Iran president to free UK sailors … TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has pardoned 15 British military personnel being held in Iranian custody and vowed to set them free shortly.  —  "I declare that the people of Iran and the government of Iran …

Obama Raises $25M for Presidential Campaign  —  Sen. Barack Obama raised at least $25 million for his presidential campaign in the first quarter of the year, putting him just shy of Sen. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, who made a splash with her announcement Sunday that she had drawn a record-breaking $26 million.

Three Yale Students Arrested for Flag Burning  —  Three Yale University students were arrested early Tuesday morning for burning an American flag on a pole attached to a house in New Haven, the Yale Daily News reported today.  —  The three men, all of foreign origin, were charged …

Personnel Announcement  —  President George W. Bush today announced his intention to nominate ten individuals, appoint twelve individuals, recess appoint four individuals and designate one individual to serve in his Administration.  The President today also announced that he has appointed one individual to serve in his Administration.

Blogs accuse CNN reporter of disrupting McCain press conference again  —  A group of conservative political weblogs offered new evidence in continuation of their allegation that CNN reporter Michael Ware disrupted a Sunday press conference in Baghdad with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and other Congress members.

Edwards Provides Lesson in E-Campaigning 101  —  When you visit the John Edwards for President Web site, you're invited to send a sympathy note to the Edwardses.  And tens of thousands of well wishers have done so since that heart-wrenching news conference two weeks ago at which Elizabeth …

Giuliani stands by support of publicly-funded abortions  —  TALLAHASSEE, Florida (CNN) — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani told CNN Wednesday he supports public funding for some abortions, a position he advocated as mayor and one that will likely put the GOP presidential candidate at odds with social conservatives in his party.

Syria tells Pelosi it's ready for peace talks  —  DAMASCUS (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record), on a visit to Syria opposed by the White House, said on Wednesday President Bashar al-Assad was ready to hold peace talks with Israel.

No more GWOT, House committee decrees  —  The House Armed Services Committee is banishing the global war on terror from the 2008 defense budget.  —  This is not because the war has been won, lost or even called off, but because the committee's Democratic leadership doesn't like the phrase.

Waxman Requests Emails  —  Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman writes to RNC Chairman Mike Duncan requesting emails stored on Republican National Committee servers related to the use of federal resources for political purposes.  Full letter: … See our initial coverage of the GSA hearing …

Land of the lost: Left-wing blogs get punked  —  Take a close look at this photo—focus on the folder tucked under Karl Rove's arm and keep a mental note of what's on the TV monitor (big hat tips to Gid and Ace):  —  Now, look at all the heavy breathing from left-wing blogs about the name on the folder, "Coptix:"

What is an Earmark?  —  Earmarks are funds provided by the Congress for projects or programs where the congressional direction (in bill or report language) circumvents the merit-based or competitive allocation process, or specifies the location or recipient, or otherwise curtails the ability …

A simple model of Europe and America  —  Western Europe, that is.  Europe is better at producing (many) public goods through the public sector.  Europe has more homogeneous nations with more urbanization, higher levels of social cohesion, and a more even distribution of ability.