Top Taliban commander killed in fighting  —  KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The Taliban's most prominent military commander, a one-legged fighter who orchestrated an ethnic massacre and a rash of beheadings, was killed in a U.S.-led military operation in southern Afghanistan, officials said Sunday.

Make that "Almost no disclosure"  —  Headline and photo from ABC News:  —  No Disclosure: Presidential Candidates Defy Tradition, Refuse to Release Taxes  —  Just one little thing: as only the tiny minority of readers who bother to go to page 2 of the story will discover …

Batiste Lays With Dogs, Gets Fleas  —  Sunday's New York Times features former Army Major General John Batiste's reasoning for appearing in a TV ad the NYT's describes as "openly challenging President Bush on his management of the war."  The ad says:

Troy Scheffler And Hamline University  —  Mitch Berg and I had the opportunity to invite Troy Scheffler to our studio yesterday to talk about his suspension from Hamline University for his protest against the gun-free zone policy of the school.  After the Virginia Tech massacre …

Pakistan On Brink Of Disaster  —  The headline for this post is taken from the UK's extremely conservative Sunday Telegraph newspaper and is no hyperbole - the current situation will either bring down Musharaff or bring down any hope that Pakistan can become a more democratic nation in the short to medium term.

The Flight From Iraq  —  I. Roads to Damascus  —  At a meeting in mid-April in Geneva, held by António Guterres, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, the numbers presented confirmed what had long been suspected: the collapse of Iraq had created a refugee crisis …

U.S. Aims to Weaken G-8 Climate Change Statement  —  Negotiators from the United States are trying to weaken the language of a climate change declaration set to be unveiled at next month's G-8 summit of the world's leading industrial powers, according to documents obtained yesterday by The Washington Post.

Church's Sign Against Islam Sparks Controversy  —  SPRING HOPE — Words like "bomb" and "die" draw attention to the small sign in front of Good News Independent Baptist Church.  —  Rev. Gary Murrell put up the sign, which on one side claims the message of Islam is "submit, convert or die."

5 from U.S.-led forces killed in Iraq  —  Three missing after attack on patrol south of Baghdad  —  BAGHDAD - Seven U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi army interpreter came under attack Saturday morning during a patrol of a Sunni insurgent stronghold south of Baghdad, leaving five dead and three missing, the military said.

Motherthink  —  I always thought Mother's Day was about being nice to Mom.  Making her breakfast, making her a card, giving her a kiss.  —  Wrong.  —  I never understood, but I am beginning to grasp it now.  Mother's Day is about millennia of male domination and warmongering.

Strange But Sweet Polling Treat  —  On May 2, SurveyUSA released some interesting single-state head-to-head primary polls featuring Clinton, Obama, and Edwards against Rudy Giuliani.  Unfortunately, SUSA has recently become resistant to putting all their data on a single easy-to-use chart …