Freedom of expression is one of the hallmark of a modern and free society. Rule of law is another. In Guatemala, both of the core tenets of democracy are heading for a collision course if the socialist government insists on prosecuting Jean Anleu for a tweet. The crime? Undermining the public trust in the country's banking system.

Ten major banks repaid almost $70 billion to TARP in recent weeks. But they aren't free from TARP just yet: Treasury still owns warrants to purchase their common stock.

How much is TARP costing American taxpayers? We know that Congress originally authorized up to $700 billion in TARP investments. And we know that $439 billion has been committed to various programs. But how much of that money are taxpayers likely to see again? And to what extent will they be compensated for making those investments?

"Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people." " Eleanor Roosevelt. I wish to discuss an idea here. It's an idea about celebrity, and it follows an event that has become a black hole in nearly all media: the death of Michael Jackson.

"In some elections, it's not the voting that counts, it's the counting that counts." -- Anon. Unless you have spent the last week or so in a cave, or marooned on an island, you have heard of the protests and controversy surrounding the recent election in Iran. Although as a matter of policy I don't post intentionally political comments here, I was interested to see two reports from people that have tried to analyze the reported results, using purely statistical methods, to see what, if anything, can be discovered.

As an Art teacher embroiled in the worst budget crisis of my 25 year career, Charlie Crist gave a speech that was sweet music to my ears. "I urge you to pass legislation requiring school districts to spend 70 percent of their budgets in the classroom for our students and teachers, and to instill transparency by requiring school districts to provide dollar-by-dollar details online. Floridians deserve to know how their hard-earned dollars are being spent, and parents have a right to demand accountability. And I ask you to consider, as I have proposed, increasing per-student funding -- Florida's children deserve it."

I am white. I am middle class. And I'm heroin addict. Every morning, I pour white powder into a cooker, add water, heat it, wait for bubbles, and draw it into a syringe. The secret is to alternate arms daily. If not the veins will collapse from overuse. Yesterday was right; today I'll fire into my left right below the bicep. Both arms look like dartboards.

It was the stuff of nightmares to discover how many young men are forced into prostitution by violent prison gangs. It is even more chilling to find out that the common response of prison officials to the victims' desperate pleas for protection is to tell them their only two options were to "fight or fuck."

Prepare yourself for another news day involving the fallout from the Mark Sanford saga. If we were honest with ourselves, we'd take this as another opportunity to ask ourselves, collectively, the roots from whence infidelity stems and why those in positions of power so easily and willfully violate their marriage vows. The conversation we're not having, partially because we're not comfortable with it, partially because it would reveal much about our own attitudes is why people in positions of power stray from their marriage.

Clear, the program run by Verified Identity Pass, Inc. to enable pre-screened air passengers to pass through an airport security "express lane," has announced that it has ceased operations.

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