What I Saw at the Afghan Election  —  Before firing me last week from my post as his deputy special representative in Afghanistan, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon conveyed one last instruction: Do not talk to the press.  In effect, I was being told to remain a team player after being thrown off the team.

Will it be America's first failed state?  —  Los Angeles, 2009: California may be the eighth largest economy in the world, but its state staff are being paid in IOUs, unemployment is at its highest in 70 years, and teachers are on hunger strike.  So what has gone so catastrophically wrong?

Associate Producer of Polanski Documentary Spams This Blog With Multiple Anonymous Comments Attacking Me?  —  That's certainly what the evidence suggests to me.  Looks like I touched a nerve, huh?  —  Tonight the following comment started to appear on every single post I have written about Roman Polanski.

‘I take exception’ to McCain's remark, Jones says  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - A top military adviser to President Barack Obama said Sunday that politics does not play any role in the advice he gives to the president.  —  Last week, Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, the former Republican presidential hopeful …

Nobody is applauding as Hollywood premieres Polanski defense  —  Roman Polanski anally raped a 13-year old girl.  After plying her with Quaaludes and champagne wasn't enough to make her succumb to his charms, he ignored her protests and did what he wanted.  —  This was not a consensual affair, or a misunderstood romance.

The case against Charlie Rangel  —  Forty years of tax evasion, misdeeds and contempt  —  On April 9, 1965, a 34-year-old lawyer named Charles Rangel took out a low-interest mortgage to renovate his childhood home — a row house on West 132nd Street that he had just inherited from his grandfather.

Kristol Compares Obama's Olympics Pitch To ‘George W. Bush-Like’ Bullying  —  Conservatives have been bashing President Obama for the past week over his decision to personally go to Copenhagen to boost America's pitch for the 2016 Olympics.  When the International Olympics Committee eliminated Chicago …

Notes About Bias, From Opposite Points of View  —  LAST Sunday's column about the coverage of Acorn prompted nearly 400 messages and online comments from readers, some convinced that The Times is suppressing news that might damage liberals, and others equally convinced that The Times is about to cave in to extremists on the right.

‘Meet the Press’ transcript for October 4, 2009  —  MR. DAVID GREGORY: This Sunday, the challenges weighing on the White House at home and abroad.  In Afghanistan, will the president commit to more troops for the war as his commander on the ground wants?  Iran, will talks push that country to give up its nuclear weapons program?

E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Ground Beef Inspection  —  Stephanie Smith, a children's dance instructor, thought she had a stomach virus.  The aches and cramping were tolerable that first day, and she finished her classes.  —  Then her diarrhea turned bloody.  Her kidneys shut down.

Health care reform: Privately, Barack Obama strongly backs public option  —  White House discreetly labors to weave coalition on health care  —  WASHINGTON - — Despite months of seeming ambivalence about creating a government health insurance plan, the Obama White House has launched …