Novak: McCain may want the Connecticut senator as his No. 2, but he can't get away with it.

Gallery and study of images showing "the hero" carrying "the beauty."

McCain may push off the convention with Tropical Storm Gustav on the warpath.

Sarcasm comes naturally to the fighter jock. Joe Klein's "What Bush Taught McCain."

McCain's interview with Time gets "prickly."

Fukuyama: If we want to understand the world unfolding before us, we need to draw some distinctions among different types of autocrats.

The appeal of the throwback: Understanding why we still buy field guides.

Print for the commute: The intriguing mysteries of the termite.

The story of introducing fortune cookies, an American invention, to China.

Theroux has never been overburdened by modesty.

Gallery of bloggers and writers' favorite autographed books.

Aaron Sorkin plans movie about founders of Facebook, joins site for research.

Bubble flow-chart for talking during sex.

The newly independent Georgia inflicted a vicious war on its minority nations. Medvedev ops.

Obama's moment: made possible by M.L.K., made possible by L.B.J.

Collins: The Clintons did everything they were supposed to do here and in politics, like so much of life, feelings are irrelevant to everyone except the persons doing the feeling.

Attractive, articulate, smart, and successful: It's going to take something for Obama to feel our pain.

The new trend in cosmetic dentistry: teeth that aren't too white, and just crooked enough.

When an 18-year-old Axl Rose hiked through Washington Heights, and the origin of "Welcome to the Jungle."

Feds arrest blogger for posting tracks from forthcoming Guns N' Roses album, may face fines, prison.

The war over library fines encompasses public shaming, Guitar Hero duels.

A Christian version of Guitar Hero--Guitar Praise--will soon hit U.S. shelves.

"Teenagers and their parents debated it for weeks. Every teenager was furious." In 1965, Israelis were denied Beatlemania.

Photos: In L.A., uprooting and transporting a Richard Neutra house.

Romney's wooden speaking-style may be more conducive to the general election, revolving more around sound-bytes.

Castro expresses "total solidarity" with Olympic referee-kicker, says he was right to be upset.

Chavez has a go at film-making, creates government-sponsored production company to "revive key characters from [Venezuela's] past."

Gallery: Anti-U.S. propaganda posters from North Korea.

Video of Richard Dawkins reading his hate mail.

How to make your brain believe in a fake hand.

Op: Architecture has been bonkered by the dominance of the ephemeral--"what might rather unkindly be called the triumph of whimsy."

How law schools game the U.S. News & World Report rankings system.

A few details on how to build your own $50,000 walking beast.

People here seem to be happier with a little bit of middle management. How a dot-com CEO came to love some hierarchy.

Exhaustive though incomplete list of problems solved by MacGyver.

Dear Adobe...Why does Photoshop cost as much as a pre-owned small car?

Your new favorite fashion photography: The Catorialist.

Will Self's journeys up French mountains may prove he's the best blogger blogging.

A look back at Bush's personal relationships with foreign leaders--which sometimes fogged his judgement.

As Bush's final term winds down, so too does tourist, protest traffic in Crawford, Texas.

The threat instead appeared to have been the product of the "racist rantings" of methamphetamine addicts.

Dowd: The energy of the D.N.C. is being absorbed by those who lost, rather than the person who won.

If this is not the edge of the political universe, it is somewhere close. Interactive guide to Appalachia's relationship with Obama.

Census Bureau reports the number of Americans without health insurance dropped by more than a million in 2007.

So how old are those Chinese gymnasts, anyway? Let's ask Google.

Michael Jackson duets to record a "modern music take" of Robert Burns's poetry.

We went to Jermaine's house and made s'mores and drank many, many Coca-Colas. Sarah Hepola's record recollection: Thriller.

As a child it tastes like: You know, cotton candy; as an adult it tastes like: Cotton root canals. And other tastes that evolve.

Blogging from inside the "Hillary suite," i.e., "ground zero for the still-not-totally-over-it."

The media loves to talk about a possible rift in the convention, but how many militant Hill-ites are there?

"I don't care about his beer, I care about his intelligence." Rednecks for Obama.

Considering the riddle of Caucasian ethnicities when there are 40 indigenous tongues spoken in the region.

Did Rice's intimate knowledge of Russian society and politics fail her during the Georgian conflict?

Rice criticizes Israel after report says Jewish settlement construction has doubled.

