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.

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 …

Bush's Relations With Capitol Hill Chilly  —  Despite President's Efforts to Reach Out, Democrats and Republicans Are Wary  —  Every few weeks, President Bush invites House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and their GOP counterparts to the White House …

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 …

Hagel: Republican Meeting With Bush Is 'Just The Tip Of The Iceberg' Of Conservative Dissent  —  Last week, a group of 11 congressional Republicans met with President Bush to express their frustration with the state of the Iraq war, pleading with Bush to change his unpopular Iraq policy.

SDRAWKCAB YROTSIH GNIHCAET....Via MoJoBlog, The Progressive has a story this week about Michael Baker, a high school teacher in Lincoln, Nebraska, who was let go after showing the HBO documentary "Baghdad ER" to his geography class.  Stupid.  But that's not what caught my eye.

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.

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 …

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."

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.

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.