AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic

A U.S. army soldier from Ghostrider Company, 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment jumps over a wall during a foot patrol on the outskirts of Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008.

What's the next step in Iraq?

John Edwards says that if elected president he would withdraw the American troops who are training the Iraqi army and police as part of a broader plan to remove virtually all American forces within 10 months.

Mr. Edwards’s plan calls for immediately withdrawing 40,000 to 50,000 troops. Nearly all of the remaining American troops would be removed within 9 or 10 months. The only force that would remain would be a 3,500-to-5,000-strong contingent that would protect the American Embassy and possibly humanitarian workers.

AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

Members of the writers guild protest outside NBC's Studios Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008 in New York. NBC's Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel all said they were coming back reluctantly with the writers strike still on, and will be putting on shows unlike any they've done before.

Leno and Letterman return: A strike shake-up?

Late-night TV hosts returned to the air Wednesday after a two-month hiatus, displaying support for striking writers, plenty of creative stretch marks — and at least two scruffy beards. David Letterman walked onstage amid dancing girls holding picket signs. His writers are back on the job, but NBC's Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel returned without theirs. "You're watching the only show on the air that has jokes written by union writers," Letterman said. "I hear you at home thinking to yourself, `This crap is written?'"

The right to life, liberty and high-definition TV?

If you're anything like us, your only New Year's resolution for this particular ride around the sun is to sign up for a converter box coupon in preparation for the 2009 digital TV transition -- even if, also like us, your only remaining analog set is gathering dust next to your laserdisc player in the basement. Still, a bargain is a bargain, so $40 off a product or products that we don't really need was more than enough motivation to race over to the official sign-up page only minutes after it went live.