In New Hampshire, Romney Aims For Common Touch, With Mixed Results

As he continued his bus tour on Thursday, Mitt Romney may have been hoping to connect with regular folks. At a service station in Randolph, N.H., he pumped the gas himself. But voters weren’t necessarily buying his ‘just folks’ demeanor. When he joked with a woman at the service station about buying a classic car [...]

Get Into The Holiday Spirit With Scandinavian Glogg

In snowy Norway, nothing evokes Christmastime like a pot of glogg brewing on the stove. The traditional Scandinavian winter drink mixes wine, port and brandy with spices like caraway, cardamom and cinnamon to make for a brew that smells divine and tastes even better. Urd Milbury, cultural attache from the Norwegian Embassy in Washington, D.C., [...]

Journal Retracts Key Study Linking Virus To Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

The controversial scientific saga over an obscure virus that some researchers proposed as the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome appears a step closer to ending. The provocative suggestion appeared in October 2009 in the prestigious journal Science. The idea raised CFS patients’ hopes for effective treatments. The paper also sparked a race by scientists to [...]

Holiday Greetings From The World Of Politics: Dogs, Churches, And Plaid Shirts

This is the time of year when many political figures take a moment away from the day-to-day hassles of representative democracy to acknowledge the holiday season. Newt and Callista Gingrich communicated their Christmas wishes via a political ad on YouTube. In the video, they compare Christmas lights to “the fire of freedom” and manage to [...]

Wave Of Deadly Blasts Rocks Iraq’s Capital

A wave of apparently coordinated blasts in neighborhoods across Baghdad killed more than 60 people and wounded more than 150 others Thursday in the worst violence Iraq has seen in months. The explosions hit days after the last U.S. forces left the country and in the midst of a major government crisis between Shiite and [...]

Occupy Protesters Greet Romney On The Campaign Trail In New Hampshire

On the trail with Mitt Romney in New Hampshire Thursday morning, I encountered the first Occupy protesters of the three-day bus trip. One of them, Bob Broadhurst, grew up in Boston but now lives in nearby Littleton, N.H. He’s been one of the Occupy protesters in New York since September, but returned to New Hampshire [...]

The Best Comics of 2011. Yep.

In years past, I’ve liberally availed myself of many of the standard-issue caveats we members of the critical community like to trot out as we make our year-end lists. “These aren’t necessarily the best comics of the year,” I’d quaver, “but the ones that lingered in my memory, out of, obviously, those that I got [...]

What’s The Economic Impact If The Tax Break Dies?

Most political analysts say that Congress and President Obama will eventually agree to extend the payroll tax cut into 2012 – even if it takes another month of arguing. But what if Congress really can’t get it done? Economists are fairly unanimous in saying growth would be slowed — at least in the short term [...]

Indulge Yourself: 2011′s Best Celebrity Tell-Alls

Ah, ’tis the season to be indulgent. Another glass of champagne? Please, have some homemade cookies. Does anyone want to go to the movies instead of the gym? As far as I’m concerned, December is Guilty Pleasures Time. Yep. Time to kick back with all those books I secretly love but hate to admit reading. [...]

North Korea Awaits Kim Jong Un’s Opening Moves

While North Korea is preparing for the state funeral of longtime leader Kim Jong Il next week, attention is quickly turning to his son and heir-apparent, Kim Jong Un. Even veteran Pyongyang watchers know little about the successor. But it’s clear what he’s inheriting: a country in dire economic straits, and a tough fight to [...]