La. Pol's 'Buckwheat' Remark Sparks Ire  —  HOUMA, La. (AP) — A white state lawmaker in a runoff election called a black civil-rights veteran who had helped her campaign "Buckwheat," prompting the NAACP to urge voters to kick her out of office.  —  Rep. Carla Blanchard Dartez, a Democrat …

Democrats zero for 40 on Iraq  —  As the congressional session lurches toward a close, Democrats are confronting some demoralizing arithmetic on Iraq.  —  The numbers tell a story of political and substantive paralysis more starkly than most members are willing to acknowledge publicly, or perhaps even to themselves.

Voters dismiss 'piling on' charge  —  Most Americans reject the charge that other presidential candidates are "piling on" Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to a new Fox 5/The Washington Times/Rasmussen Reports poll.  —  Only 25 percent of voters said recent criticism …

'Hidden Costs' Double Price Of Two Wars, Democrats Say  —  The economic costs to the United States of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan so far total approximately $1.5 trillion, according to a new study by congressional Democrats that estimates the conflicts' "hidden costs"— including higher oil prices …

Panel May Cut Sentences For Crack  —  An independent panel is considering reducing the sentences of inmates incarcerated in federal prisons for crack cocaine offenses, which would make thousands of people immediately eligible to be freed.  —  The U.S. Sentencing Commission …

Giuliani Campaign Tries to Minimize Fallout From Kerik Indictment  —  Aides to former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani worked yesterday to bat down the perception that his bid for the Republican presidential nomination had suffered after Friday's indictment of Bernard B. Kerik, his longtime ally and former business partner.

Gays should be hanged, says Iranian minister  —  Homosexuals deserve to be executed or tortured and possibly both, an Iranian leader told British MPs during a private meeting at a peace conference, The Times has learnt.  —  Mohsen Yahyavi is the highest-ranked politician to admit …

Righting Reagan's Wrongs?  —  Let's set the record straight on Ronald Reagan's campaign kickoff in 1980.  —  Early one morning in the late spring of 1964, Dr. Carolyn Goodman, her husband, Robert, and their 17-year-old son, David, said goodbye to David's brother, Andrew, who was 20.

What Makes a Terrorist  —  It's not poverty and lack of education, according to economic research by Princeton's ALAN KRUEGER.  Look elsewhere.  —  In the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, policymakers, scholars, and ordinary citizens asked a key question …

Fatah members rounded up in Gaza  —  Hamas says it has rounded up dozens of Fatah activists in Gaza, a day after a huge rally commemorating Yasser Arafat ended in gunfire killing seven people.  —  Witnesses say security forces opened fire on unarmed crowds after the rally turned into a protest …

McCain asks donors not to contribute to shadow group  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Monday asked his donors not to contribute any money to a group in South Carolina said to be running ads on his behalf.  —  In a letter to donors, McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis said the Foundation …

Self-Reliance for the Good of Others  —  At a time of great difficulty for Republicans, one might think that self-reliance, long a hallmark of the Grand Old Party, would fall out of favor with the American people.  It would be fair to suspect that Americans might look around and …

CAN TEEN SEX PREVENT DELINQUENCY?  —  Discoveries of genetic differences between races are worrying intellectuals.  Benefits of finding differences: 1) It helps us understand diseases.  2) It helps people clarify their ancestry.  3) It helps us target drugs and prenatal tests to populations likely to benefit from them.

Creative Destruction  —  The best case against universal health care.  —  More than a decade ago, Michael Kinsley, the journalist and former editor of this magazine, developed Parkinson's disease—a degenerative condition that impairs motor and speech control, producing tremors, rigidity, and eventually severe disability.