ST. LOUIS — It was a strange calm that fell across Busch Stadium late Friday night, in the waning moments of one of the greatest World Series in recent memory, a sense of peace and prosperity that felt somehow out of place. After weeks of digging out of massive holes and clinging to life in the face of overwhelming odds, the St. Louis Cardinals were leading the Texas Rangers in the ninth inning of Game 7, and the usual anxiety was tinged with this foreign thought: What does one do when the last mountain is climbed? Read full article > >

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World Series Game 7: St. Louis Cardinals top Texas Rangers to cap improbable run to title

In a performance destined to be etched in bronze on a plaque in Cooperstown, Albert Pujols produced one of the greatest nights a hitter has ever had in the World Series.

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For Albert Pujols of St. Louis, 3 Home Runs for a Record Night

PHOENIX — Counted out by most everyone else, the Arizona Diamondbacks are in position to complete another comeback. And this one could be the greatest of the bunch. Ryan Roberts hit a grand slam, Chris Young had the first two-homer game in Arizona’s postseason history and Diamondbacks beat the Milwaukee Brewers 10-6 Wednesday night to force Game 5 in the NL division series. Read full article > >

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Roberts hits slam, Young homers twice as Diamondbacks force Game 5 with 10-6 win over Brewers

I t is one of the enduring mysteries of American history — so near-providential as to give the most hardened atheist pause — that it should have produced, at every hinge point, great men who matched the moment. A roiling, revolutionary 18th-century British colony gives birth to the greatest cohort of political thinkers ever: Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Hamilton, Washington, Franklin, Jay. The crisis of the 19th century brings forth Lincoln; the 20th, FDR. Equally miraculous is Martin Luther King Jr. Black America’s righteous revolt against a century of post-emancipation oppression could have gone in many bitter and destructive directions. It did not. This was largely the work of one man’s leadership, moral imagination and strategic genius. He turned his own deeply Christian belief that “unearned suffering is redemptive” into a creed of nonviolence that he carved into America’s political consciousness. The result was not just racial liberation but national redemption. Read full article > >

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King, in word and stone

I t is one of the enduring mysteries of American history — so near-providential as to give the most hardened atheist pause — that it should have produced, at every hinge point, great men who matched the moment. A roiling, revolutionary 18th-century British colony gives birth to the greatest cohort of political thinkers ever: Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Hamilton, Washington, Franklin, Jay. The crisis of the 19th century brings forth Lincoln; the 20th, FDR. Equally miraculous is Martin Luther King Jr. Black America’s righteous revolt against a century of post-emancipation oppression could have gone in many bitter and destructive directions. It did not. This was largely the work of one man’s leadership, moral imagination and strategic genius. He turned his own deeply Christian belief that “unearned suffering is redemptive” into a creed of nonviolence that he carved into America’s political consciousness. The result was not just racial liberation but national redemption. Read full article > >

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King, in word and stone

In hindsight, “The Decision” was the best thing for David Stern, his league, his network partner — and the new consumer in polarized American sports, Angry Man. The moment Team LeBron partnered with Jim Gray and ESPN last summer to televise the career choice of the greatest free agent since Prince William, the NBA didn’t merely have its first uber team since Michael Jordan’s Incredi-Bulls; it had a built-in, ready-made villain: LeBron James , scorner of Cuyahoga County, taker of talents to South Beach, beggar of officials’ calls, a young man who travels more than Gulliver and Patrick Ewing. Read full article > >

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LeBron James makes the NBA playoffs must-see TV

The president said the killing of Osama bin Laden was “one of the greatest intelligence successes in American history.”

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The Caucus: Obama Praises C.I.A. for Bin Laden Raid

Wealthy businessman Donald Trump announced Monday that he won’t seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, bringing an end to the circus-like speculation that had surrounded the reality star’s political future in recent months. “I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run, I would be able to win the primary and ultimately, the general election,” Trump said in a statement . “Ultimately, however, business is my greatest passion and I am not ready to leave the private sector.” Trump’s decision brings to an end a political roller coaster ride on which the flamboyant celebrity pushed the debate over whether President Obama was born in the United States into the public eye, rose as high as second place in polling on the 2012 race and was on the receiving end of a fusillade of jokes from the president during last month’s White House Correspondents Dinner. Read full article > >

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Trump won’t run for president in 2012

Good thing NBC renewed Celebrity Apprentice. Donald Trump announced in a statement on Monday that he will not be running for president in 2012-but maintained that he could have won if he wanted to. “Business is my greatest passion and I am not ready to…

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Trump: I’m Not Running for President

You’ll have to water board Donald Rumsfeld if you want to get an apology out of him: Asked about President Bush’s statement that cutting troop levels in Iraq was the greatest failure of the war, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tells Diane…

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Rumsfeld: Mistakes Were ‘Possible’

The 50th anniversary of JFK’s inauguration is Thursday, but none of the former president’s closest colleagues are alive to celebrate it. With the passing of Sargent Shriver Tuesday, “no one who celebrated with John Kennedy at his greatest moments of…

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The Last Link to the Kennedy Years

The liberal democracies of Western Europe represent one of the greatest achievements of human civilization. But is there any way to save them from sinking together in the ill-conceived currency union ?

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Can Europe Be Saved?

This is what the perfect Christmas gift looks like. It is a thick but comfortable coat. Size XXL. Made of a fabric that’s warm but also a little slippery. The last bit is the most important part, Cathy Herman explained, as she roamed through the Bass Pro Shop at Arundel Mills mall.

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When time is the greatest gift, every day can be Christmas

This year more kids than ever before will have a parent behind bars and African Americans are feeling the greatest brunt. The BBC’s Zoe Conway has gone to Maryland to meet one family trying to cope with the long separation.

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More mothers behind bars in US

One of the greatest lessons to be learned from the Program for International Student Assessment report released this month is that equity matters.

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Opinion: Why U.S. ranks low in education