Scientists see this flu strain as relatively mild  —  Genetic data indicate this outbreak won't be as deadly as that of 1918, or even the average winter.  —  As the World Health Organization raised its infectious disease alert level Wednesday and health officials confirmed the first death linked …

Bunning poised to retire  —  Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning, the most endangered Republican up for reelection in 2010, appears headed for retirement after giving his leading GOP rival the blessing to prepare to run for his seat next year.  —  Bunning's retirement would be a huge victory …

Donors demand refund from Specter  —  Political switch gets expensive as lawmaker's support shrinks  —  Sen. Arlen Specter's switch to the Democratic Party is prompting his campaign donors large and small to demand their money back, including several Republican senators whose political …

A Chrysler Creditor Finds Himself Torn  —  Geoffrey Gwin is wrestling with the knowledge that the retirement plans of some 80,000 Americans may rest in his hands.  —  “I am in turmoil,” says Mr. Gwin, principal of the Group G Capital Partners LLC hedge funds in New York.

Our Obligation to Investigate  —  In President Obama's inaugural address, he declared that “we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.  Our founding fathers, faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man …

Obama and Churchill  —  Obama followed Bush last night in using Winston Churchill as his example of a war president:  —  “I was struck by an article that I was reading the other day talking about the fact that the British during World War II, when London was being bombed to smithereens …

Changing Views on Gay Marriage, Gun Control, Immigration and Legalizing Marijuana  —  ABC News-Washington Post Poll: 49 Percent Support Gay Marriage, New High  —  Support for gay marriage, legalizing illegal immigrants and decriminalizing marijuana all are at new highs.

New GOP ad: Do you feel safer?  —  House Republicans are using images of the Pentagon burning on 9/11 and President Obama's “bow” to the Saudi leader in a video that accuses the president of making America less safe in his first 100 days.  —  But the new video has already created blowback …

The CIA's $1,000 a Day Specialists on Waterboarding, Interrogations  —  The New Focus on Two Retired Military Psychologists Called the ‘Architects’ of the CIA's Techniques  —  As the secrets about the CIA's interrogation techniques continue to come out, there's new information about the frequency …

Administration Aide Suspected of Contracting Swine Flu  —  Man May Have Passed Virus to Family Members in Anne Arundel County  —  An Energy Department employee who was part of the advance team for President Obama's recent trip to Mexico is suspected of having contracted the swine flu virus …

Palin and the bear  —  Coming soon to a cable TV station near you: TLC just released a YouTube video of a recent interview with Sarah Palin that has an unfortunate image of the Governor relaxing on a bear rug in her office.  Seriously:  —  I've defended Sarah Palin after recent media criticism.

Win By Losing?  —  Via Ed Kilgore, Ed Rogers from the Reagan and H.W. Bush administrations makes the point that it's basically never good to lose a Senator: … I do think it's always worth considering an alternative.  I think it's very possible that Democrats could “gain so much power” …

Alleged Al Qaeda Sleeper Agent in U.S. Pleads Guilty  —  Last ‘Enemy Combatant’ Held on U.S. Soil Pleads to Terrorism Charges  —  The man known for nearly six years as the last “enemy combatant” held on U.S. soil has pleaded guilty to supporting terrorism.

“Lie to Me” Tops Obama News Conference  —  Just In: FOX, the only one of the Big Four networks that did not carry Pres. Obama's news conference last night, finished first in the 8pmET hour with a new episode of “Lie to Me.”  The drama averaged 7.9 million Total Viewers, according to Nielsen overnights.

Senate Rejects Bankruptcy Bailout for Troubled Homeowners  —  ABC's Z. Byron Wolf reports from Capitol Hill: On the same day that the White House announced that overextended Chrysler would go into a “quick” bankruptcy — its loans rewritten by a judge to emerge for life another day …

Influenza A(H1N1)  —  The situation continues to evolve rapidly.  As of 17:00 GMT, 30 April 2009, 11 countries have officially reported 257 cases of influenza A (H1N1) infection.  —  The United States Government has reported 109 laboratory confirmed human cases, including one death.

Pew: Church-Goers Like Torture More  —  They were told not to damage the grass of the earth or any green growth or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.  They were allowed to torture them for five months, but not to kill them …

Top Conservatives On Twitter FAIL  —  Ok, quick twitter post and then back to...serious...business.  Several weeks ago, those of us who (for reasons unclear) communicate with friends, colleagues, and complete strangers on Twitter, began scratching our heads when we noticed various conservatives …

Report: Justice Dept. Official Violated Ethics Rules in Grant-Making  —  Bush Administration Appointee Awarded Sole Source Contracts to Ideologically Favored Companies, Individuals  —  A former Justice Department grant-making administrator violated federal ethics and procurement rules …

Fox Cancels Beltway Boys  —  It's the end of the road for The Beltway Boys, Fox News Channel's Saturday evening political chat with newsmen Fred Barnes and Mort Kondracke.  Whispers hears that the show has run its course.  No replacement has been named.  —  Theirs was a fun mix …

Petraeus: Next Two Weeks Critical to Pakistan's Survival  —  Gen. David Petraeus said he is looking for concrete action by the Pakistani government to destroy the Taliban in the next two weeks before determining the United States' next course of action.  —  FOXNews.com

ARE SODA TAXES...POPULAR?  —  Till now, I've been of the opinion that arguing in favor of raising revenue by taxing unwanted behaviors is little more than a quixotic argument.  Good for a blog post, maybe, but nothing beyond that.  Then I heard that the prospect of sin taxes was actually emerging …