The full story on Shai Agassi's plan to put Israelis into electric cars.

"When you meet a Muslim who says he's an independent, it means he used to be a Republican." It's a strange time to be an American Muslim.

Full explanation of Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni's various marriages and affairs.

Print for the commute: Reconstructing the Pentagon's decision-making process to shoot down a satellite.

The attractions of (neuro)anatomy in one of London's biggest strip clubs.

How neuroscience explains spirituality and out-of-body experiences.

Large collection of graphed networks.

Such a conceptual work can exist simultaneously in two separate realms. Artist Cai Guo-Qiang responds to Olympics fireworks controversy.

The book to read before going to business school.

Dipping world economy forces Russians to kick their milk habit, Brazilians to stay at home.

Bay Area zoning laws and the technical illegality of lemonade stands pits city hall against city youngsters.

Photos: The 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, when desperation switched to violence.

Mercifully they realize I've no time to give autographs, and so they ask only the cast members. Woody Allen's diary from the set of Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Op: Catcher in the Rye is no longer the book it was--why are we still teaching it?

In the Alps, a melting glacier reveals neolithic, Bronze Age, Roman, Middle Age artifacts.

A nice collection of 1970s packaging.

Yep, I actually clipped and kept the Star Wars comic strip from the newspapers. I had thought I'd lost them until I...found this old yellowed envelope.

An art-loving family ponders whose paintings--Rothko, Warhol, Hockney?--to represent in tiles on their bathroom wall.

For followers of the Feltron Annual Reports, introducing Daytum, where you can chart the minutiae of your life.

Lynch delved deep into his box of oddities for this baffling minute of mind-wrongs. Cool commercials by movie directors.

Video: Hands on a Hard Body, the must-see documentary about a group of people who compete to win a mini-truck.

I'm a Republican. But we're supposed to serve the people, not the party. Schwarzenegger concedes taxes must be raised to solve budget crisis.

Ralph Reed's new political thriller predicts what would happen if the G.O.P. picked a pro-choice veep in 2008.

McCain receives Daddy Yankee's endorsement, misunderstands "drill here, drill now" message.

If the character of a campaign reflects the character of its candidate, then John McCain's character is not above criticism.

Moscow says Georgia outcome is proof of its dominance, and that the West no longer exists as a unified force.

The reality of integrated markets is being underscored. The U.S. and global economies are falling in unison.

Concerning Phelps's next-to-last medal race: It's not who touches first; it's who triggers the sensor first.

Gallery of startling German Beijing photos.

Graphically mapping all the sponsors of the Beijing Olympic. (See also: online course on graphic design history.)

"Forty-two essential Flickr abandonments groups dedicated to abandoned places, properties, and buildings."

Attention New Yorkers! Buffalo is the new Philadelphia.

Semi-scientific guide by Radar to the worst colleges in America.

Biden wastes no time launching into his running-mate role, questioning McCain's originality.

"The American idea is not just an ideal, but a living reality." Biden's op to The Atlantic, last year.

The press reaction to Obama may be resulting in overexposure; lack of exposure of McCain's past may be working to the G.O.P.'s advantage.

A study of the strong, diverse literary heritage that guides Obama's words of hope.

Investigating the rapidly expanding world of graphic novels--via prose and comics.

Take part in this month's "Of Recent Note" feature: Tell us your hot [blank] of the summer.

"For young people, it's not great fun to join our office." In China, those whose job it was to assign Chinese names to Western athletes.

The Olympics revealed the Chinese dream is not as economically strong as America's--but their dreams are made of stronger stuff.

Strong showing in lack of Olympic spirit as taekwondo fourth-placer kicks ref in the face.

Gordon Brown wants to bring competition back to Britain's school sports, do away with "medals for all."

The 100-meter freestyle swim for sailors, and other sports to bring back in preparation for London 2012.

I am confident that I attended the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, in 2008; but I cannot truly say whether I went to China. Anthony Lane wraps up his Olympic fortnight.

International Olympic Committee launches probe into Chinese gymnast He Kexin's age.

How con artists and imposters earn trust.

The naive hopes of the reform Communists of the 1960s are still used as a pretext to trample any vision of a better and universally just society.

Study suggests the unconscious mind of an "undecided" person already knows what it will choose.

Fascinating and frightening: could blast waves be fueling a new breed of war injury?

