Steve Gilliard, 1966-2007  —  I first started corresponding with Steve Gilliard in January of 2005 when he was embroiled in a battle with Jonah Goldberg over the Armstrong Williams kerfuffle.  I don't remember what it was that triggered the conversation (I probably read this and laughed …

Iraq's Curse: A Thirst for Final, Crushing Victory  —  PERHAPS no fact is more revealing about Iraq's history than this: The Iraqis have a word that means to utterly defeat and humiliate someone by dragging his corpse through the streets.  —  The word is "sahel," and it helps explain …

Zakaria: How to Restore America's Place in the World  —  What the world needs is an open, confident America.  —  Newsweek International  —  In the fall of 1982, I arrived in the United States as an 18-year-old student from India.  The country was in rough shape.

Exclusive: Putin threatens to target Europe with missiles  —  In an interview with the Globe and Mail, Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to target Europe with missiles, including potentially nuclear weapons, in a dramatic escalation of his Cold War-style showdown with the United States.

Al Qaeda in Lebanon  —  It was bound to happen sooner or later.  Al Qaeda has moved into Lebanon.  —  Fatah al-Islam terrorists in the Palestinian Nahr al-Bared refugee camp (which is an urban ghetto in Tripoli, not a tent city) are, reportedly, mostly not Palestinian.

Democracy stuns Polish man 19 years in coma … WARSAW, Poland (Reuters) — A 65-year-old railwayman who fell into a coma following an accident in communist Poland regained consciousness 19 years later to find democracy and a market economy, Polish media reported on Saturday.

Dick Cheney Rules  —  Americans are accustomed to Vice President Dick Cheney's waiting out a terrorist threat in a "secure undisclosed location."  Now it seems that Mr. Cheney wears the cloak of invisibility in secure disclosed locations.  —  The Associated Press reported …

Ron Paul is blowing up real good  —  The rambunctious GOP candidate wants to drag the U.S. out of Iraq, can the war on drugs, and overturn the Patriot Act.  No wonder Republican power brokers want to boot him off the stage.  —  Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas., answers a question during …

What 'Support Our Troops' Entails  —  Whenever and however American troops withdraw from Iraq, a flood of wounded and psychologically damaged veterans will present the nation for decades to come with costly needs that already are overwhelming government services.

Arrested L.A. activist had aroused suspicions  —  NO GUNS founder faces firearms charges.  Some disbelieved his claim of leaving gang life behind.  —  Former 18th Street gang member Hector "Weasel" Marroquin for years was celebrated and rewarded for having turned his life around.

Class-Action Firms Extend Reach to Global Rights Cases  —  The plaintiffs are thousands of boys from South Asia and Africa who say they were abducted, enslaved and forced to ride racing camels to entertain the rich in the Middle East.  The defendants live in the United Arab Emirates.

Bid to rescue the Claiborne issue  —  A public defender in St. Louis has urged the Supreme Court to find a way to decide in the current Term a significant issue about federal criminal sentencing law that was at stake in a case involving an individual who died last week.  The case is Claiborne v. U.S. (docket 06-5618).