Minnesota Monitor:

Facing a mountain of bad news, the Bush administration needed some good news heading into this weekend. Its "AIDS czar" abruptly resigned after admitting he used an escort service that's facing federal prostitution charges. Two batches of new documents were released in the widening U.S. attorneys purge case. Condi Rice indicated she'd refuse to comply with a House subpoena to discuss Iraq War intelligence, and the President earned a career-low 28 percent approval rating in a new poll.

The administration got its good news: One of Al-Qaida's top leaders was captured. But when Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, who is believed to have planned the July 7, 2005, subway attacks in London, was captured -- sometime last fall -- raises questions about whether the timing of the story's release was guided by newsworthiness or an effort to combat an unflattering news cycle.

Remember that great Olbermann piece tying the timing of the Terror Alert color changes? It would be interesting to see a similar correlation study done here.