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.

Report Says Iran Has Data to Make a Nuclear Bomb  —  Senior staff members of the United Nations nuclear agency have concluded in a confidential analysis that Iran has acquired “sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable” atom bomb.  —  The report by experts …

The Rabbit Ragu Democrats  —  IN the annals of American excess, there often arrives a moment when those with too much money, too much clout and too much hubris just can't stop themselves from tempting the fates.  They throw an over-the-top party in public, or parade their wealth and power before the press …

Socialism and Christian-Bashing Crash at Box Office  —  Tough times for leftie Hollywood.  Nothing's gone right this week.  None of this is their fault, of course.  In order to understand that it might not be a good idea to rally around a child rapist, bash religion in a religious country …

Eight U.S. Troops Die in Attack on Afghan Outpost  —  Firing rockets and rifles, Taliban militiamen attacked American and Afghan military outposts in a daylong siege on Saturday that killed eight U.S. soldiers and two Afghan security forces in one of the deadliest battles in months, according to U.S. and Afghan officials.

Saturday Night At The Movies  —  Let fiefdom ring  —  By Dennis Hartley … -Billy Bragg  —  So it's not just me.  A few months ago, in my review of Public Enemies, I wrote: … For the opening credits of his latest sock-it-to-mentary, Capitalism: A Love Story, Michael Moore runs …

A Smarter (and Cost-Efficient) Way to Fight Crime  —  LAW enforcement policy in the United States rests implicitly on the “rational actor” model of traditional economics, which holds that people take only those actions whose benefits exceed their costs.  —  This model says that crime …

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 …

Army chief warns of ‘terrifying prospect’ of failure in Afghanistan  —  The head of the British Army, General Sir David Richards, has issued a wake-up call to the public by warning of the “terrifying prospect” of a defeat in Afghanistan.  —  In an unprecedented intervention …

Irving Kristol saved the right from intellectual bankruptcy in the '60s.  Who will save it now?  —  The passing of Irving Kristol last month at the age of 89 coincided with the death, at a much younger age, of the intellectually serious conservatism he did so much to foster.

Garofalo: Led by Limbaugh, ‘Tea-Baggers’ a ‘White Power Movement’ Motivated by ‘Racism’  —  “Actress/activist” Janeane Garofalo used another media appearance to smear anti-Obama protesters as racists, this time, Friday night on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, insisting “it's obvious to anybody …

Ireland Votes for A Stronger E.U.  —  Henry Kissinger once famously asked, “Who do I call if I want to call Europe?”  The answer, thanks to the Irish, may soon be the president of Europe.  —  Irish voters have removed the single greatest barrier to regionwide adoption of the Lisbon Treaty …

CONSERVATIVES' OLYMPIC GLEE CONTINUES.... It seems likely that conservative delight over the International Olympic Committee awarding the 2016 games to Rio will fade rather quickly.  There's just not much to keep their joy going — the United States sought the Olympics, made it to the final round, but came up short.