Why I Spoke Up  —  When I was selected as a student speaker for the New School commencement about two months ago I had no idea that I'd end up on CNN and in Maureen Dowd's column in the New York Times, among other places, when it was all over.  One day after the big event I'm still reeling …

Iraqis Form Government, With Crucial Posts Vacant  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 20— Iraqi leaders on Saturday approved a full-term government here for the first time since the fall of Saddam Hussein more than three years ago, but one that appeared to lack the cohesion needed to quell the sectarian and guerrilla violence engulfing the country.

In House Races, More G.O.P. Seats Look Vulnerable  —  James Votruba, left, president of Northern Kentucky University, and President Bush appearing Friday with Representative Geoff Davis, a Republican of Kentucky, who once seemed headed for an easy victory.  But he and others in the party now appear to be facing stronger challenges.

Religious Liberals Gain New Visibility  —  The religious left is back.  —  Long overshadowed by the Christian right, religious liberals across a wide swath of denominations are engaged today in their most intensive bout of political organizing and alliance-building since the civil rights …

Iranian embassy denies dress code  —  Chris Wattie; with files from Allan Woods, National Post, with files from CanWest News Service  —  Several experts are casting doubt on reports that Iran had passed a law requiring the country's Jews and other religious minorities to wear coloured badges identifying them as non-Muslims.

F.B.I. Searches Congressman's Office in Ethics Inquiry  —  WASHINGTON, May 20 — The F.B.I. raided the Congressional offices of Representative William J. Jefferson, Democrat of Louisiana, on Saturday night as part of a corruption investigation focused on the lawmaker and on a Kentucky businessman …

North American Union to Replace USA?  —  President Bush is pursuing a globalist agenda to create a North American Union, effectively erasing our borders with both Mexico and Canada.  This was the hidden agenda behind the Bush administration's true open borders policy.

The Code Before 'Da Vinci'  —  Confronted with "The Da Vinci Code," the motion picture version of Dan Brown's best-selling update on the ripe tropes of 19th-century Know-Nothingism (the Vatican as conspiracy central, the priesthood as perverse hit men), a previous generation of American Catholics …

Nagin Wins Re-Election as Big Easy Mayor  —  NEW ORLEANS - Mayor Ray Nagin, whose shoot-from-the-hip style was both praised and scorned after Hurricane Katrina, narrowly won re-election over Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu on Saturday in the race to oversee one of the biggest rebuilding projects in U.S. history.

For soldiers, gratitude and praise from an Iraqi mayor  —  COLORADO SPRINGS - An Iraqi mayor stood before troops lined up on the lawn at Fort Carson on Friday morning and said only two words in English.  —  But those two words brought the crowd to its feet.  —  "Thank you."

Seeking United Latin America, Venezuela's Chávez Is a Divider  —  BOGOTÁ, Colombia, May 19 — As Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, insinuates himself deeper in the politics of his region, something of a backlash is building among his neighbors.

Why Gay Activists Must Read Mary Cheney's Book  —  I just finished Mary Cheney's book Now It's My Turn: A Daughter's Chronicle of Political Life and recommend it as the most important book addressing a gay topic of the year, if not the past few years.  Indeed, it is must-read book for anyone …

USC's Topless Professor … Like countless women with digital cameras and a bit of moxie, Dr. Diana York Blaine has three topless photos of herself on photo site Flickr, along with 147 other, more pedestrian, shots.  The first, taken at Burning Man, shows the 44-year-old jumping in the air topless …

DO YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?  —  Pat yourselves on the backs, you tolerant liberal bastards.  —  This is hardly  —  the first  —  time  —  liberals  —  have  —  made Asian whore ping-pong ball jokes about me.  —  But Wonkette has now mainstreamed it.  And I'm sick of it.

U.S. Should Close Prison in Cuba, U.N. Panel Says  —  UNITED NATIONS, May 19 — An important United Nations panel roundly criticized the United States on Friday for its treatment of terrorism suspects, and called for shutting down the detention camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

German Mistrust of Muslims and Islam Grows  —  Experts fear new conflicts after a study published this week showed most Germans doubt the Western and Islamic worlds can peacefully coexist.  Mistrust of the 3 million Muslims living in Germany appears to be growing.

Misjudgments Marred U.S. Plans for Iraqi Police  —  As chaos swept Iraq after the American invasion in 2003, the Pentagon began its effort to rebuild the Iraqi police with a mere dozen advisers.  Overmatched from the start, one was sent to train a 4,000-officer unit to guard power plants and other utilities.

Who is on the Sunday Morning Talk Shows (lineup)  —  For Sunday, May 21, 2006  —  Meet the Press (NBC): Host Tim Russert first talks to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about Iran, Iraq, and the Presidents "balance [between] national security and personal privacy."