History

Not much about the Costa Concordia story is inspiring, is it? You remember the Titanic, women and children first and all that. If you think that fairy tale stuff is true, you probably still believe the captain should go down with his ship:

The Doomsday Clock keepers have moved the time ahead a minute to five minutes before midnight, the first time the clock has been reset since 2007:

There is no place the historical preservationists won't go! Or, if you're afraid of the idea of one-world government, hows about one-solar-system government?

But for archaeologists and historians worried that the next generation of people visiting the moon might carelessly obliterate the site of one of humanity's greatest accomplishments, these designations were important first steps toward raising awareness of the need to protect off-world artifacts.

Is President Obama's intention to create a leaner military a "pragmatic vision" that takes into account our deep fiscal problems?

Some of Newt Gingrich's ideas about how to rein in courts are nutty -- hauling judges before Congress to explain their positions, for example. But his larger point deserves to be debated long after his presidential bid ends:

Just because he's paranoid doesn't mean we shouldn't be out to get him:

A day after officials announced the cancer diagnosis of Argentina's president, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wondered Wednesday if the United States could be infecting the region's leaders with the illness.

Those of you who get all hot and bothered on one side or other of the daylight saving time debate ought to really get exercised about this one:

Forget leap years, months with 28 days and your birthday falling on a different day of the week each year. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland say they have a better way to mark time: a new calendar in which every year is identical to the one before.

When the scary stuff happens, who we have as commander in chief matters:

The United States is in no position to advise Iran against cutting global oil supply in case of sanctions against its petroleum industry, a top Iranian commander said on Thursday.

Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, whose column appeared in this morning's Journal Gazette, gets the prize for most brazen twisting of words to make them say what he wants them to say instead of what they actually mean:

For the first time since Barry Goldwater made the effort in 1964, the Republican Party is taking a run at overturning the consensus that has governed U.S. political life since the Progressive era.

Been there, haven't done that:

Americans won't be seeing a huge ticker-tape parade in New York City anytime soon for troops returning from Iraq.

It's not clear if veterans of the nine-year campaign will ever enjoy the grand, flag-waving, red-white-and-blue homecoming that the nation's fighting men and women received after World War II and the Gulf War.