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.

Peruvians elect Garcia president  —  With most of the votes counted in the second round of Peru's election, it has become clear that ex-president Alan Garcia has won a convincing victory.  —  Mr Garcia polled 53.1% of ballots to 46.9 % for nationalist rival Ollanta Humala, with 93% of votes counted.

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 …

A Legal Case Against Iran  —  Speaking last October at a Tehran conference on "The World Without Zionism," Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, referred to Israel as a "disgraceful blot" and called for it to be "wiped off the map."  This was not an isolated or idle threat.

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 …

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 …

Lieberman faces showdown over Iraq  —  MERIDEN, Connecticut (Reuters) - After years of ardent support for the Iraq war, Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman (news, bio, voting record) could become that conflict's first big political casualty in a Democratic primary race fueled by rising anti-war anger.

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 …

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 …

In close SoCal race, Democrat's immigration remarks draw fire  —  CARLSBAD, Calif. - Republicans seized on Democrat Francine Busby's comments that sounded like encouragement for illegal aliens to help her campaign as the GOP sought an edge in the final hours of a surprisingly close House race.

Chill out over global warming  —  You'll often hear the left lecture about the importance of dissent in a free society.  —  Why not give it a whirl?  —  Start by challenging global warming hysteria next time you're at a LoDo cocktail party and see what happens.  —  Admittedly, I possess virtually no expertise in science.

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.

Ex-Official Testifies He Provided 'Insight and Advice' to Abramoff  —  WASHINGTON, June 5 — A former White House budget official acknowledged Monday that he had provided "a lot of insight and advice," including government information not available to the public, to the lobbyist Jack Abramoff in 2002.

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 …

Date With the Devil  —  Those Who Seek 'the Number of the Beast' Need Look No Further Than Today's Calendar  —  Satan's spawn are having a lucrative old time today.  The calendar says this is the 6th day of the 6th month of the millennium's 6th year.  —  According to the King James version …

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 …

Iraqis Believe Violence Will Abate, New Report Says  —  Pentagon Finds Hope Is Tied to New Government  —  Attacks and casualty levels against civilians and military personnel in Iraq have risen "substantially" since the December elections, but Iraqis have confidence the new Baghdad government …

MARINE'S FATHER SUES WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH  —  Hit them where it hurts - in the pocketbook.  Sure, as the witch says in the quote below, they have freedom of speech.  However, if that speech is abusive, harassing and/or demeaning, it will cost you.  I would dearly love to be on the jury for this trial.

Unblinking Observer  —  Photographs Show a War Beyond Investigations  —  The Iraq war is the first major conflict fought in what might be called the age of the new Panopticon.  The English philosopher Jeremy Bentham coined the term in the late 18th century to describe a prison …

Intelligence behind raid was wrong, officials say  —  Vikram Dodd, Sandra Laville and Richard Norton-Taylor  —  Senior counter-terrorism officials now believe that the intelligence that led to the raid on a family house last Friday in a search for a chemical device about to be used …