This reminds me of wee Joke McConnells inspirational promise to "Do less, better" when he became First Minister of the Scottish "Executive".- At least Joke can say he delivered half of that...

With Dan Maes now firmly entrenched in the Colorado governor's race, Tom Tancredo must be trying to reclaim his mantel as the most radical candidate running. How else do you explain Tancredo taking...

The e-mail from Democracy for America read: "Another day, another oil rig explodes" — as if it happens every day. The group joined environmentalists and some lawmakers this past week in trying...

The New York Times - Published: September 4, 2010 The furor over the proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque near ground zero keeps giving us new reasons for dismay. As politicians and...

The Great Recession works in mysterious ways, and no place more than Whidbey Island this summer. With a week left before the Sept. 10 deadline, the Whidbey-Camano Land Trust is within $600,000 of...

Delightedly, President Barack Obama and his cohorts have channeled the billions of stimulus funds into their pet green projects — many of which offer little promise of success. Why? Former Vice...

– Aug. 13, 2010 To tout that place as sacred ground is understandable, especially for those who lost loved ones in that tragedy. But to use their grief and hurt to inflame others against...

The Democrats could be heading toward a defeat of historic proportions in November, but it is possible to imagine a scenario in which things might have turned out differently: On Dec. 16, 2008,...

– Sept. 5, 2009 As we see and hear about these cultural and personal disasters far greater than any oil spill, there are tears and throbbing. Petroleum can be wiped off animals and cleaned from...

September is Constitution month. On Sept. 17, 1787 — 223 years ago — all 12 state delegations at the Constitutional Convention approved the Constitution of the United States. Still,...

To a public traumatized by weeks of news stories about oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico from a broken British Petroleum oil rig, every explosion in those waters echoes the same way. That's...

The Utah County Commission has passed an ordinance banning the sale of Spice in unincorporated areas. Spice is an herb laced with a synthetic form of tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, the psychoactive...

If Mayor Peter Corroon and Rep. Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful, have such a good plan regarding education and preparing students for college, let them present it to the public before the election. All of...

TEMECULA, Calif. — Amid Labor Day's parades and picnics, union bosses will bellow Monday about workers' rights and the alleged greed of management, especially inside big business. Such class...

Nearly 600,000 Utah students recently started a new school year. For parents, students and teachers, the new school year offers opportunities and challenges. We remain committed to helping make this...

WASHINGTON — Many have charged that President Barack Obama's decision to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan 10 months from now is hampering our war effort. But now it's official. In a stunning...

The upheaval shaking up the entire communications industry hit Utah last week. The Deseret News and KSL Radio/TV news staffs are merging, resulting in layoffs for nearly half of the newspaper staff....

I collect watches. I'm picky, though. They have to be mechanical. No battery-operated quartz movements for me. My wife, who tires of finding these windup beauties on top of our dresser, bought me a...

– Feb. 10, 2010 English is taught in all of our schools. Most of the schools follow a 50-50 program in that the children spend a half day with the English teacher, who usually only teaches...

As we navigate the waning days of our xenophobic summer, with so many opportunists in high dudgeon about Muslims in our midst, perhaps it'd be wise to quote a notably tolerant Republican —...

Miss Philippines Maria Venus Raj waves before finishing fourth runner-up at the Miss Universe 2010 Pageant. Baldwin: "What is one big mistake that you've made in your life, and what did you do to...

Starting a flower garden, I've discovered, is hard work. There's the tilling and the composting and the planting and the mulching and the weeding and the pruning and the watering and the warding off...

Bicyclists have towed any number of things behind their bikes -- children, pets, camping gear. Carl Hildebrandt, 56, of Squirrel Hill added one more item to that list. The pediatrician,...

How quickly people forget. No, make that how quickly some Steelers fans forget. The loud expressions of disgust that greeted revelations about quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's sordid behavior with a...

The fire on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico Thursday reminded Americans again of the problems of drilling for oil there and the need to find alternatives. The platform 90 miles off the...

Brewer began by blanking out during her introductory statement — there was this horrible 16-second interval where she went silent, stared down at her notes and giggled. The evening ended when...

