizing the organization's policies and internal administration.  —  "Where an individual director disagrees with a board position …

Senator McCain Worked Blue  —  On New York Stage  —  Behind Closed Doors, Republican Works in Material: 'I'd Tell Shiites and Sunnis, "Stop the Bulls**t"'; Fresh From Falwell, Attacks Right-Wing Nativism  —  For all the national attention surrounding John McCain's two highly anticipated …

Armed Groups Propel Iraq Toward Chaos  —  Haider Hamid was arrested in Baghdad on April 15 by officers wearing Interior Ministry uniforms, according to Mr. Hamid's brother, Majid.  Majid Hamid found his brother's body, above, showing signs of torture, five days later in the city morgue.

Keep 'America' in Michigan schools  —  State bureaucrats want to do what Stalin, Osama could only dream about  —  C ensoring the word "America" from our own schools is something Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden would never have thought possible.  Michigan has done it without a whimper.

Indonesia: probably H2H2H  —  WHO is now saying what could be inferred from their update yesterday: it is likely that for the first time H5N1 has spread from human to human to human — three generations of cases, possibly four.  This does not mean that a pandemic strain has started but it is another warning signal.

Desperate Telcos: When the Going Gets Tough, the Absurd Rumors Get Going  —  Opponents of Internet freedom seem shocked that Google, MoveOn, the Christian Coalition, and 700 other diverse organizations are fighting on the same side to preserve the Internet that has revolutionized democratic participation …

Any differences between Democrats in 2003 and today?  —  (updated below)  —  Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday essentially assured that President Bush's nominee to head the CIA, Gen. Michael Hayden, would not only be confirmed by the full Senate, but confirmed overwhelmingly.

Crashing the Gates of Congress — And Action Request for Everyone  —  Some of our Roots Project members crashed the gates of Congress yesterday — delivering a copy of Markos and Jerome's Crashing the Gate to every Democratic member of the House and the Senate.

Ex-'Inky' Editor: New Ownership Of Philly Papers Could Be 'Dangerous'  —  NEW YORK Former Philadelphia Inquirer Editor Robert Rosenthal, who spent 22 years at the paper, said the sale to a local investors group could prove problematic.  —  "It is a unique situation and I don't think it is necessarily …

Gonzales Defends Phone-Data Collection  —  Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said yesterday that the government can obtain domestic telephone records without court approval under a 1979 Supreme Court ruling that authorized the collection of business records.

Intelligence Czar Can Waive SEC Rules  —  Now, the White House's top spymaster can cite national security to exempt businesses from reporting requirements  —  President George W. Bush has bestowed on his intelligence czar, John Negroponte, broad authority, in the name of national security …