Israeli Troops Move Into Gaza  —  Captured Soldier Sought; Palestinians Reach Political Pact  —  GAZA CITY, June 28 — Israeli ground troops pushed into the Gaza Strip early Wednesday in a military operation aimed at freeing a captured soldier whose fate has transfixed much of the country.

Senate rejects flag desecration amendment  —  WASHINGTON - A constitutional amendment to ban flag desecration died in a Senate cliffhanger Tuesday, a single vote short of the support needed to send it to the states for ratification a week before Independence Day.

Piling On the New York Times With a Scoop  —  Story on Secret Program Further Rouses Critics  —  President Bush calls the conduct of the New York Times "disgraceful."  Vice President Cheney objects to the paper having won a Pulitzer Prize.  A Republican congressman wants the Times prosecuted.

Viagra threatens Limbaugh plea deal  —  Prescription was not in Limbaugh's name, authorities say  —  WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) — Rush Limbaugh will likely have to wait several days to find out if he violated his deal with prosecutors in a prescription fraud case when authorities found …

Democrats vow to block pay raises until minimum wage increased  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Democrats ratcheted up their election-year push for an increase in the federal minimum wage Tuesday by promising to block a congressional pay hike unless some of the lowest-paid hourly workers get their first raise in nearly a decade.

AP INCORRECTLY CLAIMS SCIENTISTS PRAISE GORE'S MOVIE  —  The June 27, 2006 Associated Press (AP) article titled "Scientists OK Gore's Movie for Accuracy" by Seth Borenstein raises some serious questions about AP's bias and methodology.  —  AP chose to ignore the scores of scientists …

Peace and Quiet  —  FOUR PROJECTS FOR RIGHTEOUS ANTI-WAR TYPES.  —  The Daily Kos lot received such a Niagara of ridicule for their meeting in Las Vegas (Alexander Cockburn's column in The Nation, available in a slightly different form on the Counterpunch site, making me almost feel sorry for them) …

Damage Study Urged on Surveillance Reports  —  WASHINGTON, June 27 — Senator Pat Roberts, the chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, asked the director of national intelligence on Tuesday to assess any damage to American counterterrorism efforts caused by the disclosure of secret programs …

Bush jogs with wounded soldier  —  WASHINGTON - President Bush took a jog Tuesday with a soldier who lost part of both legs in Iraq, following through on a bedside promise even the president had doubts about at the time.  —  Despite a slight drizzle, Bush and Staff Sgt. Christian Bagge took …

Joe Cannon siding with brother?  —  Utah Republican Party Chairman Joe Cannon says he's trying to stay neutral in his brother Rep. Chris Cannon's primary battle, but it didn't come across that way in comments he posted online last weekend questioning his brother's challenger.

Number of US visas to Saudis doubles  —  For the first time since the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the US State Department has begun to sharply increase the number of entry visas granted to Saudi Arabian nationals seeking to visit the United States, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

A Single Person Could Swing an Election  —  Electronic Systems' Weaknesses May Be Countered With Audits, Report Suggests  —  To determine what it would take to hack a U.S. election, a team of cybersecurity experts turned to a fictional battleground state called Pennasota …