[USA Today]
Bush to take 50th trip to his ranch in the 5 years he's been in office. Will stay at least through August.

[motoring.co.za]
President Viktor Yushchenko downsizes government in Ukraine: no more bribe-taking traffic cops!

[Los Angeles Times]
Bush pledges to pressure corporate foundations to give more money to faith-based charities.

[Editor & Publisher]
Pentagon refuses to comply with federal judge's order to release 87 photos and 4 videos of Abu Graib abuses which may include images of rape and murder.

[Times Union]
Haitian author Edwidge Danticat remembers the legacy of the U.S. occupation of Haiti and ponders the possible implications for Iraq.

[Wired News]
Faced with major recruiting problems sparked by troop deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon has asked Congress to raise the maximum age for U.S. military enlistees from 35 to 42 years old.

[Washington Post]
Bush creates position of anti-piracy czar to fight global intellectual-property theft and counterfeiting. I'm glad to see he has his priorities in order.

[CNN]
House votes to make permanent 14 of 16 provisions of the Patriot Act that had "sunset provisions" requiring their reevaluation, and to extend the remaining 2 for 10 years.

[Christian Science Monitor]
This is why you don't mix government and religion.

[Washington Post]
It's increasingly clear that the government is involved in political surveillance of organizations that are involved in nothing more than lawful First Amendment activities, said Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU. It raises very serious questions about whether the FBI is back to its old tricks.

[BBC News]
U.S. opposed changes to UN Security Council.

[Washington Post]
Rumsfeld approved dehumanizing interrogation techniques used at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.

[Palm Beach Post]
U.S. map showing homes of servicemen who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq.

[New York Times]
The Republicans have drafted legislation gutting the Endangered Species Act.

[eWeek]
The U.S. Department of Commerce says the agency will keep final control of the Internet's domain naming system, rather than handing it over to ICANN as previously planned.

[Washington Post]
The White House recently brought onto its staff one of the nation's top academic experts on public opinion during wartime, whose studies are now helping Bush craft his message two years into a war with no easy end in sight.

[New York Times]
Paul Krugman on Bush's self-fulfilling prophecy.

[Yahoo! News]
Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman on the Supreme Court, has announced her retirement. Now it really hits the fan...