Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, master of the Web war  —  Al-Qaida leader in Iraq harnessed the Internet to wage his jihad … MSNBC TV  —  WASHINGTON -  —  As the U.S. military announced Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death, al-Zarqawi's lieutenants did the same, with a statement on his own Web site, with a highly positive spin.

DeLay Pulls No Punches In Final Speech to House  —  Unrepentant, 'the Hammer' Urges GOP to Keep Up Fight  —  Former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) said goodbye to Congress yesterday in typical fighting form, delivering a pugnacious defense of the iron-fisted partisanship that defined his decade in power.

Apologise or we'll cut your funding, US envoy tells UN  —  From James Bone in New York and Richard Beeston  —  AMERICA'S bitter dispute with the United Nations escalated last night when John Bolton, the US envoy to the UN, threatened to withhold funding to the organisation unless it apologised …

G.O.P. Fails in Attempt to Repeal Estate Tax  —  WASHINGTON, June 8 — Senate Republicans failed on Thursday to muster the votes needed to abolish the estate tax on inherited wealth, but supporters of a compromise held out hope for a deal this year that could attract enough Democrats to pass.

FDA Approves Vaccine That Should Prevent Most Cervical Cancers  —  In what officials called a major public health breakthrough, the Food and Drug Administration yesterday approved the first vaccine developed to protect women against cervical cancer.  —  The vaccine, which works by building immunity …

Israeli air strike kills Gaza security chief  —  Source: Reuters  —  GAZA, June 8 (Reuters) - A senior Palestinian security official in the Hamas government was killed on Thursday in an Israeli aerial attack on a militant camp in the southern Gaza Strip, witnesses and medics said.

Black Caucus opposes Jefferson treatment  —  WASHINGTON - A drive by the Democratic leadership to strip embattled Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record) of his committee post triggered a backlash Thursday as the Congressional Black Caucus opposed the move and said the Louisiana lawmaker deserves a "presumption of innocence."

GRADING ON A CURVE: A recent comment brought up the traditional criticism of grading on curves — what if 80% of a particular class did really well, and deserves As? what if 80% did badly, and deserves Fs? why not grade objectively rather than comparatively? — so I thought I'd repost my paean to curves from 2002.

On Human Frailties  —  Every now and then something happens that makes me realize how flawed I am as a human being, and today we had one of that those situations.  For those of you who do not know, Armando has been outed.  And by outed, we mean his anonymity, not his sexual practices …

Rep. Tom DeLay Delivers His Farewell Address  —  SPEAKER: U.S. REPRESENTATIVE TOM DELAY (R-TX)  —  DELAY: Mr. Speaker, political careers tend to end in one of three ways: defeat, death or retirement.  —  And despite the fervent and mostly noble exertions of my adversaries over the years …

Our Strategy for a Democratic Iraq  —  BAGHDAD — The completion of the national unity government Thursday in Iraq marks the starting point for repaying Iraqis' commitment to and thirst for democracy.  We are at this juncture thanks to the bravery of the soldiers, police and citizens …