Suppose Major Nidal Hassan had called a meeting of agents of the FBI and top officers of Fort Hood, and then said something like this:

The biggest unreported news in ages just happened in plain sight. America's conservatives have been backed into opposing their own mantra of states' rights.

Just so they can continue to say no to any form of public option for health insurance.

WASHINGTON - During their tour of the U.S. Capitol, four Navajo Code Talkers were approached by tourists who wanted to shake their hands or simply say thank you.

When the group walked into the Rotunda, a tour guide led visitors in applause for the "Windtalkers," a reference to the 2002 Nicolas Cage movie based on the Code Talkers' World War II service.

Health-reform legislation approved by the House last weekend would add tens of millions of Americans to the ranks of the insured.

And it would begin to address some of the deficiencies in the way family doctors are paid and trained so that there may be at least a few more primary-care physicians available to care for all those newly insured patients.

Maywood is one of California's tiniest and most troubled cities, a plot of scarcely 750 acres southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

Its official population, nearly all Latino, is about 30,000 persons, not counting an untold number of illegal immigrants. Its Police Department has been singled out by the state Department of Justice for brutality.

Sure, at the moment, the NFC North standings state far more about how well things are going for the Minnesota Vikings than coach Brad Childress and his players will say. While Childress and Co. continue take a (yawn) one-game-at-a-time approach following their bye week, the standings told a story of a team getting close to running away with its division.

It's almost axiomatic to say that Pixar movies are just as enjoyable for adults as they are for kids.