‘Oddball’ protrait emerges  —  Suspect's family, pals offer clues  —  As authorities searched for clues into what could have sent a University of Alabama neurobiology professor on an alleged killing spree, friends and family yesterday described Braintree native Amy Bishop as an awkward introvert …

Series of missteps by climate scientists threatens climate-change agenda  —  With its 2007 report declaring that the “warming of the climate system is unequivocal,” the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won a Nobel Prize — and a new degree of public trust in the controversial science of global warming.

Some Democrats keep distance from Obama  —  Aligning themselves too closely with the White House could be a strategic mistake ahead of the midterm election, they fear.  It's an approach that has the administration's tacit blessing.  —  Reporting from Washington - As President Obama's approval ratings sag …

Clinton says U.S. fears Iran is becoming a military dictatorship  —  DOHA, QATAR - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that the United States fears Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has gained enough power to potentially supplant the Tehran government.

UPDATED: Vice President Biden's motorcade involved in three-car crash  —  Vice President Biden's motorcade was involved in a three-car crash after leaving Vancouver, B.C. Thankfully the car Biden was in was not involved in the crash.  —  From CTV News: … UPDATE: Peggy Flemming and Vonetta Flowers received minor injuries:

Goldman Goes Rogue - Special European Audit To Follow  —  At 9:30pm on Sunday, September 21, 2008, Goldman Sachs was saved from imminent collapse by the announcement that the Federal Reserve would allow it to become a bank holding company - implying unfettered access to borrowing from the Fed …

A lethal business model targets Middle America  —  Sugar cane farmers from a tiny Mexican county use savvy marketing and low prices to push black-tar heroin in the United States.  —  First Of Three Parts  —  Immigrants from an obscure corner of Mexico are changing heroin use in many parts of America.

Taliban Fighters Said to Flee Under Coalition Pressure  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — A large number of Taliban fighters have fled the city of Marja, their former stronghold in Helmand Province under pressure from United States and Afghan forces and may have crossed the border into Pakistan, the Afghan interior minister said on Monday.

Politicians as News Analysts Raise Questions on Their Goal  —  Sarah Palin.  Mike Huckabee.  Newt Gingrich.  —  Today, that is a list of paid Fox News political analysts.  Two years from now, it could be a list of Republican presidential candidates.  —  A former Fox analyst …

U.S. hunts for English-speaking bombers  —  Christmas Day bomb suspect reveals plot  —  U.S. and allied counterterrorism authorities have launched a global manhunt for English-speaking terrorists trained in Yemen who are planning attacks on the United States, based on intelligence provided …

Atlanta Anti-Abortion Billboards Cause Controversy, Say Black Children Are An “Endangered Species”  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  ATLANTA — The message on dozens of billboards across the city is provocative: Black children are an “endangered species.”  —  The eyebrow-raising ads featuring …

Fred Thompson to release memoir  —  Former GOP Sen. Fred Thompson has written a memoir about his small-town childhood that will be released this May.  —  “Teaching the Pig to Dance” recounts the movie star-turned-politician's 50s-era upbringing in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee.

How Credible Is The Paul Ryan Budget?  —  My view is that Ryan is far preferable to the total fraudulence of phony fiscal conservatives like Glenn Reynolds or Sarah Palin or the Tea Party “Government Out Of Medicare!”  Movement.  At least it opens up a more honest debate in a way the propagandists …

U.S. Housing Aid Winds Down, and Cities Worry  —  ELKHART, Ind. — Over the next six months, the federal government plans to wind down many of its emergency programs for housing.  Then it will become clear if the market can function on its own.  —  People here are pretty sure the answer will be no.

Our human rights v. The Others  —  Ten American Baptists were arrested two weeks ago in Haiti on charges that they exploited the chaos in that country by attempting to smuggle 33 young Haitian children across the border without permission — either to bring them to a life of Christianity or …