Shift in U.S. Stance Shows Power of Seven-Letter Word  —  The Bush administration's decision to consider sitting down with the Iranian government underscores a central truth of diplomacy today: Nuclear weapons buy leverage.  —  For six years, President Bush and his aides have dismissed …

The Haditha Story  —  The accelerating media feeding frenzy over the alleged killings of twenty-four Iraqi civilians in Haditha by US Marines last November is about to overwhelm American politics.  Propelled by their most irresponsible war critics, the left will try use Haditha as it used …

Election Panel Won't Issue Donation Rules  —  WASHINGTON, May 31 — The Federal Election Commission has decided not to issue rules to regulate so-called 527 organizations that used millions of dollars in private donations to become powerful voices in the 2004 presidential election.

Justice Dept. Is Criticized by Ex-Official on Subpoenas  —  Subpoenas issued last month to reporters for The San Francisco Chronicle were criticized yesterday by a former chief spokesman for Attorney General John Ashcroft as a "reckless abuse of power."  —  The former spokesman, Mark Corallo …

Third Time  —  America may be ready for a new political party.  —  Something's happening.  I have a feeling we're at some new beginning, that a big breakup's coming, and that though it isn't and will not be immediately apparent, we'll someday look back on this era as the time when a shift began.

Baseball's Rockies seek revival on two levels  —  DENVER — No copies of Playboy or Penthouse are in the clubhouse of baseball's Colorado Rockies.  There's not even a Maxim.  The only reading materials are daily newspapers, sports and car magazines and the Bible.

Homeland Security Funding Faulted Yet Again  —  This is not the first time that someone is complaining about the homeland security funding formulas and how money is divided up between big cities like New York and smaller communities.  —  The formula has been rejiggered once, and the latest disbursements haven't found fans in New York.

Poll: Americans Support Searches  —  Public Sides With FBI in Congress Search Issue  —  June 1, 2006 — In the rift between Congress and the Justice Department, Americans side overwhelmingly with law enforcement: Regardless of precedent and the separation of powers, 86 percent say the FBI …

Inside Politics  —  Mr. Snow: You meant contemptuous as opposed to contemptible, I think.  —  Miss Thomas: Pure contempt.  —  Mr. Snow: I'm not sure it's pure contempt.  I know Karl Zinsmeister pretty well, and he is somebody who expresses himself with a certain amount of piquancy.

Studies Portray Tropical Arctic in Distant Past  —  The first detailed analysis of an extraordinary climatic and biological record from the seabed near the North Pole shows that 55 million years ago the Arctic Ocean was much warmer than scientists imagined — a Floridian year-round average of 74 degrees.

LIBERAL WORDS, ILLIBERAL ENDS....I have a few more things I want to say about Peter Beinart's The Good Fight, and now's as good a time as any.  —  First: it's a pretty good book.  Most of it is an intellectual history of the "anti-imperialist" left in America, a subject that dominates …

Iraq veteran sues Moore over 9/11 film  —  BOSTON - A veteran who lost both arms in the war in Iraq is suing filmmaker Michael Moore for $85 million, alleging that Moore used snippets of a television interview without his permission to falsely portray him as anti-war in "Fahrenheit 9/11."

Glass Artists Face Off in Court  —  SEATTLE, May 31 — As an ever-moving maestro in the world where fine art and commerce converge, Dale Chihuly is perhaps the world's most successful glass artist.  —  His clients include Bill Gates and Bill Clinton, and his elaborate installations …

Batwoman is back as a lesbian  —  NEW YORK - Years after she first emerged from the Batcave, Batwoman is coming out of the closet.  DC Comics is resurrecting the classic comic book character as a lesbian, unveiling the new Batwoman in July as part of an ongoing weekly series that began this year.

The Blogfather  —  Netroots guru Jerome Armstrong says he's a freethinking pragmatist.  But lefty bloggers say his backing of centrist Mark Warner shows he's become just another political consultant.  —  Jerome Armstrong, aka "The Blogfather," greeted me recently in the office of former Virginia …

The politics of the Internet  —  WASHINGTON - Q We've heard so much about how differently Republicans and Democrats view the world nowadays, as if one could argue that "Republicans Were From Mars, and Democrats Are From Venus."  If this sharp political polarization is to be believed, does it also translate to the Internet?

Big Bonuses Still Flow, Even if Bosses Miss Goals  —  It was the kind of mistake that wage slaves can only dream of.  Because of what the company called an "improper interpretation" of his employment contract, Sheldon G. Adelson, chairman, chief executive and treasurer of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation …