Massachusetts' "Great and General Court" is considered a full-time legislature, but "full-time" apparently has a different meaning on Beacon Hill. How many of the rest of us with full-time jobs get to take off the week before Thanksgiving and not be expected back at the office until after New Year's Day?

Those who believe the End Times are imminent will be pleased to know that physicists in Switzerland are planning to fire up the Large Hadron Collider this weekend, fortuitously one week after the doomsday movie "2012" opened.

There is a price to be paid for every important decision, but it's not always easy to find the price tag. When it comes to the decision President Obama must soon make on whether to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, many variables cannot be quantified. On cost, however, the White House is working from a simple formula, The New York Times reports: One troop, posted for one year, costs the taxpayers $1 million.

Black Hawk helicopter mechanic Peter Damon gave us one lesson in positive thinking in 2003 when, after losing his hands in Iraq, he decided to take up painting.

An editorial in Tuesday's edition on ethics investigations contained inaccurate and incomplete information on the new system for handling ethics allegations in the U.S. House of Representatives.

With the clock ticking toward the self-imposed end to formal sessions of the state Legislature, another long-simmering issue has suddenly appeared on the front burner. The Senate may vote today on a bill reforming mandatory minimum sentences and the handling of criminal records.

When Sarah Palin comes to your house for dinner, do not invite John McCain's campaign manager, Steve Schmidt; his top aide, Nicole Wallace; or CBS anchor Katie Couric. They come in for a real beating as America's most interesting politician settles scores that still rankle from the 2008 presidential campaign in "Going Rogue: An American Life."

In the wake of last year's financial meltdown, members of Congress vowed to investigate and crack down on excesses and abuses in the financial industry, not least the subprime loan debacle that helped send the economy into a tailspin and cost taxpayers billions in bailouts.

Shooting a rocket booster into the moon, followed four minutes later by an instrument-laden spacecraft, turned out to be, if not a public-relations dud, at least a major letdown.

The Massachusetts Legislature can't seem to do much legislating without a deadline, and another one is looming this week. Its last formal session is scheduled for Wednesday, after which the lawmakers go on holiday break for the rest of the year. As the clock ticks, lawmakers are preparing to act on the most significant legislation - perhaps the only significant legislation - they have taken up since they left for a holiday break last summer: a long overdue education reform bill.