What is not warranted is a rush to judgment that these drugs are no good: policymakers and doctors should have sharply in mind that the people most likely to say that pills are pointless are the people who most need them. Nor should it be concluded that the drug companies concerned, which submitted both sets of trial reports to the licensing authorities in this country and the US, pulled a fast one. Trials do not necessarily go unpublished because the results do not “fit” with the hopes of the drug developer; the common reason is that, if results are abnormal, it quite often indicates that the sample was flawed. A study conflating both sets may also be flawed.

The armoury against mental illness is still small. Each weapon in it contains the priceless salve of hope. The need is not to jettison what exists, but to intensify the search for better cures.

John McCain's ability to be up to the rigors of the job draws further scrutiny because he has been diagnosed with melanoma three times. Certainly anyone can suffer from cancer at any age, but again the statistics say the longer we live, the greater chance we have of dying from it.

Because of all that, the choice of a running mate would be more important for a McCain campaign than perhaps any nominee before. Rarely do voters base their decision on whether the vice president would be an acceptable leader, but this year that could be the case for a number of Americans -- enough to swing a close election

Buckley was determined to rid the right of the wing nuts. He was, to his everlasting credit, the scourge of an anti-Semitism that once had a hold on significant parts of the right. He also blasted the strange conspiracy theories of the John Birch Society. But most important were Buckley's efforts during the 1950s to resolve conservatism's contradictions. These exertions made it possible for Barry Goldwater and then Ronald Reagan to turn the remnant into a mighty political force.

If liberals are to exercise power again, they need to come to terms with Buckley's genius in understanding how ideas interact with the day-to-day needs of politics. Buckley was more intellectual than most practical politicians, and more practical than most intellectuals.

My main criticism of Buckley is that he was far too effective on behalf of a movement that I think should be driven from power. And if you read that as a compliment, you're right.

"Single-gender, public academies need to guard against becoming a new form of tracking or resegregation," a 2001 California study said. "Segregation might lead to a safe or comfortable space for some populations, but they clearly create tensions for race and gender equity."

The academic success of both girls and boys was influenced more by small classes, strong curricula, dedicated teachers and equitable teaching practices than by single-sex settings, the researchers said. This finding reinforced those of a 1998 study by the American Association of University Women that concluded that separating the sexes does not necessarily improve the quality of education for girls.

Worrisome trends in home mortgage foreclosures could interact with other economic trends to cause further damage to the broader U.S. economy, reducing income growth and job opportunities.

The recent waves of foreclosures are more than just a personal tragedy for the thousands of families at risk of losing their homes. They pose a real threat to the broader economy. Strategies, however, exist to mitigate that threat, and congressional leaders should consider the opportunities open to them to do so.