There are many ways to introduce a controversial topic -- even today's about the most private tool of public diplomacy and its role in President Obama's troop decision on the Afghanistan war.

But first I need to make sure I don't make the same mistake an aspiring television news host made while trying to switch subjects in midstream, so to speak.

NAPLES, Fla. - Ten Naples middle school students have been suspended after participating in what they called "kick a Jew day," school district officials said.

District Spokesman Joe Landon said a student told the North Naples Middle School dean of students at dismissal last Thursday that she was kicked because it was "kick a Jew day."

My name is Andrew Smith, and I am a comic-book junkie.

Of course I've always suspected it. But with "Turok, Son of Stone Archives" Vol. 4 ($49.95, Dark Horse), I can no longer deny it.

GUANGZHOU, China - At first, Rao Yuansheng didn't even realize he was doing it. He was sitting in the bustling newsroom of Guangzhou Television, worrying aloud about the declining use of Cantonese here in the land of its birth, and he was speaking in Mandarin.

Skedded, wash.

Mexican gang leaders have found new territory to conquer -- expansive American Indian reservations where populations are often low-income and police presence low.

Methamphetamine use has skyrocketed in tribal communities where addiction rates to alcohol and other substances are traditionally high.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The scandal-plagued grassroots group ACORN may not survive another year, its longtime leader says.

Wade Rathke, who began the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now in 1970 and stepped down last year from its help, spoke at the University of Memphis Monday night.

The end of the world has come to a theater near you, and more apocalyptic visions are due:

"2012": A Roland Emmerich special-effects doomfest, starring John Cusack. It opened Nov. 13.

"The Road": Based on Cormac McCarthy's tale of a father and son on a grim trek in post-apocalypse America, the movie stars Viggo Mortenson. It opens Nov. 25.