Poll: Vast majority believes Iraq mission not accomplished  —  U.S. marks third anniversary since 'Mission Accomplished' speech  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Three years after President Bush declared major combat over in Iraq, Americans have strong doubts that the United States will fulfill the promise of his …

Sen. Biden Suggests Decentralized Iraq  —  WASHINGTON - The senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee proposed Monday that Iraq be divided into three separate regions — Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni — with a central government in Baghdad.  —  In an op-ed essay in Monday's edition …

U.S. Prepares for 'Day Without Immigrants'  —  Thousands of illegal immigrants and their allies across the country plan a show of force Monday to illustrate how much immigrants matter in the U.S. economy.  —  Some will skip work, others will protest at lunch breaks, school walkouts or at rallies after work.

Sharp Reaction to G.O.P. Plan on Gas Rebate  —  WASHINGTON, April 30 — The Senate Republican plan to mail $100 checks to voters to ease the burden of high gasoline prices is eliciting more scorn than gratitude from the very people it was intended to help.  —  Aides for several Republican …

Blog Readers Unmasked  —  Think the people who while away their hours reading and commenting on political blogs are slovenly twenty-somethings with nothing better to do?  —  Think again, said a survey last week by Blogads, a company that many leading political blogs have used for ad placements.

Pesticides may affect penis size  —  A renowned U.S. scientist supports a ban on the chemicals for cosmetic purposes.  —  A renowned U.S. scientist who has documented fertility and sex changes — including decreasing penis size — due to environmental contamination says he wouldn't apply pesticides on his own lawn.

Ignoring Colbert, Part Two  —  Peter Daou has already addressed this issue today in his excellent piece on the Huffington Post called "Ignoring Colbert: A Small Taste of the Media's Power to Choose the News."  —  However, I woke enraged on this topic before I read Daou's piece, so I wanted to add my two cents.

Polygraph Results Often in Question  —  The CIA, the FBI and other federal agencies are using polygraph machines more than ever to screen applicants and hunt for lawbreakers, even as scientists have become more certain that the equipment is ineffective in accurately detecting when people are lying.

How Big Will The Walkout Get?  —  Today's planned boycott and walkout on behalf of illegal immigrants garnered plenty of press in the past week, but some question just how many will actually risk exposure and the loss of their jobs.  The Washington Post notes the divisions within the ranks …

UN is like the Twilight Zone, says Bolton  —  In his first interview with a British newspaper, America's ambassador to the United Nations tells Alec Russell why it is in dire need of reform  —  John Bolton was in his element.  America's famously blunt UN ambassador and hundreds …

Founder of Minutemen targets run for president  —  Jim Gilchrist eyes bid with Constitution Party, claims Republicans 'sold out our sovereignty'  —  Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, is considering a run for president in 2008 representing the Constitution Party.

State of the Blogosphere, April 2006 Part 2: On Language and Tagging  —  Late last month, I gave a high-level overview of the growth of the blogosphere, covering the overall size of the data sets that Technorati tracks, the number of new blogs created each day, the number of posts per day, and the issue of splogs or spam blogs.

Bush's New Top Aide Makes His TV Debut  —  White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten made his television debut in his new role yesterday, describing his West Wing shakeup as an attempt "to get our mojo back" at a time when a politically weakened President Bush faces election-year challenges over war, immigration and energy costs.

A DAY TO HATE THE YANQUIS  —  ***scroll for updates...11:30am EDT Newsflash: The country is still standing...***  —  Welcome to May 1.  It's the day to hate the Yankees.  That is: Americans, not the baseball team.  Via Mexidata: … Lonewacko keeps track of the who's who behind the boycott.