White House Apologizes for Air Force Flyover  —  A reader, Jim Brown, took this photograph from 10 Exchange Place in Jersey City, looking toward 77 Hudson Street and the Statue of Liberty.  In the photo, the plane appears closer than it actually was.  —  Updated, 5 p.m. |

GOP Know-Nothings Fought Pandemic Preparedness  —  When House Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey, the Wisconsin Democrat who has long championed investment in pandemic preparation, included roughly $900 million for that purpose in this year's emergency stimulus bill …

Fox rejects Obama's request for airtime  —  Is the honeymoon over?  —  For the first time since Barack Obama took office, a major broadcast network is refusing to grant the president's request for primetime coverage.  —  Fox has issued a statement saying it will air regular programming …

The Republican Shrinkage Problem  —  The new Washington Post/ABC news poll has all sorts of intriguing numbers in it but when you are looking for clues as to where the two parties stand politically there is only one number to remember: 21.  —  That's the percent of people in the Post/ABC survey …

Slim Majority Wants Bush-Era Interrogations Investigated  —  Majority says use of harsh techniques on terrorism suspects was justified  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A new Gallup Poll finds 51% of Americans in favor and 42% opposed to an investigation into the use of harsh interrogation techniques …

Why Is Torture Wrong?  —  Or more precisely, why is the belief that the torture of captured combatants is wrong compatible with anything other than some form of pacifism?  I mean this an actual question, not as a passive-aggressive assertion.  —  It can't just be that it involves inflicting horrible pain and suffering.

Pakistani Intelligence: Osama Is Dead  —  As Pakistan wrestles with the Taliban takeover of large swaths of its territory and the encroachment on Islamabad, its Inter-Services Intelligence agency tells us that Osama bin Laden is dead. … If you can't trust the ISI to give you accurate information …

Obama gets ahead of prompter  —  President Obama's speech at the National Academy of Sciences Monday morning hit a brief snag when Obama got ahead of his script.  —  Laying his plan for a President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, Obama began to name the members of PCAST listed …

Interview with Miss California, Carrie Prejean  —  Sanctuary of the Rock Church - San Diego - April 26, 2009  —  Rex Wockner: Clearly, nobody would ever get up there (at the Miss USA pageant) and say, “I don't think black people should be able to marry white people” or something like that.

Just Imagine: The First 100 Days of John McCain  —  If things had gone differently.....  John McCain, the oldest first-term president in history, is proving as rambunctious and pugnacious as the youngest one, Teddy Roosevelt.  Of course, Teddy probably would have sent the Marines to Venezuela …

CO2 limits are unneeded, unjust  —  California first state to order refiners to reduce carbon output to fight a nonexistent problem.  —  Recommend  —  The California Air Resources Board, seeking to reshape life in California by dictating to private enterprise, has adopted the nation's …

McGovern, other lawmakers arrested at Darfur protest  —  Rep. Jim McGovern is arrested by US Secret Service agents in front of the Sudanese Embassy while demonstrating against the genocide in Darfur.  —  WASHINGTON — Representative James McGovern was locked up on misdemeanor charges today …

The Media Elite's Secret Dinners  —  Last Tuesday evening, Rahm Emanuel quietly slipped into an eighth-floor office at the Watergate.  —  As white-jacketed waiters poured red and white wine and served a three-course salmon and risotto dinner, the White House chief of staff spent two hours chatting …

Bush's Promise On Torture  —  From al Arabiya, after Abu Ghraib:  —  It's important for people to understand that in a democracy, there will be a full investigation.  In other words, we want to know the truth.  In our country, when there's an allegation of abuse ... there will be a full investigation …

G.E.'s Breakthrough Can Put 100 DVDs on a Disc  —  General Electric says it has achieved a breakthrough in digital storage technology that will allow standard-size discs to hold the equivalent of 100 DVDs.  —  The storage advance, which G.E. is announcing on Monday, is just a laboratory success at this stage.

Obamas prove stingy with school auction  —  Plus: A modeling career for Levi Johston?  Kate Hudson celebrates 30th  —  The Scoop  —  msnbc.com  —  When Chelsea Clinton was a student at the Sidwell Friends School, the same school the Obama girls attend, the Clinton family's involvement …

Big Labor's Big Box Strategy  —  One of Robert Reich's answers to The Economist makes the strategy behind the proposed card check ("Employee Free Choice") bill clearer in a way I hadn't completely understood before (though I should have): … OK, so the idea is to target unskilled workers …

Reid says Obama told him, ‘I have a gift’  —  WASHINGTON - Everyone knows President Barack Obama can deliver a great speech, including the president himself, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.  —  The paperback version of Reid's book, “The Good Fight,” is coming out May 5 with an epilogue called “The Obama Era.”