Dems set war bill without Iraq timeline  —  WASHINGTON - In grudging concessions to President Bush, Democrats intend to draft an Iraq war-funding bill without a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops and shorn of billions of dollars in spending on domestic programs, officials said Monday.

Iran plans Iraq summer showdown  —  Iran is secretly forging ties with al-Qaida elements and Sunni Arab militias in Iraq in preparation for a summer showdown with coalition forces intended to tip a wavering US Congress into voting for full military withdrawal, US officials say.

The Left's Iraq Muddle  —  Yes, it is central to the fight against Islamic radicalism.  —  At this year's graduation celebration at The New School in New York, Iranian lawyer, human-rights activist and Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi delivered our commencement address.

Edwards charges $55,000 to speak to UC Davis students about poverty  —  Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, who as a Democratic presidential candidate recently proposed an educational policy that urged "every financial barrier" be removed for American kids who want to go to college …

President Bush Participates in Joint Press Availability with NATO Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer  —  PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you all for coming.  Mr. Secretary General, thank you very much for joining us.  Laura and I are really happy to have you here at our place in Crawford.

Onetime Giuliani Insider Is Now a Critic From Outside  —  As Rudolph W. Giuliani runs for president, his image as a chief executive who steered New York through the disaster of Sept. 11 has become a pillar of his campaign.  But one former member of his inner circle keeps surfacing to revisit …

After the Surge  —  The Administration Floats Ideas for a New Approach in Iraq  —  President Bush and his senior military and foreign policy advisers are beginning to discuss a "post-surge" strategy for Iraq that they hope could gain bipartisan political support.

Immigration Compromise Faces New Opposition  —  Proposal Stays Alive, But Foes Lie in Wait  —  The Senate voted last night to move forward on an overhaul of immigration laws, but even proponents of the delicate compromise proposal conceded that the furor over the deal was surpassing their expectations and endangering the plan.

Peanut Envy  —  THE LATEST ABSURDITIES TO EMERGE FROM JIMMY CARTER'S BIG, SMUG MOUTH.  —  Almost always, when former President Jimmy Carter opens his big, smug mouth, he has already made the psychological mistake that is going to reduce his words to absurdity.

Gunning for the Varmint  —  You know things have gotten serious in a campaign when the candidates are insulting the sizes of each other's guns.  And you know, in a crowded field such as the one for the Republican Party's nomination for president, the candidate who's winning is the one who isn't playing the game.

Rachel's Helpful Guide to Online Dating: For Men  —  Must get this one out of my system.  —  Almost all of the single people I know use online dating services; the taboo seems to have completely lifted in the last few years.  Because, would it really be better to meet men in bars?  Eww.

Editorial: Macho Mistakes at Ground Zero  —  As more and more workers who inhaled the dust at ground zero fall ill, it has become increasingly clear that much of the problem can be traced to the Giuliani administration's failure to insist that all emergency personnel and construction workers at the site wear respirators.

A Canadian philosopher worth reading  —  In winning the Templeton Prize for religion, philosopher Charles Taylor is not only $1.5 million richer, but he also joins an august company of scholars and world leaders, including physicist Freeman Dyson, author Alexander Solzhenitsyn, evangelist Billy Graham, and Mother Teresa.