The Failed Attorney General  —  During the hearing on his nomination as attorney general, Alberto Gonzales said he understood the difference between the job he held — President Bush's in-house lawyer — and the job he wanted, which was to represent all Americans as their chief law enforcement officer …

FOX chooses article carefully to outsource condemnation of Nevada Dems' cancellation  —  The editors at FOXNews.com ignored 145 articles listed in a Google search that objectively told of the decision by Nevada Democrats to cancel a Democratic presidential candidate debate that would have been hosted by the right-wing network.

Iran tells US to set timetable for Iraq exit  —  Iranian officials last night demanded a timetable for US troop withdrawal from Iraq as they attended a rare meeting with American diplomats in Baghdad.  —  The conference was aimed at stopping Iraq being used as a sectarian battleground by Sunni and Shia neighbours.

Warming Report to Warn of Coming Drought  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - The harmful effects of global warming on daily life are already showing up, and within a couple of decades hundreds of millions of people won't have enough water, top scientists will say next month at a meeting in Belgium.

New John Edwards Sells Less Biography, More Liberal Issues  —  When he first ran for president, then-Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) was the fresh face in the Democratic Party, a perpetually buoyant campaigner who built his candidacy around his own biography and whose success in the primaries earned him a place on the 2004 Democratic ticket.

The 'Surge' Is Succeeding  —  A front-page story in The Post last week suggested that the Bush administration has no backup plan in case the surge in Iraq doesn't work.  I wonder if The Post and other newspapers have a backup plan in case it does.  —  Leading journalists have been reporting …

Cameron considers tax hikes on air travel  —  Harsh new taxes on air travel, including a strict personal flight "allowance", will be unveiled by the Conservatives tomorrow as part of a plan that would penalise business travellers, holidaymakers and the tourist industry.

Defector spied on Iran for years  —  AN Iranian general who defected to the West last month had been spying on Iran since 2003 when he was recruited on an overseas business trip, according to Iranian sources.  —  This weekend Brigadier General Ali Reza Asgari, 63, the former deputy defence minister …

Crisis Looms in Mortgages  —  On March 1, a Wall Street analyst at Bear Stearns wrote an upbeat report on a company that specializes in making mortgages to cash-poor homebuyers.  The company, New Century Financial, had already disclosed that a growing number of borrowers were defaulting …

Sunday Talking Head Thread  —  (Today's photo of a robin and a cedar waxwing comes from reader Scott in Tallahassee, whose backyard birdbath is clearly popular.)  —  Here's the Sunday Talking Head show line-up.  —  C-Span's Washington Journal: 7:30am - Tim Darnell, Southern Political Report …

Poll: Character trumps policy for voters  —  WASHINGTON - For all the policy blueprints churned out by presidential campaigns, there is this indisputable fact: People care less about issues than they do about a candidate's character.  —  A new Associated Press-Ipsos poll says 55 percent …

The Best-Kept Secret: The Antidote to "The Secret"  —  There's a classic essay I go looking for and reread every time I need a particular kind of consolation, and that time has come again.  —  In 2004 I needed a dose of it after I watched the Republican convention — Arnold Schwarzenegger's …

Scandal of treatment for wounded Iraq veterans  —  A shocking picture of neglect and the appalling treatment of wounded British troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan emerged last night in a remarkable series of letters from soldiers' families obtained by The Observer.

Lotto Makes Sense, Even for Losers  —  AT least poker tables have some atmosphere, a jingle of highball glasses, a hint of 1990s menthol smoke in the armchairs, the sweet musk of nearby cash.  The same goes for playing the horses: there are characters, scandals, competition, not to mention real payoffs.