How sour is the public mood? An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found about half of people believe 2008 was one of the worst years in American history. At times, Abraham Lincoln's lament has seemed apt, "We live in the midst of alarms; anxiety beclouds the future; we expect some new disaster with each newspaper we read." ...more

January 3, 2009

"911 what's the address of your emergency?" "Yeah, I think there's a man dead down here on Buena Vista by the CPA place." ...more

May 30, 2008

CALLER FINDS VICTIM LYING IN ROADWAY ...more

May 29, 2008

If the stories are to be believed, The Mars Volta's fourth album was inspired by - and nearly wrecked by - a Ouija board. The duo (Omar Rodriguez Lopez and Cedric Bixler Zavala) bought the board in Jerusalem, consulted it throughout a tour and later buried it when unexplained mishaps (computer glitches, an engineer's nervous breakdown) threatened to derail this album's recording process. ...more

February 14, 2008

"The Commoner," by John Burnham Schwartz (Doubleday, $24.95) ...more

January 27, 2008