GOP Candidates Spar Over Conservatisim  —  Florida Debate Centers on Direction of GOP and Hillary Clinton  —  After two weeks of sparring at a distance out on the campaign trail, the Republican presidential hopefuls gathered in Florida for their most heated and intense debate of the year.

Resistance is Futile  —  October 22, 2007  —  Resistance is futile: You will be (mis)informed.  —  A gulf.  —  A gap.  —  A chasm.  —  A parallel universe.  —  All describe the bizarro-world contrast between what most Americans seem to think is happening in Iraq versus what is really happening in Iraq.

Finally Telling My Story  —  I'm Valerie Plame Wilson and I'm excited to be here and blog about my book Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House, which goes on sale Monday, Oct 22.  When my publisher sent me the finished copy earlier this week, it was thrilling.

Iraq and Turkey See Tensions Rise After Ambush  —  A brazen ambush by Kurdish militants that left at least 12 Turkish soldiers dead touched off a major escalation in Turkey-Iraq tensions on Sunday, bringing fears that Turkey would retaliate immediately by sending troops across the border into Iraq.

What NASA Won't Tell You  —  NASA commissioned a study of aviation safety through thousands of interviews with the people with a bird's-eye view of the industry — the pilots.  After conducting telephone interviews with 24,000 commercial and general aviation pilots from 2001 to 2005 …

Low Road to Splitsville  —  Right-Wing Publisher's Breakup Is Super-Rich In Tawdry Details  —  Looking for a perfect little weekend vacation this fall?  Here's a travel tip you don't hear very often: Head to Pittsburgh.  Right away.  —  Seriously, get in the car and read this story later …

Bloggers Without Borders...  Syria is a beautiful country- at least I think it is.  I say "I think" because while I perceive it to be beautiful, I sometimes wonder if I mistake safety, security and normalcy for 'beauty'.  In so many ways, Damascus is like Baghdad before the war- bustling streets …

Key Clinton Backer Rips Giuliani's Personal Life  —  Rep. Charles Rangel Apparently Refers to Giuliani as a 'Cheating Goddamn Husband'  —  Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., the dean of the New York congressional delegation, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, longtime political booster …

A Dearth of Taxes  —  President Bush considers himself a champion tax cutter, but all the leading Republican presidential candidates are eager to outdo him.  Their zeal is misguided.  This country's meager tax take puts its economic prospects at risk and leaves the government ill equipped to face the challenges from globalization.

Ain't That America  —  Think of America's greatest historical shames.  Most have involved the singling out of groups of people for abuse.  Name a distinguishing feature — skin color, religion, nationality, language — and it's likely that people here have suffered unjustly for it …

Stalin, Mao And ... Ahmadinejad?  —  Conservatives have become surprisingly charitable about two of history's greatest mass murderers.  —  At a meeting with reporters last week, President Bush said that "if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing …

Mortgage Security Bondholders Facing a Cutoff of Interest Payments  —  For all the pain in the mortgage market, investors who hold bonds backed by risky home loans have continued to receive their monthly interest payments — until now.  —  Collateralized debt obligations …