Records Show Ex-Senator's Work for Family Planning Unit  —  Billing records show that former Senator Fred Thompson spent nearly 20 hours working as a lobbyist on behalf of a group seeking to ease restrictive federal rules on abortion counseling in the 1990s, even though he recently …

Bush: No Deal On Children's Health Plan  —  President Says He Objects On Philosophical Grounds  —  President Bush yesterday rejected entreaties by his Republican allies that he compromise with Democrats on legislation to renew a popular program that provides health coverage to poor children …

Activity Guide  —  Democrats want 'John Doe' provision cut  —  Democrats are trying to pull a provision from a homeland security bill that will protect the public from being sued for reporting suspicious behavior that may lead to a terrorist attack, according to House Republican leadership aides.

Mysterious insurgent a sham, U.S. says  —  BAGHDAD — Over the past year, Iraqis heard several audio recordings by a mysterious terrorist leader named Omar al-Baghdadi singing the praises of al-Qaida and urging his followers to attack U.S. troops.  —  The whole thing was a sham, the U.S. military said Wednesday.

Sex Ed for Kindergarteners 'Right Thing to Do,' Says Obama  —  ABC News' Teddy Davis and Lindsey Ellerson Report: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., told Planned Parenthood Tuesday that sex education for kindergarteners, as long as it is "age-appropriate," is "the right thing to do."

Whose Conspiracy?  —  The government has concluded its case against Jose Padilla and yesterday, to no one's surprise U.S. District Court Judge Marcia Cooke refused a defense request for directed verdict of not guilty.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Frazier claimed "I think it is a very tightly knit conspiracy."

Murdoch's Arrival Worries Journal Employees  —  On May 14, more than 100 reporters, editors and executives clustered in The Wall Street Journal's main newsroom to mark the retirement of Peter R. Kann, the longtime leader of their corporate parent, Dow Jones & Company.

Bush's Agencies Of Mass Politicization  —  This week's report that officials in the Office of National Drug Control Policy made politically motivated appearances in the months leading up to the 2006 elections are only the latest example of the Bush administration's misuse of federal employees.

The Courage to Conjoin  —  Ramesh Ponnuru writes: … This is a stupefyingly widespread view that flows from an elementary error in thinking.  —  Suppose you know that there is free will or that moral reasoning is not futile.  Next, suppose you find that the universe is made out of only whatever the universe is made out of.

How Murdoch had a hotline to the PM in the run-up to Iraq war  —  Tony Blair had three conversations with the media magnate Rupert Murdoch in the nine days before the start of the Iraq war, the Government has disclosed.  —  Details of the former prime minister's contacts with Mr Murdoch …

General David Petraeus on the conditions on the ground in Iraq  —  The Hugh Hewitt Show  —  HH: Welcome, General.  You took over command of the multinational forces in February of this year, February 10.  In the past five months, how have conditions in Iraq changed?

Candidates spend heavily on voter lists  —  Of all the right-leaning publications and websites that have written upbeat pieces about Mitt Romney, few have been as effusive as NewsMax, a conservative magazine based in West Palm Beach, Fla., with a discernible soft spot for the former governor and his wife.

None of the above  —  Bill offers voters a way to put action in dissatisfaction: force a new election  —  Massachusetts voters sick of holding their noses on Election Day could get another option: none of the above.  —  The proposal would let voters reject all candidates and demand a new election.

Poll: Most Support Iraq Timetable  —  CBS/NYT Poll: 61% Say Congress Shouldn't Fund War Without Timetable For Withdrawal  —  (CBS) While Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a Democratic bid to force a vote on U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq, a CBS News/New York Times poll finds a majority …

Steam Pipe Explosion Jolts Midtown; One Person Is Confirmed Dead  —  A view of the hole created by the explosion at Lexington Avenue near Grand Central Station.  (Photo: Peter Foley/European Pressphoto Agency) More Photographs  —  A steam pipe installed in 1924 ruptured in a thunderous explosion shortly …