69 Dead in Bombings, Shootings;  —  Al-Maliki Stops Wall-building at Adhamiya  —  Reuters reports that a lot of wounded vets from the Iraq War are having to turn to private care.  A chilling passage: "Of the nearly 24,000 wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan …

Saving the Earth: The Biodiesel Bus Blog  —  Singer Sheryl Crow and environmentalist Laurie David have been traveling across America on a two-week Stop Global Warming College Tour, which winds up today at George Washington University.  Crow and David (co-producer of the documentary …

Student Government Asks Reporters to Leave by Monday  —  You've seen the news coverage from Blacksburg, complete with prominent network anchors reporting from the scene.  —  And now, the student government at Virginia Tech is asking for all of that to end.

Debates Losing a Bit of Luster in a Big Field  —  The last time Jonathan Prince checked, there were nearly 40 requests for John Edwards, the Democratic presidential candidate for whom he works, to appear at a candidate debate or forum.  —  They came from state Democratic parties and county Democratic committees.

The GOP: Waiting for Him to Walk  —  The President's Old Friend: The A.G.'s poor performance at the hearings cost him support on the Hill  —  The pressure on Alberto Gonzales to resign intensified last week following his daylong grilling before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

FDA Was Aware of Dangers To Food  —  Outbreaks Were Not Preventable, Officials Say  —  The Food and Drug Administration has known for years about contamination problems at a Georgia peanut butter plant and on California spinach farms that led to disease outbreaks that killed three people …

Harry Reid and a 'lost' cause  —  Senator forced to backpedal on remarks  —  The Democratic strategy to use the ongoing violence in Iraq to their political advantage in the run-up to the 2008 elections requires some skill and nuance.  But it's growing harder to believe Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid …

Spitzer Plans to Introduce Gay Marriage Bill  —  Gov. Eliot Spitzer will introduce a bill in the coming weeks to legalize same-sex marriage in New York, his spokeswoman said Friday, a move that would propel New York to the forefront of one of the most contentious issues in politics.

Democrats Getting Paid  —  Last spring, with Republicans controlling both houses of Congress, I wrote an item saying that for corporations and federal contractors looking for favors in Washington, it was hardly even worth buying a Democrat anymore.  But the November 2006 Democratic victory changed all that.

Candidates hope ideas strike chords  —  Voters getting an early dose of substance  —  WASHINGTON — Barack Obama is unleashing the fine print.  —  In the political hothouses of town meetings and union gatherings, the Democratic presidential candidate has shared his soothing style and intriguing background.

Bedlam Revisited  —  Why the Virginia Tech shooter was not committed.  —  I was in graduate school, studying clinical psychology when they began shutting down the asylums.  The place was California, the time was the early 1970s, and "they" were an unprecedented confederation of progressives, libertarians and fiscal conservatives.

Let's be realistic about reality  —  Within hours of the Virginia Tech massacre, the New York Times had identified the problem: ''What is needed, urgently, is stronger controls over the lethal weapons that cause such wasteful carnage and such unbearable loss.''

Interview with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice  —  (Editor's note: the following interview with Secretary of State Rice took place in her office at the State Department last Thursday, April 19.  It's been slightly edited for length and clarity.)  —  SECRETARY RICE: What can I do for you?

"13yo skool grl is nu US txt mssg chmpN"  —  For those above 30 years of age the above headline means that "13-year-old school girl is new US text messaging champion".  Got it?  —  While competitive text messaging may not have quite gained Olympic status, the hundreds of mostly teenagers …

U.S. Knew of China Missile Test in Advance  —  After a Chinese interceptor smashed into a target satellite in January, Bush administration officials criticized the test as a destabilizing development.  —  It was the first successful demonstration of an antisatellite missile by any country in more than 20 years.

Rep. Millender-McDonald dies  —  Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Calif.), 68, who'd taken leave from Congress after being diagnosed with cancer, died Sunday, a congressional source said.  —  House Clerk Lorraine Miller has secured Millender-McDonald's office and is to oversee the office until an election can be held to replace her.