Pope Apologizes for Uproar Over His Remarks  —  Pope Benedict XVI sought Sunday to extinguish days of anger and protest among Muslims by issuing an extraordinary personal apology for having caused offense with a speech last week that cited a reference to Islam as "evil and inhuman."

A very rushed post  —  Just outside Westminster Cathedral today...  I thought I'd refrain from posting anything substantial about this uproar about the Pope's speech, since I'm sure other bloggers can put things more eloquently than me.  ( here and here and here : "If the Pope does not appear …

Senators Seek Compromise on Terror Cases  —  The Bush administration and three prominent Republican senators opposing its effort to codify broad standards for terror-detainee treatment gave signs of seeking compromise today, as both sides face intense political pressures over their positions.

Sweden's Governing Party Voted Out After 12 Years  —  Sweden swept away 12 years of center-left government on Sunday, voting to reject its longtime prime minister, Goran Persson, in favor of a conservative candidate who has pledged to revise the Swedish welfare state.

The Path to Hysteria  —  My sin was to write a screenplay accurately depicting Bill Clinton's record on terrorism.  —  I am neither an activist, politician or partisan, nor an ideologue of any stripe.  What I am is a writer who takes his job very seriously, as do most of my colleagues …

Major Problems At Polls Feared  —  Some Officials Say Voting Law Changes And New Technology Will Cause Trouble  —  An overhaul in how states and localities record votes and administer elections since the Florida recount battle six years ago has created conditions that could trigger a repeat …

Washington Whispers  —  A father's influence on his son can be incredible, from shaping a boy's outlook on life to the tiny, seemingly unimportant things like choosing between Bic and Sharpie.  That's certainly been the case in the Bush family, where President Bush has sometimes gone Texas-big with his dad's lessons.

Gore's 2008 Plans May Become Clearer After Release of Book  —  Although saying he has no plans to run for president in 2008, former vice president Al Gore has nonetheless left the door ever so slightly ajar.  It's a good bet that door will swing open a good bit wider come next May.

The First Refuge Of The Scoundrel  —  I've been a little loathe to enter the furor over Ann Althouse's repulsive smear of Jessica, if only because Althouse's point was so self-evidently cruel and unfair that it seemed unworthy of further publicity.  But PZ Myers' post reminds me that there's a larger issue at stake.

BUSH BASHING PIG HITS MADISON SQUARE GARDEN  —  ROGER WATERS [PINK FLOYD] CONCERT TOUR HITS NORTH AMERICA AND NYC WITH FLYING PIGS, URGING DEM VOTES IN ELECTION, 'IMPEACH BUSH' WRITTEN ON REAR OF PIG FLOATING OVER AUDIENCE... One concertgoer writes: 'Seeing Bush's name written across the pig's arse made me howl'... The pig had graffiti.

U.S. war prisons legal vacuum for 14,000  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq - In the few short years since the first shackled Afghan shuffled off to Guantanamo, the U.S. military has created a global network of overseas prisons, its islands of high security keeping 14,000 detainees beyond the reach of established law.

How Stock Options Muddle The Relationship Among Wages, Corporate Profits and Inflation  —  Scorekeepers at the Commerce Department last month discovered that American workers were earning far more than previously estimated — and that created an economic puzzle.

Hewlett Review Is Said to Detail Deeper Spying  —  A secret investigation of news leaks at Hewlett-Packard was more elaborate than previously reported, and almost from the start involved the illicit gathering of private phone records and direct surveillance of board members and journalists …

The Liberals' War  —  Why is the left afraid to face up to the threat of radical Islam? … Here's a puzzle: Why is it so frequently the case that the people who have the most at stake in the battle against Islamic extremism and the most to lose when Islamism gains—namely, liberals—are typically the most reluctant to fight it?