Assessment of the latest books on global warming.

The new reason to quit smoking: to better prepare for your new face-lift.

If you believe all the Redeem Team talk, I have a genuine Redeem Team tankini to sell you.

Infographic of body parts mentioned in songs, broken down by genre.

Velcro. What a rip-off. List of the best jokes told during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

My father taught me to compliment people's shower curtains.

Print for the commute: Despite inevitable long-term problems, withdrawal from Iraq can be successful for both sides.

One reason the U.S. departure from Iraq is possible: the new assertiveness of Iraqi soldiers.

Op: McCain approved Bolton as U.N. ambassador, wants the institution swept under the carpet despite national support.

Study suggests voters who claim neutrality on an issue are the ones who've already chosen on a subconscious level.

The Republican's voice was pitched slightly high, and that it remained flat, or emotionless, even while he was talking about sad subjects. An acoustic analysis of the candidates.

As the economy becomes the hot button this election, Obama, McCain attack each other over number of homes, fireplaces.

Video: A vast collection of U.S. presidential campaign ads.

Manhattan teenagers test fish genetics at stores, restaurants--a quarter of the time, you're not getting what you're buying.

Distrustful of USB drives, the Long Now Foundation distributes titanium disks with Genesis in 1,500 languages.

Video: A history of celebrity computer endorsements.

"We are dancing naked on the stage of history." Five ways newspapers botched the web.

Gorbachev: "The Russian leadership is in a strong enough position domestically; it did not need a little victorious war."

Op: How air-conditioning is to blame for the rise of the Bush administration.

Ahmadinejad is so good for Israel, Mossad couldn't have done better, says former Mossad chief.

By maintaining the status quo, a different kind of apocalypse, the slow-motion kind, is now upon us. Writing from 2016, a futurologist reflects on his 2008 predictions.

Obama and Pepsi share some strong affinities--most strikingly, their logos.

How Jerome Corsi became the court bard of the conservatives, again.

Todd Levin finishes his video-game console series today; see all past episodes here.

The evolutionary advantages of wearing mascara.

The Lost Formats Preservation Society.

Protecting pacemakers from hackers.

Print for the commute: From 1978, profile of Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records.

Celebrating last-place finishes at the Olympics.

Great Olympic moments on YouTube; Olympic village made from 140,000 cards.

Op: The Bush administration has long held that the shield was for Iran; this hasty move confirms Putin's suspicions.

Obama, McCain's tax plans both hold past party lines; the argument now is how each would affect the current economy.

New election poll shows candidates in a dead heat--Obama's six points have shrunk to three.

Michael Moore's six easy steps the Democrats can take to lose the election.

Cultural change of this magnitude doesn't occur until millions of people come to a consensus that it is needed, and it's not about race or ethnicity. Thinkers place Obama in the context of U.S. history.

Sullivan: According to the Bush administration's standards, McCain wasn't tortured.

McCain's official blogger continues to lambast Obama's Dungeons & Dragons demographic.

U.S., Iraqi negotiators reach deal: Troops will depart cities by next summer, Iraq in 2011.

Labord's chameleon swims better than Phelps, has the lifespan of a butterfly, can teach us much about biological longevity.

The art of the con relies on the reflexivity and necessity of trust.

To me, that magic resonates strongly with my conservative nature. Opping on the politics of the Beatles' magical music.

Perfect for emailing to a relative--you know which one: Obama-smearing emails debunked.

Obama's half-brother found in Kenyan shanty, living for "less than a dollar a month."

Ben Greenman offer fragments from Edwards! The Musical.

Georgian Times history of the Roki tunnel--what "many believe that the reason for the Georgian debacle in this war."

India wary about losing Musharraf, their "one-man go-to guy in Pakistan."

Hitchens on Mailer and the 1968 conventions.

Dowd on the fantasy McCain-Clinton strategy sessions.

Losing weight the "evolutionary fitness" way.

10 antithetical traits often present in creative people that are integrated with each other in a dialectical tension.

Print for the commute: Assessment of the latest books on global warming.

National Geographic's "Map of the Day."

If the fireworks were digitally altered in the video-feed for opening ceremonies, what else wasn't real?

Photographer's angle on what it's like to shoot high-speed athletes at the Olympics.

Behind-the-scenes interviews from our favorite new reality show, Architecture School.

