Kansas City Star

Instead of having crickets on their shoulders for moral guidance, many politicians seem to have spiders urging them to spin webs. They find an element of truth to attach a thread and weave a story that leaves out honesty and often includes venom.

Liberty officials have come up with responsible ways for the growing city of 30,000 people to enhance basic services.

We are a stalwart and stouthearted people, and never more so than in hard times. People weep in the dark and arise in the morning and go to work.

WASHINGTON | Time was, the Baltimore Orioles manager was Earl Weaver, a short, irascible, Napoleonic figure who, when cranky, as he frequently was, would shout at an umpire, “Are you going to get any better or is this it?” With, mercifully, only one debate to go, that is the question about John McCain’s campaign.

Here’s a first-grade math problem: John has 12 apples. If he eats five apples, how many are left?

Equal representation is fundamental to American governance and justice. Those who make and oversee the rules should be representative of those whose lives will be shaped by these rules.

I’ve long seen Barack Obama as a capable but underwhelming debater. Even during the primaries, Obama struck me as more professorial and detail oriented. This week, however, the professor schtick worked beautifully — the hall was his classroom and Obama was in complete control. It was his best performance to date.

From The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) The recruiting methods used by photographer Bill Henson to find models for his oft-confronting images have certainly touched a nerve.

Coming into the last 30 minutes, I thought the debate was more or less a draw. That’s when Tom Brokaw turned the debate to foreign policy and national security, and John McCain simply outclassed Barack Obama.

From the Las Vegas Sun The Bush administration believes there is nothing wrong with building a nuclear waste dump that could cause at least one of every 125 individuals who live nearby to contract cancer.

Johnson County has made tremendous gains in economic clout and population in recent years. But the fast-growing county also faces a wide range of challenges that require effective and energetic leadership.

Should I ever be fortunate enough to be bailed out from the rigors of my workaday life, look for me at St. Regis Monarch Beach.

From the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president, and when the president is no longer pleased with any or all of them, they clean out their desks. What could be simpler?

Should I ever be fortunate enough to be bailed out from the rigors of my workaday life, look for me at St. Regis Monarch Beach.

I was talking to friend in New York City the other day about the current financial crisis, and she told me about a scene she had just witnessed in the lobby of the Warwick Hotel.

When it comes to the economy, the real straight talk is being offered by John C. Bogle, founder and former CEO of the Vanguard Group Inc., the second-largest mutual fund company in the United States.

“Religulous” has the theological depth of a religion documentary by a seventh-grade church dropout, which is exactly what filmmaker Bill Maher is.

In the new documentary “Religulous,” comedian Bill Maher takes stands against religion and against the very notion of faith (as the word is generally used these days) some of the time; and against the intermingling of religion and public policy all of the time.

Whatever your position on the merits of the failed economic rescue/bailout bill, all Americans should be looking for a way to restore reason and integrity to the government. I must say, the disgusting display of immature partisan self-importance on the floor of the House last week threw me over a personal tipping point. Our government is entirely dysfunctional. We have volunteer soldiers willing to throw themselves on a grenade to save their buddies, but we can't get elected officials to...

From China Daily , Beijing Premier Wen Jiabao announced at the United Nations that China would cancel the outstanding interest-free loans extended to least developed countries that mature before the end of 2008.