Obama, Gates and the American Black Man  —  Providence, R.I.  —  IN a speech delivered earlier this year, during Black History Month, Attorney General Eric Holder drew headlines by criticizing the tenor of public discourse on race.  “Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot …

What You Might Not Know About the Recovery  —  SIX months ago, when President Obama and I took office, we were confronted with an economic crisis unparalleled in our lifetime.  The nation was hemorrhaging more than 700,000 jobs a month, the housing market was in free fall, and the fate of the financial system hung in the balance.

White House: CBO ‘overstepped’ in its analysis  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — The White House has criticized the Congressional Budget Office's findings that the Obama administration's proposal to control Medicare costs would yield a moderate savings of $2 billion over the next decade.

Axelrod: I'm not thinking about Palin's next move  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - David Axelrod, one of President Obama's most trusted political advisers, said Sunday that he does not spend time thinking about what Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin might do next.  —  “I can tell you with absolutely honesty …

The evidence Bush tried to hide  —  Photos from US spy satellites declassified by the Obama White House provide the first graphic images of how the polar ice sheets are retreating in the summer.  The effects on the world's weather, environments and wildlife could be devastating

U.S. Command Considering Private Security on Afghan Front Lines  —  Firm Could Have Broad Protection Authority in Afghanistan  —  The U.S. military command is considering contracting a private firm to manage security on the front lines of the war in Afghanistan, even as Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates …

Clinton: Iran's pursuit of nukes ‘futile’  —  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on NBC's “Meet the Press” on Sunday that Iran will never achieve its goal of obtaining a nuclear weapon, declaring to Tehran: “Your pursuit is futile.”  —  “What we want to do is to send a message to whoever …

The Health Care Reform the People Don't Want  —  David Leonhardt has another in a growing series of great David Leonhardt pieces on the nutty and dysfunctional nature of “fee-for-service” medicine in which doctors are paid for doing stuff rather than for treating illness.

Scientists Worry Machines May Outsmart Man  —  A robot that can open doors and find electrical outlets to recharge itself.  Computer viruses that no one can stop.  Predator drones, which, though still controlled remotely by humans, come close to a machine that can kill autonomously.

As Health-Care Quality Rises, So Does Price  —  With Heart Attack Treatments, as Quality Rises, So Does Cost  —  Two decades ago, a famous clinical experiment showed that if a patient in the throes of a heart attack chewed and swallowed an aspirin tablet, the risk of dying fell from 13.2 percent to 10.2 percent.