NYT > Opinion

• How a ‘Wisp of a Girl’ Conquered Pakistan
  With half her adult life spent either in exile or in prison, Benazir Bhutto might have lived like a medieval princess, but she died like an ordinary, modern Pakistani.
• Forgotten Step Toward Freedom
  A significant milestone in American history has gone strangely unnoticed: the 200th anniversary of Jan. 1, 1808, when the importation of slaves into the United States was prohibited.
• A Lifesaving Checklist
  Washington is blocking research on a promising medical tool.
• Humanizing the Revolution
  If President Hugo Chávez has dreamed of turning Venezuela into a Cuba with oil, the Venezuelans who oppose him have discovered the perfect antidote: the student movement.
• Paris Isn’t Burning
  Even the French are obeying a government ban on public smoking.
• Immigration and the Candidates
  Even by the low standards of presidential campaigns, the issue of immigration has been badly served in the 2008 race.
• The Poles Get Cold Feet
  Poland’s new government is right to be taking a skeptical second look at the Bush administration’s proposal to station 10 interceptor missiles there as part of a European-based missile-defense system.
• Am I a Karma Karma Karma Karma Karma Chameleon?
  New Year’s resolutions require too much discipline. An exorcism seems much easier.
• Selections From Opinion Online
  Readers respond to Jet Lagged, Think Again and Domestic Disturbances blog posts.
• The Airport Security Follies
  Our approach to airport screening since 9/11 has been wrongheaded.
• Red States Looking in the Pink?
  Do certain recent trends bode well for the G.O.P. in the next election?
• War for the Holidays
  As most Americans enjoy the holidays, several nations in Africa are preparing for the onslaught of war.
• With Readers Like Y’AllÂ…
  Dick Cavett sifts through comments from readers.
• No Mundane Madness
  The madness of the holidays gets trumped by a larger insanity.
• Bound for Academic Glory?
  A new report on higher education raises questions about how public universities can improve.
• Not Your Mom’s Apple Pie Chart
  How readers fared solving the "Which Came First?" mystery.
• Rescuing Gateway
  Though about two million people visit parts of the Gateway National Recreation Area every year, it is in need of help from the local and federal government.
• Cash-Strapped Consumers
  The ease of borrowing has made it possible for many people to live beyond their means. But the end of easy money is now exposing Americans’ vulnerability.
• After Benazir Bhutto
  Ms. Bhutto’s death leaves the Bush administration with the principled, if unfamiliar, option of using American resources to fortify Pakistan’s battered democratic institutions.
• State Without Pity
  Texas’s governor, Legislature, courts and voters should reassess their addiction to executions.
• The Work Remaining
  A halfway resolution of the United States attorneys scandal is not enough. It needs to be investigated vigorously and completely.
• When Christmas Morning Comes
  Christmas is imbued with a recognition that the transition from sleep to waking always carries with it the immeasurable gift of a new day.
• The Hangover That Lasts
  The more we have binged on alcohol — and the younger we have started to binge — the more we experience significant, though often subtle, effects on the brain and cognition.
• Clocking the Candidates
  The front-running Democrats, thanks mostly to a smaller field, got a lot more time to speak than the front-running Republicans in the televised debates of 2007.
• A Colony With a Conscience
  This republic owes its enduring strength to a fragile, scorched and little-known document called the Flushing Remonstrance.
• You Must Remember This
  A look at the important news that most of us have forgotten from 2007.
• Mortgage Meltdown
  Is there a remedy to the mortgage crisis?