Russia Says It Has Ordered Halt to Georgia Military Action  —  MOSCOW — President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia announced Tuesday that he had ordered a halt to his country's military operation in Georgia, although he did not say that troops were pulling out and he insisted that Russian forces …

‘Snake Oil’  —  Debunking three ‘truths’ about offshore drilling  —  THE NATURAL Resources Defense Council Action Fund has taken out full-page ads in this newspaper and others to decry offshore drilling for oil as “George W. Bush's Gasoline Price Elixir” that is “100% Snake Oil.”

In a Changing Corner of Pa., a Glimpse of Obama's Age Problem  —  LANCASTER, Pa. — When Gene Rutherford, 65, tries to make sense of the meteoric rise of Barack Obama, and the rampant enthusiasm for him among younger Americans, he thinks of the local mall, where as director of operations he often deals with teenagers.

Harmony and the Dream  —  The world can be divided in many ways — rich and poor, democratic and authoritarian — but one of the most striking is the divide between the societies with an individualist mentality and the ones with a collectivist mentality.  —  This is a divide that goes deeper …

Edwards Took Mistress on 2006 Presidential Announcement Tour  —  Well, you gotta give him one thing: the man has chutzpah.  —  Photographs distributed by wire services and posted online by technology blogger Robert Scoble show that former North Carolina senator John Edwards took …

Pelosi indicates openness to offshore drilling vote  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday night dropped her staunch opposition to a vote on offshore oil drilling in the House.  —  Republicans, reacting to high gas prices, have demanded a vote on additional oil exploration in the Outer Continental Shelf …

Indiana Senator Offers Obama Risks and Rewards  —  WASHINGTON — As the Senate debate on the use of force against Iraq neared its climax in October 2002, Senator John McCain turned on the floor to Senator Evan Bayh to ask what had led him to take such “a visible, as well as important” …

“99 Percent”  —  The National Enquirer promises more; from Larry King last night: … When something like this happens, I really don't understand why the guy doesn't just get out of the picture.  You made a mistake.  It's a bummer for you — and maybe even cruel that it's come out, but it has.

Enthusiasm gap plagues GOP convention  —  While excitement is building for a Democratic Party convention capped by Barack Obama's historic acceptance speech before a sold-out, 75,000-seat football stadium, the GOP convention the following week is shaping up to be a considerably more staid affair …

Jim Leach endorsing Obama  —  According to a source in the Obama campaign, former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach — a Republican — will be endorsing Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama this morning.  Leach, as you may recall, lost his bid for re-election in 2006 after three decades …

Penn in December 2007 on Plan for Two-Way Race Against Obama: “Release the Tapes”  —  In a December 30, 2007 memo written on the eve of the Iowa caucuses, Mark Penn writes to his fellow Clinton staffers that after the caucuses, if Obama “is riding a high we will have to take him down.”

New McCain Web Ad: “Hot Chicks Dig Obama”  —  The latest McCain Web ad takes the “Celeb” tag to a whole new low — it proclaims that “Hot chicks dig Obama”:  —  “We know he doesn't have much experience, and isn't ready to lead, but that doesn't mean he isn't dreamy,” says the announcer …

Negative ads: They really do work  —  Clever negative advertising works.  That is reality.  —  The tactic meets with media and pundit disapproval and spawns accusations of negativity, but the reality is that a clever negative ad can be devastatingly effective.

PA rejects Olmert's offer to withdraw from 93% of West Bank  —  Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday rejected an Israeli peace proposal, which included withdrawal from 93 percent of the West Bank, because it does not provide for a contiguous Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

The War in Iraq Is Over.  What Next?  —  The war I witnessed for more than five years in Iraq is over.  In July, there were five American fatalities in Iraq, the lowest since the war began in March 2003.  In Mosul recently, I chatted with shopkeepers on the same corner where last January a Humvee was blown apart in front of me.