North Korean Nuclear Claim Draws Global Criticism  —  SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea announced on Monday that it had successfully conducted its second nuclear test, in defiance of international warnings.  —  The dimensions of the test were not immediately verifiable.

State of Paralysis  —  California, it has long been claimed, is where the future happens first.  But is that still true?  If it is, God help America.  —  The recession has hit the Golden State hard.  The housing bubble was bigger there than almost anywhere else, and the bust has been bigger too.

Map the Fallen launched!  —  For the past two years I've been working on the Google Earth Outreach team, aimed at helping non-profits and public benefit groups use Google Earth and Google Maps to further their cause.  In that time I've worked on so many cool projects, from training indigenous communities …

An Extra Wreath for Obama on Memorial Day  —  ARLINGTON, Va. — President Obama observed Memorial Day on Monday just as his predecessors have: by placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier here.  But Mr. Obama added a new twist: he sent a second wreath to a memorial honoring African-Americans who fought in the Civil War.

Backlash grows against Obama's preventive detention proposal  —  (updated below - Update II)  —  The backlash against President Obama's extraordinary proposal for indefinite “preventive detention” — already widespread in the immediate aftermath of his speech — continues to grow.

Dear Donna: A Pinup So Swell She Kept G.I. Mail  —  “It has been a long time since any of us boys have seen a woman, so we are writing to you in hopes that you'll help us out of our situation,” Cpl. Frank J. Gizych lamented in a letter posted from the fog-shrouded Aleutian Islands.

Conservatives itching for SCOTUS fight  —  As Barack Obama prepares to nominate his first Supreme Court justice, conservative activists have three words for Senate Republicans: Lock and load.  —  While conservatives know that they can't defeat Obama's nominee without massive Democratic defections …

Happy Days Are Here Again  —  Buried Lede of the Day: From the tenth graf of a May 7 WSJ article on furniture retailer Design Within Reach: … Is that really true?  If so, a big deal, no? ...  And why?  Perspective?  Lower status anxiety?  Lower Iraq anxiety?  Obama?  The power of schadenfreude? ...

Speaker Gingrich?  —  At our editorial meeting this morning we were trying to reason our way through the renewed prominence and media omnipresence of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich — something that actually seems to happen every few years when the GOP starts taking on water.

ANOTHER ONE?.... Let's see, Liz Cheney practically lives on cable news.  She also lies routinely, accuses the president of helping terrorists, and is so mindless in her attacks on the nation's elected leadership, she's something of a national embarrassment.  —  And for Republican recruiters, apparently she's perfect.

Job Losses Push Safer Mortgages to Foreclosure  —  As job losses rise, growing numbers of American homeowners with once solid credit are falling behind on their mortgages, amplifying a wave of foreclosures.  —  In the latest phase of the nation's real estate disaster, the locus of trouble …

SINKING ANCHORS ANDERSON COOPER AND ROLAND MARTIN HOBBLE CNN  —  SINCE President Obama took office in January, CNN has seen its ratings drop.  And one reason has to do with Campbell Brown.  The host of “No Bias, No Bull” has been on maternity leave for the past month, and in her absence …

How Sean Penn won the war  —  OPINION/ANALYSIS  —  On this day in which Americans honor their war dead, perhaps a smidgen of our time should be spent reflecting on the unheralded and fearless wartime antics of Sean Penn.  —  Yes, that Sean Penn: Hollywood actor, director …

Obama's Center-Left Two-Step  —  How much longer can the president keep sending different messages to different audiences?  —  WASHINGTON—Bill Clinton tried to create a Third Way.  President Obama is doing it.  This is exciting, but also disconcerting.  —  Over the last week …