Bush's Public Approval at New Low Point  —  Americans have a bleaker view of the country's direction than at any time in more than two decades, and sharp disapproval of President Bush's handling of gasoline prices has combined with intensified unhappiness about Iraq to create a grim political environment …

HUD secretary's blunt warning  —  Alphonso Jackson says deal was scuttled after contractor admits not liking Bush  —  Once the color barrier has been broken, minority contractors seeking government work may need to overcome the Bush barrier.  —  That's the message U.S. Housing …

Will Rage Undo The Democrats?  —  Two items from prominent opinion journalists point to a meltdown in the Democratic base even as they close in on a vulnerable GOP in midterm elections.  Jonah Goldberg and Richard Cohen have one thing in common: irrational e-mail.

U.S. has second worst newborn death rate in modern world, report says  —  Research: 2 million babies die in first 24 hours each year worldwide  —  (CNN) — An estimated 2 million babies die within their first 24 hours each year worldwide and the United States has the second worst newborn mortality rate …

Iranian's Letter to Bush Emerges  —  In his letter to President Bush, Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, declared that Western-style democracy had failed and that the use of secret prisons in Europe and aspects of the war in Iraq could not be reconciled with Mr. Bush's Christian values.

Optimistic, Democrats Debate the Party's Vision  —  WASHINGTON, May 8 — With Democrats increasingly optimistic about this year's midterm elections and the landscape for 2008, intellectuals in the center and on the left are debating how to sharpen the party's identity and present a clear alternative …

Judicial Nominee Appears at Contentious Second Hearing  —  White House staff secretary Brett M. Kavanaugh today testified at a contentious Senate hearing on his nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, asserting he had no involvement in the Bush administration's policies …

New U.K. attempt to boycott Israeli universities, professors  —  The largest university and college lecturers union in Britain is likely to decide shortly to recommend that its 67,000 members boycott Israeli lecturers and academic institutions that do not publicly declare their opposition to Israeli policy in the territories.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: "I Really Wonder What You Are Doing Here at Harvard"  —  After listening to Ayaan Hirsi Ali's talk at Harvard JFK's School of Government this afternoon, I went up to shake her hand and let her know much I admired her.  She is physically a slight woman.  How can it be that such a small woman is so feared?

In Men, 'Trigger-Happy' May Be a Hormonal Impulse  —  Handling a gun stirs a hormonal reaction in men that primes them for aggression, new research suggests.  —  Psychologists at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., enrolled 30 male students in what they described as a taste study.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Mahmoud, son of Xerxes: "You know, he's obviously a communicator."  —  DR: Hugh Hewitt?  —  HH: Mr. Secretary, welcome back to the program.  —  DR: Thank you.  It's good to be with you.  —  HH: Good to have you here.

As Chinese Students Go Online, Little Sister Is Watching  —  SHANGHAI, May 8 — To her fellow students, Hu Yingying appears to be a typical undergraduate, plain of dress, quick with a smile and perhaps possessed with a little extra spring in her step, but otherwise decidedly ordinary.

Another Possible Bump to the Debt Ceiling  —  A $2.7 trillion budget plan pending before the House would raise the federal debt ceiling to nearly $10 trillion, less than two months after Congress last raised the federal government's borrowing limit.  —  The provision — buried on page 121 …

"Nine Fingers" and the Third Man  —  New connections between the CIA and the Cunningham Scandal  —  Justin Rood at TPM Muckraker posted an interesting story yesterday, explaining why the Bush Administration's explanation for Porter Goss's sudden departure from the CIA looks increasingly lame.