Editorial Pages Call for Axing Attorney General  —  NEW YORK The New York Times got the editorial ball rolling on Monday, calling for the firing of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales due largely, if not completely, to the burgeoning scandal involving the forced departure of eight U.S. attorneys.

Clinton and Obama Court Jewish Vote  —  As Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama compete for Jewish donors and voters, Mrs. Clinton is following a tried-and-true rule of hers from New York — support Israel to the last — while Mr. Obama is trying a more delicate strategy that hit some bumps this week.

Bigotry That Hurts Our Military  —  As a lifelong Republican who served in the Army in Germany, I believe it is critical that we review — and overturn — the ban on gay service in the military.  I voted for "don't ask, don't tell."  But much has changed since 1993.

MIL-IRAQ-US SOLDIERS  —  Baghdad security crackdown seriously curbs killings of US soldiers  —  The rate of killings of US troops in Iraq has been on the decline, down by 60 percent, since the launch of the new security measures in Baghdad, according to statistics revealed …

London report: Senior Iranian officer 'disappears'  —  Tehran has lost contact with a senior Iranian officer serving in Iraq, according to London-based Arabic newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat.  Iranian source speculates that he may have been taken into custody by Americans  —  Roee Nahmias

'No Child' Target Is Called Out of Reach  —  Goal of 100% Proficiency Debated as Congress Weighs Renewal  —  No Child Left Behind, the landmark federal education law, sets a lofty standard: that all students tested in reading and math will reach grade level by 2014.

WHY HAVEN'T WE WRITTEN ABOUT THE US ATTORNEYS' STORY?:  In an unrelated comment thread, anonymous commenter "CrazyTrain" writes: … First, I would like to clear up something: Of course we are all political hacks!  Our secret trick is that we alternate which side to spin …

Corps placed faulty pumps in New Orleans  —  NEW ORLEANS - The Army Corps of Engineers, rushing to meet President Bush's promise to protect New Orleans by the start of the 2006 hurricane season, installed defective flood-control pumps last year despite warnings from its own expert that the equipment …

Pig Out  —  WITH some fanfare, the world's largest pork producer, Smithfield Foods, recently announced that it intended to phase out certain cages for its breeding females.  Called gestation crates, the cages virtually immobilize pigs during their pregnancies in metal stalls so narrow they are unable to turn around.

Colorado Has Song in Its Heart, and Not Drugs on Its Mind  —  The Colorado General Assembly wants to be quite clear on this point: When the singer-songwriter John Denver praised the joys of Colorado and sang about "friends around the campfire, and everybody's high," in 1972, he was not referring to illicit drugs.