Ms. Escobar is one of 16 janitors who were laid off from their jobs at a luxury complex in Los Angeles that houses some of the wealthiest tenants imaginable. JPMorgan Asset Management, a unit of the...

What were they thinking? The state budget is more than 60 days late, and legislators seem to lack a sense of urgency about it. But state Assembly leaders felt that it was urgent to enforce a...

T he fear among many congressional Democrats about a pending vote on tax hikes is growing palpable. Those already on the endangered species list are having second thoughts about committing political...

The middle of the Pirates order combined for its most RBIs since opening day, and former failed Nationals closer Joel Hanrahan shut the door on his former Washington employers in an 8-5 Pirates...

TOKYO, Sept. 4 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Selected editorial excerpts from the Japanese press: NUCLEAR PACT WITH INDIA (IHT/Asahi as translated from the Japanese- language Asahi Shimbun's editorial...

TOKYO, Sept. 4 (AP) - (Kyodo)—(EDS: FIXING ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED DATE IN PARENTHESES) Selected editorial excerpts from the Japanese press: KAN, OZAWA TAKE ALARMING POSITIONS ON SECURITY...

Pet project There's an old saying among actors that you never want to share a scene with kids or dogs, because you're sure to be upstaged. People generally not only want to watch children and...

The resumption of direct peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians this week was auspicious, despite a long history of failed attempts that fosters justifiable pessimism about the ultimate chance...

ON Sept. 1, 1945 — 65 years ago this week — I arrived in Leyte Gulf, the Philippines, aboard a Navy transport ship. Along with other newly commissioned ensigns in the Navy Civil Engineer...

This is the first part of a five-part series, “War and the City,” by the Iraq war veteran, Roy Scranton, chronicling his path from unemployed youth to soldier to civilian writer in New...

food security project on the cards, there's urgent need to rethink the PDS's centrality in the distribution edifice since an estimated two-thirds of PDS grain get diverted to the open market....

India the issue could open up a can of worms. Having a policy or legislation that compels people to promote certain surnames is not only discriminatory but also infringes freedom of choice. Parents...

Barack Obama conceives his presidency. The great recession and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are the unavoidable problems he inherited; more instructive are the problems he's chosen for himself....

La Jornada for five hours, during which he raved about the profound impact of the Web. "Do you know what this means, comrade?" he asked, like some sort of Rip Van Winkle waking up in the 21st...

Zev Yaroslavsky 's been a big presence in this town since he was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 1975, and then to the county Board of Supervisors in 1994. Before then, in his impetuous,...

The real problem, Democrats say, is that Republicans have refused to allow timely confirmation votes on the Senate floor — even for district judges, the foot soldiers of the federal judiciary...

A recent survey of Consumer Reports' subscribers finds that lesser-known fast food chains such as In-N-Out and Five Guys have better tasting hamburgers than McDonald's or Burger King. Erica Hill...

An 11-year-old boy was fatally shot in rural Westmoreland County this evening, a county dispatch supervisor said. Someone called 911 at around 6:50 p.m. sounding "hysterical" and saying that the boy...

U, MET COUNCIL AGREE "This was a very, very difficult and protracted negotiation; there were legitimate issues on both sides, including the U's concerns over protecting their research facilities...

• • • THE GOOGLE AND VERIZON STATEMENT, which was roundly criticized when it was released, is unlikely to be the only proposal we'll see from the big boys. A couple of weeks ago,...

I am embarrassed to be collecting unemployment. I am embarrassed about it because my husband has a good job. I am more embarrassed about it because I have a new car. I feel like Ronald Reagan's...

There was an interesting confluence of articles on Aug. 30, with Peter Bell writing about the achievement gap between white and black children ("An idea: Bring back the orphanage") and...

Regardless, at least the city of St. Cloud tried for some public accountability of a Waite Park man who violated a city ordinance when he put up posters last December that expressed his hatred of the...

Last week our biking group took a ride to check out the two recently installed artist-designed drinking fountains that adorn our city. I was inspired by the high quality of the artists' works and by...