The book you need to read to get ready for the Christmas season is Hank Stuever's lively "Tinsel." The book doesn't judge; it reveals: people who throw themselves with such severe gusto into celebrating that they miss the point entirely.  Full story »

The Medill Innocence Project has determined that convicted murderer Anthony McKinney did not kill security guard Donald Lundahl in 1978. Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez doesn't seem to understand.  Full story »

The effect of proposed health care reform -- which limits the ability of insurers to charge higher premiums for older adults -- would be a large shift of America's health care burden to the younger generation.  Full story »

Joe Frolik looks for lessons from Tuesday's elections. Full story »

By Megan O'Bryan The Cleveland Rape Crisis Center is extremely saddened and outraged by the tragic and violent deaths of so many women discovered on convicted rapist Anthony Sowell's property in Cleveland's Mount Pleasant neighborhood. We recognize the tremendous suffering that so many are experiencing, especially those who survived being raped by Sowell, and the families of women who... Full story »

In Egypt and Jordan, the two countries that have made peace with Israel, the unelected governments fear their people, and most of the people despise Israel. So the governments go along and even fan the flames of resentment.  Full story »

It is essential to repair the U.S. relationship with to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Clearly, open threats don't work. Yet the clear message Sen. John Kerry delivered privately late last month seems to have made an impact.  Full story »

Puerto Ricans need to be allowed to vote on changing their political status. The status quo is untenable. Voters need to decide among three options: statehood, a more autonomous version of commonwealth or independence.  Full story »

The 2009 elections in Cuyahoga County were not merely about whether to install casinos, inveigh against political corruption or embrace new forms of county governance. Voters in Ohio's largest county turned out mainly to express their disdain for business as usual and for the comfortable certainties by which the political class in this county too long has ruled. In... Full story »

Issue 6's opponents tried to paint reform as a Republican plot to take over Cuyahoga County, but voters simply didn't buy it. They quite correctly realized that there aren't enough Republicans here to take over much of anything. But even that laughable stab at partisanship raised an important point: Cuyahoga County is in desperate need of political competition, either... Full story »

Cuyahoga County voters' passage of Issue 6 opens the door to making government better. That's all it does. Unless the county's residents step all the way through that door, demanding that a better-structured government actually work the way it should and badgering the people they elect to see that it does, the promise of Issue 6 will go unfulfilled.... Full story »

There have been moments over the last five months -- Jimmy Dimora portraying himself as the victim of a vast right- wing conspiracy that targets overweight Italian Americans; J. Kevin "Kickback" Kelley receiving medical disability payments, presumably for depression and insomnia, after pleading guilty to public corruption charges; and the shameless attempt by Cuyahoga County Commissioners Tim Hagan and... Full story »

When Cuyahoga County voters tossed out the three-county- commissioner system in favor of an elected county executive and an 11-member county council, they opened the door for new minority and female elected officials. But only if candidates toss their hats in the ring and make a bid to serve on county council or in top appointed positions. With the... Full story »

By David S. Broder WASHINGTON -- A year after Barack Obama's election stirred broad hopes for change among American voters, persistent high unemployment and the spectacle of continued gridlock in Washington threaten Democrats' dominance of the political landscape. Tuesday's defeats in gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey not only ended a decade or more of Democratic gains in... Full story »

By George F. Will WASHINGTON -- During his immersion in his new job, Gil Kerlikowske attended a focus group of 7-year-old girls and was mystified by their talk about "farm parties." Then he realized they meant "pharm parties" -- sampling pharmaceuticals from their parents' medicine cabinets. What he learned -- besides that young humans have less native sense than... Full story »