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 …

Lapfull of Dick  —  Richard Cohen got 2,000 mean e-mails and this signals the end of the Democratic party.  I'll leave you to figure out why that should follow.  In case Cohen hasn't noticed nobody on the f**king planet likes squishy faux liberal courtiers.  There's no political downside to hating Richard Cohen.

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 …

"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.

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.

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 …

Mexican Handoff  —  Someone remind me: which country is the Border Patrol charged with protecting?  —  DailyBulletin.com: … I'll never support impeachment proceedings brought against President for going to war with Iraq based on flawed intelligence, not will I fault him overmuch …

Bush Job Approval: 31%  —  Reaches new low among Republicans, Democrats  —  PRINCETON, NJ — President George W. Bush's job approval rating has reached yet another new low for his administration, according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll.  The poll, conducted May 5-7, 2006 …

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.

Killings in Iraq Spawn Search for Missing Funds  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 8 — The killing of Fern Holland, a human rights worker from Oklahoma, remains unsolved and as mysterious as it was when her body was found riddled with bullets on a desolate stretch of road near one of Iraq's southern holy cities in March 2004.

Under fire, U.S. says it will ban controversial interrogation practice  —  GENEVA - The U.S. Army will prohibit "water-boarding" - the controversial practice of submerging a prisoner's head in water in an effort to make him talk - when it issues its new interrogation manual …

One Thing They Aren't: Maternal  —  Oh, mothers!  Dear noble, selfless, tender and ferocious defenders of progeny all across nature's phylogeny: How well you deserve our admiration as Mother's Day draws near, and how photogenically you grace the greeting cards that we thrifty offspring will send in lieu of a proper gift.