N.A.T.O. issues warning to Russia; plans for joint U.S., Russian military exercises canceled.

U.S, Poland sign deal to place missiles 115 miles from Russia--to guard against Iran, North Korea.

In China, smarts top sport as few students attend schools with sports teams--Nike and Adidas hope to change that.

Cultural demolition in China creates historical orphans who try to make sense of a reality with no precedent.

Profile of Gavin Menzies, the revisionist historian who insists that the Chinese discovered America.

Meet Rob Anderson, the enemy of San Francisco cyclists--he argues building bike lanes will cause pollution.

In New York, David Byrne's bike racks epitomize their neighborhoods, double as thing to chain bike to.

Video: Crucial election demographics you need to be aware of: unemployed mathematicians, people who eat artisanal sandwiches.

Election officials concerned over voting machine tampering take machines home, stash them in the garage.

We could run our economy on sawdust, lawn clippings, and old magazines. How termites could solve the energy crisis.

"We have the stupidest bestseller list in the world at the moment." Britain enters a literary crisis.

The scroll-driven 1920s GPS, toe socks, and other inventions that never caught on.

Somali warlord talks about the next step in his career: running for president.

Behind Warsaw's support of the missile shield: what Russia hates points to what's in Poland's best interests.

Op: We shouldn't let Russia pick each of our countries off separately.

Those who benefit from Russia-Georgia 2008? Defense contractors and their lobbyists.

Science Monitor starts new year-long series to follow the life of "Little" Bill Clinton.

Print for the commute: Taking the long view, we are running out of dirt.

University presidents call for lowering the drinking age to 18, say it would reduce on-campus binge drinking.

Four-point evaluation system of this season's caffeinated snacks.

Graphic novel of fall fashion.

The ambiguity of "big penis book" is a familiar one in English linguistics. Linguistic analysis for the rest of us.

Studying the execution orders in a chameleon's program, and how that relates to Michael Phelps.

Cheerleading accounted for 65 percent of all "catastrophic" sports injuries among high school girls over the last 25 years.

McCain's 1973 U.S. News & World Report article claimed V.C. guards were gay, enjoyed beating him.

As the Iron Curtain threatens to fall once more, Eastern Europe looks to a thinly stretched U.S. for reassurance.

No sitting Congress has passed fewer public laws at this point in the session--294 so far--than this one.

Tilting away from windmills: U.S. farmers discover the problems wind-turbines bring a community.

The road to energy autonomy: capturing solar power from asphalt.

Microloans are a great success story--their profitability could see the poor exploited by keen multinationals.

John Irving loves it, Vonnegut hated it, Americans distrust it: the semicolon.

Walking in the sky, in the clouds, means a form of ecstasy...There's a truth in it... Werner Herzog talks with tightrope walker Phillippe Petit.

From the attic: Rosecrans Baldwin uncovers Herzog's diaries.

"Don't be evil," is put to the test every day. A look back at 10 years of Google.

Op: With films like The Dark Knight and Inglorious Bastards, evil has become post-modernized.

The man who added snaps to the cowboy shirt died last week, age 107.

McCain's spokeswoman gets a little heated when question arises about the candidate's cone of silence.

Challenges Obama will face in trying to flip North Carolina.

Putin is not Hitler or Stalin; he is not even Leonid Brezhnev. He is what he is, and that is bad enough.

The real politik of reality TV when it comes to Elle editors.

"It is considered too sexy for us." In Malaysia, Islamic party pushes for cancellation of Avril Lavigne concert.

After family picnicked next to two dead girls, Italian Roma population asks, "why do they hate us?"

After winning gold, Olympians will soon face an even greater challenge: the uncertainty of ordinary life.

American Christian group spends the night in Chinese airport, says they're not leaving until they get their Bibles back.

Print for the commute: Jon Stewart, the man America trusts most with their news.

Notes from the Maine blueberry harvest, where "wild" says less about Mother Nature and more about farmers' "guiding hands."

"We have a subprime financial system, not a subprime mortgage market." Notes from the economic soothsayer who nailed the recession first.

Diving for determination into the vast writings and films of Allen Koningsberg, or as you may know him, "Woody Allen."

The anthropology of YouTube: the ritual of Numa Numa, et al.

Gallery: Iconic 20th-century photos recreated with Legos.

Op: Obama is wise to court Saddleback's megachurch; evangelicals provide an antidote to the religious right.

