Iraqis Near Deal on Distribution of Oil Revenues by Population  —  Iraqi officials are near agreement on a national oil law that would give the central government the power to distribute current and future oil revenues to the provinces or regions, based on their population, Iraqi and American officials say.

Democratic Leadership Knew About Foley E-mails  —  Rhonda Schwartz Reports:  —  The House Ethics Committee Report includes new information that top Democrats were also aware in 2005 of Mark Foley's inappropriate e-mails to congressional pages at about the same time as outgoing Speaker Dennis Hastert's office was informed.

Hey, Rosie O'Donnell: Did you teach your kids to speak "ching chong," too?  —  Typical Hollywood liberal: She's the first and loudest to accuse others of bigotry—pausing only to take a breath before practicing it herself.  Click to watch the video of Rosie O'Donnell on The View …

Semi-random notes while listening to Jelly Roll Morton and making excuses for not having posted for a couple of days:  —  Actually, I've been busy with a translation and so have had little desire to do any more typing.  One thing running this blog taught me how to do is touch-type, and I'm actually pretty fast now.

GOP Senator: Iraq War "May Be Criminal"  —  It's the kind of thing you'd expect to hear on Pacifica Radio, not in a speech by a Republican senator.  —  "I, for one, am at the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way …

A Pre-History of Violence  —  MEL GIBSON'S BLOODY, BEWILDERING APOCALYPTO.  —  Here is a partial list of the indignities to which the human body is subjected in Mel Gibson's Mayan epic Apocalypto (Buena Vista): being impaled on a trap made of animal bones.  Being forced to ingest tapir testicles.

Neoconservatives — exposed, scorned, but still in control  —  The one positive aspect of the Baker-Hamilton report is that the reactions it is provoking — both positive and viciously negative — have shed as bright a light as one could hope for on our current predicament.

AP to bloggers: Stop maligning our stringers, chickenhawks  —  Another volley from Kathleen Carroll, the executive editor.  Last Friday, according to Times writer Tom Zeller, she told reporters it would be the height of foolishness to continue to engage the "mad blog rabble" (Zeller's words).

Romney's Gay Rights Stance Draws Ire  —  Gov. Mitt Romney, the Massachusetts Republican who has built a presidential campaign on a broad appeal for conservative support, is drawing sharply increased criticism from conservative activists for his advocacy of gay rights in a 1994 letter.

'Restoration' after the fall  —  Fellow evangelicals seek to help the Rev. Ted Haggard address the behaviors that snared him in a scandal.  —  COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. — The Rev. Ted Haggard this week formally begins his long journey toward recovery from a drugs-and-gay-sex scandal that forced …

Press Briefing by Tony Snow  —  White House Conference Center Briefing Room  —  MR. SNOW: Hello, everybody.  I want to begin with two statements by the President, and then I will take your questions.  —  First, on the passing of former U.N. Ambassador Jean Kirkpatrick.  From the President.

Senators to Gather in Closed Meeting  —  Reid Plan Defended as Effort to 'Establish a Dialogue,' but Some See a Bad Precedent  —  Senate Democrats, who campaigned on a pledge of more openness in government, will kick off the 110th Congress with a closed meeting of all 100 senators in the Capitol.