La. Pol's 'Buckwheat' Remark Sparks Ire  —  HOUMA, La. (AP) — A white state lawmaker in a runoff election called a black civil-rights veteran who had helped her campaign "Buckwheat," prompting the NAACP to urge voters to kick her out of office.  —  Rep. Carla Blanchard Dartez, a Democrat …

Panel May Cut Sentences For Crack  —  An independent panel is considering reducing the sentences of inmates incarcerated in federal prisons for crack cocaine offenses, which would make thousands of people immediately eligible to be freed.  —  The U.S. Sentencing Commission …

New Tancredo Ad Depicts Fictional Terrorist Attack  —  Tom Tancredo's new ad, set to run in Iowa — if any stations will accept it, that is — is a true original.  The ad depicts the dire consequences of our open borders through a dramatization of a fictitious terrorist attack in the middle of a shopping mall.

Giuliani Campaign Tries to Minimize Fallout From Kerik Indictment  —  Aides to former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani worked yesterday to bat down the perception that his bid for the Republican presidential nomination had suffered after Friday's indictment of Bernard B. Kerik, his longtime ally and former business partner.

Righting Reagan's Wrongs?  —  Let's set the record straight on Ronald Reagan's campaign kickoff in 1980.  —  Early one morning in the late spring of 1964, Dr. Carolyn Goodman, her husband, Robert, and their 17-year-old son, David, said goodbye to David's brother, Andrew, who was 20.

Gays should be hanged, says Iranian minister  —  Homosexuals deserve to be executed or tortured and possibly both, an Iranian leader told British MPs during a private meeting at a peace conference, The Times has learnt.  —  Mohsen Yahyavi is the highest-ranked politician to admit …

'Hidden Costs' Double Price Of Two Wars, Democrats Say  —  The economic costs to the United States of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan so far total approximately $1.5 trillion, according to a new study by congressional Democrats that estimates the conflicts' "hidden costs"— including higher oil prices …

CAN TEEN SEX PREVENT DELINQUENCY?  —  Discoveries of genetic differences between races are worrying intellectuals.  Benefits of finding differences: 1) It helps us understand diseases.  2) It helps people clarify their ancestry.  3) It helps us target drugs and prenatal tests to populations likely to benefit from them.

Dean says Jews can go to heaven  —  Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean came out for inclusive team prayers in public schools while speaking Sunday to a gathering of thousands of Jewish leaders, according to a leading Jewish news agency.  —  In another statement likely …

Student given question to ask Clinton: I just want honesty  —  GRINNELL, Iowa (CNN) — The college student who says she was told what question to ask at one of Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign events-and whose story in her campus newspaper has now made its way around the world-said Monday that …

Borders Adds TV Watching to Its Bookstores' Entertainment  —  Borders bookstores — with their cafes, toys and games and large displays of movies and music — have never exactly been confused with, say, university libraries.  —  A new strategy at Borders will reinforce the message that its stores …

Ron Paul's Prescience  —  Congressman Ron Paul: It just looks like we may well come to a '79, '80.  Do you anticipate there's a possibility that we'll face a crisis of the dollar such as we had in '79 and 1980?  Chairman Bernanke: "The Federal Reserve is committed to mainly low and stable inflation …

What Makes a Terrorist  —  It's not poverty and lack of education, according to economic research by Princeton's ALAN KRUEGER.  Look elsewhere.  —  In the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, policymakers, scholars, and ordinary citizens asked a key question …

Oxford Word of the Year  —  A lady from the Oxford University Press e-mailed today to inform me that the New Oxford American Dictionary has chosen its "Word of the Year."  I noted last year's winner: "Carbon neutral."  Well, this year, they've gone environmentally correct again.