When the Cold War ended, many countries had many hopes; upon Russia's invasion of Georgia, perhaps those illusions can be put to rest.

Frame by 100th-of-a-second frame, Michael Phelps's photo finish.

"I don't know if I'd do it again. But I don't have to." Recalling Spitz's record-setting wins in 1972.

Also from 1972: when Mark Spitz visited Doonesbury.

The next race is for Phelps's agent, who must transform Olympic gold into cash--while the buzz still buzzes.

It means watching live sports you didn't know you were interested in, played by countries you've never been to, at three o'clock in the morning. Anthony Lane in Beijing.

Protesting the construction of a new mall, recovering shopoholic, artist spend six months living inside it.

Canadian government cuts funding to tour subsidization program, citing Toronto band Holy Fuck's "offensive" name.

Neuroimaging study shows words can elicit sympathy, disgust as effectively as film.

[The booth] features an image of SpongeBob SquarePants saying, "It don't Gitmo better!" Coney Island's "Waterboard Thrill Ride."

Video: "Get Your War On," the animated series.

Fifty million Indian women missing due to “unresisting acceptance of female genocide.”

Antibodies may lead to protection against HIV.

How the Times in 2008 views the Met: "No space in the city delivers so many versions of awesome under one roof."

Pressure on South Korean children to get into good universities leads to prison-like cram schools.

Dark inclinations are what make us endlessly fascinating—and essentially human.

What humans have in common: the love of storytelling, that flight simulator for social interaction.

Related: Ira Glass on storytelling.

For those who find David Brooks endlessly smug and preening: academic takedowns of his forays into science.

When comparing human intelligence to animal brains, consider us a software upgrade.

Visualizing science, and watching scientists get pickpocketed.

You need to have an evil streak and be blessed with innate guile. Seeking: A good nemesis.

Where is Bob: Tales of an absentee manager. See also: The Line.

[Translators have] become the unofficial chroniclers of the war...passing along to military newcomers the story of the battle for Iraq.

From New York, nearly 7,000 miles from Beijing, play-by-play commentators call the Olympics as we see it.

At the Olympics, Fair Play Committee members watch for athletes who value sportsmanship over victory.

Tales of fiscal folly are an acquired taste. A new documentary, I.O.U.S.A, is like a national-debt version of An Inconvenient Truth.

On Heavy Metal Islam: the new film about the growing legions of headbangers in the Middle East.

In TMN's new Digest, Meave Gallagher on SnagFilms, currently hosting Heavy Metal Islam.

Video: Some surprisingly impressive highlights from the U.S. Air Guitar Championship.

From vibraphone to kalimba to bagpipe: MIDI samples of 128 different instruments.

New census projections show minorities will be the majority much sooner than expected--by 2042.

A miniature Manhattan, built with balsa, sweat, and tears.

A dishwasher from Nancy, Vital Frérotte, who had just come back from Lourdes cured forever of tuberculosis, died Sunday by mistake.

Avoiding the humiliation of impeachment, Musharraf is expected to resign.

As diplomatic tensions increase, experts worry about NASA's reliance on Russian spacecrafts for rides.

Samantha Power examines the roots of Russia's wounded pride.

Op: Edwards is another in a series of vice-presidential candidates (Cheney, Lieberman) that the press has gotten wrong.

Clinton backers set to make some noise at Democratic Convention, presumably just for spite.

To trick someone with a photograph... you don't need Photoshop... all you need to do is change the caption. Errol Morris on photography as a weapon.

The view that everything is changing for the better is marketing propaganda--Google progressivism. In defense of nostalgia.

Whit Stillman, writer and director of Metropolitan, reveals what he's been doing for the past 10 years.

Julia Childs' first job: counter-intelligence.

Profile of Rick Warren, a contender to replace Billy Graham as "America's Pastor."

Riders ponder the "ethical gray area" of swiping in friends and strangers with a MetroCard monthly pass.

Your roommate's video games can lower your GPA.

Gallery: Drawing non-permanent "graffiti" on buildings with the One Laser Tag Per Child kit.

"If the Americans take Baghdad, why can't we take Gori." Intense standoff between Georgian, Russian troops after talks break down.

Georgia triumphs over Russia in Women's volleyball, though with Brazilian-born players.

Both opium addicts and swimmers "tended to be solitary, remote figures, who felt themselves superior to dull, conventional minds." Swimming's literary neglect.

