Steve Gilliard, 1966-2007  —  I first started corresponding with Steve Gilliard in January of 2005 when he was embroiled in a battle with Jonah Goldberg over the Armstrong Williams kerfuffle.  I don't remember what it was that triggered the conversation (I probably read this and laughed …

Iraq's Curse: A Thirst for Final, Crushing Victory  —  PERHAPS no fact is more revealing about Iraq's history than this: The Iraqis have a word that means to utterly defeat and humiliate someone by dragging his corpse through the streets.  —  The word is "sahel," and it helps explain …

Zakaria: How to Restore America's Place in the World  —  What the world needs is an open, confident America.  —  Newsweek International  —  In the fall of 1982, I arrived in the United States as an 18-year-old student from India.  The country was in rough shape.

Democracy stuns Polish man 19 years in coma … WARSAW, Poland (Reuters) — A 65-year-old railwayman who fell into a coma following an accident in communist Poland regained consciousness 19 years later to find democracy and a market economy, Polish media reported on Saturday.

Exclusive: Putin threatens to target Europe with missiles  —  In an interview with the Globe and Mail, Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to target Europe with missiles, including potentially nuclear weapons, in a dramatic escalation of his Cold War-style showdown with the United States.

Al Qaeda in Lebanon  —  It was bound to happen sooner or later.  Al Qaeda has moved into Lebanon.  —  Fatah al-Islam terrorists in the Palestinian Nahr al-Bared refugee camp (which is an urban ghetto in Tripoli, not a tent city) are, reportedly, mostly not Palestinian.

Ron Paul is blowing up real good  —  The rambunctious GOP candidate wants to drag the U.S. out of Iraq, can the war on drugs, and overturn the Patriot Act.  No wonder Republican power brokers want to boot him off the stage.  —  Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas., answers a question during …

British Iraq pull-out plan  —  BRITISH commanders in Iraq have drawn up plans to allow Gordon Brown to withdraw almost all UK troops by the end of the year.  —  The British commander in southern Iraq, Major-General Jonathan Shaw, produced a "commander's tactical advice" several weeks ago, senior defence sources said last night.

Class-Action Firms Extend Reach to Global Rights Cases  —  The plaintiffs are thousands of boys from South Asia and Africa who say they were abducted, enslaved and forced to ride racing camels to entertain the rich in the Middle East.  The defendants live in the United Arab Emirates.

Arrested L.A. activist had aroused suspicions  —  NO GUNS founder faces firearms charges.  Some disbelieved his claim of leaving gang life behind.  —  Former 18th Street gang member Hector "Weasel" Marroquin for years was celebrated and rewarded for having turned his life around.

Bid to rescue the Claiborne issue  —  A public defender in St. Louis has urged the Supreme Court to find a way to decide in the current Term a significant issue about federal criminal sentencing law that was at stake in a case involving an individual who died last week.  The case is Claiborne v. U.S. (docket 06-5618).

Execution moratorium extended until fall at least  —  Judge wants to see death chamber and study procedures  —  California's 15-month-old moratorium on executions was extended at least until October on Friday to give a federal judge time to visit a planned new death chamber at San Quentin …