memeorandum: What is an Earmark? — Earmarks are funds provided by the Congress … (The White House)

4:15 PM ET, April 4, 2007

Top Items:

Iran president to free UK sailors … TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has pardoned 15 British military personnel being held in Iranian custody and vowed to set them free shortly. — "I declare that the people of Iran and the government of Iran …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, NewsHog, Dr. Sanity, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, AfterDowningStreet.org, Political Animal, Booman Tribune, The Carpetbagger Report, PrairiePundit, Shakesville, The Mahablog, Shadow of the Hegemon, Macsmind, My Two Sense, Connecting.the.Dots and Blue Girl, Red State

Sky News:

Iran To Free UK Captives — Iran is to free the 15 UK sailors and marines taken captive in the Shatt al Arab waterway as a "gift" to Britain. — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the group would be released promptly and handed over to the British embassy in Tehran.

Discussion: PoliPundit.com, neo-neocon, Daimnation! and Ace of Spades HQ

Nasser Karimi / Associated Press:

Iranian leader says he'll free Britons — TEHRAN, Iran - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran would free the 15 detained British sailors and marines Wednesday as an Easter holiday "gift" to the British people. — He said the captives, who were seized while on patrol in the northern Persian Gulf …

Discussion: In From the Cold, Pottersville, The Jawa Report, Power Line, Counterterrorism Blog, All Spin Zone and Ace of Spades HQ

Howard Schneider / Washington Post:

Iranian Leader Says He Will Free Britons — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today said he had "pardoned" 15 British sailors and marines seized by the Iranian military two weeks ago and would free them to be with their families. — Ending a diplomatic crisis with a bit of political theater …

Discussion: The Corner, Obsidian Wings and PoliPundit.com

BBC:

Iranians release British sailors — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says 15 British naval personnel captured in the Gulf are free to leave. — He repeated Iran's view that the British sailors and marines "invaded" Iranian waters, but said they were being released as a "gift" to Britain.

Discussion: digg

Roger Kimball / Armavirumque:

A gift? — OK, we are told not "to look a gift horse in the mouth": someone gives you a present, you don't start investigating the state of its dentition to estimate its worth. So I suppose we should simply rejoice that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has decided to release …

Discussion: Austin Bay Blog and The Belmont Club

Daily Mail:

Freed British sailors to fly home in time for Easter — The President of Iran shook hands with the British hostages this afternoon after announcing he was freeing them. — The sailors will leave Tehran early Thursday and arrive at London's Heathrow airport around 1200 GMT, said Robin Air, father of Royal Marine Capt. Chris Air.

Discussion: The Corner and Riehl World View

Fox News:
AHMADINEJAD SAYS BRITISH TROOPS WILL BE FREED

Discussion: This isn't writing …, The Right Angle, Redstate and Balloon Juice

New York Times:
Iran to Release 15 Britons Held Since March 23

Discussion: Daily Intelligencer

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Breaking: Ahmadinejad says British sailors will be released …

Discussion: Associated Press, Gateway Pundit, protein wisdom, Right Wing Nut House, On Deadline, Wizbang, Confederate Yankee, Secular Blasphemy and PoliBlog (TM)

MSNBC:
Iran to free seized British sailors

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Sister Toldjah and Middle Earth Journal

Richard Beeston / Times of London:
Iranian President left best till last

Discussion: Captain's Quarters

Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:

Obama rivals Clinton in fundraising — DAVENPORT, Iowa - Democrat Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) raked in $25 million for his presidential bid in the first three months of 2007, placing him on a par with front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton and dashing her image as the party's inevitable nominee.

Discussion: MyDD, Hot Air, The Democratic Daily, Cliff Schecter and The Mahablog

Anne E. Kornblut / Washington Post:

Obama Raises $25M for Presidential Campaign — Sen. Barack Obama raised at least $25 million for his presidential campaign in the first quarter of the year, putting him just shy of Sen. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, who made a splash with her announcement Sunday that she had drawn a record-breaking $26 million.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Captain's Quarters, NewsHog, The Anonymous Liberal, Daily Kos, Horses Mouth, Obsidian Wings, BlueOregon and Oliver Willis

Chicago Tribune:

Obama fundraising rivals Clinton — Sen. Barack Obama raised at least $25 million dollars during the first quarter for his presidential campaign, a total surprisingly close to the $26 million collected by his chief rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, Sirotablog, TalkLeft, TIME, workingforchange.com …, Cliff Schecter and Left in the West

Michael Roston / The Raw Story:

Blogs accuse CNN reporter of disrupting McCain press conference again — A group of conservative political weblogs offered new evidence in continuation of their allegation that CNN reporter Michael Ware disrupted a Sunday press conference in Baghdad with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and other Congress members.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Jules Crittenden, Redstate, The Right Angle, Power Line, The Impolitic, Say Anything, AMERICAblog and Majikthise

Al Kamen / Washington Post:
On Iraq, Reporters May Be Missing Their Mark(et)

Discussion: The Corner, Think Progress, Cliff Schecter and PrairiePundit

Michael Goldfarb / WorldwideStandard.com:
McCain's Trip to Baghdad

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:

Bush Blames Democrats for Impasse Over Iraq Bills — The political brinkmanship over Iraq war spending intensified Tuesday, as President Bush said Congressional Democrats had "undercut the troops" by passing legislation that ties continued war financing to mandated timelines for the withdrawal of American combat units.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, White House Watch, DownWithTyranny!, Firedoglake, Connecting.the.Dots, Brendan Nyhan, Don Surber, Shakesville and Political Radar

Peter Baker / Washington Post:
For Bush, Fighting Democrats And Doubts

Discussion: Ezra Klein and Prairie Weather

Nedra Pickler / ABCNEWS:

Elizabeth Edwards Gets Some Good News — Elizabeth Edwards Gets Good News: Cancer More Likely to Be Controlled by Anti-Estrogen Drugs — CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa Apr 3, 2007 (AP)— Elizabeth Edwards said Tuesday that she got some good news: She has a type of cancer that is more likely to be controlled by anti-estrogen drugs.

Discussion: Brilliant at Breakfast

Mary Ann Akers / The Sleuth:
Edwards Provides Lesson in E-Campaigning 101

Discussion: Right Wing News and Reason Magazine

Rick Maze / Military Times HOME:

No more GWOT, House committee decrees — The House Armed Services Committee is banishing the global war on terror from the 2008 defense budget. — This is not because the war has been won, lost or even called off, but because the committee's Democratic leadership doesn't like the phrase.

Discussion: Redstate, Hot Air, Austin Bay Blog, The Swamp, Sister Toldjah, Outside The Beltway, Don Surber, PrairiePundit, Confederate Yankee, The Strata-Sphere, Jihad Watch, Clayton Cramer's BLOG, PoliPundit.com and On Deadline

The White House:

What is an Earmark? — Earmarks are funds provided by the Congress for projects or programs where the congressional direction (in bill or report language) circumvents the merit-based or competitive allocation process, or specifies the location or recipient, or otherwise curtails the ability …

Discussion: Porkbusters and Club for Growth

Matthew Yglesias:

Pelosi's Headscarf — I found this charming photo on NRO where they're apparently under the impression that France is a nation that's in love with headscarves. No, no, of course. They're just trying to say — as they usually are — that Democrats are traitors.

Discussion: Confederate Yankee, Ezra Klein, PrairiePundit and Associated Press