Privately Funded Trips Add Up on Capitol Hill  —  Over 5 1/2 years, Republican and Democratic lawmakers accepted nearly $50 million in trips, often to resorts and exclusive locales, from corporations and groups seeking legislative favors, according to the most comprehensive study to date on the subject of congressional travel.

AP: U.S. to Give Iran Nuclear Technology  —  A package of incentives presented Tuesday to Iran includes a provision for the United States to supply Tehran with some nuclear technology if it stops enriching uranium _ a major concession by Washington, diplomats said.

Fitzgerald, Scooter and Us  —  The special prosecutor wants to use our editorial as evidence.  Sorry. … Those words appeared in this column on July 17, 2003, under the headline "Yellowcake Remix."  Three years later they show we were right about Joe Wilson and his false allegation …

Clinton Is the Life of the Democratic Party  —  WASHINGTON, June 5 — In what promises to be his most intensive campaign season since he left office, former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to appear at more than two dozen fund-raisers for Democrats around the country …

Special forces to use strap-on 'stealth wings'  —  Elite special forces troops being dropped behind enemy lines on covert missions are to ditch their traditional parachutes in favour of strap-on stealth wings.  —  The lightweight carbon fibre mono-wings will allow them to jump from high altitudes …

The Real Iraq  —  Spending time in the United States after a tour of Iraq can be a disorienting experience these days.  Within hours of arriving here, as I can attest from a recent visit, one is confronted with an image of Iraq that is unrecognizable.  It is created in several overlapping ways …

Inside the Cult of Kos  —  What makes the political blogger so mesmerizing to his followers?  —  "If I cared what commenters said, I'd kill myself."  In the high-octane non-stop flame war that is the political blogosphere, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga knows how to get attention.  He's kidding, of course.

News & Views  —  An Open Letter to President Bush from Patrick Guerriero  —  On behalf of millions of gay and lesbian Americans, I write to denounce your decision to divide the American family by promoting an amendment that would insert discrimination into the United States Constitution.

Court to Weigh Race as Factor in School Rolls  —  WASHINGTON, June 5 — The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to rule on what measures, if any, public school systems may use to maintain racial balance in individual schools.  —  The eventual decision on whether they can take race into account …

AIDS, at 25, Offers No Easy Answers  —  Instinctively, the first thing we want to know about a disease is whether it is going to kill us.  As the Talmud says, pretty much all the rest is commentary.  Twenty-five years ago, this was the only question about AIDS we could answer with any certainty …

The ties that bind 17 suspects?  —  SURYA BHATTACHARYA, NASREEN GULAMHUSEIN AND HEBA ALY  —  In investigators' offices, an intricate graph plotting the links between the 17 men and teens charged with being members of a homegrown terrorist cell covers at least one wall.

666 sucks sucks sucks  —  With its devilish "666" date-stamp, today should be hell, but if you crunch the numbers it's apparently more about hugs than human sacrifice.  —  For those of an apocalyptic bent, the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year is the ideal date for an anti-Christ …

The wrong target  —  Terrorism, not America, is a real and present threat to our freedoms  —  Al-Haditha, a town on the Euphrates northwest of Baghdad, is still a place where fighters blend into the populace and literally use civilians as cover.  Coalition forces may shoot only when threatened …

Base Assumptions  —  This month's offensive by President Bush and his allies in Congress against gay marriage and flag burning proves one thing: The Republican Party thinks its base of social conservatives is a nest of dummies who have no memories and respond like bulls whenever red flags are waved in their faces.

Debate Over Wind Power Creates Environmental Rift  —  The 44 wind turbines near Thomas, W.Va., have been lethal to bats.  The turbines are owned FPL Energy, the wind industry's dominant player.  —  OAKLAND, Md. — Dan Boone has no doubt that his crusade against wind energy is the right way to protect the Allegheny highlands he loves.

Another Terrorist Attack Coming Soon?  —  CBS News: U.S. Officials Believe Recent Incidents Point To An Imminent Threat  —  (CBS) U.S. officials believe Canadian arrests over the weekend and three recent domestic incidents in the United States are evidence the U.S. will soon be hit again by a terrorist attack.

No Escaping Iraq Violence  —  Gunmen abduct more than 50 at a bus zone in Baghdad, where daily life can be torn apart without warning.  —  BAGHDAD — Clad in camouflage uniforms, the gunmen came peeling through the thick morning heat in police trucks.  They stopped at a downtown strip …

D-DAY REMEMBERED  —  "The wind is cold, the spray is miserable.  The clothes are soaked thru, and the landing craft is pitching and yawing like a kite in a windstorm.  The boys vomit from the rollercoaster aaffects of the seas and smashing waves that jar your teeth out of your head.