A Victory For Military Recruiters  —  Schools Must Give Access Despite Objection to Policy On Gays, Justices Say  —  The Supreme Court yesterday unanimously upheld a federal law that forces colleges and universities to permit military recruiting on campus, despite the schools' objections …

U.S. Takes Steps to Reduce Shiite Domination in Iraqi Military  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 6 — As the threat of full-scale sectarian strife looms, the American military is scrambling to try to weed out ethnic or religious partisans from the Iraqi security forces.

Wal-Mart Enlists Bloggers in Its P.R. Campaign  —  Brian Pickrell, a blogger, recently posted a note on his Web site attacking state legislation that would force Wal-Mart Stores to spend more on employee health insurance.  "All across the country, newspaper editorial boards …

Democrats Struggle To Seize Opportunity  —  News about GOP political corruption, inept hurricane response and chaos in Iraq has lifted Democrats' hopes of winning control of Congress this fall.  But seizing the opportunity has not been easy, as they found when they tried to unveil an agenda of their own.

South Dakota Bans Abortion, Setting Up a Battle  —  Gov. Michael Rounds of South Dakota signed into law the nation's most sweeping state abortion ban on Monday, an intentional provocation meant to set up a direct legal challenge to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 United States Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal.

House Conservatives Prepare Austere Alternative Budget  —  WASHINGTON, March 6 — With Congress heading into a politically perilous budget season, influential House conservatives plan this week to propose an austere alternative spending plan that would pare more than $650 billion over five years …

Iraqi Tribes Strike Back at Insurgents  —  In Turbulent Areas, Zarqawi's Fighters Are Target of Leaders and a New Militia  —  BAGHDAD, March 6 — First they killed the chief of the Naim tribe and his son.  Then they killed a top tribal sheik who headed the Fallujah city council.

The Democrats' Real Problem  —  It is now an ingrained journalistic habit: After a period of bad news for President Bush, media outlets invariably devote time and space to "balancing" stories that all say more or less: "Yes, the Republicans are in trouble, but the Democrats have no alternatives, no plans," etc.

Democratic Sin Eaters  —  Speaking of Amy Sullivan's new article in the Washington Monthly about evangelicals leaving the Republican fold to join the Democrats, Kevin says: … Sullivan's article is only partially persuasive to me.  I'm with Atrios on this.

Still Evolving, Human Genes Tell New Story  —  Providing the strongest evidence yet that humans are still evolving, researchers have detected some 700 regions of the human genome where genes appear to have been reshaped by natural selection, a principal force of evolution, within the last 5,000 to 15,000 years.

Clinton cover-ups  —  Lost in the tumult over Islamic port deals and Katrina video capers is the recently released — and willfully ignored — Barrett Report.  David Barrett, you'll recall, is the independent counsel appointed in 1995 to investigate allegations of impropriety …

Unchristened Embryos, Destination: Hell  —  I brought up one of my favorite forced birth conundrums the other day, guaranteed to make wingnut "life begins at conception" heads explode.  If a fire breaks out in a fertility clinic and you can only save a petri dish with five blastulae or a two-year old child, which do you save?

Democrats Stretch Lead in Vote for Congress  —  Fourteen-point Democratic lead is among the widest since 1994  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted Feb. 28 to March 1, finds the Democrats holding a substantial lead over the Republicans as the party …

Dodge City showdown at funeral  —  DODGE CITY, Kansas (CNN) — This past Saturday morning I found myself in a five-car caravan cutting across the Kansas plains with about 30 religious protesters.  In the back of a truck, there were signs that read "Thank God for IED's" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers."

Mr. Bush's Asian Road Trip  —  There is a lot of good a president can do on a visit to another country: negotiate treaties that enhance American security, shore up a shaky alliance, generate good will in important parts of the world.  Unfortunately, President Bush didn't do any of those good things …