Michael Phelps's celebrations are an innate victory dance; stigmatized losers try to hide it.

What Phelps eats every day--he kicks it off with three fried-egg sandwiches.

Interactive map: The electoral college calculator lets you create your own election scenario.

Photos: The figures at the Rock Legends Wax Museum don't look much like their rock-star inspirations.

Researching makes one brain "smarter" than another; tricking your computer into thinking its RAM has doubled.

Op: Though security is important, the digital revolution requires a new liberalism to maintain democratic values.

On the potential of the suburbs as ruins, slums, hybrids, or trading places with the inner city.

Op: Replacing college education with a job-qualifying exam will lower class barriers.

Russian Times online readers answer questions about Russia and Georgia.

Op: It will take skill and patience to get Russia to a soft landing, and Moscow's record at soft landings is not good.

McCain (and Obama to some degree) talk one way about the energy crisis and fundamentally act another.

Latitude lacks in McCain's anti-choice actions, even if his statements are muddled.

Independent fact-checkers work to quell "conservative echo-chamber" surrounding anti-Obama book; author says they're "nit-picking."

Millions relieved after Reverend Wright's new upcoming book is revealed not to exist.

It'll be the kids growing up with an Obama presidency who could change race politics forever.

Post-Hillary, seven Democratic women to watch.

The secret to the perfect hair that doesn't seem to move is horse cartilage. Quasi-science facts about synchronized swimming.

What contemporary China really looks like: Picture China.

Photos of blue screens of death from Beijing's opening ceremonies.

British journalist roughed up by Beijing police at pro-Tibet protest in formerly mistranslated "Racist Park."

Guide to pirating the Olympics, then and now.

Even if it means "panda porn," China wants finicky pandas to mate more.

Gorbachev: By declaring the Caucasus, a region that is thousands of miles from the American continent, a sphere of its "national interest," the U.S. made a serious blunder.

Op: Though no one wants a nuclear Iran, China and Russia benefit from sanctions against Tehran--selling arms, filling gaps left by European firms.

Russian youth feel the power of the Western media, join Chinese counterparts in unconventional warfare on the web.

China and America's posturing, ability to blow up satellites, threatens the technological revolution.

Mark Penn...urged the New York senator's campaign to paint Barack Obama as "fundamentally" foreign.

With new medal wins, Michael Phelps, "The King of Chlorine," becomes the most decorated Olympian of all time.

Video: U.S. engineers explain how flow research will help swimmers get even faster.

One non-carbonated beverage's attempt to break into the SoBe/Snapple/VitaminWater market.

China's looming crisis: millions of overpressurized, hypereducated children in a nation that can't fulfill their expectations.

The hardships of Yale alums as they struggle with insecurity in the face of their privileges.

Roundtable: In what should be a year for Democrats, the right and left wonder why Obama isn't crushing McCain.

One reason: older, uneducated whites, possibly because he's black.

Mugabe refuses to surrender control of government despite losing last credible election.

Economist estimates 50 million Indian women are missing. Cause? "Unresisting acceptance of female genocide."

Arctic map shows regions holding billions of barrels of oil, and the nations to benefit after the ice melts.

The happy-go-naked Germans are not amused. War between nudist Germans and Poles.

Chinese officials bus in cheerleaders to fill embarrassing empty seats, "create a good atmosphere."

In Second Life, a virtual Beijing is the last open space left for many Chinese architects.

"These people think we are stupid." Sports analyst claims Chinese gymnastic team is full of underage "half-people."

Atheletes make more points by making referees see red.

Strutting with pride and cringing in shame may be innate reactions and not cultural constructions.

Bad singing isn't necessarily caused by bad hearing.

Once or twice, I've become so sad that I actually broke down and cried right there at the drawing table. On the lonely art of cartooning.

Video: BBC comes under attack from Russian planes.

In 1987 and 1988, McCain voted against federal legislation reforming the campaign finance system. On McCain's prior political lives.

Six million Americans live abroad; their votes rarely change the final tally--this election may end all that.

California refuses to cut 200,000 state workers' pay--in large part because nobody knows how to change the state's antiquated payroll system.

On a serial evictee who has used San Francisco's tenant-friendly laws to live rent-free for years.

Hallucinogens used to treat terminal patients; volunteers rank psilocybin in their "top five spiritual experiences."

