Uncovering Iraq's Horrors in Desert Graves  —  ON THE EDGE OF THE ASH SHAM DESERT, Iraq, June 3 — Among experts on the American-led team investigating Iraq's mass graves, the skeletal remains lying face-up at the rear of the tangled grave here have been given a name — the Blue Man …

Politics of the Altar  —  GOP leaders are putting gay marriage back on the agenda.  Will voters respond?  —  June 12, 2006 issue - Back in 2004, suburban Seattle pastor Alec Rowlands watched with dismay as gay couples in Massachusetts flocked to courthouses and churches, exchanged vows and walked away legally wed.

Plot began in chat room  —  CSIS monitored discussions on bombing targets  —  'Training camp' visit turning point for investigators  —  For most Canadians, ammonium nitrate — even after it was used to destroy the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 people …

The Truth, John Kerry, and The New York Times  —  Kate Zernike's story on the front page of the Memorial Day Sunday New York Times, "Kerry Pressing Swift Boat Case Long After Loss," is an unfortunate reminder of the Times's embarrassingly poor coverage of Kerry in the face of the Swift Boat Veterans …

Paul Bass  —  Seasonal Memory Lapses  —  Medical researchers have identified a host of causes for amnesia, from encephalitis to traumatic brain injury.  —  I've discovered another cause: political campaigns.  —  Exhibit A: The current campaign in Connecticut for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination.

Army Manual to Skip Geneva Detainee Rule  —  The Pentagon's move to omit a ban on prisoner humiliation from the basic guide to soldier conduct faces strong State Dept. opposition.  —  WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has decided to omit from new detainee policies a key tenet of the Geneva Convention …

Reward for the Hereditary Elite . . .  It doesn't matter if you are liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican.  There is no possible excuse for doing what Congress is poised to do this week: Abolish the estate tax.  —  The federal government faces a future of expanding deficits.

Medical Privacy Law Nets No Fines  —  Lax Enforcement Puts Patients' Files At Risk, Critics Say  —  In the three years since Americans gained federal protection for their private medical information, the Bush administration has received thousands of complaints alleging violations …

In State Races, Tough Questions About Abortion  —  IOWA CITY, June 2 — Even in a room of sixth graders sitting cross-legged on the floor, usually the safest of venues for political candidates, the question emerged from one sweet face: What is your position on abortion?

For Deals, Jefferson Built Web Of Firms  —  On May 12, 2005, over dinner with business partner and FBI informant Lori Mody, Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) furtively scrawled the letter "c" on a sheet of paper, and next to it wrote some numbers indicating that he was demanding …

Potentially Presidential Pols Pass in A Va. Night  —  RICHMOND — Two ex-governors with presidential dreams.  A constellation of groupies for each.  One hotel ballroom.  —  The orbits of former governor Mark R. Warner (D) and U.S. Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) collided Saturday …

The Political Mood  —  Brent Budowsky is guest blogging for Steve Clemons at The Washington Note, and a reader sent me a link to one of his articles, saying "Read this."  After reading the whole thing, I'm feeling a lot more energized, and I wanted to share a couple of bits with everyone else.

Tehran's useful idiots?  —  During its 20th-century struggles for world domination, international communism periodically benefited from the naivete and willful ignorance of some in the Western media, who foolishly portrayed totalitarians as agrarian reformers and social democrats.

The Americans, Seriously  —  In his polo shirt, pleated pants and loafers, Bruce Arena might have been an executive exhorting the troops on a corporate retreat.  Instead, he was pacing the tiny locker room at the SAS Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. On this April night, the United States men's national team …