FBI Provided Inaccurate Data for Surveillance Warrants  —  FBI agents repeatedly provided inaccurate information to win secret court approval of surveillance warrants in terrorism and espionage cases, prompting officials to tighten controls on the way the bureau uses that powerful anti-terrorism tool …

Senate war bill features $20B in pork  —  WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Like their counterparts in the House, the Senate has larded its version of an "emergency" war spending bill with nearly $20 billion in pork-barrel outlays, including $100 million for the two major political parties' 2008 presidential conventions.

McCain-Feingold: Five Years of Failure  —  Five years ago today, President Bush signed into law the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.  Today, American politics is so clean you could eat off it — except for the mud-slinging, back-scratching, favor-trading, influence-peddling, bald-faced lying, indictments, and convictions.

Tests Show Snow's Cancer Has Returned  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - Presidential spokesman Tony Snow's surgery to remove a small growth showed that his cancer has returned, the White House said Tuesday.  —  Snow, 51, had his colon removed in 2005 and underwent six months of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with colon cancer.

Rice floats idea of Middle-East super summit  —  Photograph by : Associated Press/Murad Sezer  —  JERUSALEM - The emerging goal of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's recent shuttle diplomacy has created conditions that may make it possible to convene a Middle East peace super summit involving Israel …

Plea of Guilty From Detainee in Guantánamo  —  In the first conviction of a Guantánamo detainee before a military commission, an Australian who was trained by Al Qaeda pleaded guilty here Monday to providing material support to a terrorist organization.

The Thompson factor  —  Our latest weekend USA Today/Gallup poll is full of interesting insights into American public opinion.  Tops among them may be the changing landscape of the Republican primary field.  —  Of course it's early and much can change.  But, as I noted here, that's the point.

Obama's Back Story  —  While I was whiling away my youth as an insurance investigator — yes, yes, Cohen of Claims — I met the lovely Penny, a wise and beautiful woman who utterly changed my life.  She invited me to her family's summer place at the beach.  The old house had a screened-in porch …

Insurgents report a split with Al Qaeda in Iraq  —  The U.S. hopes to take advantage of the Sunni rebel schism, which has resulted in combat in some areas.  —  BAGHDAD — Insurgent leaders and Sunni Arab politicians say divisions between insurgent groups and Al Qaeda in Iraq have widened …

How Bush helped the GOP commit suicide  —  Democrats should give two cheers for George W. Bush.  He and his political mastermind, Karl Rove, dreamed of achieving a permanent Republican majority.  Instead, his disastrous presidency has dealt a devastating blow to the GOP, one from which it may not recover for many years.

Fooling the College Board  —  In the 1930's, American businesses were locked in a fierce economic competition with Russian merchants for fear that their communist philosophies would dominate American markets.  As a result, American competition drove the country into an economic depression …

Democrat Proposes Making Withdrawal Date Secret  —  Only Congress, White House and Iraqi Government Would Know Plan  —  In one of the more unusual proposals to emerge in the Senate debate on Iraq withdrawal, Sen. Mark Pryor wants to keep any plans for bringing troops home a secret.

Poll backs subpoenas of Bush aides  —  WASHINGTON — Americans overwhelmingly support a congressional investigation into White House involvement in the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, and they say President Bush and his aides should answer questions about it without invoking executive privilege.

U.S. Long Worried Iran Supplied Weapons in Iraq  —  More than 20 months ago, the United States secretly sent Iran a diplomatic protest charging that Tehran was supplying lethal roadside explosive devices to Shiite extremists in Iraq, according to American officials familiar with the message.

Heat Invades Cool Heights Over Arizona Desert  —  SUMMERHAVEN, Ariz. — High above the desert floor, this little alpine town has long served as a natural air-conditioned retreat for people in Tucson, one of the so-called sky islands of southern Arizona.  When it is 105 degrees in the city …

Webb Aide Tried To Take Gun Into Senate Building, Capitol Police Say  —  A top aide to Sen. James Webb was charged yesterday with trying to carry a loaded pistol and extra ammunition into a Senate office building, U.S. Capitol Police said.  —  The staffer, Phillip Thompson …