The power of the Olympic ritual form, choreographed for spirituality, in a religion-less state.

As he dominates in the Olympics, next week Federer will hand his world no. 1 spot to Nadal, who he could face in the gold-medal match.

Professional musicians face job-related injury, illegal non-union gigs, and giving lessons to competitors to make ends meet.

"If the Border Patrol Doesn't Get You, the Chicken and Burgers Will" PETA wants to advocate veganism at the Mexico border fence.

The excavation of Pompeii and Herculaneum isn't over, and may yield copies of previously lost Greek classics.

Medvedev: Give us a minute, we'll be done in Georgia soon.

Medium-length primer on the history of the Georgia-Russia conflict.

Considering Putin's gains in Georgia.

Anticipating the week in news in Russia, Georgia, elsewhere.

First-hand knowledge of comfortable lives in "the most dangerous nation on earth," Pakistan.

If U.S. officials want to bandy war-like phrases, couldn't they call a linguist first?

If you think the McCain-Obama race has been hostile so far, wait until after the conventions.

Obama prefers Batman to Iron Man, the Stones to the Beatles.

Denmark as model actor in achieving energy independence.

Considering a built-in snowball effect for the obesity epidemic: babies predisposed to obesity.

Losing weight may be easier if you treat it like a role-playing dungeon crawler.

Print for the commute: Dark inclinations are what make us endlessly fascinating--and essentially human.

Op: Georgia fights for its survival as Russia takes advantage of Western indecision.

Georgia, Russia embrace on Olympic podium, face off on Wednesday in beach volleyball.

"There's almost the feeling of the 'Anticlimactic Games.'" How will we remember the Olympics?

Au revoir democracy, bonjour ancien regime. Sarkozy's privatization of power evident in commoditization of national symbols.

Weekend losses: Bernie Mac (NSFW video), Isaac Hayes (mp3: "Walk on By").

The historigraphical reasons why we'll never have a comprehensive history of pop music.

Link bio of Nell James, prog prodigy, and 2006 ToB judge.

Video: Documentary about the Smiths' 1986 third album, The Queen is Dead.

Related: Andrew Womack on the other nine top albums of 1986.

It pains me to see so many people being pseudo-intellectual in the wrong way. You have failed to keep pace with the current code of intellectual one-upsmanship.

Kafka's stash of explicit pornography is discovered, Ph.D. students around the world revise their theses.

Video: Thank you, slaves.

Why coffee, the miracle drink, doesn't dehydrate you, cause cancer, or do much nasty at all.

Impersonal critique of Harvard Business School--the "factory for unhappy people"--written by an alumni.

The rejected Dark Night script Michael Bay didn't write, but could have.

Simon Gray dies from cancer at 71.

Round-up of Spain's dominance of sports this summer.

Obama, Booker, Nutter, Patrick, and the sea change in black American politics.

Gallery: On-set photos from The Road.

Profiling Caodaism, and asking one important question: why Victor Hugo?

How to calculate the economic value of professional basketball players.

Video: Ten-part documentary about last year's Boadrums 77 concert, starring all 77 drummers.

What David Brooks summarizes, the experts untangle, explain, and elaborate upon; in this case materialism.

Literary voyeurism: writers' rooms, methods, and libraries.

Profile of "freak folk" duo CocoRosie.

List of the gadgets tech critic David Pogue personally uses.

Lose yourself in: Britain From Above.

"Would you go before a firing squad to protect higher pollen counts?" The problem with pollsters.

The Pentagon's "Futurist-in-Chief" searches ancient history for lessons.

Hot on the trail of Jimmy Buffett, a writer hunts down the Texas alt-weekly that steals articles.

What The Simpsons taught us about about eating cheap.

Waugh's speaking voice is high-pitched and delicate, almost like an E-flat clarinet. What we can learn from recordings of our favorite authors.

On the evolution of the fight scene: shaky-cam, disorientation, visual incoherency.

Everything we don't know about lightning, and the few things we do.

Denny's monetizes band after-parties--this is brilliant.

I rode my old-fashioned three-speed Schwinn back to Joe's, tears in my eyes, and made the employees listen to a Shins song on my oversized headphones. Todd Levin goes for coffee.

In London, preparations for the 2012 Olympics are off to a slow start.

Book towns--where used and antiquarian bookstores are plenty--around the world.