My hometown, Chillicothe, Ohio is a bellweather town in a bellweather state.

Chillicothe, focus of a Dispatch monthly series on the presidential race, has been a reliable predictor of Ohio's vote in recent elections. In the past two presidential races, the combined results from Chillicothe's 29 precincts varied from the state's by less than a percentage point -- 0.98 in 2004 and 0.05 in 2000.

why is Annenberg's FactCheck.org curiously silent on this matter?

CNN's Anderson Cooper explores the relationship of Senator Obama and Bill Ayers in this video. Interestingly, Bill Ayers received a multi-million dollar grant from Annenberg, and Barack Obama was hired to oversee the dispersal of those grant funds. Apparently, some of those funds were awarded to organizations run by Father Pfleger and/or Reverend Wright.

Congratulations to Martii Ahtisaari, a fine man who is truly deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize.

He is respected and revered by the champions of peace and justice all over the world.

Mr Ahtisaari has been awarded honorary doctorates by 19 universities around the world and received UNESCO's peace prize earlier this month.

said the snowball, as the lenders kicked it towards the fires of hell.

Well, friends, the Fed just dropped it's basic interest rate by 1/2 a percent. Not only that, they got similar banks all over the world to drop their rates within seconds. This has never happened before. Never.

Yesterday, some people at a rally in California may have seen another turning point in the race for the Presidency.

First of all, while the media will likely ignore this or gloss this over,

Just happened to come across this recently posted youtube video celebrating Kosovo's independence and Albania's entry into NATO.

Wes Clark comments on the former in this video.

Just a reminder that good things can and sometimes do come to pass even amidst grave difficulties.

Bravenewfilms argues in this alarming new video that John McCain's health records must be released. Much of their case seems to rest upon the fact that Senator McCain has been treated for Stage II melanoma.

The state of John McCain's health is an issue of grave concern for all Americans, regardless of political persuasion. Given the fact that he has been treated for an invasive melanoma and other maladies, it is important that he release his full health records.

"Pakistan must not allow its soil to be used for terrorist attacks on other countries and will not tolerate any infringement of its sovereignty or territory in the name of the fight against militancy," President Asif Ali Zardari said on Saturday.