Congress Isn't Above the Law  —  And bribery isn't "speech or debate."  —  How strong is the case against Louisiana's Rep. William Jefferson?  —  According to numerous press accounts, after videotaping Mr. Jefferson receiving a $100,000 bribe from an FBI informant, the government executed …

UK - BBC fabricates Army desertion story  —  Folks here is a classic example of the BBC fabricating a "news" story.  —  The BBC headline blares "More than 1,000 desert UK forces"  —  If you read or listen to the BBC you already know the reason.  But just in case you missed it, the BBC tell you why they think soldiers are deserting.

Cheney aide is screening legislation  —  Adviser seeks to protect Bush power  —  WASHINGTON — The office of Vice President Dick Cheney routinely reviews pieces of legislation before they reach the president's desk, searching for provisions that Cheney believes would infringe on presidential power …

At West Point, Bush Draws Parallels With Truman  —  WEST POINT, N.Y., May 27 — President Bush implicitly compared himself to Harry S. Truman in a commencement address at the United States Military Academy on Saturday, saying Truman acted boldly against the "fanatic faith" …

Iraq Is the Republic of Fear  —  Every morning the streets of Baghdad are littered with dozens of bodies, bruised, torn, mutilated, executed only because they are Sunni or because they are Shiite.  Power drills are an especially popular torture device.  —  I have spent nearly two of the three years since Baghdad fell in Iraq.

Can Bloggers Get Real?  —  Las Vegas, as the ad campaign likes to remind us, is a place people go to untether themselves from reality — to become, if only for a weekend, anonymous and uncensored.  It's odd, then, that Vegas is about to play host to a gathering of ordinary Americans whose objective is precisely the reverse.

In Chicago, New Pay Law Is Considered for Big Stores  —  CHICAGO, May 27 — Chicago may become the first city in the nation to require "big box" retailers like Wal-Mart or Home Depot to pay employees a "living wage" of at least $10 an hour plus $3 an hour in benefits.

A Union Tested by War  —  Military Couples Recast Future in Face of the Unthinkable  —  A few weeks after an explosion tore off his legs and part of his right arm, Army Sgt. Joseph Bozik felt the time had come to tell his girlfriend she no longer was bound by their plans for marriage.

Springtime for Killing in Afghanistan  —  DECEPTIVE The beauty of the Afghan opium poppies belies the conflict they feed.  Col. Paul Calbos survived a suicide attack days after this visit, part of a drive to curb the trade.  —  WASHINGTON  —  TO most Americans, Afghanistan has been a war …

Ahmadinejad threatens Europe  —  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Europe that it should support his country's nuclear program or "suffer the consequences."  —  In an interview to be published in the German Der Spiegel on Sunday, Ahmadinejad also expressed his doubt regarding the Holocaust …

New Bush appointee caught changing and distorting his own quotes  —  Several days ago, the Bush administration announced that Karl Zinsmeister, the long-time Editor of the right-wing American Enterprise magazine, would become its new Domestic Policy Advisor.

Blair Calls for Unity, Support for Iraq  —  WASHINGTON — British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Friday that Iraq's fledgling democracy deserves support, even from critics who question whether sacrifices in the three-year-old war are worthwhile.  —  "The war, I know, split the world," Blair said.

'Gunfire' false alarm sparks panic in the US Capitol  —  WASHINGTON (AFP) - Tactical teams wearing flak jackets and police sniffer dogs swarmed through several US Congress buildings after an erroneous report of gunfire forced a lockdown of the sprawling Capitol office complex.