A Political Force With Many Philosophies  —  Survey of Independents, Who Could Be Key in 2008, Finds Attitudes From Partisan to Apathetic  —  Fred Wood, a Marietta, Ohio, retiree, voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and John F. Kerry in 2004.  In last year's midterm elections, he voted Republican for Senate and Democratic for governor.

Why Winston Wouldn't Stand For W  —  George W. Bush always wanted to be like a wartime British prime ministers.  He is.  But it's not the one he had in mind.  —  President Bush's favorite role model is, famously, Jesus, but Winston Churchill is close behind.

Centenary a modern sci-fi giant  —  PRINCE WILLIAM County—When Robert A. Heinlein opened his Colorado Springs newspaper on April 5, 1958, he read a full-page ad demanding that the Eisenhower administration stop testing nuclear weapons.  The science-fiction author was flabbergasted.

Bless the Beasts and Children  —  Where did they go?  —  On 29 June, American and Iraqi soldiers were again fighting side-by-side as soldiers from Charley Company 1-12 CAV, led by Captain Clayton Combs, and Iraqi soldiers from the 5th IA, closed in on a village on the outskirts of Baqubah.

Blair launches stinging attack on 'absurd' British Islamists  —  Tony Blair has launched a powerful attack on 'absurd' British Islamists who have nurtured a false 'sense of grievance' that they are being oppressed by Britain and the United States.  —  In his most outspoken remarks on Islamists …

Gangsta rap on death row as the US tunes out  —  To judge by their lyrics, gangsta rappers are adept at seeing off rivals with a bullet and their women with a slap.  —  But America's rappers are now trapped in a corner they don't seem able to shoot their way out of, with either weapons or words.

Roswell aliens theory revived by deathbed confession  —  EXACTLY 60 years ago, a light aircraft was flying over the Cascade Mountains in Washington State, at a height of around 3000m.  —  Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light illuminated the aircraft.  —  Visibility was good and as pilot …

Our Biotech Future  —  1.  —  It has become part of the accepted wisdom to say that the twentieth century was the century of physics and the twenty-first century will be the century of biology.  Two facts about the coming century are agreed on by almost everyone.

Waiters join the war on drugs as cocaine use soars in Spain  —  Madrid has unveiled its latest weapon in the war on drugs: the humble Spanish waiter.  —  Alarmed by soaring cocaine use, the Spanish Government plans to train waiters and barmen in the subtle art of spotting punters who may be using the lavatories too often.

Obama tops $30 million in second quarter  —  ABC News' George Stephanopoulos Reports: A source close to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., says his presidential campaign raised more than $30 million during the second quarter, which ended yesterday.  —  That figure tops Obama's haul during …

Moving Beyond Kyoto  —  WE — the human species — have arrived at a moment of decision.  It is unprecedented and even laughable for us to imagine that we could actually make a conscious choice as a species, but that is nevertheless the challenge that is before us.  —  Our home — Earth — is in danger.

4 Held in Scottish Attack as British See Broader Plot  —  British officials raised the country's terrorism threat alert to its highest level on Saturday after two men slammed an S.U.V. into entrance doors at Glasgow Airport and turned the vehicle into a potentially lethal fireball.

Things Fall Apart  —  Why the center didn't hold on immigration.  —  The what-ifs in the sudden death of immigration reform are intriguing.  What if Senate majority leader Harry Reid hadn't pulled the immigration bill from the floor when it was close to passage in early June?

Perspective on Her Side, Mrs. Edwards Enters Fray  —  Three months after Elizabeth Edwards said that her cancer had returned in inoperable form, her role and influence in John Edwards's presidential campaign is undiminished.  She has made a flurry of charged public appearances …

Bush Is Told to Justify Executive Privilege  —  The chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary committees yesterday ratcheted up their fight with President Bush over documents on the firing of U.S. attorneys, sending the White House a barbed letter demanding that the president back down from a claim …

Our First Dog - Seamus  —  Mitt and I love our dogs.  Seamus was our first—an Irish setter.  When I wasn't at home, Mitt let him sleep on the bed.  And usually when he was riding in the car, his head was out the window.  Seamus lived to a ripe old age, basking in the affection of a large family.