What I've Learned  —  Nearly 50 years ago, when I arrived in Minnesota as a student fresh from Africa, I had much to learn — starting with the fact that there is nothing wimpish about wearing earmuffs when it is 15 degrees below zero.  All my life since has been a learning experience.

Rapturous reception for Obama  —  Americans want new kind of leadership, Illinois senator says during visit  —  llinois Sen. Barack Obama made his first visit to New Hampshire yesterday, drawing the kinds of crowds and news media attention usually reserved for a sitting president or a presidential nominee.

Diana was bugged by secret service in U.S.  —  American intelligence agencies were bugging Princess Diana's telephone over her relationship with a US billionaire, the Mail's sister paper has learned.  —  Evening Standard reports that she was even forced to abandon a planned holiday with her sons …

Hamas confirms meeting with group of Democrats  —  Leader claims U.S. party willing to hold dialogue with terrorists  —  TEL AVIV - A key Hamas official has confirmed reports from last week the terror group held meetings with "important Democrats."  —  Ahmed Yousuf, chief political advisor …

Pelosi piques public's interest  —  As incoming head of the House, with more eyes on her, she intends to paint her own picture.  —  WASHINGTON — When Nancy Pelosi appeared on national television on the morning after voters returned the House to Democratic hands, Leon Rebibo's phone started ringing in Los Angeles.

Seeking Iran Intelligence, U.S. Tries Google  —  Internet Search Yields Names Cited in U.N. Draft Resolution  —  When the State Department recently asked the CIA for names of Iranians who could be sanctioned for their involvement in a clandestine nuclear weapons program, the agency refused …

LOOKING BACK.  In fall 2006, the United States turned on the NeoCommentators.  Their smug, wrongheaded chatter had helped lead the country into a catastrophic war and then, without missing a beat, turned to condemn those who sought to end it.  Infuriated, readers nationwide began agitating …

Clinton makes S.A. stop to stir Rodriguez crowd  —  In a hot, crowded gymnasium Sunday, former President Clinton sought to wind up supporters of Democrat Ciro Rodriguez enough to unseat Rep. Henry Bonilla and strengthen the Democratic Party's hold on Congress.

Iran students heckle Ahmadinejad  —  Iranian students have disrupted a speech by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a prestigious Tehran university, setting fire to his picture and heckling him.  —  "Some students chanted radical slogans and inflamed the atmosphere of the meeting" …

Good News, Everybody: We've Got a New Iraq Slogan!  —  Not surprisingly, the Bush administration is already backing away from most of the proposals put forth by the Iraq Study Group.  The New York Times, with unintended comic irony, noted it this way: "Administration officials …

Cow 'emissions' more damaging to planet than CO2 from cars  —  Meet the world's top destroyer of the environment.  It is not the car, or the plane,or even George Bush: it is the cow.  —  A United Nations report has identified the world's rapidly growing herds of cattle as the greatest threat to the climate, forests and wildlife.

Suckers  —  I usually write about the lack of humor that exists in the right wing blogosphere, but this is truly hysterical.  How can John Carroll look himself in the mirror after being suckered into producing this film—using a satirical post by Jerome?  It's easy to be fooled when your motives aren't very clean.

Wanted: A Strong Wooden Stake and Several Garlic Bulbs  —  Those are some of the tools that are necessary to ensure that a vampire is really dead.  As one has died today and his truly vile regime was responsible for the deaths of thousands, the torture of many more thousands …

Outbreaks Reveal Food Safety Net's Holes  —  Produce Growers Balk At Calls for Regulation  —  First it was spinach.  Then tomatoes.  Now possibly green onions.  —  Over the past three months, fresh produce has been the culprit in one episode of food-borne illness after another …

For Iraq's Sunnis, Conflict Closes In  —  Mixed Neighborhoods Unravel as Shiite Militiamen Expand Violence  —  A few blocks from Ali Farouk's three-story home, an empty house provides a glimpse of what he fears will be the future.  Once owned by a Sunni Muslim, the paint is peeling, the windows are blown out.

Imams seek to settle with airline  —  A group of Muslim imams is seeking an out-of-court settlement with US Airways, saying they should not have been removed from a Minnesota-to-Phoenix flight last month and were not behaving suspiciously.  —  Five of the six Islamic religious leaders …

GOP alienation marks turnabout for Bush  —  Dissent and calls for checks on the president have mushroomed since the party lost Congress in the midterm election.  —  WASHINGTON — President Bush, weakened by an unpopular war and the loss of Republican control in Congress …

Iraqi exodus could test Bush policy  —  Total expected to exceed quota for refugees  —  WASHINGTON — Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have fled their homeland are likely to seek refugee status in the United States, humanitarian groups said, putting intense pressure on the Bush administration …

2008 hopefuls woo Bush clan donors, aides  —  McCain, Romney seek edge that family's GOP network could provide.  —  WASHINGTON — With the Bushes preparing to stand down from a quarter century in top elected offices, a frenzied competition has erupted in the Republican Party over who will inherit …

Inquiry Sought Over Evangelical Video  —  Defense Department Asked to Examine Officers' Acts Supporting Christian Group  —  A military watchdog group is asking the Defense Department to investigate whether seven Army and Air Force officers violated regulations by appearing in uniform …