Creators Syndicate - The American Library Association (ALA) has released its annual survey of offenses to "intellectual freedom," the books whose place in public schools and public libraries is the most "challenged" by the public. Leading that list for the second straight year is the children's book "And Tango Makes Three," about a penguin family with two daddies.
St. Andrews, Scotland - History Often provides an excuse for a party. In Europe and America, romantics are celebrating 1968. It seems that every hotel in Paris is booked for this month's festivities – even the Ritz. Anniversaries have a way of cleansing the past of unpleasantness.
In West Virginia, where Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama waged a quiet skirmish in their War Without End, the noisy ghosts of a political battle 48 years ago echoed through the Appalachian hollows.
It was the political equivalent of a roundhouse punch — a blow that was easy to see coming, but one that its intended target knew would do great damage if it landed.
Creators Syndicate - "I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on" than Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton has told USA TODAY.
WASHINGTON -- When they say, "It's not the money ..." -- it's the money!
Well, it looks like it's the end of the road for Hillary. Time for her to pack up her pantsuits and go back to ... wherever it is she's pretending to be living these days. Now we just have to get rid of the other two. Perhaps if I endorse Obama ...
WASHINGTON -- When I grew up, a long time ago, I wanted desperately to be a foreign correspondent. Names like Marrakech, Kashgar, Istanbul, Bali and Timbuktu rang like strange church bells in my ears, calling me forth to the worship of discovery. Foreign: That was what I was after. I was besotted with the exotic!
There is no argument in Washington that the Montgomery GI Bill has not kept pace with rising college costs — it provides for less than 70% of public tuitions and 30% of private — but there is debate on how to improve the benefit. That is where two Senate colleagues and fellow Vietnam War veterans — James Webb, D-Va., and John McCain, R-Ariz. — are at odds.
Creators Syndicate - "We'd rather not win than to have to do that," Cindy McCain told Ann Curry of the "Today" show, in response to a question about negative campaigning. "That's not worth winning for.
Boston - Silence is golden, goes the aphorism. But consider the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany. Instead of walking away from the Olympics, which would have removed any tacit approval of Hitler, leaving him less emboldened – possibly even changing the course of history – the world was silent.
Everyone who writes for a living or reads for pleasure has a pet peeve. My first city editor had a thing about "not only." He insisted that "not only" always had to be followed by "but also." Thousands of otherwise rational folks will never end a sentence with a preposition. I myself get cranky over "replica."
Before he became Russia's president last week, Dmitry Medvedev came across as less edgy than Vladimir Putin when talking about the West. Some Kremlin watchers thought this might mean a spring thaw in relations with the US and Europe. Now there's a case to test this theory.
NEW YORK--I argue with my friends. Some of them thought invading Iraq was a good idea.
Creators Syndicate - Sixty is pretty old for a country. Consider that by the time the United States was 60 (counting from the conclusion of the War of Independence), the year was 1843.
Some people think they have seen this campaign movie before.
Creators Syndicate - Remember when Mother's Day was a simple affair?
Creators Syndicate - "It's a recession," said former President Harry Truman, "when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours."
In late 2006, before this presidential election cycle picked up speed, conventional wisdom dictated that the winning campaign had to follow the model that then-Governor George W.
Whew! I'm certainly glad to hear the "snippets" from Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermons "in context."
Creators Syndicate - Is war with Iran inevitable, even imminent? Or is peace at hand?